Lecture_Colonial_Period_and_Puritanism

1、An Introduction to the History of American Literature 2Words on the Study of American Literature I. Preliminary knowledge for the study of American literature 1. Basic knowledge of American literary works; 2. Basic knowledge of world literary classics, particularly those of ancient Greece; 3. Basic

2、knowledge of ancient Greek and Roman mythology; 4. Basic knowledge of American history and politics; 5. Basic knowledge of the Christian Bible3II. Essential prerequisites for the study of American literature1. Interest in literature;2. A large vocabulary;3. Good habits of study;Words on the Study of

3、 American Literature4 III. What is to be studied in American literature 1. History of American literature; 2. Major writers and their major works; 3. Historical (economic, political and ideological) background for the creation of the major writers; 4. Literary creative thought and artistic features

4、of the major writers; 5. Central thought and social significance and writing techniques of a specific literary work; 6. General literary theories and schoolsWords on the Study of American Literature5 IV. My requirements 1. Previewing without exception; 2. Regular attendance (exception permitted only

5、 with convincing reasons); 3. Class participation (Be active) and oral presentation; 4. Note-taking (many things out of the textbook are to be touched upon in class, and some of them are to be included in the final exam); 5. Dont expect me (or anybody else) to discuss everything about a writer or a

6、literary work as a teacher of intensive reading does; dont expect me to write everything I say on the blackboard. This is not at all the proper method of studying literature Words on the Study of American LiteratureReference Books Marcus Cunliffe, The Literature of the United States Robert Spiller,

7、The Cycle of American Literature Rod W. Horton and Herbert W. Edward, Backgrounds of American Literary Thought Rubinstein, Annette. American Literature, Root and Flowering（美国文学的源和流）Reference Books 常耀信，美国文学简史 常耀信，美国文学选读 刘海平、王守仁等主编，新编美国文学史 史志康主编，美国文学背景概观 童明，美国文学史 吴伟仁，美国文学简史及作品选读Brief Outline of Americ

8、an literature Part One: The Colonial Period (1607-1750) The major topic: American Puritanism The major figures to discuss: Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672) Edward Taylor (ca. 1642-1729) Jonathan Edwards (17031758)Brief Outline of American literature Part Two: Enlightenment and Revolutionary period (1750-

9、1815) The major topic: American Enlightenment The major figures to discuss: Benjamin Franklin(1706-1790) Thomas Paine (1737-1809) Thomas Jefferson (17431826)Brief Outline of American literature Part Three: The Romantic Period (1815-1865) Section 1: American Romanticism The major topic: American Roma

10、nticism The major figures to discuss: Washington Irving (17831859) The Sketch Book: Rip Van Winkle The Legend of Sleepy Hollow James Fenimore Cooper (17891851) Leatherstocking Tales Brief Outline of American literature Nathaniel Hawthorne (18041864) The Scarlet Letter (1850) Herman Melville (1819189

11、1) Moby Dick (1851) Walt Whitman (18191892) Leaves of Grass (1855) Emily Dickinson (18301886): poems Edgar Allan Poe (18091849): poems and short storiesBrief Outline of American literature Section 2: New England Transcendentalism/American Renaissance (18361855) The major topic: New England Transcend

12、entalism The major figures to discuss: Ralph Waldo Emerson (18031882) Nature (1836): “the Manifesto of American Transcendentalism” The American Scholar (1837): Americas “Declaration of Intellectual Independence” Henry David Thoreau (18171862) and his WaldenBrief Outline of American literature Part F

13、our: American Realism (1865-1914) The major topic: American Realism The major figures to discuss: William Dean Howells (18371920): the Atlantic Monthly Mark Twain （local colorism）(18351910) The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Henry James: The Portrait of a LadyBrief Outline of American literature Par

14、t Five: Literary Naturalism The major topic: Literary Naturalism The major figures to discuss: Stephen Crane (18711900): Maggie: A Girl of the Streets Frank Norris (18701902) : McTeague O. Henry: short stories Theodore Dreiser (18711945): Sister Carrie Jack London (18761916) : The Call of the WildBr

