美国文学第二章浪漫主义.ppt

Unit 2 The Age of Romanticism ( pre-romanticism )浪漫主义文学浪漫主义文学 （（the end of the 18th C. ~ the first half of the 19th C.））1 Historical Introduction 1776~1783 =>1861~1865 =>The Independence WarThe Civil WarWe will learn:1.what historical or social situation the U.S.A. was in;2.what influence this situation had on the people’s mind;3.what the direct result of this influence was.A fast-rising AmericaA tremendous sense of optimism and hopeA bursting cry for literary expressionarousewhich evoked2Literary Introduction文学背景介绍文学背景介绍 1) The origins of American Romanticism>> First in Germany, France, England from the middle of 18th C. against neoclassicism against rationalismthe “Americanized” combinationtheir New World environmentthe romantic traditions of Europe>> The American romanticism2) The General Characteristics of Romanticism >> Moral enthusiasm>> Faith in the value of individualism and intuitive perception>> A presumption that the natural world was a source of goodness and man’s societies a source of corruption3) The characteristics of American romanticism >> opposed neoclassicism; rejected rationalism; appreciated camp-meeting revivalism & New England transcendentalism.NEW It is a style of writing developed in the 17th and 18th centuries that rigidly adhered to canons of form derived from classical antiquity. Neoclassicism was notable for emotional restraint, elegance and exactness of diction, strict observance of the three unities, common sense, rationalism, and logic. The “modern” writers cited under the entry classicism are neoclassicists. Neoclassicism >> dominated by cultural nationalism, which stimulated a greater literary interest in America’s language and its common people.>>America’s principal literary forms: Novels, short stories, poems sermons and manifestos X NEW >> Imaginative literature became intense, personal, and symbolic as more writers came to perceive themselves not as mere literary craftsmen but as prophets and seers. The desire for an escape from society and a return to nature became a permanent convention of American literature.NEW>>Romantic writers placed increasing value on the free expression of emotion and displayed increasing attention to the psychic states of their characters.NEW>>At mid-century a cultural reawakening brought a “flowering of New England”.>>Puritanism was a cultural heritage of the Americans. Its influence over American romanticism was conspicuously noticeable. One of its palpable manifestations is the fact that American romantic authors tended more to moralize than their English and European brothers. Certainly, American moral values were essentially Puritan.NEW To sum up: As a logical result of the foreign and native factors at work, American romanticism was both imitative and independent. However, it was in essence the expression of “ a real new experience” and contained “an alien quality” for the simple reason that “ the spirit of the place” was radically new and alien.NEWWashington Irving(1783 – 1859)Two prominent figuresTwo prominent figures1 Literary Status 1. He was the first American writer of imaginative literature to gain international fame. 2. He was the author of the first American short stories. 3. He created the first great American juvenile literature. 4. He was among the first of the moderns to write good history and biography as literary entertainment. 5. To say that he was father of American literature is not much exaggeration. 2 literary works & style of writing 1) Masterpiece: The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.《《见闻札记》见闻札记》( Rip Van Winkle )( The Legend of Sleepy Hollow )Brief comments on the masterpieces: >> “Rip Van Winkle” and “ The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” or “The Sketches” marked the beginning of American Romanticism. >> In “Sketch Book” appeared the first modern short stories and the first great American juvenile literature.(2) Irving’s writing style:Striking features:1)He works aimed to entertain and amuse not to moralize2)Vivid and true characters 3)Finished and musical language4)Strong sense of humor5)Never shocking but a bit sentimental at times6)“His manner seems more important than the matter.”3 The relationship between the historical & social backgrounds and his writing>> His life: “ The style is the man ” applies to no one else so well ! >> The historical background: The American Pre-romanticism( The first half of the 19th century )4 Masterpieces:Rip Van Winkle >> The story line: Rip Van Winkle’s extraordinary 20-year- long sleep and his lives before and after that. Masterpieces:The Legend of Sleepy Hollow >> The story line: It is one of the most famous short stories in “The Sketch Book”. It was recreated from an European folk tale, telling a story about the unsuccessful love affair of Ichabod Crane, a country teacher, which was combined with the legend of a headless horseman.  >> Irving’s Writing style: Vivid, memorable characters, Detailed, insightful description of American scenery, traditions and cultures, Humorous and lucid style & narrative method Just to amuse and entertain Extract fromExtract from The Legend of Sleepy HollowThe Legend of Sleepy Hollow “The cognomen of Crane was not inapplicable to his “The cognomen of Crane was not inapplicable to his person. He was tall, but exceedingly lank, with person. He was tall, but exceedingly lank, with narrow shoulders, long arms and legs, hands that narrow shoulders, long arms and legs, hands that dangled a mile out of his sleeves, feet that might have dangled a mile out of his sleeves, feet that might have served for shovels, and his whole frame most loosely served for shovels, and his whole frame most loosely hung together. His head was small, and flat at top, hung together. His head was small, and flat at top, with huge ears, large green glassy eyes, and a long with huge ears, large green glassy eyes, and a long snipe nose, so that it looked like a weather-cock, snipe nose, so that it looked like a weather-cock, perched upon his spindle neck, to tell which way the perched upon his spindle neck, to tell which way the wind blew. To see him striding along the profile of a wind blew. To see him striding along the profile of a hill on a windy day, with his clothes bagging and hill on a windy day, with his clothes bagging and fluttering about him, one might have mistaken him fluttering about him, one might have mistaken him for the genius of famine descending upon the earth, for the genius of famine descending upon the earth, or some scarecrow eloped from a cornfield.”or some scarecrow eloped from a cornfield.” James Fenimore Cooper(1789 – 1851)Literary Status Cooper was the first important American novelist who launched two kinds of immensely popular stories: the sea adventure tale, and the frontier saga.Masterpiece:Leatherstocking Tales The DearslayerThe Last of the MohicansThe PathfinderThe PioneersThe PrairieRecords of the formation of the USABrief comments on the masterpiece If the history of the United States is, in a sense, the process of the American settlers exploring and pushing the American frontier forever westward, then Cooper’s works just mirrored mythically and insightfully the formative period of the American nation. Two opposing forces In the series, Cooper mainly discussed two opposing forces performed in the period of modern civilization advancing on the receding wilderness: nature and civilization, or freedom and law . “One was morally right and the other was practically inevitable”. The theme:Contrast and comparison of the two writers: >> Biggest differences: “Irving’s manner seems more important than his matter”, but, to some extent, the case with Cooper is on the contrary。

 Cooper’s style: His matter is more important than his manner, because he has been know as a powerful yet clumsy writer. His style is dreadful, his characterization wooden and lacking in probability, and his language, his use of dialect, is not authentic…Contrast and comparison of the two writers: >> Biggest differences: “Irving put Europe in American envelope ”, but, Cooper is, on the contrary, accepted the American setting>> Same ideas on literary creation Irving always cast his eyes overseas, trying his best to find value in the past and the traditions of the Old World; Cooper just appealed to the past of American history. the “poverty of materials” in America。