美国文学构架.pptVIP

An Outline  of the History of American Literature What is Puritanism? The word “Puritanism” derives from “purify”. It is a Christian school as well as theological doctrine created by puritans, a special group of Christians. What is Puritanism? The story of puritans began in England. Some Christians in England were disappointed about Martin Luther’s Protestant Reform. In order to oppose against the corrupted church at home and in search for another pure land of God, they departed their motherland and set sail to the new world. Mayflower was one of their ships. And Plymouth in Massachusetts was one of the first colonies they built in America. What is Puritanism? Most of puritan writers are priests or Pilgrim Fathers. Accordingly, sermon is the most popular literary form during that period. The Puritans in New England embraced hardships, together with the discipline of a harsh church. The age of Reason and Enlightenment. It was a time when people turned cool toward religion. Instead, they placed their faith on the achievement of a new science. They believed in the power of human’s innate ability — reason, an ability of logic thinking. Therefore, rationalism was the dominant spirit in that age. The age of Reason and Enlightenment. This universe is a harmonious system evidencing a benevolent God. Mankind is supposed to have the ability to discover and unfold all “Nature’s Laws”. In the social studies, people hold such a faith that with the assistance of human’s intelligence, esp., human’s rationality, human can create a set of reasonable institutions to improve our society. The age of Reason and Enlightenment. Because human’s rationality can also help them to discover all laws of social development. In other words, without the grace of God, mankind still can build their desired paradise. Therefore, “process” and “science” were the dominant concepts in the age of Reason and Enlightenment. American Romanticism and Transcendentalism The fifty-year period fr