英美文学简史1

1、SyllabusCourse Description: a course designed to help youlearn basic information about different periods in English and American literary history 1. understand important writers of different schools of English and American literature Content of LecturesEach lecture will include:an overall introducti

2、on about a certain period in either English or American literatures: historical, social & cultural background of; features and literary achievements of this literary perioda detailed study on certain important writers in a certain period: biography, representative literary works, literary career

3、 & literary achievementsa brief introduction about certain literary termsCourse RequirementTo attend class regularlyTo do a considerable amount of reading (to finish the reading assignment in our textbooks before each reading)To do a careful note-takingTo keep a journal log: to write down anythi

4、ng you think important or interesting while doing your reading assignments or attending class & to write your comments on or response to what you readReading Materials (I)Compulsory Reading:Liu Bingshan. A Short History of English Literature. Zhengzhou: Henan People Press, 2007.1. Tongming. A Hi

5、story of American Literature. Nanjing: Yilin Press, 2002.Reading Materials (II)Suggested Reading:Zhang Boxiang. Selected Readings In English And American Readings. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 1999.Wu Weiren. History and Anthology of English Literature. Beijing Foreign Lang

6、uage Teaching and Research Press, 1988.Wu Weiren. History and Anthology of American Literature. Beijing Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 1990.Reading Materials (III)Further Reading:Chang Yaoxin. A Survey of English Literature. Tianjin: Nankai University Press, 2006.Hu Yintong, Liu Shuse

7、n. Course in American Literature. Tianjin: Nankai University Press, 1995.Chang Yaoxin. A Survey of American Literature, the 2nd Edition. Tianjin: Nankai University Press, 2003.Grading Policy Final Exam (60%) Attendance (10%) Class Performance (10%) Note-taking (20%)Warming Questions Why should we le

8、arn literature? What is the use of learning literature? How shall we study literature?为何学习文学? 熟读唐诗三百首，不会作诗也会吟。熟读唐诗三百首，不会作诗也会吟。学习语言需要多读，借以培养语感，缩短学习者与语言间的距离 细雨潇潇赏宋词，人生佳境莫如此。细雨潇潇赏宋词，人生佳境莫如此。文学可以陶冶情操，提高修养 世事洞明皆学问，人情练达即文章。世事洞明皆学问，人情练达即文章。文学让人体味百态人生，领悟生活真谛Importance of Learning Literature Histories make m

9、en wise; poets, witty; the mathematics, subtle; natural philosophy, deep; moral, grave; logic and rhetoric, able to contend. Francis Bacon 历史使人明智，诗歌使人灵秀，数学使人历史使人明智，诗歌使人灵秀，数学使人缜密，物理使人深刻，伦理学使人庄重，缜密，物理使人深刻，伦理学使人庄重，逻辑使人善辩逻辑使人善辩 Each good fiction is a history of its characters or its times. Each good poe

10、m is an expression of the genius wit. Each good essay is full of logic and rhetoric. Each good drama has its thorough influence on peoples morality. Every excellent literary works is wise, witty, subtle, deep, grave, logical at the same time. 读书可以改变人的气质读书可以改变人的气质。培根文学的丰富多彩There is no Frigate like a

11、BookThere is no frigate like a book To take us lands awayNor any coursers like a page Of prancing poetryThis traverse may the poorest take Without oppress of toll:How frugal is the chariot That bears the human soul! Emily Dickinson文学的激励作用 圣火的实例往往比千言万语的说教更有力量，它能够激发或者缓和人类的激情。所以在我当面给了你一些安慰之后，我就决定把自己的苦难

12、经历写给你，来安慰你，希望你拿我的苦难同你的比较一下，你就会觉得你的苦难毕竟是微乎其微，你也就有勇气来面对人生的一切磨难。 阿贝拉尔（12世纪法国神学家）如何学习文学如何学习文学“三不分三不分” 文史不分文史不分 the connection between the history and the general literary features 作家与其所处时代不分作家与其所处时代不分 the connection between the author and its times 作品与其作者不分作品与其作者不分 the connection between the work and it

13、s author文学与悟性文学与悟性To see a World in a Grain of SandAnd a Heaven in a Wild FlowerHold Infinity in the Palm of your handAnd Eternity in an hour一沙一天国一沙一天国一花一世界一花一世界君掌盛无边君掌盛无边刹那含永劫刹那含永劫 William Blake文学包罗万象文学包罗万象 the inseparability of literature, history & philosophy Close connection between literatu

