美國文學主要時期要點復習

1、【美國】Chapter 1The Romantic Period 浪漫主義時期From the end of the 18th century to the outbreak of he CivilWar. It started with the publication of Washington Irving s The SketchBook and ended with Whitman s Leaves of Grass. It is also called”theAmerican Renaissance ”.浪漫主義時期開始于十八世紀末，到內戰(zhàn)爆發(fā)為止， 華盛頓.歐文出版的見聞札記標志著

2、美國文學的開端，惠特曼的草葉集 是浪漫主義時期文學的壓卷之作。（也可稱為“美國的文藝復興”）The desire for an escape from society and a return to naturebecame a permanent convention of American literature. 對逃離社會， 回歸 自然的渴求成為美國文學的一個永恒的話題。The American Puritanism as a cultural heritage exerted greatinfluences over American moral values.美國清教作為種文化遺產，

3、對美國人的道德觀念產生了很大的影響。Besides, a preoccupation with the Calvinistic view oforiginal sin and the mystery of evil marked the works of Hawthorne, Melville and a host of lesser writers. 在霍桑，麥爾維爾以及其他一些小作 家的作品中，加爾文主義的原罪思想和罪惡的神秘性都得到了充分的表現(xiàn)。The most clearly defined Romantic literary movement in thisperiod is New

4、 England Transcendentalism.美國浪漫主義文學運動足能標炳的是新英格蘭的超驗主義運動。This Transcendentalist group includes two of the mostsignificant writers America has produced so far, Emerson and his youngfriend, Henry David Thoreau, whose writinghas a strong impact on Americanliterature. 超驗主義文學的主要代表是愛默生和梭羅，他們的作品對美國文學 產生了很大的影

5、響。Basically, Transcendentalism has been definedphilosophically as“the recognition in man of the capacity of knowingtruth intuitively, or of attaining knowledge transcending the reach ofthe senses. ”超驗主義承認“人類具有本能了解或認識真理的能力，能夠超過 感官獲取知識”。Emerson once proclaimed in a speech, “Nothing is at lastsacred bu

6、t the integrity of you own mind. Other concepts that accompanied Transcendentalism include the idea that nature is ennobling and the idea that the individual is divine and, therefore, self-reliant.愛默生曾說過：“只有人心靈的尊嚴才是最神圣的”。超驗主義還認為自然是高 尚的，個人是神圣的，因此人必須自助。It ranges from the comic fables of Washington Irv

7、ing to theGothic tales of Edgar Allen Poe, from the frontier adventures of James Fenimore Cooper to the narrative quests of Herman Melville, from the psychological romances of Nathaniel Hawthorne to the social realism ofRebecca Harding,美國浪漫主義時期的小說富有獨創(chuàng)性，多樣性，與華盛頓 .歐 文的喜劇性寓言體小說，有愛倫.坡的哥特式驚險故事，有庫柏的邊疆歷險故事

8、， 有麥爾維爾的長篇敘事，有霍桑的心理羅曼史，有麗貝卡哈丁的社會現(xiàn)實小說。Rebecca Blaine Harding Davis (1831-1910; born Rebecca Blaine Harding) was an American author and journalist. She is deemed a pioneer of literary Realism in American literature. Her most important literary work is the novella Life in the Iron Mills published in th

9、e April 1861 edition of the Atlantic Monthly. Throughout her lifetime, Harding Davis sought to effect social change for blacks, women, Native Americans, immigrants, and the working class, by intentionally writing about the plight of these marginalised groups in the 19th century.To Hawthorne and Melv

10、ille, everybody is potentially a sinner, and great moral courage is therefore indispensable for the improvement of human nature,霍桑和麥爾維爾認為人們在內心上都是罪人，因此需要道彳惠力量 來改善人性。(I), Washington Irving 華盛頓,歐文He is regarded as Father of the American short stories.他是美國浪漫主義文學代表作家之一，美國短篇小說之父。With the publication of Th

