Literature of Early Romantic Period 美国文学史课件.ppt

Literature of Early Romantic Period I. Background 1. Political background and economical development Radical changes Foreign influences 2. The ever-increasing number of magazines which provided the playground for romanticism II. Features of American Romanticism Both imitative and independent strong European influence: Presenting new experience alien to European culture Puritan heritage Producing a “newness” of the Americans as a nation. III. Common Themes and subject matters  celebration of natural beauty and simple life idealization of common people interest in the past and remote places eulogizing individualism Washington Irving Writing career (1809-1832) A History of New York from the Beginning of the World to the End of Dutch Dynasty （1809）《纽约外史》 The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon，Gent (1819-1820) 《见闻札记》 The History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus (1828) A Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada (1829) Alhambra (1832) Writing career (after 1832) A Tour on the Prairies Astoria Captain Bonneville Writing Style His style : beautiful, gentility, urbanity, Avoiding moralizing as much as possible Good at enveloping his stories in an atmosphere His characters : vivid and true/round character Humor Language: finished, musical Irving’s contributions to American literature 1st American man of letters to support himself as a writer 1st American writer of imaginative literature to gain international fame Father of American literature: The Sketch Book also marked the beginning of A Romanticism, * *