美国文学选读复习资料

1、精选优质文档-倾情为你奉上美国文学选读复习资料Washington Irving 第一个获得欧洲国际声誉的作家James Fenimore Cooper 美国第一位重要的小说家 The first great novelist of AmericanThe last Mohicans ( French and India War) Emerson爱默生 = The chief spokesman of New England Transcendentalism 超验主义He was a descendent of a long line of New England clergymen牧师【p

2、astor】. 主要作品：论自然Nature(新英格兰超验主义的宣言)美学国者The American Scholar（美国文化和思想的独立宣言）（The Over-soul；Self-Reliance）American Transcendentalism As a philosophical and literary movement, American Transcendentalism (also known as “ American Renaissance”) flourshed in New England from the 1830s to the Civil War. It i

3、s the high tide of American romanticism and its doctrines found their greatest literary advocates in Emerson and Thoreau. Transcendentalists spoke for the cultural rejuvenation and against the materialism of American society.Transcendentalism 超验主义(+ H. D. Thoreau; )The major features of Transcendent

4、alism: The Transcendentalists placed emphasis on spirit, or the Oversoul, as the most important thing in the universe. 思想 超灵 宇宙 The Transcendentalists stressed the importance of the individual. To them, the individual is the most important element of Society. 个体+社会 The Transcendentalists offered a f

5、resh perception of nature as symbolic of the Spirit or God. Nature was not purely matter. It was alive, filled with Gods overwhelming presence. 自然+上帝Nathaniel Hawthorne effected by 超验主义One of the most ambivalent writers in the American literary history. The Scarlet Letter:红字Other works: Mosses from

6、an Old Manse; Twice-Told Tales; The Marble Faun; The House of the Seven GablesHe is a master of symbolism, which he took from the Puritan tradition 清教徒传统and bequeathed to American literature in a revivified form.In his masterpiece, by using Pearl as a thematic symbol, Hawthorne emphasizes the conseq

7、uence the sin of adultery has brought to the community and people living in that community. With the scarlet A as the biggest symbol of all, which is ambiguous, he proves himself to be one of the best symbolists. Edgar Allan Poe: 侦探小说Detective fiction之父，又是法国象征主义运动的源头。主要作品：致 To HelenTo HelenEdgar All

8、an PoeHelen, thy beauty is to meLike those Nicean barks of yore,That gently, oer a perfumed sea,The weary, wayworn wanderer boreTo his own native shore.On desperate seas long wont to roam,Thy hyacinth hair, thy classic face,Thy Naiad airs have brought me homeTo the glory that was GreeceAnd the grand

9、eur that was Rome.Lo! in yon brilliant window-nicheHow statue-like I see thee stand,The agate lamp within thy hand!Ah, Psyche, from the regions whichAre Holy Land!一种翻译：（网上收集）海伦，你的美对于我犹如尼萨的船舸，在往昔，它们滑过芬芳的海波，把漂泊者从倦人的旅羁载回故国的陆地。经历了海风多次的吹拂你那风信子般的美发，你典雅的脸庞，水仙女的风姿，带我回到希腊的熠熠光华和古罗马的气魄。看!在一个华美的窗龛你犹如雕像那样伫立，玛瑙明灯

10、擎在手里！啊，赛琪，你来自彼岸那不可及的圣地！Murders in the Rue Morgue毛格街血案(Detective fiction)；Annabel Lee安娜贝尔，李； The Raven乌鸦；The Cask of Amontillado一桶白葡萄酒H. D. Henry David Thoreau 梭罗and his work Where I lived and what I lived for 人生意义Walden 瓦尔登湖not only fully demonstrates Emersonian ideas of self-reliance but also devel

11、ops and tests Thoreaus own transcendental philosophy. Civil Disobedience论公民的不服从,主张非暴力反抗，深深影响了印度圣雄芏地和民权领袖马丁，路德，金。Walt WhitmanThe first edition of Leaves of Grass In this giant work, openness, freedom, and above all, individualism are all that concerned him. What he prefers for his new subject and new

12、 poetic feelings is “free verse”自由诗体, that is , poetry without a fixed beat or regular rhyme scheme. The poets essential purpose was to identify his ego with the world, and more specifically with the democratic “en-masse”同一地 of America, which is established in the opening lines of “Song of Myself”.为

13、林肯而作：When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloomd最近紫丁香在庭院里开放的时侯 O Captain!My Captain哦，我的船长。Writing features of Whitman1. A singer for the ideals of equality , democracy and human dignity.2. Songs for himself, for the labor of common American people, natural creation, the independence of the country, love

14、 and friendship, and for the memorizing of President Lincoln.3. Free verse, rhythmical unit, phonetic recurrence.Herman Melville代表作：白鲸Moby Dick Other Works are: Billy Budd,Typee, Omoo, Mardi. Symbolism in Moby Dick：It is regarded as the first American prose epic. 散文史诗？It turns out to be a symbolic v

