美國文學復習總結

1、Part I The Literature of Colonial America殖民主義時期的文學Part n The Literature of Reason And Revolution理性和革命時期文學Benjamin Franklin本杰明富蘭克林仃06-仃90殖民地時期作家。獨立戰(zhàn)爭前惟一的杰出的美國作家in the colonial period,the only good America n author before the Revoluti onary War.1. 出生于波士頓 Boston,曾創(chuàng)辦半島公報。1732-1758出版窮人理查 德的年鑒“Poor Richar

2、d's Almanac” annual collection of proverbs 流行諺語集2. 建立一秘密俱樂咅 E the Junto, in formal discussi on of scie ntific, econo mic and political ideals建立可借圖書館，創(chuàng)辦賓夕法尼亞大學。商業(yè)上成功， 科學上貢獻卓越，政治上的貢獻也不可磨滅successful in bus in ess,renowned in science also served his nation brilliantly.協(xié)助杰弗遜起草“獨 立宣言” aided Jeffers on

3、 in writ ing The Declaratio n of In depe nden ce.同法 國談判獲得援助，后作為議會代表起草美國憲法Con stituti on.3. 其還是美國第一位主要作家the first major writer非凡表達能力，簡潔明 了，有點幽默，還是一位諷刺天才 as an author he had power of expression, simplicity, a subtle humor. He was also sarcastic辣的.4. 他最好作品收錄在自傳“ Autobiography ”。編輯了美國第一份殖民地 雜志“ General

4、Magazind'對這個年青的國家來說，他的損失比其它任何人的都要大“his shadow liesheavier tha n any other mans on this young n ati on.5. 教材作品自傳” The Autobiography'二、 Philip Freneau 菲利浦弗瑞諾(仃52-1832)1. 革命戰(zhàn)爭后期最杰出作家 perhaps the most outstanding writer of thePost-Revoluti on ary period既是一位詩人也是政治方面的新聞記者double roleas poet and pol

5、itical journalist作品形式是新古典主義類，但本質(zhì)上卻屬浪漫主 義類 he was neoclassical by training and taste yet romantic in essential spirit 一 個諷刺小說家、傷感作家、一個人道主義者was also at once a satirist and asen time ntalist, a huma nitaria n. “美國革命詩人” (the poet of the Revolutio n)“美國詩歌之父” (Father of American Poetry).2. 1770年第1部作品想象的力量

6、(The Power of Fancy) .1775年因出版有關 諷刺英國人作品而被認可 as a satirist of the British.3. 1776年出版夜屋(The House of Night)哥特式小說the Gothic mood. FL帕 蒂稱它為“在美國聽到的第一部真正浪漫主義作品，從中看到了“圣誕老人 的美” “the first distinctly romantic note heard in America ” and The Beauties of Santa Cruz”。作品中既有對社會的抗議，又有對自然的贊美，其后期作品采 用了這 種風格 blendin

7、g the praise of nature with social protest, in his characteristic later manner.4. 1781寫下名詩英國囚船(The British Prison Ship) 一首抨擊色彩詩作，揭露 了英國對俘虜?shù)难扰c殘忍 a good piece of invective, reveals the rigors and brutality of his captivity。此后繼續(xù)對英國進行無情抨擊、辛辣地諷刺continuingto hurl his vitriol at the British in many poems.

8、5. 1786年他的早期作品被收錄在戰(zhàn)爭后期弗瑞諾主要詩歌集“ The Poems of Philip Fren eau Written Chiefly Duri ng the Late War”.6. 1788年出板札記“MiscellaneousWorks”.1791年創(chuàng)辦國家公報對抗聯(lián)邦公報with Jeffers on 'support Natio nal Gazette campaig ned aga inst the opinions of the Gazette of the United States” edited by John Fenno (Supported b

9、y Hamilto n).7. 他如今被認為是美國政府中的一名勇敢的斗 士 has only recently been recog ni zed as a courageous champi on of America n popular gover nment.作為詩 人，他預示了美國文學獨立的至U來 as a poet, Freneau heralded American literary in depe nde nee他后期詩歌同早期華麗的對偶句詩歌形成鮮明對比，后期形成 了自然、簡潔、言之有物的風格 in contrast with the ornate華麗的style of his

10、 early couplets, he later developed a n atural, simple, and con crete dict ion.8. 教材作品：野忍冬花：“The Wild Honey Suckle”印第安人的墳地：“The Indian Burying Ground”Part 川 The Literature of Romanticism 浪漫主義文學1815-1865 1、The impact of European Romanticism on American Romanticism.They put emphasis upon the imagi nat