11、e Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Irving won a measure of international fame on both sides of the Atlantic.1819 年至1820年，歐文出版了見聞札記，該書為歐文獲得了歐美兩大洲的文學 榮譽。A History of New York-He parodies or imitates Homer,紐約史在多方面模仿了荷馬。Like the two famous personae he created, Diedrich Knickerbocker and Geoffrey Crayon,

12、Irving remained a conservative and always exalted a disappearing past.他所創(chuàng)造的兩個人物 Diedrich Knickerbocker 和 GeoffreyCrayon和他一樣，都停留在對過去的事情的津津樂道上。We hear rather than read, for there is musicality in almost every line of his prose. Weseldom learn a moral lesson because he wants us amused and relaxed,他的作品行

13、文優(yōu)美流暢，猶如音樂。他的作品寓教于樂，給人以輕 松安逸之感，如入夢境。He is worth the honor of being“the American Goldsmith “ for hisliterary craftsmanship,在創(chuàng)作藝術方面他堪稱是“美國的哥彳惠斯密”?！癛ip van winkle” Here, Irving s pervasive theme of nostalgia forthe unrecoverable past is at once made unforgettable.”瑞普.凡.溫克爾”-歐文在此表達了對一去不復返的東西十分依戀，筆觸生動，令人

14、難忘。. Ralph Waldo Emerson 拉爾夫,華爾多,愛默生NewEngland Transcendentalism, which is unanimously agreed to be the summit of the Romantic period in the history of American literature.在美國浪漫主義時期的文學中，新英格蘭的超驗主義是不可或缺的。Emersonian Transcendentalism is actually a philosophical schoolwhich absorbed some ideological con

15、cerns of American Puritanism and European Romanticism, with its focus on the intuitive knowledge of human beings to grasp the absolute in the universe and the divinity of man.愛默生的超驗主義實際上是在吸收美國清教思想，強調人類具有本能的掌握宇宙 絕對真理和人的神性而形成的一個哲學流派。In his essays, Emerson put forward his philosophy of the over-soul, t

16、he importance of the individual, and Nature.愛默生的文章提出了 超靈哲學，個人及自然的重要性。Emersonid affirmative about man s intuitive knowledge, with which a man can trust himself to decide what is right and to act accordingly.愛默生相信人的直覺知識。人類可以利用自己的直覺決定是非并采取相應得行 動。The ideal individual should be a self-reliant man.一個理想的個人

17、應是自助自立的人?！癎o back to nature, sink yourself back into its influence andyou ll become spiritually whole again. ” “回到自然中去吧，沉浸在自然 的影響中吧，你將重新獲得精神的完整?！盜n 1845, a great transcendentalist work Walden was born.1845年，寫成了超驗主義的偉大作品瓦爾登。In general, Emerson was showing to the world a distinctive American style, as

18、 he called for in The American Scholar in 1837.總的說來，愛默生的散文表現(xiàn)出明顯的美國風格，堪稱“美國學者”?！癗ature” -the essay discusses the love of nature, the uses of nature,the idealist philosophy in relation to nature evidences of spirit in the material universe, and the potential expansion of human souls and works that wil

19、l result from a general return to direct, immediate contact with the natural environment. In the essay Emerson clearly expresses the main principles of his Transcendentalist pursuit and his love for nature. “論 自然”-全書討論對自然的愛，對自然的利用，對自然的理性主義哲學，物質 宇宙里的精神證據(jù)，人類靈魂的潛在擴展。在文章中愛默生表達了超驗主義的思 想原則及對自然的熱愛。Nathanie

20、l Hawthorne納薩尼爾霍桑The Scarlet Letter(1850), always regarded as the best of his works, tells a simple but very moving story in which four people living in a Puritan community.紅字是霍桑的代表作，講述的是四個生活在清教社區(qū)以 不同方式犯有通奸罪的故事，情節(jié)簡單，但內容感人。According to Hawthorne, “There is evil in every humanheart, which mayremain la

