美国文学介绍
美国文学介绍
美国文学Americaliterature表现为平民化，多元化，富于阳刚之气，热爱自由，追
求以个人幸福为中心的美国梦。美国文学大致出现过3次繁荣：19世纪前期形成民族文学，第一和第二次世界大战后，美国文学两度繁荣，并产生世界影响，已有近10位作家获得
诺贝尔文学奖。
美国民族文学形成于独立革命时期。这场斗争产生大量的革命诗歌，并且造就了美国
头一批重要的散文家和诗人。政治上的独立促进文化上的独立。战争结束之后，美国作家
的作品陆续增多，逐渐摆脱英国文学的垄断局面。年轻的民主共和国使人们满怀信心，并
吸引着旧世界更多的人们奔向新的大陆。这样的社会条件促使19世纪上半叶的文学创作
具有浪漫主义的色彩。作家们吸取欧洲浪漫派文学的精神，对美国的历史、传说和现实生
活进行描绘，美利坚民族内容逐渐丰富和充实起来。从20、30年代到南北战争前夕，是
浪漫主义运动的全盛时期，各种不同风格的作家泉涌而出，作品从内容到形式都具有鲜明
的民族特色。批评家们称这一时期为美国文学“第一次繁荣”。到了世纪中叶，浪漫主义
文学的基调由乐观走向疑虑，迫切的社会矛盾，如蓄奴制，又使某些作家采取现实主义的
创作方法。
民族文学的诞生
独立革命是美国民族文学诞生的背景。早在战争爆发之前，美国殖民地人民在欧洲启
蒙主义学说影响之下，已经具有民族独立的意识。富兰克林1706～1790世俗的格言比爱
德华兹清教主义的教诲更能吸引广大群众。富兰克林用清晰、幽默的文体传播了科学文化，激发自力更生的精神，他的爱国热忱和关于自学、创业的言论，对于美国人民的人生观、
事业观和道德观产生了深远的影响。独立革命期间充满反抗与妥协之间的尖锐斗争，迫使
作家们采取政论、演讲、散文等简便而又犀利的形式投入战斗。发表“不自由毋宁死”这
一名言的演说家帕特里克·亨利1736～1799，象战鼓那样鼓动战士奋勇杀敌的托马斯·派恩1737～1809，行文朴质无华却字字击中要害的托马斯·杰弗逊1743～1826，都是无畏
的战士，他们为了战斗的需要锤练自己的语言艺术。
那个时期的诗歌也具有强烈的政治性，大量的革命歌谣出自民间。菲利普·弗瑞诺1752～1832是当时著名的革命诗人，他的创作开创了美国诗歌的优秀传统。
早期浪漫主义文学
19世纪初，一些以美国为背景、美国人为主人公的作品开始出现，初具美利坚民族的特色。欧文1783～1859致力发掘北美早期移民的传说故事，他的《见闻札记》1819～
1820开创了美国短篇小说的传统。库珀1789～1851在《皮袜子故事集》中以印第安人部
落的灭亡为背景，表现了勇敢、正直的移民怎样开辟美国文明的途径。诗人布莱恩特1794～1878笔下的自然景色，完全是美国式的，他歌颂当地常见的水鸟和野花，而且通过
它们歌颂人与人之间的和谐。这些作家的作品满怀乐观向上的时代精神。色彩阴暗的爱伦·坡在诗歌、短篇小说和理论批评方面达到新的水平，标志着民族文学的多样性和在艺
术上的发展。
超验主义与后期浪漫主义
19世纪30年代以后，东北部沿海的美国文化中心新英格兰地区成了最早的工业区。
杰克逊总统的民主主义路线又使国内的民主空气增涨。这在意识形态上造成两方面的后果：一方面出现了超验主义者团体，另一
方面使一些作家产生不少疑虑，浪漫主义文学的基调由乐观转向怀疑和消极。超验
主义是一场思想解放运动，先表现为宗教、哲学思想中的改革，后扩展到文学创作领域。
以爱默生1803～1882为首的超验主义者为了摒弃加尔文教派“以神为中心”的思想，吸
取康德先验论和欧洲浪漫派理论家的思想材料，提出人凭直觉认识真理，因而在一定范围
内人就是上帝。这一派思想的出发点是人文主义，即强调人的价值，反对权威，崇尚直觉，主张个性解放，打破神学和外国教条的束缚，对美国作家产生不小的影响。
到了50年代，随着工业化引起的种种社会问题的出现，作家们敏锐地感受到民主制
的弊病。梭罗1817～1862
侧重超验主义中人的“自助”精神，主张回返自然，保持纯真的人性，因此与资产
阶级社会秩序发生冲突。在霍桑与梅尔维尔身上，这种矛盾以抽象、神秘的形式表现出来。霍桑1804～1864深受加尔文教派的影响，又想有所摆脱，于是转向对人类状况与命运的
探索，如《红字》1850。梅尔维尔1819～1891同霍桑一样，把他所感觉到的社会矛盾归
结为抽象的“恶”，而“恶”的强大与不可理解使《白鲸》1851等作品蒙上神秘、悲观的气氛。
婆罗门
“婆罗门”是指这一时期新英格兰地区一批有高度文化教养的作家，或称“绅士派诗人”。朗费罗1807～1882、洛威尔1819～1891和霍姆斯1809～1894都是知识界的名流。他们出于资产阶级民主主义和人道主义，歌颂爱国主义精神，反对蓄奴制，同情印第安人，也对社会流弊提出一些批评。由于他们的出身地位和文化教养，他们的观点和情绪一般较
为温和。
废奴文学
19世纪30年代之后，北部进步人士掀起越来越高涨的废除黑奴运动。黑人的处境激
起许多作家的同情，从爱默生、朗费罗到惠特曼都写过反对蓄奴的诗篇。影响最大的作品
是斯托夫人的小说《汤姆叔叔的小屋》1852，林肯1809～1865称她为“发动了一次战争
的小妇人”。诗人惠蒂埃1807～1892抗议蓄奴制的诗篇数量最多，反映了19世纪废奴运
动历次重大的斗争。废奴文学虽限于道义上的谴责，却推动了废奴斗争，在文学史上，也
是19世纪现实主义创作的先声。伟大的民主诗人惠特曼
美国19世纪的民主精神在惠特曼1819～1892的《草叶集》1855里得到充分发挥。
他以丰富、博大、包罗万象的气魄反映了广大劳动群众在民主革命时期的乐观向上精神。他歌颂劳动，歌颂大自然，歌颂物质文明，歌颂“个人”的理想形象;他的歌颂渗透着对人类的广泛的爱。诗人以豪迈、粗犷的气概蔑视蓄奴制和一切不符合自由民主理想的社会现象。他那种奔放不羁的自由诗体，同他的思想内容一样，也是文学史上的创新，产生了广泛的影响。
感谢您的阅读，祝您生活愉快。
美国文学选读期末考试重点
1、The Colonial Period（1607-1765） American Puritanism ( in the early 17th century through the end of the 18th) 北美第一位女诗人Anne Bradstreet(宗教气息，夫妻恩爱) Edward Taylor 都受英国玄学派影响（metaphysical） 2、The Enlightenment and Revolution Period Benjamin Franklin:Poor Richard's Almanac The Autobiography---“美国梦”的根源 3、American Romanticism（end of 18th to the civil war） American writers emphasis upon the imaginative and emotional qualities of literature. 早期浪漫主义Washington Irving father of American Literature
美国文学选读名词解释