11、ive and emoti onal qualities of literature an in creas ing atte nti on to the psychic states of their characters. Heroes and heroines exhibited extremes of sensitivity and excitement.tendency to exalt 贊揚 the in dividual and the com mon manThe literary use of the more colorful aspects of the pastAmer

12、ican Romanticism is, in a certain way, derivative 2、The desire for an escape from society and a return to nature became a permanent convention of American literature.逃離社會，回到自然成為了美國文學永恒的創(chuàng) 作習慣。3、Nationalism stimulated a greater literary interest in America' s Ianguage. America n character types sp

13、eak ing local dialects appeared in poetry and fictio n with increasing frequency.受民族主義影響，作家的目光轉向了美國本土的語言， 具有 美國特征的本土方言開始在詩歌和小說中大量涌現(xiàn)。4、他們都注重道德，強調(diào)個人主義價值觀及直覺感覺，并且認為自然是美的源頭，人類社會是腐敗之源 moral en thusiasm, faith in the value of in dividualism and intuitive perception, and a presumption that the natural worl

14、d was a source of good ness and mane societies a source of corrupti on.5、美國早期的主要文學形式，說教類及宣言類作品被長篇小說、短篇故事和詩歌所取代，成這一時期文學的主要形式no vels, short stories, and poems replacedserm ons and mani festos as America prin cipal literary forms。6、the American national experienee of "pioneering into the west"

15、; proved to be a rich source of material for American writers to draw upon. They celebrated America's Iandscape with its virgin forests, meadows, groves, endless prairies, streams, and vast oceans. The wilderness came to function almost as a dramatic character that symbolized moral 1aw戲劇化特色的野性諷喻

16、了時代的道德準則7、超驗主義(1830s the Civil War)：既不講究邏輯，也不講究系統(tǒng)，它只強調(diào) 超越理性的感受，超越法律和世俗束縛的個人表達，他們相信精神上的超越，相信無所不能的善的力量，強調(diào)善為萬物之源，萬物都是善的一部分as a moralphilosophy, tran sce nden talism was n either logical nor systematized. It exalted feeli ng over reas on,in dividual expressi on over the restra ints of law and custom .in

17、 dividual is divine and, therefore, self-re1ia ntThey believed in the transcendenceof the Oversoul”，an all-pervading power for good ness from which all thi ngs come and of which all thi ngs are a part.8、American Romanticists differed in their understanding of human nature.To the tran sce nden talist

18、s such as Emers on and Thoreau, man is divi ne in n ature and therefore forever perfectible; but to Hawthor ne and Melville, everybody is potentially a sinner, and great moral courage is therefore in dispe nsab1e for the improveme nt of huma n nature, as is shown in Hawthorne's The Scarlet Lette

19、r.一、Henry Wadsworth Longfellow亨利 沃茲沃思 朗費羅 1807-18821. 1833-1835創(chuàng)作完成散文浪漫作品 海外記游his prose romanee'-Oetre ；2在海華沙中，他采用芬蘭民間故事寫作手法追憶了美洲印第安人的傳說using Finish folk meter in his celebratio n of America n In dia n Lege nds in “ Hiawatha ”.他最大的成就就是他使詩歌成為了人人都能看，都能寫的一種文學體裁hisgreatest virtue is that he made poe

20、try seem worth read ing and worth writ ing.3. 1838 年他第一部詩集名叫夜吟Longfellow ' first collection of poems entitled Voices of the Night” ；1839年浪漫散文作品許珀里翁出版“ Hyperion” the prose romanee.1841 年歌謠及其他“ Ballads and other Poems；1842年奴隸制度詩篇“Poems on Slavery;1847年詩歌伊凡吉林“ Eva ngeli ne”；1855年海華沙之歌“ Song of Hiaw

21、atha”；1858年邁克爾 斯坦狄什的求婚“The Courtship of Miles Standish”；戲劇作品邁克爾 安吉洛dramatic work Michael Angelo”翻譯作品神曲翻譯成就最高“ Divi ne Comedy”.4. 他的其它作品：金星號遇難、人生禮贊、精益求精、鄉(xiāng)村鐵匠、逝 去的青春“The Wreck of the HesperuS' A Psalm of Life”； Excelsior”; The Village Blacksmith”; My Lost Youth ”.5 朗費羅去世后被安葬在威斯敏斯特教堂的詩人之角，他也是美國惟一獲此

