Lesson 1
Introduction to American Literature
(from early colonial period through the 1970s)
Unnecessary to remember every author and his works, but necessary to remember the representative.
Geography:
US: at Central part of North America with its two youngest states: Alaska in NW of N. America and Hawaii in Central Pacific.
Bounded by Canada, Mexico, Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean
History:
Colonization of North America: 1607(1st British colonist went to America to build their settlement).
Colonization period: 1607-1776: from 1st English colonist to American Independence
Indians: living in US
Discovery of America: 1492, Christopher Columbus discovered America
Colonization of North America:
Since Columbus’s discovery, European powers came to America
In 1620, some English immigrants (Puritans) sailed to Plymouth on a ship named: Mayflower.
1733, English founded 13 American colony.
The American War of Independence (1775-1783)
Led by Washington, with English colonists being defeated and founded a new nation, which marked the new beginning of American history.
The growth of the nation
The American Civil War (1861-1865)
The North: industrial, the south: the agriculture with slavery;
A bourgeois revolution in nature.
The abolition of slavery and the emancipation of the Negroes enabled the country to develop more rapidly in every field.
Take America only 3 decades.
The U.S. Imperialism:
By the end of C19th, U.S. had grown into a highly developed industrial country, and reached the stage of imperialism and became the most powerful country in the world.
National day: The Declaration of Indepence: 7, 4th 1776, the document was accepted by the congress, thus being considered as the National Day of U.S
The Literature of the Colonial and Revolutionary Period: early C17th, to end of the C18
Major topic:
American Puritanism: the religious beliefs of the Puritans, who had intended to “purify” or “simplify” the religious ritual of the Church of England. They believed in the original sin and the harsh Day of Doom, although some good people-the chosen people or the Select-may be saved.
Literature of Romanticism:
Romanticism: it was originated in England and came to America early in the C19th. It shared certain general characteristics: moral enthusiasm, faith in the value of individualism and intuitive perception, and a presumption that nature was a source of goodness and man’s societies a source of corruption.
Period: from the end of C18th to outbreak of the Civil War (1861-1865)
Peak of American Romanticism: Transcendentalism(超驗(yàn)主義)
Transcendentalism: it is a literary movement flourishing in New England from the 1830s to the American Civil War. It stressed intuitive understanding of God, without the help of church, and advocated independence of the mind. The representative writers are Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry David Thoreau.
Literature of Realism:
Realism: it had originated in France. It was a literary doctrine that called for “reality and truth” in the description of ordinary life. It offers an objective rather than idealistic view of human nature and human experience. The champion of American realism was William Dean Howells.
Period: in latter half of C19th, between the American Civil War and the WW I.
C20th Literature: since WWI