1.Puritanism: Puritanism is the practices and beliefs of the Puritans. 1.simply speaking , American Puritanism just refers to the spirit and ideal of puritans,who settled in the North American continent in the early part of the seventeenth century because of religious persecutions. 2.In content it means scrupulous ,moral rigor ,especially hostility to social pleasure and religion . 3.with time passing it became a dominant factor in American life , one of the most enduring shaping influences in American thought and literature.to some extent it is a state of mind,a part of the national cultural atmosphere that the American breathes ,rather than a set of tenets. 4.Actually it is a code of values,a philosophy of life and a point of view in American minds,also a two-faceted tradition of religious idealism and level -headed in common sense . 2.The American Romanticism(浪漫主义):a literary movement flourished as a cultural force the early period and the late period. associated with imagination and boundlessness, as an historical movement it arose in the 18th and 19th centuries.(Walt Whitman, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Edgar Allan Poe.) II.Features of American romanticism (1) It was the expression of “a real new experience(全新体验)”. (2) American Puritanism was a cultural heritage. Many American romantic writings intended to edify(启发) more than they entertained. (3) American Romanticism is full of “newness(新奇)” . Ideals：Individualism; political equality Dream：America: a new Garden of Eden (4)American romanticism was both imitative and independent. 3.Transcendentalism 超验主义 The major features of Transcendentalism: ① The Transcendentalists placed emphasis on spirit, or the Oversoul, as the most important thing in the universe. 思想超灵宇宙 ② The Transcendentalists stressed the importance of the individual. To them, the individual is the most important element of Society. ③ The Transcendentalists offered a fresh perception of nature as symbolic of the Spirit or God. Nature was not purely matter. It was alive, filled with God’s ove rwhelming presence. 自然+上帝 Ralph Waldo Emerson. American Transcendentalism:As a philosophical and literary
(完整版)美国文学课后答案
1.Why did Franklin write his Autobiography? Franklin says that because his son may wish to know about his life, he is taking his one week vacation in the English countryside to record his past. He also says that he has enjoyed his life and would like to repeat it 2.What made Franklin decide to leave the brother to whom he had been apprenticed? His brother was passionate, and had often beaten him. The aversion to arbitrary power that has stuck to him through his whole life .After a brush with the law, Franklin left his brother. 3.How did he arrive in Philadephia? First he set out in a boat for Amboy, the boat dropped him off about 50 miles from Burlington, the next day he reached Burlington on foot, in Burlington he found a boat which was going towards Philadelphia, he arrived there about eight or nine o’clock, on the Sunday morning and landed at the Market Street wharf. 4.What features do you find in the style of the above selection? It is the pattern of Puritan simplicity, directness, and concision(言简意赅). The narrative is lucid(易懂的), the structure is simple, the imagery is homely(朴素的). 二、Questions 1.How many characters does Poe include in The Cask of Amontillado? What are these names? Montresor, Fortunato and Luchesi 2. What drink are the French most famous for? Wine 3.Does Montresor have something of great value to him which we might consider to be his treasure? His pride and the pride of his French family heritage. Perhaps his devious plot of revenge. 