1、Chapter I:,Chapter 1（Lecturer:陈盛）,Captain John Smith (15801631),Background2. American Puritanism 3. Literature of the 18th Century,1607-1775 Colonial Period 1775-1865 the Early National Period 1828-1865 Romantic Period in American 1865-1914 Realistic Period 1914-1939 Modern Literature 1939- Contempo
2、rary Period,Period:,- 1492 ,Christopher Columbus in. -The earliest settlers included Dutch, Swedes, Germans, French, Spaniard, Italians, and Portuguese.Frenchmen :Northern Colonies (along the St. Lawrence River) Swedes :along the Delaware Dutch : Hudson Germans and Scotch-Irish: New York and Pennsyl
3、vania Spanish :Florida,In the 17th century, pirates, adventurers, and explorers opened the way to a second wave of permanent colonists, bringing their wives, children, farm implements and craftsmens tools. The early literature of exploration, made up of diaries, letters, travel journals, ships logs,
4、 and reports to the explorers financial backersEuropean rulers or, in mercantile England and Holland, joint stock companiesgradually was supplanted by records of the settled colonies.,The first permanent English settlement in North America was established at Jamestown, Virginia in 1607. It endured s
5、tarvation, brutality, and misrule. However, the literature of the period paints America in glowing colors as the land of riches and opportunity. Among the members of the small band of Jamestown settlers was Captain John Smith, an English soldier of fortune. His reports of exploration, published in t
6、he early 1600s, have been described as the first distinct American literature written in English.,Almost from the beginning, as the English settled along the Atlantic coast of America, there were important differences between the Southern and the New England colonies. In the South, enormous farms or
7、 plantations used the labor of black slaves to grow tobacco. The rich and powerful plantation owners were slow to develop a literature of their own. They preferred books imported from England.,Mayflower, 1620 ,brought the Pilgrims from England to New England. Christopher Jones Plymouth Before landin
8、g, an agreement for the temporary government of the colony by the will of the majority was drawn up in the famous Mayflower Compact.,But in New England, the Puritan settlers had come to the New World in order to form a society based on strict Christian beliefs. They believed that society should be b
9、ased on the laws of God. Therefore, they had a far stronger sense of unity. Harvard, the first college in the colonies, was founded near Boston in 1636 in order to train new Puritan ministers. The first printing press in America was started there in 1638, and Americas first newspaper , The Boston Ne
10、wsletter, appeared in 1704.,Puritan Thoughts,The Puritan definition of good writing was that which brought home a full awareness of the importance of worshipping God and of the spiritual dangers that the soul faced on Earth. Puritan style varied enormously-from complex metaphysical poetry to homely
11、journals and crushingly pedantic(学究气的) religious history.,Whatever the style or genre, certain themes remained constant. Life was seen as a test; failure led to eternal damnation (永久的惩罚)and hellfire, and success to heavenly bliss. This world was an arena of constant battle between the forces of God
12、and the forces of Satan, a formidable enemy with many disguises. Many Puritans excitedly awaited the millennium, when Jesus would return to earth, end human misery, and inaugurate 1,000 years of peace and prosperity.,Scholars have long pointed out the link between Puritanism and capitalism: Both res
13、t on ambition, hard work, and an intense striving for success. Although individual Puritans could not know, in strict theological terms, whether they were “saved” and among the elect who would go to heaven, Puritans tended to feel that earthly success was a sign of election. Wealth and status were s
14、ought not only for themselves, but also as welcome reassurances of spiritual health and promises of eternal life.,Moreover, the concept of stewardship(职责) encouraged success. The Puritans interpreted all things and events as symbols with deeper spiritual meaning, and felt that in advancing their own
15、 profit and their communitys well being, they were also furthering（促进） Gods plans. They did not draw lines of distinction between the secular and religious spheres: All of life was an expression of the divine will-a belief that later resurfaces in Transcendentalism.,Major Writers and Literary Works,
16、Captain John SmithWilliam BradfordJohn WinthropCotton MatherAnne BradstreetEdward Taylor,Captain John Smith (15801631),A real adventurer, he had fought the Turks in Hungary, where he was wounded and taken prisoner. He was sold as a slave and escaped by killing his master. In 1607, he helped to set u
17、p Jamestown, the first English colony in America. Smith sent a letter to the Virginia Company in London, defending the handling of the settlement and proclaiming the merits of the new land. In 1608, most part of his letter was published, under the title A True Relation of Such Occurrences and Accide
18、nts of Note as Hath Happened in Virginia Since the First Planting of That Colony. Thus, Captain John Smith became the first American writer.,True Relation of Virginia (1608) Description of New England (1616),General History of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles (1624),Captain John Smith (15
