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单击此处编辑母版标题样式,单击此处编辑母版文本样式,第二级,第三级,第四级,第五级,*,Introduction to,American Literature,美国文学:,与思想伟人和文学大师同行!,主要参考书,常耀信,:,美国文学简史,李宜燮,常耀信,:,美国文学选读,童明,:,美国文学史,外语教学与研究出版社;,吴定柏,:,美国文学大纲,上海外语教育出版社,吴定柏,:,美国文学欣赏,上海外语教育出版社,杨金才,:,新编美国文学史,秦小孟,:,当代美国文学,Why do we read literature?,1.Literature represents,a language or a people,its culture and tradition,2.Literature is more important than just,a historical or cultural artifact.,3.Literature introduces us to,new worlds of experience.,4.We learn about,books and literature,;,We enjoy,the comedies and the tragedies of poems,stories,and plays,;,We may even grow and evolve through our literary journey with books.,5.Ultimately,we may discover meaning in literature by looking at what the author says and how he/she says it.,We may interpret the authors message.,Why is literature important?,Literature is important to us because,it is beautiful.,it is universal.,it speaks to us.,it affects us.,We need to learn:,1.A brief account of,the major authors,their masterworks,2.The major literary trends and currents of thought that have dominated the American literary scene at one time or another.,How to Learn American Literature,1.,Make yourself,interested,in American literature,2.,Use effectively the textbook,3.,Make an effective note,4.,Have student-oriented discussion,5.,Read effectively literary works after class,6.,Write by imitation,7.,Practice role-playing,8.,Use video to reinforce the effect of learning&memories of the works.,How to use,the textbook,?,1.the authors,2.the works,3.the new words,4.the related questions,The relationship between English&American Literatures?,1.the history,2.the social changes,3.the philosophical and religious thoughts,4.the literary trends,Topic 1,:,Introduction to American Literature,American literature may be among the,youngest,national literatures in the world.,Its real history,if calculating roughly from the,end of the Revolutionary War,(October,1781),is only about,200,years or more.,Within such a short period,American literature,swiftly developed,well matured,began to receive international recognition,has exercised an impactful effect upon world literature,In fact American writers have brought out some of the worlds best literature.,Nine American,Nobel Prize,Winners in Literature,1930:Sinclair Lewis,刘易斯,1936:Eugene ONeill,奥尼尔,1938:Pearl S.Buck,赛珍珠,1949:William Faulkner,福克纳,1954:Ernest Hemingway,海明威,1962:John Steinbeck,斯坦贝克,1976:Saul Bellow,索尔,贝娄,1978:Isaac B.Singer,辛格,1993:Toni Morrison,莫里森,1980:,Czeslaw Milosz,米沃什,(Poland/USA),1987:,Joseph Brodsky,布罗德斯基,(USSR/USA),1948:T.S.Eliot,艾略特,(USA/UK),Basic common qualities of American Writers:,Independent,,,独立精神,Individualistic,,,个性意识,Critical,,,批判精神,Innovative,,,革新意识,Humorous,,,幽默风格,Topic 2,:,Historical Introduction,and,Puritanism,主要内容,:General background,major writers and their works,重点难点,:American Puritanism and its influence on American Literature,Beginning:the,settlement,of America in the early 17th century,Ending:the end of the 18th century,Contents,I.,Historical Introduction,II.,Puritan and Puritanism,I.,Historical Introduction,European nations came to the Americas to,increase their wealth,broaden their influence over world affairs,The Spanish:the first to settle in what is now the United States,By 1650,however,England,had established a,dominant presence,on the Atlantic coast.,The,first,colony founded at:,Jamestown,Virginia,in 1607,Many of the people who settled in the New World came,to,escape religious persecution,.,Two Important New England Settlements,1.The,Plymouth,Colony,2.The,Massachusetts,Bay,Colony,Plymouth,plim,普利茅斯,Massachusetts,mstu:sits,马萨诸塞,The Mayflower,1.The Plymouth Colony,Flagship name:“,Mayflower,”,Arrives:,1620,Leader:,William Bradford,(,布拉德福,),Settlers:known as,Pilgrims,and,Separatists,-,Separatists:,脱离英国国教者,Mayflower,“,The Mayflower Compact,”,provides for social,religious,and economic freedom,still maintains ties to Great Britain,2.The Massachusetts Bay Colony,Flagship name:,Arbella,Arrives:1630,Leader:,John Winthrop,(,温斯洛普,),Settlers:mostly,Puritans,or,Congregational Puritans,(,公理会教徒,),“The Arbella Covenant”,clearly establishes a religious and theocratic settlement,free of ties to,Great Britain,In the two settlements,the colonists flourished with some assistance from Native Americans.