22、殊 榮的詩人，他的詩歌因高雅宜人，純正有韻味而大受歡迎after his death, hebecame the only American to be honored with a bust in the Poet's corner ofWestmi nster Abbey. The gen tle ness, sweet ness, and purity for which his poetry was popular duri ng his lifetime.特點：exercised a great in flue nce in bringing Europea n cultur

23、e to the U.S., and likewise did much to popularize American folk themes abroad where his work was imme nsely popular and widely tran slated在引進歐洲文化上起巨大推動作用，也把美國民間文化傳播到國外，他的作品還被翻譯成多種文字，在海外受到高度評價。6.教材作品：The secret of the sea Hymn to the nightWilliam Cullen Bryant 威廉 卡倫 布萊恩特 1794-18781. 1817年偉大史詩死之思考(希臘

24、語)，人們一致認為這是當時美國最杰出 的一篇詩作 the stately poem called ” Thanatopsis' (Greek, meaning view of death') in troduced the best poet to appear in America n up to that time.2. 致水鳥是其巔峰之作，“用美國英語寫作的最完美的短詩”，“ To aWaterfowl” is perhaps the peak of his work, Most perfect brief poem in the Ian guagd'.3. 后期

25、，他用無韻詩的形式翻譯了伊利亞特和奧德賽his most important later works are his translations of the Iliad ” and the Odyssey” into English bla nk verse.4. 當歐文用自己的作品預示美國散文時代的到來時，布萊恩特向歐洲讀者證實了美國的詩歌也達到了相當高的水平，他是第一個獲得美國主要詩人稱號的作家 As Irving had shown that American prose had come of age, so Bryant dem on strated to Europea n rea

26、ders that America n poetry was ready to dema nd serious attention. He was the first American to gain the stature of a major poet.5. 教材作品：致水鳥：“To a Waterfowl”O(jiān) fairest of the rural maidsWashington Irving 華盛頓歐文 1783-18591. the first great belletrist第一個純文學作家2. 他是美國第一位浪漫主義散文文體作家，was the first great pros

27、e stylist ofAmerica n roma nticism3. 1819-1820他第一部見聞札記是現(xiàn)代文學史上的第一部短篇小說，也是美國第一部偉大的青少年文學讀物，他把歷史與傳說當作娛樂形式來寫，把 大眾化的散文弓I入美國his Sketch Book” appeared the first modern shortstories and the first great America n juve nile literature to write good history and biography as literary en terta inment. He in trodu

28、ced the familiar essay to America 他的短篇小說極大地激發(fā)了世界各國人們進一步了解美國人民生活的興趣his best-known stories awakened an interest in the life of American regions.4. 1809年以迪德里奇 尼克博克的名字出版紐約外史，輕松歡快的滑稽戲形 式講出了早期荷蘭殖民者在美洲殖民時的真實歷史成為了幽默作品中的經(jīng)典 “A History of New York ” by Diedrich Knickerbocker a rollicking burlesque of a current

29、 serious history of the early Dutch settlers, has become a classic of humor.教材作品：Rip Van WinkleIrvi ng n ever forgets to associate a certa in place with the in ward moveme nt of a pers on and to charge his sen ten ces with emoti on so as to create a true and vivid character. He is worth the honor of

30、 being "the American Goldsmith" for his literary craftsmanship1.lrvin g's great in debted ness to Europea n literature Most of Irvi ng's subject matter are borrowed heavily from Europea n sources, which are chiefly Germa nic. Irvi ng's relati on ship with the Old World in terms

31、 of his literary imagination can hardly be ignored con sideri ng his success both abroad and at home.A History of New York is a patchwork of references, echoes, and burlesques. He parodies or imitates Homer, Cervantes, Fielding, Swift and many other favorites of his. He was also absorbed in Germa n

32、Literature and got ideas from Germa n lege nds for two of his famous stories "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." TheAlhambra is usually regarded as Irvin g's "Spa nish Sketch Book" simply because it has a strong flavor of Spanish culture. Most of the

33、 thirty-three essays in The Sketch Book were writte n in En gla nd, filled with En glish sce nes and quotatio ns from En glish authors and faithful to British orthography. Washington Irving brought to the new nation what its peop1e desired most in a man of 1etters the respect of the Old World.2.Irvi

34、ng's unique contribution to American literatureIrving's contribution to American literature is unique in more than one way. He was the first America n writer of imag in ative literature to gain intern ati onal fame. Although greatly in flue need by Europea n literature, Irving gave his works

