美国文学补充

CallmeSpell

这部分主要看课本上要求但前面的讲义里没有的
Colonial America (ab. 1607-1765)
1.   从英国探险者和殖民者在新大陆的作品开始，描述他们在新大陆真实而精力充沛的冒险。
2.   另一类为清教作品

Main Features of Colonial Literature
●American literature grew out of humble origins. Personal literature in its various forms, occupy a major position in the literature of the early colonial period. - diaries, histories, journals, letters, travel accounts, sermons, biographies and poems
●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. - loosely structured and long sentences
●The Puritanism formed in this period was one of the most enduring influences shaping American thought and American literature. - Can be compared with Chinese Confucianism

Puritanism
American Puritanism influences on American literature:
1. Idealism and optimism 理想主义和乐观主义
2. Symbolism 象征主义
3. Simplicity. 简洁

一、时期综述
1、清教徒采用的文学体裁：a、narratives 日记 b、journals 游记
2、清教徒在美国的写作内容：
1) voyages to the new land
2) Adapting to unfamiliar climates and crops
3) dealing with Indians
4) Guide to the new land & invitation to bold spirit
3、清教徒的思想：
1) make pure their religious beliefs and practices
2) Wish to restore simplicity to church and the authority of the Bible to the theology.
3) look upon themselves as chosen people, and anyone who challenged their way of life is opposing God's will and is not to be accepted.
4）puritan opposition to pleasure and the arts sometimes has been exaggerated.
5）religious teaching tended to emphasize the image of a wrathful God.
4、典型的清教徒： John Cotton & Roger William
      区别：John Cotton was much more concerned with authority than with democracy;
                  William begins the history of religious toleration in America.
5、William的宗教观点：Toleration did not stem from a lack of religious convictions. Instead, it sprang from the idea that simply to be virtuous in conduct and devout in belief did not give anyone the right to force belief on others. He also felt that no political order or church system could identify itself directly with God.
6、英国最早移民到美国的诗人：Anne Bradstreet
7、在殖民时期最好的清教徒诗人：Edward Tayor.

1、Could you give a description of American Puritans?
Like their brothers back in England, were idealists, believing that the church should be restored to the "purity" of the first-century church as established by Jesus Christ himself. To them religion was a matter of primary importance. They made it their chief business to see that man lived and thought and acted in a way which tended to the glory of God. They accepted the doctrine of predestination, original sin and total depravity, and limited atonement through a special infusion of grace from God, all that John Calvin, the great French theologian who lived in Geneva had preached. It was this kind of religious belief that they brought with them into the wildness. There they meant to prove that they were God's chosen people enjoying his blessings on this earth as in Heaven.
2、Hard work, thrift, piety and sobriety were the Puritan values that dominated much of the earliest American writing.
3、The work of two writers, Anne Bradstreet & Edward Taylor, rose to the level of real poetry.
4、The earliest settlers included Dutch, Swedes, Germans, French, Spaniards Italian, and Portuguese.

Influenced by Calvinism by John Calvin - Tulip
Total depravity
Unconditional election
Limited atonement
Irresistible grace
Perseverance of the Saints

IT WAS a religious refrain movement that arose within the Churh of England in the late 16th century with the birth and rising of capitalism/ bourgeoisie.
In November 9, 1620, the Mayflower ship lands at Cape Cod, Massachusetts, with 101 colonists beginning the establishment of the first American colony and the strenuous settlement in the new world.

Core doctrines of Puritanism
Absolute will of God - Bible
Original sin - total depravity
Predestination and limited atonement - the elect
American puritans believed they were chosen by God to build an ideal community in America by leading a moral, simple and hardworking life.
They were intolerant and strictly punished drunks, adulterers, violators of the Sabbath and other religious believers different from themselves.