4.Does Montresor seem to have much respect for Italians? Montresor does not have much respect for Italians. He feels the French are superior, especially with respect to wine. 5.What was Fortunato's insult? Poe does not tell us directly, but only implies it in the third paragraph 6.Which wine does Montresor use to lure Fortunato into the catacombs? "Amontillado" (the Spanish wine; Montresor's ruse to lead Fortunato down into the catacombs. 7.Why does Montresor entertain Fortunato with wines from his collection? Montresor wants to get Fortunato drunk enough to be able to trap him in his plan of vengeance. 8.In what two ways does Montresor imprison Fortunato? He fetters (chains and locks) Fortunato to the wall of the catacombs. He builds a wall to close Fortunato off in a small corner of the catacombs, where Montresor will leave him to die. 9.In what ways is The Cask of Amontillado grotesque? First, which of Montresor's actions are abnormal? The whole obsessive plot of vengeance. The fettering and entombment of Fortunato. Montresor's sick sense of humor. 10.Is there anything grotesque about Fortunato? His obsession with alcohol. His drunkenness. His tendency to berate Luchesi (he may have been drunk and may have insulted Montresor in a similar
美国文学考试资料整理
一．The Literature of Colonial America(Puritanism) 1.The first English colony: Jamestown in Virginia in 1607 2.The first American writer: John Smith 3.Anne Bradstreet: first American woman poet; a Puritan poet; once called “Tenth Muse”; 二．Literature of Reason and Revolution War of Independence (1775-1783);The French and Indian War / the Seven Y ears’War(1756-1763) 1..Benjamin Franklin: Autobiography; Richard’s Almanac Maxims from Poor Richard’s Almanac (proverbs that give practical wisdom) 2..Thomas Paine (1737-1809): Common Sense: a strong push for the Revolution W ar; four parts (British enslavement of the colonies; praising democratic election; America’s economic and military potential to protect the rights of people) 3..Philip Freneau (1752-1832) The first American-born poet;“Poet of the American Revolution”, “Father of American Poetry”, the most significant poet of 18th century America W orks:The Wild Honey Suckle《野忍冬花》on mortality, The Indian Burying Ground 《印第安人殡葬地》on the imagined afterlife, The British Prison Ship《英国囚船》about his imprisoned experience. 三．Romanticism The American Romantic period is considered one of the most important periods, the first literary Renaissance, in the history of American literature. It stretches from the end of the 18th century through the outbreak of the Civil W ar. It started with the publication of W ashington Irving’s The Sketch Book and ended with Whitman’s Leaves of Grass. 1.Washington Irving (1783-1859) Literary status: the first American to earn an international reputation; Father of the American short stories The Sketch Book: winning him international popularity，the first modern short stories and the first great American juvenile literature. Major works: A History of New York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty under the name of “Diedrich Knickerbocker
英语文学文化及影视赏析
《英语文学文化及影视赏析》课程教学大纲 一、课程说明 1、课程名称（中英文）：英语文学文化及影视赏析/English Literature and Culture & Appreciation of English movies 2、学时学分：75学时理论教学，2学分 3、适用专业：非英语专业研究生 4、开课学院：外国语学院 5、课程负责人：姜萌萌 二、课程描述： 本课程拟对英语经典文学与相关文化概况进行简要介绍，并遴选英美国家的经典作家和作品，对其文学特色、文化背景进行分析。课程重视文学作品与时代背景、西方历史文化的联系，在教学中将理论与实践相结合，做到寓教于乐。在课内，不仅有作家作品、相关文化背景和信息的介绍、经典作品片段的解读，并通过课堂讨论以及影视作品的欣赏帮助学生最直观地理解西方文化与文学作品的文本意义。在课外，学生需要查阅相关资料，完成相关问题的回答与读书报告，以一种轻松愉悦并且多方面切入的方式学习、了解和体验英语文学文化。该课程目的在于通过英语文学文化的学习，提高学生对英语语言的掌握能力、增强对英语文学经典的理解力和对西方文化的审美能力，进一步养成对英语的敏感性，培养人文素质和文学涵养。 三、教材： 王守仁主编，《英国文学选读》，北京：高等教育出版社。 陶洁主编，《美国文学选读》，北京：高等教育出版社。 秦秀白，《英美国家概况》，北京：高等教育出版社。 王佐良，《欧洲文化入门》，北京：外语教学与研究出版社。 自编讲义 四、教学方式： 理论与实践相结合。 五、考核方式： 提交一篇与所学课程相关的课程论文，用英语完成。 总成绩=期末考试成绩70%+平时成绩30%（考勤占10%）