21、tent, perhaps, through the whole life; but circumstances may rouse it to activity. ”霍桑認為，人人內心都有邪惡，這種邪惡也許一生都 潛藏在內心，但在一定的條件下就表現(xiàn)出來?！癟he Birthmark drives homesymbolically Hawthorne s point that evil is man s birthmark, something he is b orn with. 在胎記中他一針 見血地指出邪惡就是人類與生俱來的胎記。Onesource of evil that Hawthor

22、ne is concerned most is overreaching intellect, which usually refers to someone who is too proud, too sure of himself.霍桑最關注的一個罪惡之源是一個人過于自尊自負。Calvinistic belief that human beings are basically depraved and corrupted, hence, they should obey God to atone for their sins.力口爾文思想認為人類本質是邪惡的，必然向上帝贖罪。Hawthor

23、ne is also a great allegorist and almost every story can be read allegorically, as is the case in“Young Goodman Brown： 霍桑擅長隱喻，像小伙子布朗一樣，他幾乎每個故事都可以當作隱喻來讀。The scarlet letter A is ambiguous. And the ambiguity is one of the Salient characteristics of Hawthorne s art. 人們對 A 字究竟是什么意思搞 不清楚。這種多重含義和象征意義的模糊性正是

24、霍桑小說的藝術所在。Walt Whitman 華爾特.惠特曼His aim was nothing less than to express some new poetical feelings and to initiate a poetic tradition in which difference should be recognized.他的目的就是要表達新的詩情，開創(chuàng)一種新的詩歌傳統(tǒng)，抒發(fā)獨特 的自我。The poet s essential purpose was to identify his ego with the world, and more specifically w

25、ith the democratic ”en-masse“ of America, which is established in the opening lines of“Song of Myself. ” 詩人的主要目的就是在世界上確定自我，更具體的說就是要在整個美國確定自我。自我之歌 的開頭幾行就表現(xiàn)了這種思想。As Whitman saw it, poetry could play a vital part in the process of creating a new nation.惠特曼認為，詩歌可以塑造一個新的民族精神。In celebrating the self, Whit

26、man gives emphasis to the physical dimension of the self and openly and joyously celebrates sexuality.在歌頌自我的同時，惠特曼強調了我的物理存在和性愛。Whitman s poetic style is marked, first of all, by the use of thepoetic I ”.他的詩總用第一人稱?！癝ong of Myself - In this poem Whitman sets forth two principalbelief:the theory of uni

27、versality, and the belief in the singularityandequality of all beings in value.自我之歌-詩中表明了兩大信仰：一是普遍性信仰，二是人類個別性和平等性。Herman Melville 赫爾曼.麥爾維爾Moby-Dick was published in 1851. 白鯨在 1851 年出版。Of all these sea adventure stories,Moby Dick proves to be the best.這些有關航海歷險的書中，白鯨最好，達到了麥爾維爾創(chuàng)作的高峰。Moby Dick is regard

28、ed as the first American prose epic.白鯨是美國第一部散文體史詩。It turns out to be a symbolic voyage of the mind in quest of the truth and knowledge of the universe, a spiritual exploration into man s deepreality and psychology.白鯨不僅僅是海上生活的生動描述，而且也象征追求宇宙真理的心路歷程。The Pequod is the microcosm of human society and the

29、voyage becomes a search for truth. The white whale, Moby Dick, symbolizes nature for Melville, for it is complex, unfathomable, malignant, and beautiful as well. For the character Ahab, however, the whale represents only evil.這條船佩闊德成了人類社會和追求真理歷程的縮影。白鯨則象征著自然，復雜， 深不可測，也很美麗。但對埃哈布，白鯨則代表著邪惡。白鯨像一堵墻，隱藏著 未知

30、和神秘。Melville s great gifts of language, invention, psychological analysis, speculative agility, and narrativepower are fused to makeMobyDick a world classic.麥爾維爾的語言才華，創(chuàng)造才華，心理分析能力，觀察的敏捷及生動地描述都使該書成為世界名著?！久绹緾hapter 2 The Realistic Period現(xiàn)實主義時期the realities感。This new attitude was characterized by a gre