Influence of puritanism upon American Literature can be explored from two aspects: the way they express and the idea they expressed.

way of expression
1. Two major undercurrents in American literature: moods of optimism and frustration
2. Writing style
a) distinctively American symbolism: in relation to the Puritan's metaphorical mode of perception about the world - the phenomenal world is nothing but a symbol of God.
    - Anne Bradstreet's Contemplations, she used grasshopper and cricket to symbolize the Puritans who should speak out their inner thoughts as these two creatures singing freely with high tunes.
b)simple, fresh, direct, plain, a touch of nobility
    Simplicity - the use of metaphors was only to explain the writer's opinions rather than to decorate
                 distaste for the arts and for any manifestation of sensuous beauty.
                 their writing style is fresh, simple, and direct, just as the style of the Authorized Version of Holy Bible;
                 the rhetoric is plain and honest
    Bible - not without a touch of nobility often traceable to the direct influence of the Bible.
c) didactic art

the ideas underlie their expression
A group of good qualities - Practical, tougher and optimistic; hard work, thrift, piety, sobriety (serious and thoughtful)
basis - dream of building an Eden of Garden on earth - American dream - The American dream is the faith held by many in the United States of American that through hard work, courage, and determination one can achieve a better life for oneself, usually through financial prosperity.
chosen by God - optimistic  
                       - emphasizes individualism and personal rights
Original sin - total depravity - redemption and salvation - sinner and wouldn't redeem his original sin
                                           embraced hardships, industry and frugality;be ready for any misfortunes and tragic failures
                                           they favored a disciplined, hard, somber, ascetic and harsh life;
                                           they opposed arts and pleasures; they suspect joy and laughter as symptoms of sin.Opposition to pleasure and the arts
                                           Religious teaching tended to emphasize the image a wrathful God
                                           self-reliance

We can see these Puritan values from the book, The Autobiography, wrote by Benjamin Franklin.It tells that an ordinary man finally achieved success through hard work and became a self-made, self-reliant and self-sufficient man, which shows the world the spirits and the image of Americans.

Features of colonial poets
They were servants of God - Puritan poets
They faithfully imitated and transplanted English literary traditions - in English style

Anne bradstreet (1612-1672)
characteristics: singularly puritan mode of perception;
                      about the justice of God's way with His Puritan flock;
                      in search of man's nature and his mission in the new world.
The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America
●Published in England in 1650 as her first book.
●Bradstreet’s finest poems are those closest to her personal experience as a Puritan wife and mother living in the edge of the wildness.
● She found similarities between the domestic details of daily life and the spiritual details of her religious life.
●In conclusion,  Anne Bradstreet was not an innovative poet, but her directness and her sincerity are moving.

Of Plymouth Plantation
●A story of these early American and their long geographical and spiritual pilgrimage.
●Through the story, we share the struggle, the fears, and the victories over the elements.
●Bradford sees the signs everywhere and always keeps sight of signs of God’s judgment and providence.
●Bradford writes in the Puritan Plain style, seldom using any metaphor or decorative language.


Literature of Enlightment & Revolution (1765-1790s)
一、美国的性质：
The war for Independence ended in the formation of a Federative bourgeois democratic republic - the United States of America.
二、代表作家：
most writers are also activists or supporters of the Independent war
Genres: diaries, political pamphlets, poetry, satire literature, novel, drama, etc

the Enlightenment Movement
Introduction: originated in Europe in the 17th century
                   resources: Newton's theory, deism, French philosophy (Rousseau, Voltaire)
                   basic principles: stressing education, stressing reason (order) (the Age of Reason), empoying reason to reconsider the traditions and social realities, concerns for civil rights, such as equality and social justice
                   significance: accelerating social progress, freeing people from the limitations set by prevailing puritans, making spiritual preparation for American Revolution
3 Enlightenment thinkers - John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Jean Jacques Rousseau