35、 disti nctive America n flavor. "Rip Van Win kle" or "The Lege nd of Sleepy Hollow", however exotic these stories are, are among the treasures of the America n Ian guage and culture. These two stories easily trigger off America n imagi nati on with their focus on America n subjec

36、ts, America n Ian dscape, an d, i n Irvin g's case, the lege nds of the Huds on River regi on of the fresh young 1an d. It is not the sketches about the Old World but the tales about America that made Wash ington Irving a household word and his fame enduring. He was father of American short stor

37、ies. And laterin the hands of Hawthorne and Melville the short story attained a degree of perfect ion.3、 writing always for pleasure, and to produce pleasureWe seldom learn a mora1 less on because he wants us amused and relaxed4、We get a strong sense impression as we read him along, since the Iangua

38、ge he used best reveals what a Romantic writer can do with words. We hear rather than read, for there is musicality in almost every line of his prose.5、The Gothic eleme nts and the super natural atmosphere are man ipulated in such a way that we could become so engaged and invoIved in what is happeni

39、ng in a seemingly exotic異國的 place.Ralph Waldo Emerson拉爾夫 沃爾多 愛默生1803-18821 他是把超驗主義思想引入新英格蘭的先驅，被看作是超驗主義運動的領袖hewas responsible for bringing Transcendentalism to New England and was recog ni zed throughout his life as the leader of the moveme ntsummit of the Roma ntic period2. 愛默生首先強調(diào)的是個人主義、思想獨立和自強he b

40、elieved above all in in dividualism, i ndepe ndence of mi nd and self-relia nee 他崇尚英勇，并不忌諱變 化和有沖突的思想 he admired courage, he was not afraid of changing or clashing ideas.3. 1836年出版了第一本書論自然“Nature”，真正讓他功成名就的還是得益 于兩次學術演講，一個是美國學者，還有一個是神學院致辭“ TheAmerican Scholar” a nd The Divi nity School Address ”.他的許多演

41、講后收錄在 他的隨筆集中，演講中最重要的著作是他1850年的代表和1856年英國人。1847年他的詩集問世.Many of his lectures were later distilled into his famous Essays'.Among his most important works are Representative Men” and English Traits” .His Poems' appeared in 1847.4. Emerson's essays often have a casual style, for most of them

42、were derived from his journals or lectures. They are usually characterized by a series of short, declarative sentences, which are not quite logically connected but will flower out into illustrative statements of truth and thoughts. Emerson's philosophical discussion is sometimes difficult to und

43、erstand but he uses comparisons and metaphors to make the gen eral idea of his work clearly expressed. Well-read in the classics of Western Europea n literature, Emers on ofte n employed these literary sources to make and en rich his own poi nts5. 人們認為他的詩作缺乏詩的形式，用語也太粗糙，但最后他的詩歌卻受到了 高度評價，他那樣并不工整的韻律和動人

44、的形象如藝術品一樣，非常適合現(xiàn) 代讀者的口味 in his day, Emers on 'poems were criticized for their lack of form and polish. In rece nt years, hower, his poetry has received high praise. His harsh 粗糙 rhythms and striking images appeal to many modern readers as artful tech niq ues.6. 美國學者被稱為“我們知識分子的獨立宣言”our intellectua

45、l Declarationof In depe ndencW教材作品：The American ScholarHenry David Thoreau 亨利 戴維 梭羅 1817-18621. 他是愛默生最忠實的信徒，是他把愛默生的許多理論付諸了實踐he was Emerson'truest disciple, who put into practice many of Emerso'theories.2. 1854年，梭羅根據(jù)他在沃爾登湖畔居住兩年經(jīng)歷寫出名作沃爾登“Walden”， the superb book came out of his two-year're

46、side nee at Walde n Pond 在這部書 中闡釋了他去體驗這種生活的原因，他認為一個一星期最好工作一天，而剩 下的六天時間則用來思索，他也認為人類心靈的自助和獨立最為重要，每個人都應該發(fā)現(xiàn)自己的生活方式 he expla ined many of the beliefs that led him to try this kind of life. He thought it better for a man to work one day a week and the rest of the week could be devoted to thought. For Thor

47、eau, as for Emerson, self-relia nee and in depe ndence of mind ran ked above all .Each should find out his own way of livi ng.3. 教材作品：沃爾登 我生活的地方；我為何生活：“Walden Where I Lived, and What I Lived For ”Emerson愛默生，believed that man was a part of absolute good 人性本善 Thoreau 梭 羅，beheld divinity 神圣 in the “ un

