American Literature 美国文学概要1.ppt

American Literature American Literature The earliest forms of American literature were pamphlets and writings extolling the benefits of the colonies. Religious disputes that prompted settlement in America were also topics of early writing. Other early writings described conflicts and interaction with the Native Americans. The revolutionary period also contained political writings. Thomas Paine Common Sense and The American Crisis American literature has recorded the story of a quest. Economic Religious Restless American literature has been a continuous narrative of the “pursuit of happiness.” Early Fiction In the post-war period, The Federalist essays by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and James Jay represented a historical discussion of government organization and republican values. Thomas Jefferson Declaration of Independence Heavily influenced the Constitution. His Autobiography The Notes on the State of Virginia Many Letters The first American novel, The Power of Sympathy, was written by Hill Brown in 1789. Early post-revolutionary writers were interested in creating an American history. Washington Irvin History of New York “Rip Van Winkle” “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” Tour on Prairies James Fenimore Cooper The Spy Leatherstocking Tales The Pioneers The Last of the Mohicans The Prairie The Pathfinder The Deerslayer Transcendentalists Transcendentalism was a group of new ideas in literature, religion, culture, and philosophy that emerged in New England in the early middle of the 19th century. Transcendentalism was rooted in the transcendental philosophy of Immanuel Kant, which the New England intellectuals of the early 19th century embraced as an alternative to the Lockean “sensualism” of their fathers. Transcendentalism began as a protest against the general state of culture and society at the time, and in particular, the state of intellectualism at Harvard and the doctrine of the Unitarian church taught at Harvard Divinity School. Among Transcendentali