A History of American Literature
Major stages of American Literature
1.The Colonial and Revolutionary Period: 1607 --- 1810
2.The Romantic Period: 1810 --- 1860
3.The Realistic Period: 1860 --- 1914
4.The Modern Period: 1914 --- 1945
5.The Period of Pluralism:1945 --- the present
The Colonial and Revolutionary Period
(1607 ---1810)
1.The Colonial Period : 1607 --- 1750
2.The Revolutionary Period: 1750 --- 1810
Historical Background :
Colonization & immigration
Indians of North America
1492, Christopher Columbus
Migration from Europe
1607, more than 120 British men founded the first English Colony, Jamestown in Virginia 1620, ―May Flower‖, Puritans, Plymouth colony in New England
1630, Maachusetts Bay colony
Thirteen English colonies (1607-1733)
13 English Colonies
Mayflower (imitation), 27 meters long
102 people aboard
66 days at sea
Features of Puritanism
Purification of the church
Calvinism (John Calvin, 1509-1564, French protestant reformer)
Emphasis of Predestination ―预定论‖
Total depravity (Original Sin) 彻底的堕落 (因原罪而起）
Unconditional election 无条件挑选
Prevenient & Irresistible grace 恩惠不由索取
Limited atonement 有限的赎罪
The Covenant of Grace 恩典之约 (grace of God, the bleed land, Garden of Eden)
Influence of Puritanism
Intolerance and bigotry in religion, austerity and rigidity of taste, asceticism, killjoy way of life (The word ―Puritan‖ is used to refer to denote strictne in morality.)
Hard work, thrift, piety and sobriety highly cherished
Positive influence on national character, on literature and on culture – determination, optimism, simplicity, symbolism.(p.14-15)
popular image of Puritans: a teetotaler绝不沾酒, gaunt骨瘦如柴, lank-haired头发平直, wearing a black steeple hat尖顶帽
Overview of the Literary Scene
Genre (personal literature) — diaries, histories, journals, letters, travelbooks, autobiographies/biographies, sermons
Theme — Idealism & pragmatism: God or colonial expansion, politics, ideas of Enlightenment andrevolution, advocacy of independence and democracy
Form — imitated and transplanted English literary traditions
Features — proud sense of miion, emphasis on didactic role, rich in religious color, not profeional, highly promotional & political, largely derivative and dependent
Colonial Literature
Early American writers:
Captain John Smith (Jamestown)
William Bradford (Plymouth)
John Winthrop (Maachusetts Bay)
Early poets:
Anne Bradstreet
Edward Taylor
Anne Bradstreet (1612 — 1672)
安妮·布雷兹特里特
First famous poet in North America, known as the ―Tenth Muse‖, sometimes regarded as the ―mother of Amerian Poetry‖
Major works:
The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung up in America (1650) 《最近在美洲出现的第十位缪斯》the first collection of poems in North America.
Literature in the Age of
Reason and Revolution
(1750—1810)
Historical Background
1.War of Independence
2.Enlightenment (science, order, reason; deism 自然神论; Jean Jaques Rouseau, Social Contract社会契约论,)
Overview of the Literary Scene
1.Genre: prose, novel, poetry, drama
2.Content: justification of War; encourage people; civil and religious freedom; American material
3.Form: imitation, began to seek for literary independence
4.Features:
1750 –1780, distinct political nature；
1780 –1800, seek for cultural independence
Major Thinkers and Writers
Thomas Jefferson: 杰佛逊
―Declaration of Independence‖
Thomas Paine:潘恩
―Common Sense‖, ―The American Crisis‖
Benjamin Franklin:富兰克林
―Poor Richard’s Almanac‖, ―Autobiography‖
Philip Freneau: 菲利普• 弗瑞诺 ―Father of Am.Poetry‖
―The Wild Honeysuckle‖ (p.23)
―The Indian Burying Ground‖
Jonathan Edwards: religious, a minister
Major works of Jefferson
1.Declaration of Independence, 1776
---- ―We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and pursuit of Happine.‖
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790 )
Statesman, eayist, orator, philosopher, ambaador, scientist, inventor, publisher
―master of each and mastered by none‖—Herman Melville
One of the Founding Fathers of America
Symbol of America in the Age of Enlightenment
The only American to sign the four documents that created the United States:
the Declaration of Independence
the treaty of alliance with France
the treaty of peace with England
the Constitution
The symbol of American Dream, a self-made man
His Major Works (1)
Poor Richard’s Almanac (1732) 《格言历书》
poems and eays
a good many adages and commonsense witticisms
Be civil to all, social to many, familiar to few, friend to one, enemy to none
Lost time is never found again.
