Transcript lecture_1

American Literature
Colonial Period(1607-1750)
Class Arrangement
Lead-in
Course Requirements
Introduction to American Literature
Chapter 1: Colonial Literature
Model Test
Objectives
Enable the Ss to get a general knowledge
about the history and religion of America;
Enable the Ss to know the six literary
periods in American literary history;
Enable the Ss to know the background,
representative writers and their works of
the colonial period in American literary
history
Major Points
Puritanism
Anne Bradstreet
Edward Taylor
Teaching Material
Supplemented by the lecturer (note-taking
by the students)
Compulsory Reading : Novel and Play
3 Hawthorne: The Minister’s Black Veil
8 Mark Twain: The Adventures of Huckleberry
Fin
11 Jack London: Love of Life
15 Ernest Hemingway: A Farewell to Arms
19 Arthur Miller: Death of a Salesman
Compulsory Reading : Poems
4 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
5 Edgar Allan Poe
6 Walt Whitman
7 Emily Dickinson
13 Robert Lee Frost
18 Ezra Pound
Selected Book List for the Semester
Hawthorne: The Scarlet Letter
Theodore Dreiser: An American Tragedy
F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby
Ernest Hemingway: The Old Man and the Sea
John Steinbeck: The Grapes of Wrath
William Faulkner: The Sound and the Fury
Herman Melville: Moby Dick
返回
Brief Outline of American literature
1. Colonial period (1607-1750)
Anne Bradstreet
Edward Taylor
4.
Realism (1865-1914)
Mark Twain
Henry James
2. Enlightenment and
Revolutionary period
Naturalism:
(1750-1810)
Benjamin Franklin 1
Philip Freneau
Stephen Crane
Theodore Dreiser
3. Romanticism (1800-1865)
Washington Irving
Edgar Allan Poe 5
Nathaniel Hawthorne 3
William Whitman
* Transcendentalism
* (New England Renaissance)
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Fillip Thoreau
5.
Modern Period (1914-1945)
The 1920s
T.S. Eliot
William Faulkner
Ernest Hemingway
(Lost Generation)
Imagism:
Ezra Pound
Brief Outline of American literature
The 1930s
Steinbeck
Harlem Renaissance
(Black American literature)
Hughes
Wright
Ellison
American Drama
Eugene O’Neill
6.
Contemporary Period
(1945-2000)
The Post-war Scene
Saul Bellow
Salinger
Poetry:
Confessional Poetry
Black Mountain Poets
San Francisco Renaissance
The Beat Generation
The New York Poets
Chapter One
Colonial Period (1607-1750)
Historical Background
History
People
Religion: Puritanism
Early History:
1) America was first discovered by
Columbus at the end of the 15th century.
2) In 1607, Captain John Smith led some
Englishmen across the ocean.
3) In 1620, 102 passengers sailed on the
ship Mayflower across the sea and settled
on the new continent “New England”.
People
 Indians were native inhabitants
(aborigines).
 Now Americans are mainly immigrants
mostly from Europe, esp. from England.
People of America
 They were the Puritans who wanted to reform the
Church of England but later were persecuted by English
government and church. They were called Puritans
because they aimed to purify the church of Protestantism.
When they came to America, they brought Puritanism to
this new continent on which only primitive Indians
originally settled. But at the very beginning, they met
great difficulties and setbacks and they were helped by
Indians. The experiences were recorded by them in
travel accounts, sermons and poems, which were the
earliest forms of American literature. (based on the
reference book: Highlights of American Literature)
People of America
 The first settlers who became the founding
fathers of the American nation were quite a few
of them Puritans.
 They were a group of serious, religious people,
advocating highly religious and moral principles.
 They carried with them to America a code of
values, a philosophy of life, a point of view which,
in time, took root in the New World and became
what is popularly known as American Puritanism.
The Significance of Puritanism
American Puritanism was one of the most
enduring shaping influences in American
thought and American literature.
