the american enlightenment美国启蒙运动 文学.pptxVIP

the American Enlightenment美国启蒙运动 文学会计学第1页/共6页The Age of EnlightenmentFeatures of the American EnlightenmentThe War for IndependenceCharacteristics of the literature第2页/共6页THE AMERICAN ENLIGHTENMENT The 18th-century American Enlightenment was a movement marked by an emphasis on rationality rather than tradition, scientific inquiry instead of unquestioning religious dogma, and representative government in place of monarchy. Enlightenment thinkers and writers were devoted to the ideals of justice, liberty, and equality as the natural rights of man. Deism(自然神论) :the belief, based solely on reason, in a God who created the universe and then abandoned it, assuming no control over life, exerting no influence on natural phenomena, and giving no supernatural revelation.第3页/共6页Features of the American Enlightenmentan unshakable belief in the power of reason, “enlightenment” or “education” concerns for civil rights, a more comprehensive democracy in government, and general toleration opposed to the old colonial order and religious obscurantismdisseminating knowledge among the people and advocating revolutionary ideas. participated in the War for Independence. secular education and literature. The secular ideals of the American Enlightenment were exemplified in the life and career of Benjamin Franklin.The War for Independence(1775-1783)第4页/共6页The hard-fought American Revolution against Britain was the first modern war of liberation against a colonial power. Military victory fanned nationalistic hopes for a great new literature. With the country’s independence, the beginnings of literary independence were evident in some writings. Yet American literature throughout the century was largely patterned on the writing of the eighteenth-century Englishmen. Except for the outstanding political writing, few works of note appeared during or soon after the Revolution. 第5页/共6页Characteristics of the literature Americans were painfully aware of their excessive dependence on English literary