15、oyage of the mind in quest of the truth 寻找真理and knowledge of the universe, a spiritual exploration into mans deep reality and psychology. Different people on board the ship are representations of different ideas and different social and ethnic groups; facts become symbols and incidents acquire unive

16、rsal meanings; the Pequod is the microcosm of human society and the voyage becomes a search for truth. The white whale, Moby Dick, symbolizes nature for Melville, for it is complex, unfathomable难以理解的, malignant恶性的, and beautiful as well. Emily Dickinson：I Died for Beauty；Because I could not stop for

17、 Death美国最伟大的女诗人。主题：自然、爱情、死亡/永生Emily was an energetic and outgoing woman while attending the Academy and Seminary. Most of her poems are about life and nature. They are short; many of them are based on a single image or symbol.Mark Twain Writing: humor and local colorism 地方特色The characteristics of lo

18、cal colorismTwain preferred to have his own region and people at the forefront of his stories. This particular concern about the local character of a region came about as “local colorism,” a unique variation of American literary realism. “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” brought him

19、 recognition from a wider public. His best works were produced when he was in the prime of his life：Life on the Mississippi & The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. 汤姆。索亚历险记Mark Twains most representative work：The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn （哈克贝利。芬历险记）（儿童小说，被誉为美国文学的来源）惠特曼是美国文学史上第一位打破英国诗歌传统的诗人，吐温是美国文学史上第一

20、位打破英国小说传统的小说家。His humor, a kind of artistic style used to criticize the social injustice and satirize the decayed romanticism, is remarkable.其他代表作：王子与贫儿（T肯Prince and Pauper），密西西比河上的生活(Life on the Mississippi)Henry James：The Portrait of a Lady 淑女画像(Isabel Archer; Madam Merle; Gilbert Osmond)Daisy Mil

21、ler 黛西。米勒（作者心目中典型的美国姑娘的缩影）(Daisy; Mr. Winterbourne温特伯恩; Mr. Giovanelli) international themeThe three dominant figures of the period are William Dean Howells豪威尔斯, Mark Twain, and Henry James. Mark Twain and Howells seemed to have paid more attention to the “life” of the Americans, and Henry James had

22、 apparently laid greater emphasis on the “inner world” of man. 19世纪美国三位伟大的现实主义作家。Realism 浪漫主义之后，现代主义之前As a literary movement, the Age of Realism came into existence after Romanticism with the Civil War It was a reaction against “the lie” of Romanticism and sentimentalism, and paved the way to Modern

23、ism. This literary interest in the so-called “reality” of life started a new period in the American literary writing known as The Age of Realism. Psychological Realism It is the realistic writing that probes deeply into the complexities of characters thoughts and motivations. And Henry James is cons

24、idered the founder of psychological realism. He believed that reality lies in the impressions made by life on the spectator, and not in any facts of which the spectator is unaware. Such realism is therefore merely the obligation that the artist assumes to represent life as he sees it.The 20th Centur

25、y American Poets：Two characteristic strains：introspection自省&social criticismMajor Features1. The relationship of art and life; reality and imagination; fact and miracle; chaos and order.2. References to painting, music, and color.3. Abstract, philosophical, and difficult. He saw poetry as a personal

26、 transaction between self and reality.4. Meticulous language, though frequently exotic; coined words, and some are employed simply for sound effects.Robert Frost: Fire and Ice; Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening; The Road Not Taken;A witness treeMajor Features: 1. His verse was terrifying at first

27、, showing the dark side of human life and society. Later, filled with sunshine. 2.New England as the setting; The subjects come from daily life of ordinary life;Rural poetry in pastoral tradition. ( Wordsworth; Emerson)3.His themes include landscape and people of New England, loneliness and poverty

28、of isolated farmers, beauty, terror and tragedy in nature.Simple language, a graceful style and traditional forms of poetry. 诗歌鉴赏：In both Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening and The Road Not Taken,Mending Wall the speaker hesitates on route. Compare the hesitations. Do they derive from the same imp

29、ulse and misgiving or are they distinct?Sherwood Anderson: Hands是小镇畸人Winesburg, Ohio的开篇之作; Paper Pills纸玩William Carlos Williams: The Red Wheelbarrow红色手推车（imagism）Ezra Pound：Idaho爱达荷洲worked for the Italian government in WW II, engaged in some radio broadcasts of anti-Semitism反犹太主义 and pro-Fascism赞颂法西

30、斯和墨索里尼、抨击美国参战的广播讲话.意象派imagism运动的发起者 代表作:Cantos诗章，庞德规模最大，最有雄心的一部诗篇; Hugh Selwyn Mauberley休，赛尔温，毛伯利; In a Station of the Metro在地铁站内; Cathay中国，其中包括李白的长干行译为The River-Merchants Wife;A Letter,译出了原诗的精神风貌。Imagism 意象派A poetic movement of England and the U.S. that flourished from 1909 to 1917. The movement in