Without some understanding of
Puritanism, there can be no real
understanding of America and its
literature.
Puritanism
They follow the ideas of the French reformer and
theologian (神学家)John Calvin
1. Doctrines:
(1) Predestination: God decided everything before
things occurred.宿命论，得救预定论（上帝已预
先选定某些得救者，余者者受诅咒）
(2) Original sin and Total depravity : Human beings
were born to be evil, and this original sin can be
passed down from generation to generation.
(3) Limited atonement赎罪: Only the “elect” can be
saved.
Puritanism
 2. Puritan values (creeds):
 Hard work, thrift, piety, sobriety, simple
tastes.
Puritans are more practical, tougher, and to
be ever ready for any misfortune and tragic
failure.
They are optimistic.
Puritanism
 3. Aims (Why did Puritans come to
America?):
- to reform the Church of England
- to have an entirely new church
- to escape religious persecution
* God’s chosen people
* To seek a new Garden of Eden
* To build “City of God on earth”
Influence of Puritanism on American
Literature
(1) A group of good qualities – hard work,
thrift, piety, sobriety (serious and thoughtful)
influenced American literature.
(2) It led to the everlasting myth. All literature
is based on a myth – garden of Eden.
Influence of Puritanism on American
Literature
(3) Symbolism: Lots of American writers liked
to employ symbolism in their works. To the
pious Puritan the physical, phenomenal world
is nothing but a symbol of God. (typical way
of Puritans who thought that all the simple
objects existing in the world connoted deep
meaning.) Symbolism means using symbols in
literary works. The symbol means something
represents or stands for abstract deep meaning.
Influence of Puritanism on American
Literature
(4) Simplicity characterizes the Puritan style of
writing. With regard to their writing, the style
is fresh, simple and direct; the rhetoric is plain
and honest, not without a touch of nobility
often traceable to the direct influence of the
Bible.
Influence of Puritanism on American
Literature
 (5) Fired with a sense of mission, the Puritans looked
the worst of life in the face of tremendous optimism.
The optimistic Puritan has exerted a great influence
on American literature. Early American literature
were mainly optimistic because they believed that
God sent them to the new continent to fulfill the
sacred task so they would overcome all the
difficulties they met at last. Gradually Americans
found that their dreams would not be successful, so
lots of pessimistic literary works were produced.
General Features of the Colonial
Literature
Humble origins: diaries, histories, journals,
letters, autobiographies/biographies, travel
books, sermons etc.
In content: serving either God or colonial
expansion or both
In form: imitating and transplanting English
literary tradition faithfully
Three major poets in colonial period
Anne Bradstreet: the first noted poetess in
colonial period
Michael Wigglesworth: the most popular
poet in American Colonial Period :
Edward Taylor: the most gifted (finest) of
the Puritan poets
1. Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672)
the first collection
published by
English colonists
living in America
the first noted poetess in colonial period
(北美殖民地第一位著名诗人)
1. Anne Bradstreet’s Works
“Some verses on the Burning of Our House”
“The Spirit and the Flesh” 《灵与肉》
The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America 《第十位缪斯新近在美
洲出现》
Contemplation 《沉思集》
1. Anne Bradstreet’s Life
* She was born and educated in England.
* At the age of 18, she came to America in 1630 with her father and husband.
* She had 8 children.