48、spotted innocence of nature.自 然才是神圣的“潔白無瑕”(1) Emerson's philosophy of the over-soulIt is an impers onal force that is eternal, moral, harm onio us, and beneficient in tendency. the over-soul is an all-pervading power from which all things come from and of which all are a part.(2) Emers on's

49、philosophy of the importa nee of the In dividuala man can trust himself to decide what is right and to act accord in gly. The ideal in dividual should be a self-relia nt man.thepossibilities for man to develop and improve himself are infinite.(3) Emerso n's view on n aturen ature as a big symbol

50、 of the Spirit, or God, or the over-soul, it exercises a healthy an in flue nee on huma n mind."Emers on ia n Tran sce nden talism in spired a whole gen erati on of famous America n authors like Thoreau2. Thoreau's Transcenden talismnot only fully dem on strates Emers on ia n ideas of self-

51、relia nee but also develops Thoreau's own tran sce nden tal philosophy.(1) For Thoreau, nature is not merely symbolic, but divine in itself and huma n beings can receive precise com muni catio n from the n atural world by way of pure sen ses. So he was ofte n alone in the woods or by the pond, l

52、ost in spiritual communion with nature.(2) Thoreau stro ngly believed in self-culture and was eager to identify himself with the Transcendental image of the self-reliant man. To achieve pers onal spiritual perfecti on, he thin ks, the most importa nt thing for men to do with their lives is to be sel

53、f- sufficie nt, so he sought to reduce his physical n eeds and material comforts to a minimum to get spiritual rich ness.(3) His positive ness about the importa nee of in dividual con scie neewas such that he even considered the society fetters束縛 of thefreedom of in dividuals.Edgar Allan Poe埃德加 阿倫 坡

54、 1809-18491. 1833年，在一次小說比賽中他的金瓶子城的方德先生獲獎he won a con test with his story Ms. Found in a Bottle” .Then he got a job as editor with theSouthern Literary Messenge” (南方文學信使)坡充分展示了自己作為編輯、 詩人、文學評論家、小說作家的杰出才能 showed his true talents as an editor, a poet, a literary critic, and a writer of fiction.2. 發(fā)表了鄂榭府

55、崩潰記“ The Fall of the House of Usher.3. 1840 年，第一部短篇小說集述異集his first collection of short stories Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque4. 1845 年詩集烏鴉出版“The Raver”-narrative poem was published as the title poem of a collecti on5. ofte n use grotesque or fan tastic eve nts.擅長描寫哥特式和幻想類的小說6. 在歐洲，坡被人們稱作詩歌與小說二

56、種文學創(chuàng)作風格的探路者，對法國文壇一些作家影響特別深遠 in Europe, he was hailed as a pioneer in poetic and ficti onal tech niq ues. His in flue nce was especially stro ng on many French writers.7. 教材作品安娜貝爾李“ Annabel Lee”給海倫：“ To Helen”Walt Whitman 沃爾特 惠特曼 1819-18921. 美國文學史上極其重要的、具有創(chuàng)新精神的作家之一，他的草葉集中系列詩歌是美國文學史上第一部真正的史詩one of the

57、 great innovators inAmerican literature. In the cluster of poems he called Leaves of Grass' he gave America its first ge nui ne epic poem.他所創(chuàng)造的這種詩體叫做自由詩，在這種 詩歌中，沒有固定的節(jié)拍，也沒有有規(guī)律的韻腳，惠特曼認為傳統(tǒng)的格律詩 不適合表達民主之聲 the poetic style he devised is now called free verse-that is, poetry without a fixed beat or re

58、gular rhyme scheme. Whitma n thought that the voice of democracy should not be haltered by traditi onal forms of verse.2. 1855年出版草葉集第一部，其中的大部分作品表達的主題是人類與大自 然。有一部分詩歌描寫的是令作者癡迷的紐約，少量詩歌還對內(nèi)戰(zhàn)進行了描 寫，在詩歌中，惠特曼把各種具有平民思想的普通人，社會下層的不同個體 的理念有機地結合了起來 most of the poems in Leaves of Grass' are about man and natu

59、re. However, a small number of very good poems deal with New York, the city that fasc in ated Whitma n, and with the Civil War.3. 他給詩人重新進行了定義，他認為詩人是一個英雄，是一個救世主，還是先知，詩人通過對真理的表達來引導大眾 in his poetry, Whiman combined the ideal of the democratic com mon man and that of the rugged in dividual. He envisioned the poet as a hero, a savior and a prophet, one who