14、re, music, painting & photography To learn literature well, you must be a person who are interested in many things and who can use the knowledge in other spheres to interpret literary codes.如何学好文学如何学好文学 学而无思则罔，学而无思则罔， 思而不学则殆。思而不学则殆。 文学与生活密切相关。从生活中汲取文学与生活密切相关。从生活中汲取灵感来理解文学；从文学中吸取智慧来灵感来理解文学；从文学中吸取

15、智慧来感悟人生。在感悟人生。在“悟悟”中把握人生的真谛。中把握人生的真谛。 非学无以置疑，非问无以广识。非学无以置疑，非问无以广识。 勤读书，多思考，善提问，多讨论勤读书，多思考，善提问，多讨论 How to Read Literary Works?v “Books are the best of things, well used; abused, among the worst. What is the right use? What is the one end which all means go to effect? They are for nothing but to inspi

16、re. I had better never seen a book than to be warped by its attraction clean out of my own orbit, and made a satellite instead of a system. The one thing in the world, of value, is the active soul.” Ralph Waldo Emersonv“尽信书不如无书。尽信书不如无书。” v Be an active and critical reader.Divisions in English Litera

17、tureDivision in Our TextbookEarly and Medieval English LiteratureThe English RenaissanceThe Period of the English Bourgeois RevolutionThe Eighteenth CenturyRomanticism in EnglandEnglish Critical RealismProse-Writers and Poets of the Mid and Late 19th CenturyTwentieth Century English LiteraturePoets

18、and Novelists Who Wrote Before and After the Second World WarAn Overview: Six Periods In English LiteratureOld and Medieval Period (450 1066；1066 14th century)The Renaissance Period (14thcentury mid-17th century)The Neoclassical Period (1660 1798)The Romantic Period (1798 1832)The Victorian Period (

19、1836 1901)The Modern Period (20th century )Important Dates In English Literary History 1066: the Norman Conquest 1660: the Restoration of King Charles II 1798: the publication of Lyrical Ballads 1832: Sir Walter Scotts death 1836 1901：the reign of Queen VictoriaImportant Writers in Different Periods

20、 (I)Old and Medieval Period:BeowulfChaucer & his The Canterbury TalesThe Renaissance Period: Drama & Poetry-WritingMarlowe ShakespeareThe Neoclassical Period Milton (Epic)Bunyan, Swift, Defoe & Fielding: the Rise of English NovelMetaphysical Poetry: John DonnePope: Summit of Heroic Coupl

21、etImportant Writers in Different Periods (II)The Romantic Period:Sentimentalism & Pre-Romanticism: Thomas Gray, Blake & BurnsPassive-Romanticism: the Lake-Side Poets (Wordsworth, Coleridge & Southey)Active-Romanticism: Byron, Shelley & KeatsImportant Writers in Different Periods (III

22、)The Victorian Period:Rise of Critical Realism: Dickens ,Thackeray & Women Novelists( Jane Austen, The Bronte Sisters & George Eliot)Poetic Revolution: Tennyson & The Brownings The Modern Period: Hardy, Galsworthy & D. H. LawrenceOverview of some representative writers in later perio

23、d: E. M. Forster, Aldous Huxley, George Orwell, William Golding & Doris LessingDivision in American LiteratureDivision in Our TextbookEarly American Literature: Colonial Period to 1815American Romanticism:1815-1865American Realism: 1865-1914American Modernism:1914-1945American Literature Diversi

24、fied: From 1945 to the 21st Century2nd Version Colonial Period(1607-1765) Age of Reason and Revolution (1765- end of 18th century) Romantic Period(1800-1865) Realistic Period(1865-1918) Modern Period(1918- 1945) Contemporary Period (1945-)Romantic PeriodRealistic PeriodModern PeriodAge of Reason &am

25、p; RevolutionColonial PeriodContemporary PeriodCommon Features in Different DivisionsThe Civil WarThe First World WarThe Second World WarThe War of IndependenceYears as British ColonyFive Historical Events to Remember these Different DivisionsImportant Writers in Different Periods (I) Colonial Perio

26、d: no writer Age of Reason and Revolution: Benjamin Franklin Romantic Period: Edgar Allan PoeRalph Waldo Emerson & Henry David Thoreau (transcendentalism)Nathaniel Hawthorne & Herman Melville19th-Century American PoetsImportant Writers in Different Periods (II)4. Realistic Period:Mark Twain:

27、 local color writingHenry James: psychological realismStephen Crane: naturalismImportant Writers in Different Periods (III)5. Modern Period: Realistic Literature: Willa Cather & Sherwood Anderson Southern Literature: Katherine Ann Porter & William Faulkner Modernist Literature : F. Scott Fitzgerald & Ernest Hemingway The lost Generation 20th century American poets Eugene ONeilImportant Writers in Different Periods (IV)6. Contemporary Peri