美国女诗人布莱德斯特律
Anne Bradstreet
 1612英格兰 比安普敦～1672.9.16,麻萨诸塞湾殖民地 安多弗
美国最早写出真正有价值的英文诗歌的一位女诗人。
 她的宗教组诗《沉思集》(Contemplations)受到20世纪文学批评界的重视，被认为是一
部不朽之作。
父亲汤玛斯 达德利是清教徒林肯伯爵的总管家。她在有文化教养的环境中长大。16岁
时，她同伯爵的另一被保护人赛门 布莱德斯特律(Simon Bradstreet)结婚，在养育8个
孩子和料理家务的同时仍从事写作。
 她的姐夫未经她的同意，就将她的诗带到英国，以《第十位缪斯新近在美洲出现》
(The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America, 1650)为题发表，这使她感到意外。美
洲第一版的《第十位缪斯》经修订及扩增後出版，书名改为《一些风格各异、充满智
慧的诗歌》(Several Poems Compiled with Great Variety of Wit and Learning)。
 其中大部分诗都是冗长的模仿性作品，只有最後两首《凡人的虚荣》(Of the vanity of
all worldly creatures)和《大卫对扫罗和约拿单的哀悼》(David's Lamentation for
Sauland Jonathan)独具风格，意境纯真。
她後来的一些诗歌是为她的家庭而写，表现了她全心接受清教徒教义以後在精神上的
成长过程。这些诗，如《灵与肉》(The Flesh and the Spirit)，因为没有说教而受人喜
爱。她也写过一些动人的和更富有个人色彩的诗，其中《献给我亲爱的丈夫》(To My
Dear and Loving Husband)、《人世正凋萎，万物有终极》(All things within this
fading worldhath end)描写她在生孩子之前的思想；《心痛手颤写诗句》(With troubled
heart and trembling hand I write)写一个孙儿之死。
致我亲爱的丈夫
Anne Bradstreet
 If ever two were one, then surely we.
If ever man were lov'd by wife, then thee;
If ever wife was happy in a man,
Compare with me ye women if you can.
I prize thy love more than whole Mines of gold,
Or all the riches that the East doth hold.
My love is such that Rivers cannot quench,
Nor ought but love from thee, give recompense.
Thy love is such I can no way repay,
The heavens reward thee manifold I pray.
Then while we live, in love let's so persevere,
That when we live no more, we may live ever.
致我亲爱的丈夫
Anne Bradstreet
 如果曾经两人默契如一，那就是我和你。
如果曾经丈夫被妻子钟爱，那就是你；
如果曾经妻子被丈夫幸福环绕，
如果你能，女士们，请跟我来比较。
我珍惜你的爱胜过金矿，
胜过东方的无尽宝藏。
我的爱万水不能冷眼相待，
无物可偿还，除了你对我的爱。
你如此的爱让我无以为偿，
我只能祈祷上苍赐予你缤纷奖赏。
 在人间，相爱的我们不衰长盛，
而当远离尘世，我们会步入永生。
Evaluation
 She became known as the “Tenth Muse” who
appeared in America.
 她的鸟是英国鸟，她的花是英国花。
 作者生活在后世所称宗教狂热和偏执登峰造极的
年代。
 对天国的最动人的描绘出现在“The Flesh and
the Spirit”中，这首诗运用“分裂的自我”或“双
重人格”手法，是传统文学的一种重要手法，是
一种挖掘人的内心世界的文学手法。
Michael Wigglesworth
(1631-1705)
 The most popular poet in American
Colonial Period
 Work: The Day of Doom (1662)
Edward Taylor (1642?--1729)
 the most gifted (finest) of the Puritan poets 北
美殖民地时期最伟大的诗人
 Resembling the metaphysical poets in
Elizabethan England, he was a meditative
poet(诗禅), Taylor wrote with an inventiveness,
a boldness, and a brilliance unparalleled in
colonial period.
 Taylor is first and last, a Puritan poet.
 Work: Preparatory Meditation《预备沉思录》

The Poems of Edward Taylor (1960) by
Donald E. Stanford is the best edition.