John Locke (1642-1704),
English Enlightenment thinker
put forward the idea of men being by name free, equal and independent.
maintained that life is a natural right, along with liberty and property.
believed that government should be based upon the consent of the governed and a state founded on the concept of consent must be structured to allow for expressions of popular consent or will.
Thomas Hobbes(1588-1679)
an English political  philosopher  sought  to apply rational principles to the study of human nature.
believed that man is motivated most strongly by a desire for self-preservation, as a result of which he seeks power.
Man is a beast in jungle, and if let alone, would resort to anarchy, where only the use of force can be successful.
In order to insure himself a society where reason prevails over force, man must surrender some of his rights to government in return for protection and order. And the government must suited to maintain order and suppress those instincts in man is an absolute monarchy.
Government should also protect property
Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)
a Swiss-born French writer, maintained that man is good by nature.
His famous work, The Social Contract (1762), claimed that when men form a social contract to form a government, power rests ultimately with the people.
They may withdraw their support of their leaders when necessary. He believed that the least amount of government was best and that private property protected by government is evil.

Locke and Rousseau represented the impulse for Jeffersonian democracy, and Hobbesrepresented  the point of view, often expressed by Hamilton, of a strong central government

American Enlightenment
The 18th-century American Enlightenment was a movement marked by an emphasis on rationality rather than tradition, scientific inquiry instead of unquestioning religious dogma, and representative government in place of monarchy.
Enlightenment thinkers and writers were devoted to the ideals of justice, liberty, and equality as the natural rights of man.
The colonists who would form a new nation were firm believers in the power of reason; they were ambitious, inquisitive, optimistic, practical, politically astute, and self-reliant.
Basic assumptions and beliefs
human reason
knowledge comes only from experience and observation guided by reason
discovery of truth through the observation of nature, rather than through the study of the Bible
Deism: God is the creator of the universe, yet He leaves it to operate according to natural law
Human aspirations should not be centered on the next life, but rather on the means of improving this life. Worldly happiness was placed before religious salvation.

Great Awakening
      General revival of evangelical religion in the American colonies, which reached its peak in the early 1740s. Local revivals had occurred previously, inspired by the teaching of such clergymen as the congregational theologian Jonathan Edwards. They stimulated religious zeal, produced conversions, and increased church membership. In New England, Calvinism was reinvigorated, and Jonathan Edwards emerged as the leading orthodox theologian.

The two basic patterns of thought dominating the 18th century American thinking
1. Deism(自然神论）
a complete new view of the universe
a whole set of new ideas and philosophies
interested in man’s own nature, the natural world and the human world
2.Calvinist beliefs and tenets
Calvinists believe that man was, since the Fall, basically evil and enslaved by his sense of sin, and that God was all, and would in His mercy and love work for man’s salvation, but as for men, all he could do was to worship the Almighty and hope.

the literature of reason and revolution (1700-1800)
background - the Enlightenment Movement, the Age of Reason
                   - the War of Independence (1775-1783)
Features of Literature:
     ---outstanding political writing
     --- slowed literary independence (an excessive imitation of English or classical literary models; difficulty in publishing)
    --- Imaginative literature - derivative and dependent
Literary forms: rational essays
Content: politics and revolution; religion;education

Benjamin Fanklin (1706-1790)
1）"Poor Richard's Almanac" - annual collection of proverbs
It soon became the most popular book of its kind, largely because of Franklin's shrewd humor, and first spread his reputation
2) Founded the Junto, a club for informal discussion of scientific, economic and political ideas.
3) established America's first circulating library, founded the college--University of Pennsylvania.
4) first applied the terms "positive" and "negative" to electrical charges.
5) As a representative of the Colonies, he tried in vain to counsel the British toward policies that would let America grow and flourish in association with England. He conducted the difficulty negotiations with France that brought financial and military support for America in the war.  - one of the greatest founding fathers of the American Nation
6）As an author he had power of expression, simplicity, a subtle humor, and sarcastic.
7）The Way to Wealth
     The Autobiography

