美国文学史

<?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 individualism 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： 从殖民地时期起，欧洲殖民者和清教徒翻开了美国史的第一页。 这往后很长一段时期， 美国文学一直都受到欧洲的很大影响。一直到美国独立后，美国人强烈地感觉到了文学的需要，美国的民族文学开始发展。 南北战争是美国文学史上一个分水岭， 战后美国文学进入了一个全盛时期，产生了强调个性主义和直觉的早期浪漫主义，和以爱默生为代表的'超验主义文学。爱默生的时代是美国前所未有的文学变动时代，产生了一大批优秀的作家和作品。 他们突出地给予了当时美国文学以深度和力量，也促进了罗曼主义高潮的来临。但是由于战争的影响， 动荡不安，这时的作品更注重于揭示社会的阴暗面， 同时美国的民族文学进一步发展，创作出许多带有本土色彩和批判现实主义的作品。 一战后，美国人陷入战后的茫然， 美国也开始进入了阶段。

我的论文随着这些时代的发展以时间顺序展开， 以便对于美国文学史的产生和发展纲要能有一个清晰的条理。

关键词： 民族文学， 浪漫主义， 超验主义， 本土色彩， 现实主义， 现代文学

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 divided 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 individualism 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."