Part IX American Romanticism.ppt

Transcendentalism and 19th-century poetry 超验主义和20世纪诗歌 Transcendentalism Transcendentalism is launched by Emerson and Thoreau. They established a club and a journal—Dial. In America it is called American Transcendentalism or “New England Transcendentalism” or “American Renaissance”. It is more of a tendency than a philosophy. The Transcendentalists spoke for cultural rejuvenation and against the materialism of American society. They placed emphasis on spirit or Over-soul which is the most important thing in the universe. They believed in self-reliance and individuality. They offered a fresh perception of nature as symbolic of the Spirit of God. Romanticism In the mid-18th century, a new literary movement called romanticism came to Europe and then to England. It was characterized by a strong protest against the bondage of neoclassicism, which emphasized reason, order and elegant wit. Romantics gave primary concern to passion, emotion, and natural beauty. In the history of literature, Romanticism is generally regarded as the thought that designates a literary and philosophical theory which tends to see the individual as the very center of all life and experience. The English romantic period is an age of poetry, which prevailed in England from 1798 to 1837. American Romanticism However, American Romanticism coincided with national expansion and the discovery of a distinctive native American subject. The writers described a desire for an escape from society and a return to nature. Features of poetry Freedom of artistic expression Importance of the individual and common person Aesthetic and ethical values External nature to seek spiritual sublimation and moral support Internal life of human beings Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Rhodora [r?u?d?:r?] 北美杜鹃花 On?being?asked,?Whence?is?the?flower?? In?May,?when?sea-winds?pierced?our?solitudes,? I?found?the?fresh?Rhodora?in?the?woods,? Spreading?its?leafless?blooms?in?a?damp?nook,? To?please?the?desert?and?t