陶洁版美国文学选读_第三版_课后习题答案解析
美国文学选读第三版课后习题答案洁(部分) Unit 1 Benjamin Franklin Questions 1.Why did Franklin write his Autobiography? Franklin says that because his son may wish to know about his life, he is taking his one week vacation in the English countryside to record his past. He also says that he has enjoyed his life and would like to repeat it 2.What made Franklin decide to leave the brother to whom he had been apprenticed? His brother was passionate, and had often beaten him. The aversion to arbitrary power that has stuck to him through his whole life .After a brush with the law, Franklin left his brother. 3.How did he arrive in Philadephia? First he set out in a boat for Amboy, the boat dropped him off about 50 miles from Burlington, the next day he reached Burlington on foot, in Burlington he found a boat which was going towards Philadelphia, he arrived there about eight
美国文学题_答案
III Multiple choice (20%) 1. Anne Bradstreet was a Puritan poet. When her poems were published in England, she became known as the “______” who appeared in America. A Ninth Muse B Tenth Muse C Best Muse D First Muse 2. ______ is the sometimes exaggerated use of local language, characters and customs in regional literature. A purple prose B waste-land imagery C local color D symbolism 3. The Fitzgeralds lived so extravagantly that they frequently spent more money than F. Scoot Fitzgerald earned for parties, liquor, entertaining their friends and traveling. It was this living style that nicknamed the decade of the 1920s as _______. A The Jazz Age B The Gilded Age C The Glorious Age D The Beat Age 4. ___________ was a reaction to the ideas of the Age of Reason and the Enlightenment. A Romanticism B Realism C Naturalism D Modernism 5. Although only few of her poems were published in her lifetime and a complete collection of them didn’t appear until the 1950’s, _____ had a major impact on 20th century poetry. A Anne Bradstreet B Gertrude Stein C Emily Dickinson D Amy Lowell 6. Who of the following is NOT a 20th century American poet? A Henry Wordsworth Longsfellow B Amy Lowell C Ezra Pound D Robert Frost 7. Mark Twain, one of the greatest 19th century American writers, is well known for his ______. A International theme B Waste-land imagery C Local color
美国文学赏析整理
一 I heard the merry grasshopper then sing, The black-clad cricket bear a second part, They kept one tune, and played on the same string, Seeming to glory in their little art. Shall creatures abject thus their voices raise? And in their kind resound their maker’s praise, Whilst I, as mute, can warble forth no higher lays? “Under the cooling shadow of a stately Elm, Close state I by a goodly River’s side, Where gliding streams the Rocks did overwhelm; A lonely place with pleasures dignifi’d. I once that lov’d the shady woods so well, Now thought the rivers did the trees excel, And if the sun would ever shine there would I dwell. “While musing thus with contemplation fed, And thousand fancies buzzing in my brain, The sweet tongu’d Philomel percht o’er my head, And chanted forth a most melodious strain, Which rapt me so with wonder and delight, I judg’d my hearing better than my sight. 