American-Literature-An-Overview

AmericanLiterature河南师范大学外国语学院Unit1IntroductiontoAmericanLiteratureⅠ.WhatIsLiterature?•Theword“literature”cameintoEnglishfromthe14thcenturyinthesenseofpolitelearningthroughreading.•Fromthemid-18thcentury,literaturereferredtothepracticeandprofessionofwriting.•Sincethe19thcentury,literaturehasbeenthehighskillsofwritinginthespecialcontextofhighimagination.TheNewCritics,whoflourishedintheUSfrom1920sto1960s,thoughtthatliteratureconsistedofpoetry,dramaandfiction.Untilthemid-20thcentury,manykindsofnon-fictionalwriting—inphilosophy,history,biography,criticism,science,andpolitics—wereallcountedasliterature.Ⅱ.CommonPropertiesofLiterature1.Literatureislanguage2.Literatureisfictional3.Literatureistrue4.Literatureisaesthetic5.Literatureisinter-textualⅢ.WhyDoPeopleReadLiterature?1.Readingforfunorpleasure2.Readingforrelaxation3.Readingtoconfrontexperience4.ReadingforartisticappreciationⅣ.Howdowestudyliterature?1.AnalyticalApproach2.Connecttheworkwithyourself3.Develophypothesesasyouread4.Writeasyouread5.Learnfromtheinterpretationsofothers6.AnalyzeworksofliteraturePurposeofthiscourse:1.Widenyourscopeofknowledge:literatureisamirror,whenyoulookintoit,youcanfindthereflectedsocial,economicandreligiouslife;itisalsoawindow,ifweopenthewindow,wecanseethebeautifulscenery,andlearnthenativelanguage.2.Sharpenoursenseofknowledge:everygreatauthorisgoodatusinglanguage,andheisamasteroflanguage.3.Sharpenourmind:ifyouopenthebooks,itwillbebeneficial.Readingalwaysbringsyougoodreturn.4.Cultivateourears:languagehasitsspecialcharm5.Refineourcharactersandtastes.AmericanLiterature－AnOverviewContents:LiteratureofColonialAmericaLiteratureofReasonandRevolutionRomanticismRealismNaturalismImagismPoetsoftheEarly20thCenturyModernism(theFirstHalf20thCentury)Post-Modernism(Frommid-20thCentury)AmericanDrama1.LiteratureofColonialAmerica:ThefirstAmericanwriter:CaptainJohnSmithEarlyNewEnglandLiterature:theological,moral,historicalandpolitical.PuritanThoughts2.TheliteratureofReasonandRevolutionBenjaminFranklin:TheAutobiographyThomasPaine:TheAmericanCrisisThomasJefferson:TheDeclarationofIndependencePhilipFreneau:“FatherofAmericanPoetry”HefoundnewmaterialsforAmericanpoetry:Sea,IndiacultureandplantsandanimalsofNewWorld.HeisregardedastheforefatherofEmerson,Poe,Longfellowandotherpoets.3.TheLiteratureofRomanticism(fromtheendof18thcenturythroughtheoutbreakoftheCivilWar)A.EarlyromanticsB.TranscendentalistC.HighRomantics1)WashingtonIrving:TheLegendofSleepyHollow(HeisoneofthefoundersofAmericanLiterature,thefirstonetoberecognizedbytheEuropeanworld,“FatherofAmericanLiterature”.HisworkreflectedthetransitionfromtheRationalismof18thcenturytotheRomanticismof19thcentury.)2)WilliamCullenBryant3)JamesFenimoreCooperJamesFenimoreCooper:TheLeather-StockingTalesHeisthefirstwriterinAmericanliteraryhistorytoadoptthefrontiermaterials,heintroducedintoALtheconceptof“thewest”,“wilderness”,“pioneerspirit”.Transcendentalists:RalphWaldoEmerson:Nature,Self-RelianceheadvocatedTranscendentalism.Hebelievedinindividualism,independenceofmindandself-reliance.HenryDavidThoreau:WaldenEmerson’struestdisciple,headvocated“returntonature”todiscovertherealvalueandmeaningoflife.HighRomantics:1)NathanielHawthorne2)HermanMelville3)HenryWadsworthLongfellow4)EdgarAllanPoe5)WaltWhitman6)EmilyDickinsonNathanielHawthorne:TheScarletLetterHermanMelville:MobyDickHenryWadsworthLongfellow:APsalmofLife,TheSlave’sDreamEdgarAllanPoe:ToHelen,TheRaven,TheFalloftheHouseofUsherWaltWhitman:SongofMyselfEmilyDickinson:oneofthegreatestpoetessofAmerican,agreatwriterofgreatpowerandbeauty.Herpoemsarehardtounderstandanddeepinthought.4.Realism:MarkTwain(SamuelLanghorneClemens):TheAdventureofTomSawyerO.Henry:TheCopandtheAnthem,ThegiftoftheMagiHenryJames:ThePortraitofALadyJackLondon:MartinEden5.Naturalism:StephanCrane:Maggie,AGirloftheStreets;TheRedBadgeofCourageTheodoreDreiser:SisterCarrie;TheGenius;AnAmericanTragedy6.Imagism:EzraPound：InaStationoftheMetroWilliamCarlosWilliams7.Poetsoftheearly20thcentury:1)RobertFrostTheRoadNotTaken,StoppingbyWoodsonaSnowyEvening2)CarlSandburgFog,Chicago3）EdwinArlingtonRobinsonRichardCory,MiniverCheevy3)WallaceStevensAnecdoteoftheJar4)LangstonHughesTheNegroSpeaksofRiver5)ThomasStearnsEliotWasteLandAmericanNobelPrizeWinnersinLiterature:1930SinclairLewis1936EugeneO’Neill1938PearlBuck(Sydenstricker)1949WilliamFaulkner1954ErnestHemingway1962JohnSteinbeck1976SaulBellow1978IsaacBashevisSinger1980CzeslawMiłosz1987JosephBrodsky1993ToniMorrison8.Modernism(--1945):F.ScottFitzgerald:TheGreatGatsbyErnestHemingway:AFarewelltoArms,ForWhomtheBellTollsJohnSteinbeck:TheGrapesofWrathWilliamFaulkner:TheSoundandtheFury,ARoseforEmily9.Post-Modernism(1950’s--):SaulBellow:1976NobelPrize;DanglingMan;Herzog;Humboldt’sGift;ToniMorrison:1993NobelPrize;TheBluestEyes;SongofSolomon;JosephHeller:Catch-22;ThomasPynchon:V;AllenGinsberg:Howl;SylviaPlath:LadyLazarus;Daddy;10.AmericanDrama:EugeneO’Neill:LongDay’sJourneyintoNightTennesseeWilliams:TheGlassMenagerieArthurMiller:DeathofaSales