美国文学复习大纲.ppt

American Literature 美国文学简史 常耀信 著 Chapter 1 Colonial period to War of Independence 1. The Development of the American as a Nation. Though American literature has a history of only about 200 years, it is closely related with the development of the American as a nation. The native people in the continent of US are Indians. In the beginning of 17th century black people were shipped from Africa to America and became slaves of southern planters. Other immigrants were from different nations of Europe. People of different nationalities live together generation after generation. Gradually a new nation, the nation of America came into being. 2.The early development of American literature The early development of American literature is slow, as then America was at the period of development with low living standard. The first problem immigrants had to solve was food, really hard for them to care for the spiritual enjoyment. In 1704, first newspaper got published in America. In 1731, first library was established. In 1752, first professional troupe was set up. What was put on the stage were English plays. It was not until 1767 that the first play by American writer was put on the stage. It was after the war of Independence that novels appeared. 3. Main literary writers and writings of this period The writings of this period were diaries, travel notes and works of religion. Though they couldn’t be regarded as the birth of American literature, to some extent, they reflected the living situation and social customs of the early colonized place, which had played an important role in the cultural life of American people, thus influenced the following American literature. American Movement of Enlightenment (P.27-28) Chapter 2 Independence War to American Civil War After the independence, great changes had taken place in US. However, US still lagged behind UK culturally. Western part of US had not been opened; southern part was under the control of slaveowners. Though it was