英美文学史名词解释

American Literature

an puritanism

In the early part of the 17

th

century, the settlement of the North American continent by

the English began. Quite a few of the first settlers were Puritans. They carried with

them to American a code of values, a philodophy of life and a point of view, whivh is

popularly known as American Puritarism.

American Puritanism was one of the most enduring shaping influences in American

thought and literature.

1.

puritans accepted the doctrine of predestination, original sin, total depravity and

limited atonement from God’s grace.

2.

they went to prove that they are God’s chosen people enjoying his blessing on this

earth as in heaven.

3.

they are both doctrinaire and oppotunist.

Influence on American literature:

1. American literature is based on a myth-the Biblical myth of the Garden of Eden.

Puritans dreamed of building a new Garden of Eden in America.

Fired with

such a sence of mission, the puritans were optimistic, which has

a

great

influence on American literature.

2. The American

Puritan’s metaphorical mode of perception helps swvelop a literary

symbolism which is distinctly American.

3.

With

regard

to

their

writing,

the

style

is

fresh,

simple

and

direct,

the

rhetoric

is

plain and honest, whith have great influence on American writing.

an Romanticism

Time: from the end of the 18

th

century to the outbreak of the Civil War.

Background:

political, economic and cultural independence developed fast.

influences stimulated the growth of romanticism in American.

Features:

1.

American national experience of pioneering into the west provided rich material

for American writers.

2.

puritanism

had

a

noticeable

influence

on

American

Romanticism.

American

Romantic

authors

tended

more

to

moralize

than

their

English

and

European

cournterparts.

3.

American’s

ideals

of

indiividualism

and

political

equality

and

their

dream

that

American

was

to

be

a

new

Garden

of

Eden

did

probably

produce

a

feeling

of

newness, a feeling stronge enough to inspire the romantic imagination.

4.

American Romanticism was both imitative and independent.

Main contents:

The exotic landscape, the frontier life, the westward

expansion, the myth of a

New

Garden of Eden in America(the native materials),New England Poems.

Representatives: New England Poets- Longfellow and so on.

Writers: Washington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper

England Transcendentalism

Background:

1.

Ralph Waldo Emerson published Nature in 1836 which represented a new way of

intellectual thinking in American: the universe is composed of Nature and the soul.

Spirit is present everywhere.

2.

in 1836, some New Englanders organized the Transcendental Club.

Major features:

1.

the

Transcendentalists

placed

emphasis

on

spirit,

or

the

oversoul,

as

the

most

important things in the universe.

2.

the Transcendentalists stressed the importance of the individual.

3.

the Transcendectalists regard nature as symbolic of the spirit or God.

Representatives: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Dickinson.

The phrase of New England Transcendentalism was the product of a combination of

foreign influences and the American Puritan tradition(it begun with the introduction of

idealistic philosophy from Germany and France; it was actually Romanticism on the

Puritan Soul). It never had a systematic philosophy, it borrowed from many sourses,

but lacked of logical connection, finally, it turned to mysticism.

Age of Realism

Background:

1.

after American Civil War, increasing industrialization and mechanization of the

country produced extremes of wealth and poverty.

2.

the fact that the frontier

was closing ruined people’s hope th escape troubles over

the next hill and have a better life ahead.

3.

by the 1870s, New England Renaisance had waned. The age of Romanticism and

Transcendentalism was by and large over. Meanwhile, younger writers oppeared

on the scene.

Time:

In the batter half of the 19

th

century, realism came as a literary movement against the

lie of romanticism and sentimentalism.

Major features:

1.

realism

is

the

theory

of

writing

in

which

familiar

aspects

of

contemporany

life

and

everyday

scences

are

represented

in

a

straightforward

or

mother-of-fact

manner.

2.

open ending(means real life is complex and cannot be fully understood).

3.

focus on the lives of the common people.

4.

emphasize objectivity.

Represenrarives: William Dean Howells, Herry James, Mark Twain.

colorism

Local colorism became dominant in the late 1860s and early 1870s. It originated from

the frontier humorists with their “tall tales”. It presents a locale which is distinguished

from the outside world

；

It describes the exotic and the picturesque

；

It describes things

that are not common in other regions

；

It shows things as they are

；

It glorifies the past

；

It stresses the influence of setting on character.

Representative:

Mark

Twain

—“The

adventures

of

Huckleberry

Finn”;

“The

adventures of Tom Sawyer”.

The local colorists formed an important part of the realistic movement. Their truthful

depiction

of

the

common

people

in

their

commonplace

lives

added

strength

to

the

fight for realism.

an naturalism

New

idea about man and man’s place in the universe bagan to take root in Amarican.

Living in a cold, indifferent and essentially Godless world, man was no longer free in

any

sense

of

the

word.

He

was

completely

thrown

upon

himself

for

survival.

The

outlook

of

many

rising

authors

and

intellectuals

have

changed,

and

an

attitude

of

gloom and despair which characterize American literature of this period.

an Imagism:

Imagism was flourished from 1909-1917. It was one of the most essential techniques

of

writing

poetry

in

modern

period

with

a

spirit

of

revolt

against

conventions,

anti

—

romantic

and

produced

free

verse

without

imposing

a

rhythmical

pattern.

Imagism tried to record objective observations of an object

or a

situation

without

interpretation

or

comment

by

the

poet.

(suggestion

rather

than

compete statement). Imagism helped to open the first

pages of modern American

most outstanding figures: Ezra Pound ( His famous books are Cathy, Canto)

and T.S. Eliot ( The Wasteland, Four Quarters)

English Literature

English Renaissance

The English Renaissance or the rebirth of letters was a cultural and artistic movement

in England dating from the early 16th century to the early 17th century

。

it sprang first

in

Italy

in

the

14th

century

and

gradually

spread

all

over

Europe.

Two

features

are

striking of this movement. the one is a thirsting curiosity for the classical literature.

Another feature of the

renaissance is

the keen interest

in

the activities of humanity.

The major literary figures in the English Renaissance include:Francis Bacon

（

essays

“of studies”

）

,Christopher Marlowe

Thomas More ( utopia), William Shakespeare ( many great

comedies and tragedies,

sonnet ), Edmund Spenser.

metaphysical poets

The metaphysical poets were a loose group of British lyric poets of the 17th century,

who shared an interest in metaphysical concerns and a common way of investigating

them, and whose work was characterized by mysticism in content and fantasticality in

form.

Its

founder

is

John

Donne

and

representatives

are

George

Herbert,

Andrew

Marvell.

tenment

Enlightenment was an intellectual movement in Europe begun in 18th century. With

the

effect

of

Industrial

Revolution,

social

life

changed

a

lot.

Enlightenment

was

an

expression of struggle of the bourgeoisie against feudalism. The enlighteners fought

against class inequality, stagnation, prejudice and other survivals of feudalism. They

attempt to place all branches of science at the service of mankind by connecting them

with the actual needs and requirements of people. English enlighteners of 18th century

strove

to

bring

it

to

an

end

by

clearing

away

the

feudal

ideas

with

the

bourgeois