15、ief Outline of American literature Part Six: Modern Period (1914-1945) Section 1: The 1920s The major figures to discuss: T.S. Eliot: The Wasteland William Faulkner: the Yoknapatawpha series Lost Generation: Ernest Hemingway (18981961) : The Old Man and the Sea F. Scott Fitzgerald (18961940) : The G

16、reat GatsbyBrief Outline of American literature Section 2: Imagism The major figures to discuss: Ezra Pound (18851972) William Carlos Williams (18831963) Wallace Sevens (18791955) E. E. Cummings (18941962) Carl Sandburg (18781967) T. S. Eliot (18881965): The Waste Land Robert Frost (18741963) Hart C

17、rane (18991932)Brief Outline of American literature Section 3: 1930s The New Criticism The major figures to discuss: John Steinbeck (19021968) : The Grapes of Wrath Katherine Anne Porter (18901980) : Ship of Fools Eudora Welty (1909) : Death of a Traveling Salesman Carson McCullers (19171967) : The

18、Ballad of the Sad CafBrief Outline of American literature Section 4: The Harlem Renaissance / Black American literature The major figures to discuss: Langston Hughes (19121967) Richard Wright (1908-1960) and his Native Son Ralph Ellison (19141994) James Boldwin (19241987) Toni Morrison (1931) and he

19、r The Beloved Alice Walker (1943) with her The Color PurpleBrief Outline of American literature Section 5: Modern American Drama The major figures to discuss: Eugene ONeill (18881953) : Long Days Journey into Night Clifford Odets (19061963) : Waiting for Lefty Tennessee Williams (19111983) The Glass

20、 Menagerie Arthur Miller (1915) Death of a Salesman Brief Outline of American literature Edward Albee (1928) : Who is Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Sam Shepherd (1943) : Fool for Love Amiri Baraka, Dutchman David Henry Hwang: M. Butterfly Marsha Norman: Night MotherBrief Outline of American literature P

21、art Six: Contemporary Period (1945-2000) Section 1: Postwar Poetry The major topic: Postmodernism The major figure: Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979)Brief Outline of American literature Part Six: Contemporary Period (1945-2000) Section 2: The Confessional School. The major topic: the Beat Generation The

22、major figures: Robert Lowell (1817-1977)Brief Outline of American literature Part Six: Contemporary Period (1945-2000) Section 3: The New York School The major topic: Meditative Poetry The Black Mountain Poets The major figures: Frank OHara (1926-1966)Brief Outline of American literature Part Six: C

23、ontemporary Period (1945-2000) Section 4: Postwar Novels The major figures: J. D. Salinger (1919) The Catcher in the Rye Flannery OConnor (19251964) A Good Man is Hard to Find Joseph Heller (1923-1999) Catch-22 (1961)A Brief Summary1. Colonial period (1607-1750)Anne BradstreetEdward Taylor2. Enlight

24、enment and Revolutionary period (1750-1815)Benjamin Franklin Philip Freneau3. Romanticism (1815-1865) Washington IrvingEdgar Allan Poe Nathaniel Hawthorne William Whitman* Transcendentalism * (New England Renaissance)Ralph Waldo EmersonFillip Thoreau4.Realism (1865-1914) Mark TwainHenry JamesNatural

25、ism:Stephen CraneTheodore Dreiser5. Modern Period (1914-1945) The 1920sT.S. EliotWilliam FaulknerErnest Hemingway (Lost Generation) Imagism: Ezra Pound The 1930sSteinbeckHarlem Renaissance(Black American literature)HughesWrightEllison American DramaEugene ONeill6.Contemporary Period (1945-2000) The

26、Post-war SceneSaul BellowSalinger OConnor Heller Poetry:Confessional PoetryBlack Mountain PoetsSan Francisco RenaissanceThe Beat GenerationThe New York PoetsPart IEarly American Literature: Colonial Period to 1815The literature of the new world While the nationhood of the US may be traced to the Ame

27、rican Revolution, the cultural - indeed, multicultural - roots of the United States are to be founded in the various explorations of the New World. The Age of Exploration: Christopher Columbus, October 12, 1492 (set sail on August 3, 1492, looking for a convenient passage to the Orient, or, more spe