31、at interest in of life.由于對現(xiàn)實生活產生了濃厚的興趣，產生了新的創(chuàng)作靈The three dominant figures of the period are William DeanHowells, Mark Twain, and Henry James.這一時期的三個代表作家是豪威爾斯，亨利.詹姆斯和馬克.吐溫。In short, they set the example and charted the future coursefor the subjects, themes, techniques and styles of fiction we still c

32、all modern.總之，他們?yōu)楹髞淼默F(xiàn)實文學在題材，技巧和風格上都樹立了典范。Howells focused his discussion on the rising middle class andthe way they lived, while Twain preferred to have his ownregion and people at the forefront of his stories.豪威爾斯討論上升的中產階級及其生活方式， 而馬克.吐溫則喜歡把他自己家鄉(xiāng)的人放在故事的最前沿。In a word, naturalism is evolved from realis

33、m when theauthor s tone in writing becomes less serious and less sy mpathetic but more ironic and more pessimistic. 總之，自然主義產生現(xiàn)實主義，只是在創(chuàng) 作上更富諷刺，更加悲觀。自然主義只有另一種哲學途徑的現(xiàn)實主義。Mark Twain 馬克.吐溫Mark Twain is considered as“the true father of Americannational literature. ”馬克.吐溫被認為是“我們真正的民族文學之父”。Two of the best bo

34、oks during this period are The adventuresof Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The former is usually regarded as a classic book written for boys about their particular horrors and joys, while the latter, being a boy s book specially written for t he adults, is Twain s most representative

35、 work, describing a journey down the Mississippi undertaken by two fugitives, Huck and Jim.這期間他最偉大的作品是湯姆.索亞歷險記和哈克貝里.芬歷險記。前者是就兒童的 恐懼和高興的事兒寫的一部兒童經典。而后者雖然是兒童故事，卻為大人而寫。這是馬克.吐溫最有代表性的小說，描寫兩個流浪兒童哈克和吉姆沿密西西比河 而下歷險的旅程。The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and, especially, its sequenceAdventures of Huckleberry Finn pro

36、ved themselves to be the mile stone in American literature.湯姆.索亞歷險記，尤其是哈克貝里.芬歷險記是美國文學的里程碑。The childhood of TomSawyer and Huck Finn in the Mississippiis a record of a vanished way of life in the pre-Civil War Mississippi valley and it has movedmillions of people of different ages and conditions all o

37、ver the world; and the books are noted for their unpretentious, colloquial yet poetic style, their wide-ranging humor, and their universally shared dream of perfect innocence and freedom.湯姆.索亞和哈克.芬在密西西比河上度過的童年是內戰(zhàn)前該條河谷生活方式的實錄，感動了 數(shù)以萬計的各種年齡的人。書中的率直，口語化而又不失詩意的語言風格，廣泛的幽默，天真和自由的夢想都是令人難忘的。Hemingway once d

38、escribed the novel the one book from whichallmod比n American literature comes. The profound portrait of Huckleberry Finn is another great contribution of the book to the legacy of American literature.哈克貝里.芬歷險記-海明威曾把該書看作是“所有現(xiàn)代美國 文學之源”.。哈克貝里的深刻形象是該書給美國文學做出的又一貢獻。The climax arises with Huck s inner strug

39、gle on the Mississippi, when Huck is polarized by the two opposing and the laws of the society against those who help slaves escapes.哈克在密西西比河的內心爭斗室小說的高潮。哈克在理想與現(xiàn)實，對吉姆的感情與社會反對奴隸逃跑的法律之間被拋 到了巔峰。Huck s final decision - to follow his own good-hearted moralimpulse rather than conventional village morality.