题目：the 9th of Contemplations 作者：Anne Bradstreet 赏析： 1. Rhyme royal: sevenline iambic petametre 七行五步抑扬格 2. Rhyme: ababccc 3. Theme: religion 4. 象征：black-clad=death; abject=admitting defeat; maker= god 5. A genuine expression of poetic feeling in the presence of nature. The poem offers the reader an insight into the mentality of the early Puritan pioneering in a new world. The poet heard the grasshopper and the cricket sing, and she searched for her own soul accordingly. 6. She saw sth metaphysical inhering in the physical, a mode of perception which was singularly Puritan 二 It was about this time I conceived the bold and arduous project of arriving at moral perfection. I wished to live without committing any fault at any time; I would conquer all that either natural inclination, custom, or company might lead me into. As I knew, or thought I knew, what was right and wrong, I did not see why I might not always do the one and avoid the other. But I soon found I had undertaken a task of more difficulty than I had imagined. While my care was employed in guarding against one fault, I was often surprised by another; habit took the advantage of inattention; inclination was sometimes too strong for reason. I concluded, at length, that the mere speculative conviction that it was our interest to be completely virtuous was not sufficient to prevent our slipping and that the contrary habits must be broken, and good ones acquired and established, before we can have any dependence on a steady, uniform rectitude of conduct. For this purpose I therefore contrived the following method. In the various enumerations of the moral virtues I had met with in my reading, I found the catalog more or less numerous, as different writers included more or fewer ideas under the same name. Temperance, for example, was by some confined to eating and drinking, while by others it was extended to mean the moderating every other pleasure, appetite, inclination, or
(完整word版)《美国文学选读》课程标准
《美国文学选读》课程标准 一、课程性质与任务 美国文学选读是英语专业高年级的选修课。它与英美文学史密切结合，使学生在接触到浩繁的文学作品的同时，可以对繁杂的文学现象加以整理和梳理，并形成自己阅读文学作品的习惯，开阔视野，在学习过程中把握正确的理解文学作品的方法。美国文学选读通过向学生介绍文学作品及其作品创作的历史文化背景，培养学生阅读文学作品的兴趣，增强语感，增进学生对美国社会、历史、文化以及生活习俗的了解，提高他们对西方文学的欣赏能力及批评能力。 二、课程教学目标 1．知识目标 1）文学知识：通过本课程的学习，学生应深入、直观地理解各个时期的美国文学作品，把握其思想、语言及创作技巧上的特点；另外，还应对美国的文学评论流变具备相对清晰的认识。 2）语言知识：本课程是通过介绍不同文体的文学作品，深化学生对英语语言的认知、理解和应用的能力。并通过对不同时期英语原文资料的阅读和解析，以一种更加直观的方式了解这门语言的发展。 2．能力目标 1）文学作品鉴赏能力：通过作者作品的讲解，学生可以对作品的社会历史价值和艺术价值进行评价，培养并提高自我的鉴赏能力； 2）语言表达能力：通过课堂和课下阅读及评价任务的完成，学生的口头和书面表达能力能够得到全面的提高； 3）思辩能力：课上小组讨论环节和presentation环节能够激发学生的思辩能力，助其开拓思路，同时也为以后对英语的有效使用打下基础。 3．素质目标 1）文学文化修养：本课程作为英语专业高年级学生的素养课，旨在培养学生对美国文学及文化的理解，可以使学生以直观的方式全面接触这种语言和文化，并形成独立的开放的文化观，进一步强化其跨文化意识； 2）基本的研究素质：本课程通过对文学评论的介绍和讲解向学生传授文学鉴赏的不同视角，可使其具备基本的文学研究素质； 3）文学翻译的基础：本课程通过对文学作品的细读向学生介绍文字背后的人文、历史、政治、哲学及美学等因素，可为文学翻译课程提供较好的材料，并做好前期准备。 三、课程基本信息和内容要求
爱党青年和谐版美国文学答案