(,Thanksgiving,),New World grains:,Corn:kept the colonists from,starving,Tobacco:provided a valuable,cash crop,Great Britains 13 North American colonies,Enslaved Africans,By 1770,more than 2 million people lived and worked there.,II.,Puritans and Puritanism,1.Puritans,(,清教徒,),2.Puritanism,(,清教思想,),3.,Later Influence on American Society,1.,Puritans,A member of a group of,English Protestants,(,lpr,:,tstnt,英国新教徒,),who in the,16,th,&17,th,centuries advocated,strict religious discipline,along with,simplification,of the ceremonies and creeds of,the Church of England,(,英国国教,),puritan:one who lives in accordance with Protestant precepts(,教训,训诫,),especially one who,regards pleasure or luxury as sinful,.,English religious and political reformers,fled their native land in search of religious freedom,settled and colonized New England in the 17th century,They wished to,reform,or“,purify,”their religious beliefs and practice.,To them,religion should be a matter of,personal faith,rather than a,ritual,.,To the Puritans,A person by nature was wholly,sinful,and,He could achieve good only by,severe and unremitting discipline,Hard work was considered,a religious duty,Emphasis was laid on constant,self-examination,self-discipline,Religious activities:,a matter of first importance,all others should serve the religion,The lives of the Puritans:,disciplined,and,hard,The term“Puritan”first began as a taunt,(,t,:,nt,辱骂,嘲弄,),or insult applied by traditional Anglicans to those,who criticized or wished to“,purify,”the Church of England.,1.,“separating”Puritans,such as t,he Plymouth colonists,who believed,that the Church of England was corrupt,that true Christians must separate themselves from it.,“Puritan”refers to,two distinct groups,:,2.,non-separating Puritans,such as the colonists who settled the Massachusetts Bay Colony,who believed in,reform but not separation,.,2.,Puritanism,(1)Definition,of Puritanism,(2),Features of Puritanism,(3)Basic Principles,of Puritanism,(1)Definition,of Puritanism,the beliefs and practices characteristic of Puritans,most of whom were Calvinists who wished to purify the Church of England of its Catholic aspects,(2),Features of Puritanism,a.,Predestination,(,命运,造化,),:,God decided everything before things occurred.,b.Original sin,Human beings were,born to be evil,this original sin can be,passed down,from generation to generation,“In Adams fall,we all sin.”,Through Adam and Eves fall,every person is,born sinful.,They considered that man,was born sinful,was a sinner,could not redeem his original sin,c.,Total depravity,As a consequence of,the Fall of Man,every person born into the world is,enslaved to the service of sin,utterly unable to choose to,follow God or choose to accept,salvation as it is freely offered,d.,Limited atonement,Only the“elect”can be saved.,God“saves”those he wishes.,Only a few are selected for salvation.,Jesus died for the chosen only,not for everyone.,(3)Basic Principles,of Puritanism,Over the years in the new homeland,they built a way of life that stressed,hard work,thrift,piety,sobriety,s,l,braiti,节制,3.,Later Influence on American Society,American Puritanism was one of the dominant forces in American life for the 17th and early 18th centuries.,After the 17,th,century,the Puritans as a political entity largely,disappeared,but Puritan attitudes and ethics,continued,to exert an influence on American society.,They made a virtue of qualities that made for,economic success:,self-reliance,frugality,industry,energy,and through them influenced modern social and economic life.,In America,Puritan moralism,(,道德准则,),and,its sense of an elect people in covenant,(,契约,),with God,deeply affected the national character.,The Puritan belief that,communities were formed by covenants,produced America,s first democratic institution,the town meeting,where every church member had the right to speak with decisions made by majority rule.,What remained influential into the 20th century,:,A.,the Puritan emphasis on,simplicity of worship,B.,its,asceticism,(,极端自制与简朴,),C.,its,Sabbatarianism,(,严守星期日为安息日,),What had an important effect on American life includes,A.,the Puritan devotion to popular education,B,.,high standards of morality,C,.,many democratic principles,Their concern for,education,was important in the development of the United States.,The idea of,congregational democratic church government,was carried into the political life of the state as a source of,modern democracy,.,Topic 3,:,American Literature in Colonial America,Contents,I.,Influence of Puritanism on American literature,II.,The Function of Puritan Writers,III.,The Style of Puritan Writing,IV.,The main forms of literary works,V.,Common Themes in Early Puritan Writing,VI,.,Major,Writers of the Colonial Period,I.,Influence of Puritanism on American literature,a.The spirit of,optimism,b.,Symbolism,as a technique,c.,Simplicity,Puritans had,a strict set of religious and moral principles,that were frequently the focal point of their writings.,II.,The Function of Puritan Writers,Religious function:,1.,To transform a mysterious God.,2.,To make him more relevant to the universe.,3.,To glorify God.,Political function:,colonial expansion,III.,The Style of Puritan Writing,a.Protestant,(,清教影响,),against ornateness,(,华丽,),reverence for the Bible,The rhetoric:,plain,and,honest,with a touch of,nobility,often traceable to the direct influence of,the Bible,.,Their writing style,therefore,often tends toward the,introspective,and,spiritual,as they engage in,deep self-searching,metaphysical reasoning,A tenet of Puritanism was that,an individual must search out and identify their own sins before they can be absolved of them.,Puritan writing often consists of this type