40、哈克最后決定： 遵循自己內心的良知，而非世俗的道德Twain is also known as a local colorist, who preferred to present social life through portraits of local characters of his regions, including people living in that area, the landscape, and other peculiarities like the customs, dialects, costumes and so on.馬克.吐溫善于描繪地方風物，包括地方任

41、務，風光，風俗，方言和服飾等等。Another fact that madeTwain unique is his magic power with language, his use of vernacular. His words are colloquial, concrete and direct in effect, and his sentence structures are simple, even ungrammatical, which is typical of the spoken language. 馬克.吐溫獨特的另一個方面是他鄉(xiāng)土氣 息的語言風格。他的用詞口語化，

42、具體可感，直率有力。句子結構簡單，不合語 法。Mark Twain s humor is remarkable. 馬克.吐溫的幽默是突出的。Twain s works, containing some practical jokes, comic details, witty remarks, etc., and some of them are actually tall tales.他的作品生動有趣，充盈著實用的笑話，喜劇情節(jié)，智慧的語言以及傳奇故事。His humor is a kind of artistic style used to criticize the social inj

43、ustice and satirize the decayed romanticism.他的幽默是對社會不公正和淪喪的浪漫主義的諷刺和批判。Adventures of Huckleberry Finn:Huck , a typical American boywhom its creator described as a boy with “ a sound heart and a deformed conscience ” . Through the eyes of Huck, the innocent and reluctant rebel, we see the pre-Civil Wa

44、r American society fully exposed and at the same time we are deeply impressed by Mark Twain s thematic contrasts between innocence and experience, nature and culture, wilderness and civilization.哈克貝里.芬歷險記一該小說最精彩的形象是哈克，他是被作者稱為一個 “有正常心理和畸形良知”的美國男孩。通過天真又叛逆的哈克的眼睛，我們看到內戰(zhàn)的美國社會的真正面目，同時，通過馬克.吐溫對比性的描寫，我們還看到了

45、率真與世故，自然與文化，野蠻與文明的對立。(II ) Henry James亨利.詹姆斯While Mark Twain and W川iam DeanHowells satirized European manners at times, Henry James was an admirer of ancient European civilization.馬克.吐溫和豪威爾斯不時的諷刺歐洲傳統(tǒng)，而詹姆斯卻羨慕歐洲文明。In the first period of his, James took great interest in international themes. James tre

46、ated with great care the clashes between two different cultures and the emotional and moral problems of Americans in Europe, or Europeans in America. The works include“The American ”，“Daisy Miller ，“The Europeans，“The Portrait of a Lady” .在詹姆斯的早期作品中，他對國際主題很感興趣。這一時期幾乎他的每一部小說都有關 歐美在文化，情感和道德方面的沖突，每篇作品都

47、處理了重要的問題。著作有美 國人，黛西.米勒，歐洲人，貴婦人的畫像。In his middle period, the works contain“The Bostonians ” , “ThePrincess Casamassima , and so on.中期創(chuàng)作包括波士頓人，卡撒瑪西瑪公主等等。In his last and major period, James returned to his international theme” .后期他又回到了 “國際主題”。These novels are always set against a larger international b

48、ackground, usually between Europe and America, and centered on the confrontation of the two different cultures with two different groups of people representing two different value systems.(國際主題的/、說) 這些小說以國際，主要是歐美為大背景，集中表現(xiàn)兩種人群的兩種價值觀在兩種文化 制度中的沖突。The theme of his essay “The Art of Fiction clearly indic

49、ates that the aim of the novel is to present life.小說的藝術一文明確指出，小說的目的是現(xiàn)實生活。The artist should be able to “feel ” the life, to understand human nature, and then to record them in his own art form.藝術家應能夠“感受” 生活，理解人性，然后忠實地將這些錄入作品。James s realism is characterized by his psychological approach tohis subject

50、 matter.詹姆斯的現(xiàn)實主義還具有分析方法的傾向。One of James s literary techniques innovated to cater for this psychological emphasis is his narrative“point of view ” .詹姆斯文學創(chuàng)作技巧的一個方面就是強調這種心理分析，以敘述著者的視角為線索。As to his language, James is not so easy to understand. He is often highly refined and insightful.詹姆斯的文學語言不易讀懂?！癉ais