    - crude materialism (used deism as an effective practical support to the new ideas of progress)
    - inheritors of Puritan traditon
    - Jack of all trades: essayist, autobiographical writer, printer, scientist, postmaster,

The Autobiography of Bnejamin Franklin
Nature: Probably the first of its kind in literature. A simple yet fascinating record of a man’s  success. A faithful account of the         colorful career of America’s first self-made man.
Structure: consists of four parts, written at different times.
                 Franklin was 65 when he began to write.
Content:
a) Puritanism: It is first of all a Puritan document, a record of self-examination and self-improvement, a meticulous chart of 13 virtues to cultivate.
b) Enlightenment: It embodies the new order of the 18th century Enlightenment. (Order and Moderation)
Style: This work is written in the pattern of Puritan simplicity, directness, and concision. The most salient features are such as the plainness of its style, the homeliness of imagery, the simplicity of diction, syntax, and expression.
Tone: Optimism
The American dream began with the settlement of the American continent – the promised land – the Garden of Eden – optimistic about the future

evaluation
TheAutobiography is a record of self-examination and self-improvement.
Benjamin Franklin was a spokesman for the new order of the 18th century enlightenment
The Autobiography is a how-to-do-it book, a book on the art of self-improvement. (for example, Franklin’s 13 virtues)
Through telling a success story of self-reliance, the book celebrates, in fact, the fulfillment of the American dream.
The Autobiography is in the pattern of Puritan simplicity, directness, and concision.

style of Franklin
a brilliant writer, with a definite gift for writing
has power of expression, simplicity, a subtle humor, sometimes sarcastic
perfect the Puritan plain style, “smooth, clear and short writings”
Use “a close, naked, natural way of speaking; positive expressions, clear senses, a native easiness, bringing all things as near the mathematical plainness as they can."

Edwards & Franklin:
Edwards represents the upper levels of the American mind.
1.不同点
Franklin represents the lower levers.    Tradition of religious idealism理想主义的宗教信仰
2 the American Puritanism is a two faceted
   the levelheaded common sense—明智冷静的判断力F
3.The one was as a good Puritan as the other. 两人均是虔诚的宗教徒


Thomas Paine (1737-1809)
"Great Commoner of Mankind" 最平凡的人
1）famous pamphlet "Common Sense"  - it boldly advocated a "Declaration for Independence", and brought the separatist agitation to a crisis.
2）"American Crisis" 《美国危机》，signed "Common Sense" (p31,第一段）
Common Sense(1776) urged an immediate declaration of independence
The American Crisis(Dec. 1776-April 1783), a series of 16 pamphlets in support of the Revolutionary War
The Rights of Man (1791-2), a defense of the French Revolution against the attacks of Edmund Burke
The Age of Reason (1794-5), his great deistic work

- the most persuasive rhetorician of the cause for independence.
- born in England, the son of a staymaker
- in 1774, at the age of 37, recognized by Franklin because of his peculiar talents, and made his way to Philadelphia, where he edited the Pennsylvania Magazine owned and published by Franklin
- in 1776, his famous pamphlet Common Sense came out, bringing the separatist agitation to a crisis.
- the most articulate spokesman of the American Revolution, his chief contribution was a series of sixteen pamphlets entitled The American Crisis

The Aphoristic Style - Although Paine’s language is simple and blunt, he composes some sentences with extra care, achieving what is called an aphoristic style.  These are memorable statements in themselves: What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly”; “Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered.”  In each case Paine cuts and polished the sentence to make it stand out.

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
1）drafted the Declaration of Independence. 起草了独立宣言
2）与清教徒不同，主张追求幸福。All Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of happiness.

1、Theology dominated the Puritan phase of American writing. Politics was the next great suject to command the attention of the best minds.
2、Freneau was neoclassical by training and taste yet romantic in essential spirit.


Philip Freneau (1752-1832)

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非常感谢学姐，打心底里感谢