of,self-analysis,.,b.Purposiveness,(,较强的目的性,),fresh,simple,and,direct,c.imitating and transplanting English literary traditions,IV.,The main forms of literary works,personal literature in its various forms,no 1st-rank literary works produced,Including,diaries&journals,travel books,collections of letters,histories,biographies,poetry,prose,V.,Common Themes in Early Puritan Writing,1.,Idealism,both religious and political.,2.,Pragmaticism,practicality,purposiveness,3.,Focus on History,Puritan writing focused heavily on questions of historical fact.,A major Puritan tenet was the concept of decay,that in the historical past,people had a stronger connection to God and religion,a connection that has been weakening over time with modern temptations.,VI,.,American Literature-the Early American and Colonial Period,1.Native American Oral Literature,2.The Early Literature of Exploration,3.The Later Literary Records of the Settled Colonies,American literature really begins with the diverse Native American(“Indians”)oral tradition,one of the richest and least explored topics in America.,It includes,tribal variations,different religions,systems of government,reverence for nature,culture heroes,tricksters tales,魔法师故事,stories,in almost every genre:,lyrics,myths,fairy tales,humorous anecdotes,incantations,咒语、魔法,riddles,proverbs,epics,legendary histories.,2.The Early Literature of Exploration,E.g.,Christopher Columbus,s journal in his“Epistola”,(,哥伦布家书,1493),VII,.,Major,Writers of the Colonial Period,1.,Captain John Smith,2.,John Winthrop,3.,William Bradford,4.,Anne Bradstreet,5.,Edward Taylor,1.,Captain John Smith,(,1580-1631),the first American writer,Also a soldier,explorer,colonist,a vivid and prolific,chronicler,(,l,krnkl(r),),of the beginnings of English settlement in the New World,He was now associated with the English expedition that founded,the Jamestown colony,in East Virginia,the first permanent English settlement in North America in 1607,Captain John Smith,exploring the shores of the region in 1614,named it“,New England,”in his account of two voyages there,published as,A Description of New England.,Smiths books and maps are considered extremely important in,encouraging&supporting English colonization of the New World.,He encouraged people to migrate by noting,“Here every man may be master and owner of his owne labour and land.If he have nothing but his hands,he may.by industrie quickly grow rich.”,John Smiths,Pocahontas,波卡洪塔斯,(,印第安公主,),a Virginian Indian notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown.,She was the daughter of,Powhatan,.,In a well-known historical anecdote,she is said to have saved the life of John Smith,then an Indian captive in 1607 by placing her head upon his own when her father raised his war club to execute him.,Pocahontas,:,2 films,Pocahontas,:,风中奇缘,1995,The song,:,Colors of the Wind,Pocahontas,II:Journey to a New World,1998,Works,1),A Description of New England,(1964),2)Advertisements for the Unexperienced Planters of New England,or Anywhere,(1631),3)The True Travels,Adventure,and Observations of Captain John Smith,(1630),4),General History of Virginia,New England,and the Summer Isles,(1624),2.,John Winthrop,约翰,温斯洛普,(1588-1649),came to America in 1630 on the Arbella.,the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony states.,Works:,The History of New England,A Model of Christian Charity,3.,William Bradford,威廉,布拉德福,(1590-1657),a colonial writer whose name has become synonymous with the Pilgrims and the Mayflower.,Bradford was ever elected,the Pilgrim Governor of Massachusetts 30 times.,His best known work is,The History of Plymouth Plantation.,His concern is more with,the spiritual pursuit in America.,4.,Anne Bradstreet,布拉德斯特里特,(1612-1672),the first poet,and,first female writer,in the British North American colonies to be published.,The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America,Her first volume of poetry,published in 1650,the first book written by a woman to be published in the United States.,Bradsteets poems are associated mostly with Romanticism.,She tends to present Romanticism in the form of idealism,individualism,and the discussion of an exotic place.,Anne Bradstreet expresses,Romanticism,in her poetry not necessarily in the sense of her own choice of subject but in the way of her own feelings.,5.,Edward Taylor,爱德华,泰勒,(1645/42-1729),“,Saint and Singer,”,considered the finest Puritan poet,regarded as a major figure in colonial literature,His reputation,however,was posthumously established.,As he lay dying at the age of 88,Taylor requested that his poetry not to be published.,His heirs honored his request.,Consequently,Taylors poems lay buried in,dust and anonymity,for 2 centuries.,In 1937,his manuscript,some four hundred pages bound in a leather book,was discovered in the Yale University Library.,Taylors poems were an expression of,his deeply held religious views,acquired during a strict upbringing and shaped in adulthood by New England Puritans.,
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