Literary terms这部分的答案均来自星火《英美文学》一书，质量高 1.Transcendentalism: is literature，philosophical and literary movement that flourished in New England from about 1836 to1860. It originated among a small group of intellectuals who were reaching against the orthodoxy of Calvinism and the rationalism of the Unitarian Church, their own faith centering on the divinity of humanity and the natural world instead. Transcendentalism derived some of its basic idealistic concepts from romantic German philosophy, and from such English authors as Carlyle，Coleridge, and Wordsworth. The ideas of transcendentalism were most eloquently expressed by Ralph Waldo Emerson in such essays as Nature and Self-Reliance and by Henry David Thoreau in his book Walden. 2.American naturalism：this term was created by Emile Zola. Charles Darwin’s evolutionary theory played an important role in naturalism. In the works off naturalism，characters were conceived as complex combinations of inherited attributes and habits conditioned by social and economic forces. At the end of the 19th century，this pessimistic form of realism appeared in America. Naturalism attempted to achieve extreme objectivity and frankness. Characters in the works of naturalism were dominated by their environment and heredity. Naturalism emphasized：the world was around；men had no free will；religious “truth” were illusory；the destiny of human beings was misery in life and oblivion in death. The dominant figures in naturalism were Stephen crane，Frank Norris, Jack London and Theodore Dreiser. 3.The lost generation: included the young English and American expatriates as well as men and women caught in the war and cut from the old value and yet unable to come to terms with the new era when civilization had gone mad. These writers adopted unconventional style of writing and reacted against the tendencies of the older writers in the 1920s. The term came from Gertrude Stein who said in Hemingway's presence that “you are all a lost generation.” 4.Jazz age: the novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald coined the term "Jazz Age" retroactively to refer to the decade after World War I and before the stock market crash in 1929, during which Americans embarked upon what he called "the gaudiest spree in history". Jazz Age is inextricably associated with the wealthy white "flappers" and socialites immortalized in Fitzgerald's fiction. 5.Free verse: is a poetry that has an irregular rhythm and line length and that attempts to avoid any predetermined verse structure, instead, it uses the cadences of natural speech. While it alternates stressed and unstressed syllables as stricter verse forms do, free verse does so in a looser way. Whitman's poetry is an example of free verse at its most impressive. It has since been used by Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot and other major American can poets of the 20th century. 6. The iceberg analogy: The Iceberg Theory is a writing theory by American writer Ernest Hemingway, as follows：if a writer of a prose knows enough about what he is writing about he may omit things that he knows and the reader，if the writer is writing truly enough, will have a feeling of those things as strongly as though the writer had stated them. 这部分来自星火的为：3,7,8, 来自课本为：1,4,9 来自网络为：2,5,6大家自取之 1.Poe's Poetic Ideas A.His conviction that the function of poetry is not to summarize and interpret earthly experience, but to create a mood in which the soul soars toward supernal beauty. B.He insists that poetry must be disembarrassed of that moral sense. C.Poe believes that the elevation of excitement of the soul should be “the poetic principle” thus poetry must concern itself only with “supernal beauty”. D.Poe defines poetry as “the rhythmical creation of beauty” a definition gi ving unexampled emphasis upon the importance of the rhythmical or musical element in poetry.