美國文學史

<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />Abstract:

America’s history of literature began with the swarming in of immigrants with different background and cultures. After that, American literature had been greatly influenced by the European culture for a long period. It was not until America’s independence, did Americans realized that they need national literature strongly, and American literature began to developed. The Civil War was a watershed in the history, after which American literature entered a period of full blooming. Romantics, which emphasized inpidualism and intuition and Tnscendentalism represented by Emerson came out into being. This was an exciting period in the history of American literature. Like the flowers of spring, there were suddenly many different kinds of writing at the same time. They have given depth and strength to American literature, and accelerated the forming of High Romantics. But due to the influence of Civil War, the American society was in a turbulent situation. The writings about local life, critical realism and unveiling the dark side of the society were increased. After The First World War, Americans were at a loss postwar, and the Modern American literature began.

My piece of paper is written in chronological order as these periods developed in order to have a clear outline of its progress.

Keywords: National Literature, Romanism, Transcendentalism, Local Color, Realism, Modern literature

摘要： 從殖民地時期起，歐洲殖民者和清教徒翻開了美國史的第一頁。 這往后很長一段時期， 美國文學一直都受到歐洲的很大影響。一直到美國獨立后，美國人強烈地感覺到了文學的需要，美國的民族文學開始發(fā)展。 南北戰(zhàn)爭是美國文學史上一個分水嶺， 戰(zhàn)后美國文學進入了一個全盛時期，產生了強調個性主義和直覺的早期浪漫主義，和以愛默生為代表的'超驗主義文學。愛默生的時代是美國前所未有的文學變動時代，產生了一大批優(yōu)秀的作家和作品。 他們突出地給予了當時美國文學以深度和力量，也促進了羅曼主義高潮的來臨。但是由于戰(zhàn)爭的影響， 動蕩不安，這時的作品更注重于揭示社會的陰暗面， 同時美國的民族文學進一步發(fā)展，創(chuàng)作出許多帶有本土色彩和批判現實主義的作品。 一戰(zhàn)后，美國人陷入戰(zhàn)后的茫然， 美國也開始進入了階段。

我的論文隨著這些時代的發(fā)展以時間順序展開， 以便對于美國文學史的產生和發(fā)展綱要能有一個清晰的條理。

關鍵詞： 民族文學， 浪漫主義， 超驗主義， 本土色彩， 現實主義， 現代文學

American is a multi-national country. Just like a big container, which put in various kinds of elements. Different cultures, that can not only be co-existed but also form a sharp contrast, mixed together, It makes American literature style has a flavor of distinct and various aesthetic feeling. Many writers come from lower level, which makes American literature has the rich flavor of life and local color. Furthermore, many new styles of literature in the world are oriented in America since 20th century.

The process of American literature can be pided into following main periods: Colony and Puritan literature; early national literature; latter national literature and Modern literature.

America’s history of literature began with the swarming in of immigrants with different background and cultures. After that, American literature had been greatly influenced by the European culture for a long period. It was not until America’s independence, did Americans realize that they need national literature strongly, and American literature began to develop. The Civil War was a watershed in the history, after which American literature entered a period of full blooming. Romantics, which emphasized inpidualism and intuition，and Tnscendentalism represented by Emerson came out into being. This was an exciting period in the history of American literature. Like the flowers of spring, there were suddenly many different kinds of writing at the same time. They have given depth and strength to American literature, and accelerated the forming of High Romantics. But due to the influence if Civil War, the American society was in a turbulent situation. The writings about local life, critical realism and unveiling the dark side of the society were increased. After The First World War, Americans were at a loss postwar, and the Modern American literature began.

1. Colonial and early American literature

(1). Travelers and Explorers

When the European explorers first came to this new continent, the native Indians who probably got here from Asia about fifteen thousand years ago were still in origin, and they even had no written language, “The traditional literature was originally transmitted almost entirely by word of mouth, and therefore belongs to the category of oral literature,” (Wu Dingbo, 1) As time past, more and more travelers and explorers swarmed in. They wrote a lot of diaries、letters, and travel accounts to describe the new land as second Eden. No wander somebody said that the earliest American literature were the travel accounts written by European adventurers. Among the most remained were Captain John Smith’s True Relation of Virginia (1608), and Description of New England (1616).

Although most of the Indian history was preserved in tales and songs, they had thoughts about life and nature. They loved the natural world around them deeply, and they believed that when a person was dead, he would give back what had borrowed while he was alive to nature. This kind of philosophy had influenced later or even modern American writers. It’s interesting that when we look at the literature of the Puritans, the Transcendentalists, the Naturalists, and even the Moderns, when we read Anne Bradstreet, Emily Dickinson, Stephen Crane, and Ernest Hemingway, we can find similar themes.

(2) Pilgrim settlements

Several years later, another group of settlers also arrived in the New World. This group was looking for the Jamestown settlement. However, because of bad navigation, they landed in Massachusetts. They were also coming to the New World with dreams of success, but their goal was different from the Jamestown settlement. They wanted to start a new world governed by the Bible. They were called Puritans because they wanted to live a better life by making themselves pure. They first arrived on the Mayflower and settled in Plymouth. This is the group we are usually thinking about when we talk about the "first Americans."