Other Representative Writers
Cotton Mather (1663-1728)
Magnalia Christi Amricana 《基督在北美的
辉煌》又名The Ecclesiastical History of
New England《新英格兰宗教史》
Other Representative Writers
Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)
-The Great Doctrine of Original Sin
defended(1758)
-Sinner in the Hands of an Angry God 《愤
怒的上帝手中之罪人》(sermon)
Freedom of the Will 《论自由意志》
Jonathan Edwards
Born into a very religious New England family,
educated in Yale
The first modern American and the country’s
last medieval man
He represents the element of piety, the
religious passion, the aspect of emotion and
ecstasy, of New England tradition
Edwards was a great deal of a
transcendentalist
Other Representative Writers
Roger Williams (1603-1683)
-one of the greatest Puritan dissenters
-to preach for civil and religious liberty
-to call for democratic government
-to oppose the eviction of the Indians from their
ancestral properties
2. The Main Features of this period
1) American literature grew out of humble origins.
Diaries, histories, journals, letters, commonplace
books, travel books, sermons, in short, personal
literature in its various forms, occupy a major
position in the literature of the early colonial
period.
2) In content these early writings served either God
or colonial expansion or both. In form, if there
was any form at all, English literary traditions
were faithfully imitated and transplanted.
3) The Puritanism formed in this period was one of
the most enduring shaping influences in
American thought and American literature.
Model Test
I. Blank filling.
1. Hard work, thrift, piety and sobriety,
these were the _____ values that
dominated much of the early American
writing.
2. The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in
America is a collection of poems
composed by______.
Model Test
II. Multiple Choice
1. Jonathan Edwards’ best and most
representative sermon was ______
A. the True Sight of Sin
B. Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God
C. A Model of Christian Charity
D. God’s Determinations
Model Test
2. The Common thread throughout
American literature has been the
emphasis on the ______.
A. Evolutionism
B. Reason
C. Individualism
D. Rationalism
美国人为什么会有优越感？
与加尔文教义一脉相承的清教主义思想是
镶嵌在美国人灵魂中的特征（an
embedded strand in the American psyche)。
加尔文教与清教的教义都强调一种精英思
想，即他们认为只有上帝的选民才可以获
得上帝的恩宠被拯救（only certain persons,
the elect, were chosen by God to be
saved, and these could be saved only by
God's grace.）。
美国人为什么会有优越感？
 这一清教思想在领土扩张与西进运动中（territorial
expansion and westward movement)又产生了文化中学
到的“天定命运论（The Manifest Destiny)”.这是由民主
党政治家约翰沙利文（John L. O'Sullivan)提出的。“天
定命运论”极大地体现了美国的大国沙文主义，即认为美
国人作为上帝的选民在扩张领土的同时是在将民主与文明
带给这些地区。而任何民族都不该阻止其进行“上帝的工
作” 附：The Manifest Destiny are threefold: (1)the
inevitable of the foundation of the United States of
America; (2) the legitimacy of the expansion of
American Territory;(3)the spread of American
democracy being the task of American people who were
chosen to do the Lord's work.
美国人为什么会有优越感？
清教主义是美国文化的“根”。 就早期美
国文学来说有些作品反映了美国人的精英
思想。 其中杰出的代表毫无疑问应属：
Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758); Benjamin
Franklin（1706-1790）与Ralph Waldo
Emerson(1803-1882).
美国人为什么会有优越感？
在17-18世纪中最杰出的代表的就应该算是
Edwards与Franklin. Sinner in the Hands
of an Angry God (愤怒的上帝手中之罪人)
1. Edwards's work "Sinner in the Hands
of an Angry God" is his famous sermon.
2. It expresses such basic puritan tenets
as God's absolute sovereignty, original sin
and predestination.
美国人为什么会有优越感？
 The Autobiography (富兰克林自传） 1. The
Autobiography records his rising from poverty or
humble beginnings to success. It realistically
describes the life of Franklin as a shrewd and
industrious businessman, whose rags-to-riches
experience became the prototype of the
American Dream. 2. The prototype embraces
such qualities as self-culture, self-improvement,
self-reliance, self-cultivation, faith in the
progress of society and the ideals of future,
practical and optimistic attitude toward life and
final success(美国梦也是精英思想的一种体现）。
Assignment
Read Chapter VI of Benjamin Franklin’s
Autobiography on P 271 in the textbook
and be prepared to answer the questions
afterwards.