Emerson-Transcendentalism(常耀信美国文学超验主义.爱默生).ppt

Transcendentalism （1830s-1850s ） What is Transcendentalism? p56 Transcendentalism is the summit of the Romantic Movement in the history of American literature in the 19th century. Transcendentalism has been defined philosophically as “the recognition in man of the capacity of knowing truth intuitively”. Transcendentalists place emphasis on the importance of the Over-soul, the individual and Nature. The most important representatives are Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. 超验主义(transcendentalism)的核心观点是主张人能超越感觉和理性而直接认识真理，认为人类世界的一切都是宇宙的一个缩影--世界将其自身缩小成为一滴露水（爱默生语）。超验主义者强调万物本质上的统一，万物皆受超灵制约，而人类灵魂与超灵一致。这种对人之神圣的肯定使超验主义者蔑视外部的权威与传统，依赖自己的直接经验。相信你自己这句爱默生的名言，成为超验主义者座右铭。这种超验主义观点强调人的主观能动性，有助于打破加尔文教的人性恶、命定论等教条的束缚，为热情奔放，抒发个性的浪漫主义文学奠定了思想基础。 Resources A. Puritan heritage P58At the end of the 18th century people gradually felt boring about the strict Calvinism. At the same time with the development of science and technology, Americans suspected the old religion. Thus, Unitarianism（唯一理教） appeared. It was a developed school from the Transcendentalism. It stressed continual progress of mankind rather than old religions mans total depravity”. Resources B. Foreign influenceGerman Philosophy, especially Kant（康德）Ancient Indian and Chinese works, such as Confucius and MenciusP58 Oversoul 超灵 and individual soul The Oversoul is an all-pervading power for goodness, omnipresent and omnipotent, from which all things came and of which all were a part. As the individual soul could commune with God, it was, therefore, divine. With the assumption of the innate goodness of humanity, it held that the individual soul could reach God without the help of churches or clergy. Features P57 Features Features nature is the symbol of spirit/the garment of the Oversoul Significance A. influenced a large group of writersB. summit of American RomanticismC. marked the independence of American literature Transcendentalism: quotes “The Universe is composed of Nature and the Soul. Spirit i