28、cifically, a passage to the land of Kublai Khan as Marco Polo had described); Amerigo Vespucci, the noteworthy discoverer of America as a distinctly new region in 1499, in whose story the New World became “America”.The literature of the New world The indigenous people What is “American” cannot be de

29、fined from the perspective of a single culture. Cultural pluralism is a norm in the US today, but this belief is rooted in the diverse origins of America and it grew more vigorous with succeeding waves of immigrants from different continents of the world. The literature of the new world Native Ameri

30、can Oral Literature: more than 10 million Indians, tribal cultures, more than 350 languages, speech, chant, song (today, 2 million, 200 languages); “For students of American literature, some knowledge of the native oral literature is indispensible in that this oral tradition is the very foundation o

31、f native written literature in the 20th century.”The literature of the new world Indian legends, folktales, stories, battle songs, poems, mostly in oral form; when the Europeans came, this Indian heritage is forever lost; fair desires and beliefs of the Indian people; reflect the life and society of

32、 the Indians; reveal a kind of life and beauty characteristic of the Indian people; fortunately some of the works are preserved; mostly after 1970s, scholars went to the Indian Reserves, recorded their songs and stories, published; Indian literature is generally considered a component of American li

33、terature; however, not the mainstream of American literature; the mainstream comes with the colonialists European Exploration Writings: Christopher Columbus, Captain John Smith (1580-1631)Captain john smith: the first American writer? History, his story, not completely true; numerous interpretations

34、 Captain John Smith: 1607, the Jamestown Colony; A True Relation of Such Occurrences and Accidents of Note as Hath Happened in Virginia Since the First Planting of That Colony (1608) 吴伟仁: “Thus Captain John Smith became the first American writer.” (3); 童明: “Since his writings were the first ones app

35、earing in English in the New World, those who favor the definition of “America” in terms of English cultural sources suggest that American literature literally begins with Captain Smith.” (10, too narrow-minded)The literature of the colonial America: 1620-1763 (1607-1776)? The year 1620 saw the Pilg

36、rims settling in the tiny colony of Plymouth in Massachusetts which, due to William Bradfords influential work Of Plymouth Plantation, is now regarded as a symbol for Puritan culture during colonial settlement. (Marking this year as the beginning of the colonial period allows us to see Puritanism as

37、 a major influence in colonial America although this choice is, admittedly, arbitrary, considering that the settlement in Jamestown, Virginia, had already taken place thirteen years earlier, in 1607.) 童明:12The literature of the colonial America: 1620-1763 (1607-1776)? 1763: the symbolic end of the c

38、olonial period: 1760, George III ascended to the throne; the 1763 Proclamation (The map as a result of the 1763 Proclamation defined Northern, Middle, and Southern colonies at the time) Northern colonies are those in New England where the Puritan culture was predominant. Southern colonies included t

39、he Chesapeake Bay, Virginia, North and South Carolinas and, in the 18th century, Georgia. Middle colonies are those between New England and Southern colonies, including New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.The literature of the colonial America: 1620-1763 童明:14, “It is worth reiterating that those

40、 who colonized America during the 17th and the 18th centuries were part of a great migration initiated not only from all parts of England but also from Africa, from the Scottish Highlands, Ireland, Germany, Switzerland and other regions in Europe. While some of the settlers came in response to econo

41、mic forces, others came in search for political and religious freedom. Africans were forced to come as slaves. This diversity of situations, when blended into specific environments, contributed to the development of regional cultures and to the cultural pluralism of America.”The literature of the co

42、lonial America: 1620-1763 New England (Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut), Puritan literature: journals (diaries), hymns, sermons, home letters, histories; the South, Virginia, promotional tracts, journals, poems, letters, sermons (satire, a spirit of exploratio

43、n inherent in the Renaissance); the Middle Colonies, culturally and ethnically more diverse: better reflecting the diversity of colonial life and anticipating the pluralism of America The literature of the colonial America: 1620-1763 1607 a group of immigrants came to Virginia; called themselves “pl

44、anters” (planters of a new civilization, to plant the European civilization in this virgin land); the first permanent English settlement in Jamestown (King James I)part of a culture aimed at finding “the vale of plenty” in contrast to the Puritan culture aimed at building the “city upon the hill”. “

