英国文学选读浪漫主义

IntroductionAbout the course Bird-eye view of American literature Origin and formation of American literature.

About the Course

Course description: While offering a very brief outline of American literary history from the colonial period to the post war time, this course provides guided reading of chosen pieces by American literary masters from every important stage in the American literary evolution, and explores the historical experience as well as the literary importance of these writers. It aims to introduce the students to major American literary trends, and some American national myths, acquaint the students with particular contributions and idiosyncratic expressions of these writers, and facilitate them with basic skills to approach and appreciate literary works.

Course requirements: Pre-class reading. Students are supposed to read the target material before attending the lecture so that we can conduct our discussion in class with desirable effects. Class participation. Students will be asked to make a presentation of the authors to the class. They sure will be expected to actively involve in textual analysis, and class discussions. Attendance is mandatory. Please bring absences to my attention ahead of time if possible. Final exam. Course requirements:

Bird-eye view

Five stages:

The colonial period—the Origin The American Romanticism(roughly the 1st half of 19th century) The rise of realism and naturalism (btw the end of the civil war to the breakout of WWI) American modernism (btw the two World Wars) Postmodernism, diversifying literature.

Origin and formation of American literatureFrom the Colonial period to the American romanticism

Colonial period--PuritanismPuritanism was central to American colonial literature and served as the most powerful shaping force of American literature and culture. Puritan doctrine: accepting original sin, total depravity彻底堕落, limited atonement (salvation of a selected few through favor of grace from God)有限救赎.

Gloomy outlook in life: to live was to suffer and toil for God’s favor. Life was composed of stern spiritual self-examination(close watch over spirit) and hard labor. Embracing industry, frugality, and honesty as working ethics. Impact: endowing American literature with the element of spiritual exploration; puritan sense of mission—building the Garden of Eden gave birth to the American Eden myth in literature, both national and personal.(Henry James, Fitzgerald)

Enlightenment启蒙运动To enlighten or educate people out of superstition and ignorance. European intellectual movement of the 18 th C.( The age of reason) Reason; Social man. Literature—Neoclassical age Observance of classical rules and regulations Reason, order, moderation, experience

Period of Enlightenment(around the Independence War)Historical background: 18th century—the age of enlightenment; development of science and sociol

ogy; Unshakable belief in the power of reason. Benjamin Franklin and his Autobiography

Romanticism: a Definition

It rose in the late eighteenth century. In contrast to neo-classicism it stressed imagination and creation of individuality. Romantic writers attach great importance to the portrayal of figures of distinctive characters. They reproduce life in their writings according to their ideal and prefer imaginative, even fantastic vision to restriction of objective depiction, passion to elegance, and irregular beauty to perfect proportion. (See Textbook P.2)

I. General Background

As a literary trend or movement, it occurred and developed in Europe in the last years of the 18th century against the historical background of the Industrial Revolution around 1760 and French revolution. Being a product of the Enlightenment, industrial revolution brought about acute poverty, misery, repressive government. These evils rendered the rational doctrine of the Enlightenment highly skeptical. So imagination, individualism were promoted to replace reason and authority. Nature was presumed to be the source of goodness against the corrupt human society.

In literary expression, romanticism reacts against the principles of reason, order, and moderation preached by neo-classicism. It preferred the imaginative, the supernatural, the mystical, the remote content to objective reality.

II. Characteristics1. A rebellion against the objectivity of rationalism. 2. For romantics, the feelings, intuitions and emotions were more important than reason and common sense.

3. They emphasized individualism, placing the individual against the group, against authority. 4. They affirmed the inner life of the self, and wanted each person to be free to develop and express his own inner thoughts. 5. They advocated the healing force of nature.

III. American Romanticism

Historical background: political independence, economic boom, westward expansion, national optimism—a nation bursting with new life cried for literary expression.

European influence: import of European Romanticism at the beginning of the 19th century offered desirable patterns to frame the new experience. The mystery of the dark woods beyond the frontier line, the alien Indian culture could find adequate expression through the European romantic models. Early American romantic writers embraced the foreign import with ardor. Washington Irving: The Sketch Book 《见闻札记》 James Fenimore Cooper: Leather Stocking Tales (American Indian romance after historical romance) edgar allen poe: gothic tales about sick human pshyche.

New England Transcendentalism— philosophical pillar of American Romanticism. 新英格兰超验主义 Idealism—Oversoul 超灵constituted the universe; intuitive thought mattered more than pure reason. Stressing individualism and self-reliance in combat against tradition and aut …… 此处隐藏：4195字，全部文档内容请下载后查看。喜欢就下载吧 ……