31、sists on the creation of images in poetry by “the direct treatment of the thing” and the economy of wording. “poetic techniques to record exactly the momentary impressions”Three main principles of the Imagist Movement (1912) : 1 direct treatment of poetic subjects 2 elimination of merely ornamental

32、or superfluous words, to use no word that does not contribute to the presentation. 3 rhythmical composition in the sequence of the musical phrase rather than in the sequence of a metronome. F. Scott. Fitzgerald弗，司各特，菲茨杰拉德。与海明威同为“迷惘的一代”的代言人。The Great Gatsby了不起的盖茨比；The Side of Paradise人间天堂: Tender is

33、the Night夜色温柔; The Beautiful and the Damned漂亮冤家William Faulkner(1897-1962 1949 Nobel price南方文艺复兴的旗手和南方文学的确精神领袖。A rose to Emily 主要作品：The Sound and the Fury (1929)愤怒与喧嚣； As I Lay Dying (1930);Light in the August ( 1932)八月之光;Absalom, Absalom (1936)押沙龙，押沙龙（家世小说);Go Down, Moses (1942)去吧，摩西Ernest Hemingwa

34、y Iceberg Principle (Theory):冰山法则The dignity of movement of the iceberg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water. Code heroA man can be destroyed but not defeatedMajor Works:The Sun Also Rises 1926 (Jake Barnes)A Farewell to Arms 永别了，武器1928 (a tragic story about war and love) (Frederic Henr

35、y and Catherine Barkley美国最优秀的一部反战小说)For Whom the Bell Tolls 丧钟为谁而鸣1940 (Spanish civil war) (Robert Jordan)20世纪美国文学中一部真正的英雄史诗。The Old Man and the Sea 1952 (Santiago)获诺贝尔文学奖。“Stream of Consciousness” 意识流or “interior monologue”,内心独白 is one of the modern literary techniques. It is the style of writing t

36、hat attempts to imitate the natural flow of a characters thoughts, feelings, reflections, memories, and mental images as the character experiences them. It was first used in 1922 by the Irish novelist James Joyce. American Naturalism 自然主义The impact of Darwins evolutionary theory达尔文进化论 on the America

37、n thought and the 19th century French literature on the American men of letters gave rise to another school of realism: American naturalism. The naturalists emphasized that the world was amoral与道德无关的, that men and women had no free will, that lives were controlled by heredity遗传 and environment, that

38、 the destiny of humanity was misery in life and oblivion湮没 in death. Americas literary naturalists dismissed the validity of comforting moral truths. They attempted to achieve extreme objectivity and frankness, presenting characters of low social and economic classes who were determined by their env

39、ironment and heredity. Harlem Renaissance黑色狂想曲：哈林文艺复兴艺术In the 1920s in America, there was an upsurge of Black literature, popularly known as the “Harlem Renaissance”, out of which such eminent literary figures as Langston Hughes grew. So, “Harlem Renaissance” is a burst of literary achievement in th

40、e 1920s by Negro playwrights, poets and novelists who presented new insights into the American experience and prepared the way for the emergence of numerous Black writers after mid-twentieth century. The Harlem Renaissance began with a work entitled: New Negro: An Interpretation (by Alain Locke).Dia

41、lect, folklore, and Jazz. The Modern PeriodPart I The 1920s-1930s ( the second renaissance of American literature)l The Roaring Twenties (economically)l The Jazz Age (socially) l “lost” and “waste land” (spiritually)There had been a big flush of new theories and new ideas in both social and natural

42、sciences. Darwinism(Darwin), Socialism (Karl Marx), Psychoanalysis (Sigmund Freud)The Lost GenerationThe term “Lost Generation” came from Gertrude Stein, who had a salon in her house for English and American expatriates in Paris. The Phrase was a remark she made to a mechanic in Hemingways presence

43、that “You are all a lost generation.” Gertrude Stein used the term to describe the post-World War I generation of American writers: men and women haunted by a sense of betrayal and emptiness brought about by the destructiveness of the war. The term is commonly applied to Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott F

44、itzgerald, Ezra Pound, Sherwood Anderson, John Dos Passos, E.E. Cummings and some others.Winners of Nobel Prize for Literature during this periodSinclair Lewis (1930); Eugene ONeill (1936); Pearl S. Buck (1938); T.S. Eliot (1948); William Faulkner (1949); Ernest Hemingway (1954); John Steinbeck (196

45、2)American DreamThe is the idea held by many in the United States that through hard work, courage and determination one could achieve prosperity繁荣. These were values held by many early European settlers, and have been passed on to subsequent generations. The term was first used by James Truslow Adam

46、s in his book The Epic of America. He states: The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. .It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social ord

47、er in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position. In the United States Declaration of Independence独立宣言, our founding fathers: held certain truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these a