45、the vale of plenty” (Captain John Smith) Vs the “city on the hill” (John Winthrop) The Southern Colonies included: Maryland (MD), Virginia (VA), North Carolina (NC), South Carolina (SC), and Georgia (GA). The Middle colonies included: New York (NY) , New Jersey (NJ) , Delaware (DE) and Pennsylvania

46、(PA).The northern colonies included: New Hampshire (NH), Massachusetts (MASS), Rhode Island (RI), and Connecticut (CONN), The original northern colonies included: Providence of New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay Company, Providence Plantations, Colony of Rhode Island, and Connecticut Colony06/04/20064

47、006/04/200641Outline by RegionNew England Congregationalists (公理会主义者)Rhode Island Baptists (浸信会教徒)Middle Colonies Quakers (贵格会教徒) Mennonites (门诺派教徒) Moravians (摩拉维亚教徒) Lutherans (路德会徒) Presbyterians (长老会教徒)MarylandRoman CatholicSouth C, NY, etc.AnglicanThe South: Planters Came for Economic Reasons R

48、eligions: mainly Anglican, Baptist Formed large plantations, often 100 people living on them. Literature: more descriptive, less religious in nature Oral literature of African AmericansPlanter Elite of the South owners of the great plantations the richest / most powerful men in the colonies Elegant

49、estates rivaled the mansions of the English aristocracy privileged circle difficult to enter Planter elite: narrow and exclusive; many characteristics of an aristocracyMount VernonNorthern Society Wealthy class also developed in the north Mainly merchants involved in international trade less wealthy

50、 than southern planter elite easier to enter Hardworking, a little luck, right contacts, and a lot of drive and nerveBoston merchantThe Frontier heavily forested, claimed by Indians, and far from protection of colonial governments the chance to many to become an independent farmer a “critical safety

51、 valve” for the discontented and dissatisfied Created American tradition of moving in order to find better opportunitiesThe literature of the colonial America: 1620-1763 Early writings/literary works then were actually the immigrants letters/reports to their friends, families, colonial companies, or

52、 to the kings and queens It decided the nature of the earliest American writings; the writers were educated in England, used English language and style to write about American material; the form is English, the content AmericanThe literature of the colonial America: 1620-1763 Besides the home letter

53、s, another kind of writing became more and more prominent, dominating the 17th c. It was called promotion tracts; (sort of ads, promote to sell America; attract more immigrants to the New World). Promotion tracts usually idealized America as a kind of paradise. Even in the earliest writings of Engli

54、sh man, the promotional spirit can be observed. Promotional spirit can be found in all genres of literature. Romanticize or idealize America, promise a great, bright future. Anticipates romanticism Another type of writing: satire, anti-promotional literature, the root of realism Sermons Promotion li

55、terature was primarily a literature of and about America at that time, far from reality, by nature romantic and idealistic. The roots of romanticism can be found there. The most important (strong and persistent) strand in American literature; except for some brief period, romanticism dominates. Even

56、 during the realistic, naturalistic period, romanticism is strong. From the very beginning, American minds are shaped by romantic tendency; the root of the single most important theme in American literature: American dream (essential part of American life and American culture) can be traced here in

57、the promotion tracts.The literature of the colonial America: 1620-1763The literature of the colonial America: 1620-1763 Writers in the Southern colonies were planters, merchants, artisans and ministers, they also wrote for utilitarian purposes and they wrote in such forms as journals, poems, letters

58、, sermons and some of them did translations. What distinguished Southern writing from Northern writing is that Southern writers often showed a sense of satire and a spirit of exploration inherent in the Renaissance.The literature of the colonial America: 1620-1763 They were also a part of a culture

59、aimed at finding “the vale of plenty” in contrast to the Puritan culture aimed at building the “city on the hill.” “Southern colonists conceived of the good life of a fertile valley that might lead to an earthly paradise. That has since become another dimension of the American dream.” slaveryI.Gener

60、al description:a. Documents (utilitarian) other than Literary Creationb. Desire for identity: description/ definition of an AmericannessII. Cultural diversity: the North vs. the South “City upon a Hill” vs. “vale of plenty”: two earliest versions of the American dreamSummaryThe literature of the col