A penny saved is a penny earned.
God help them that help themselves.
Fish and visitors stink in three days.
Early to bed, and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.
His Major Works (2)
Autobiography (1868)
— the simple yet immensely fascinating record of a man rising to wealth and fame from a state of poverty and obscurity
— the faithful account of the colorful career of American’s first self-made man.
— a Puritan document (self-examination and self-improvement; illustration of Puritan ethics )—a story of the fulfillment of American dream.
Supplementary reading
Colonization of America
•Two important New England Settlements
•The Plymouth Colony
Flagship Mayflower arrivesWilliam Bradford
Settlers known as Pilgrims
The Mayflower Compact provides for
social, religious, and economic freedom,
while still maintaining ties to Great Britain.
•The Maachusetts Bay Colony
Flagship Arbella arrivesJohn Winthrop
Settlers are mostly Puritans
The Arbella Covenant clearly establishes
a religious settlement,
free of ties to Great Britain.
Colonial Prose Writers
•John Smith (1580 - 1631) 约翰·史密斯, the first American writer
– A true Relation of Virginia (1608) 《关于弗吉尼亚的真实叙述》
–A Description of New England （1616)《新英格兰概述》
•William Bradford (1590-1657), 威廉·布拉福德 ，“Father of American History”.–Of Plymouth Plantation《 普利茅斯种植园史》
•John Winthrop (1588-1649), 约翰·温斯罗普
–The History of New England 《新英格兰史》
•Major works of Jefferson
•1.Declaration of Independence, 1776
---- ―We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and pursuit of Happine.‖
2.Notes on the State of Virginia 《 弗吉尼亚笔记》 back
•托马斯·潘恩 （1737— 1809）most influential thinker and writer in the War of Independence•Major works
–Common Sense 《常识》
–The American Crisis 《美洲危机》 （―The Times that Try Men’s Souls‖《考验人的灵魂的时代》)
–The Rights of Man (1791 — 1792 )《人的权利》
–The Age of Reason 《理性的时代》back
Thirteen virtues from The Autobiography (1)
•1.Temperance节制.Eat not to dullne; drink not to elevation.
•2.Silence沉默.Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.•3.Order秩序.Let all your things have their places; let each part of your busine have its time.•4.Resolution决心.Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.Thirteen virtues from The Autobiography (2)
•5.Frugality节俭.Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself, i.e., waste nothing.•6.Industry勤奋.Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off all unneceary actions.
•7.Sincerity诚实.Use no harmful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.
•8.Justice公正.Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.Thirteen virtues from The Autobiography (3)
•9.Moderation适度.Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.
•10.Cleanline清洁.Tolerate no uncleanline
•in body, clothes, or habitation.
•11.Tranquility宁静.Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.•12.Chastity贞洁.Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullne, weakne, or the injury of our own or another’s peace or reputation.
•13.Humility谦虚.Imitate Jesus and Socrates.
•Autobiography: A story that a person writes abouthis or her own life is called an autobiography.
Autobiographies are written in first-person point of view, and biographies in third-person point of view.First-person narration makes readers feel that the writer is talking directly to them and gives more of the writer’s personal ideas and feelings than a third-person narration.Nobel Prize winners
•1930 Sinclair Lewis
•1936 Eugene O’Neill
•1938 Pearl S.Buck
•1948 T.S.Elliot
•1949 William Faulkner
•1954 Ernest Hemingway
•1962 John Steinbeck
•1976 Saul Bellow
•1978 Isaac Bashevis Singer
•1993 Toni Morrison