51、y Miller ” : Miller has ever since becomethe American Girl inEurope, a celebrated cultural type whoembodies the spirit of the NewWorld.黛西.米勒一黛西.米勒從此成為在歐洲的美國姑娘的形象，是美國精神的 代表。. Emily Dickinson 艾米莉.狄金森Dickinson s poems are usually based on her own experience, her sorrows and joys.狄金森的詩都是根據(jù)自己的經歷和悲歡而創(chuàng)作的。W

52、ithin her little lyrics Dickinson addresses those issues that concern the whole human beings, which include religion, death, immortality, love, and nature. In some of her poems she wrote about her double belief about religious subjects.在她的短篇抒情詩里所涉及到的問題卻是有關人類的，包括宗教，死亡，不朽，愛情和自然。她的一些詩還懷疑宗 教信仰。Although

53、she believed in God, she sometimes doubted His benevolence. Closely related to Dickinson s religious poetry are her poemsconcerning death and immortality, ranging over the physical as well as the psychological and emotional aspects of death.雖然她相信上帝但有時去口懷疑它的善。狄金森與宗教有關的詩是關于死亡和不朽，包括身體，心理和情感三個方面。One gro

54、up of her love poems are clearly the reflection of her own unhappy experience.她的一組愛情詩明確地反映了她自己不幸的經歷。More than five hundred poems Dickinson wrote are about nature, in which her general skepticism about the relationship between manand nature is well-expressed.狄金森有500多首詩是關于自然的，詩中表達了作者對人與 自然關系得懷疑。Her ac

55、ute observations, her concern for precise details and her interest in nature are pervasive. 她對自然的觀察敏銳，描寫細致，興趣豐 饒。Her poemshave no titles, hence are always quoted by their first lines. In her poetry there is a particular stress pattern. eg. Capital letters as a means of emphasis. The form of her poet

56、ry is more or less like that of the hymns in community churches, familiar, communal, and sometimes, irregular.她的詩大多無題，常以首句引用，詩中節(jié)奏特別，例如用大寫表示強 調。她的詩形式上多少有點像教堂的圣歌，不講規(guī)則，為人喜聞樂見。Her poetic idiom is noted for its laconic brevity, directness and plainness.她用詞簡潔，直率，平易。Dickinson s poetry, despite its ostensib

57、le formal simplicity, is remarkable for its variety, subtlety and richness.狄金森的詩雖然表面淺顯，但內容多樣化，微妙而又深刻。(IV)Theodore Dreiser 西奧多.德萊塞In 1911, Jennie Gerhardt came out, followed by two volumes of his“Trilogy of Desire” , The Financier and The Titan, the third, The Stoic, being published posthumously in 1

58、947.1911 年,Jennie Gerhardt 出版，隨 后他的欲望三部曲頭兩部金融家，巨頭相繼出版，第三部斯多葛 是死后出版。In his words, man is a “victim of forces over which he has no control ”.用他的話來說，人類是“各種力量交織在一起的受害者，這些力量人類是無法控制的”。From the first novel Sister Carrie on, Dreiser set himself to projectthe American values for what he had found them to be

59、-materialistictothe core.在第一部小說嘉莉妹妹出版過后，德萊塞一直把美國的價值觀推 向徹底的物質享受主義。For lack of concision, his writings appear more inclusive and less selective, and the readers are sometimes burdened with massive detailed descriptions of characters and events.由于不夠簡潔， 他的作品包容有余，選擇不足。讀者深受他冗繁的描寫之累。His style is not polish

60、ed but very serious and well calculated to achieve the thematic ends he sought.他的寫作風格雖顯粗糙，但內容嚴肅，與表現(xiàn)主題十分相符。【美國】Chapter 3 The Modern Period 現(xiàn)代時期The idea of “seize the day or “enjoy the present was pervasive, as opposed to placing all hope in the future.“及時行樂” 的思想十分橫行，他們不把希望寄托在將來。The most recognizable