19、80-1631),William Bradford,Smith published eight in all. Some of them were dealing with New England, the coast of which he explored and mapped after his fortune faded with the Virginia Company. He sought a post as guide to the Pilgrims but, though they made use of his publications and maps, they did
20、not want the man. He had too much color and flamboyance for sober Puritan tastes; moreover, he was suspected of having less than complete regard for the exact truth.,Captain Smith may not have been a modest man, but it is clear that he contributed more to the survival of the Jamestown colony than di
21、d anyone else. He tirelessly explored the rivers and bays around the Chesapeake region. And he saw from the beginning what was eventually to be a basic principle of American history, the need of “workers” instead of “gentlemen” for the tough job of planting colonies and pushing the frontiers westwar
22、d.,Captain John Smith (1580-1631),His descriptions of America were filled with themes, myths, images, scenes, characters, and events that were a foundation as a land of endless bounty. His vision helped to lure the Pilgrims and the Puritans who saw themselves as new saints with a spiritual mission t
23、o flee the Old World and create a New Israel, a New Promised Land. We can look on his description as a kind of fascinating “advertisements” which try to persuade the reader to settle in the New World .,True Relation of Virginia (1608) Description of New England (1616),Captain John Smith (1580-1631),
24、General History of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles (1624),In this work, John Smith created a romantic story, which seemed to have embroidered his adventures. Today we owe the famous story to the Indian maiden, Pocahontas. The tale is ingrained in the American historical imagination. The
25、story recounts how Pocahontas, favorite daughter of Chief Powhatan, saved Captain Smiths life when he was a prisoner of the chief. Later, when the English persuaded Powhatan to give Pocahontas to them as a hostage, her gentleness, intelligence, and beauty impressed the English, and, in 1614, she mar
26、ried John Rolf, an English gentleman. The marriage initiated an eight-year peace between the colonists and the Indians, ensuring the survival of the struggling new colony.,The story is probably untrue, but it is the first famous tale from American literature.,William Bradford (1590-1657),William Bra
27、dford was the long-time governor of Plymouth colony. He came to New England on the Mayflower in 1620 and in 1621, was chosen leader of the Pilgrims. Bradfords chronicle, Of Plimouth Plantation, is an invaluable record of early English settlement in North America.,John Winthrop (1588-1649),John Winth
28、rop (1588-1649),John Winthrop was the first governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony and, like most of the Puritan writers, was a minister all his life. He began to keep a journal on the Bay Colonists voyage to Massachusetts aboard the ship Arbella in 1630. He maintained this practice for the rest of hi
29、s life. Parts of his Journal were first published in 1790. The complete work was at last printed in 1826 under the title The History of New England. Yet, through a direct and vigorous prose style, each account attained literary excellence.,John Winthrop (1588-1649),Cotton Mather,The History of New E
30、ngland,This work is in the “plain style”, but it is far less cheerful. His writing style is rather cold, because he rarely shows shock or sadness, even when he describes scenes of great unhappiness. Sometimes, the dryness of his “plain style” is very effective. This is his description of the New Eng
31、land coast when he arrived on June 7, 1630:,Like all of the Puritan historians, Winthrop believed that most events could be seen as a sign from God. For example, when a snake was found and killed in a church, people saw this as the victory of New England religion over Satan.,Cotton Mather (1663-1728
32、),Cotton Mather, the master pedant, Son and grandson of influential Puritan ministers, Cotton Mather was himself a clergyman, involved in several important events in New England life including the trial of scores of people for witchcraft in the 1690s. He wrote at length of New England in over 500 bo
33、oks and pamphlets. Cotton Mather had an insane genius for advertising himself. Whenever something happened to him in his life, he wrote a religious book. When his first wife died, he published a long sermon called Death Made Easy and Happy. When his little daughter died, he wrote The Best Way of Liv
34、ing, Which is to Die Daily. But some, such as his famous Magnalia Christi Americana (1702), were very long and were published in many volumes. He was certain that his longest work, The Angel of Bethesda (1723), would “prove one of the most useful books that have been published in the World”(1).,Cott
35、on Mather,Cotton Mather (1663-1728),Forward,Magnalia Christi America (1702),His most famous work, which exhaustively chronicles the settlement of New England through a series of biographies, was “the mighty acts of Christ in America”(1).,Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672),Youth is the time of getting, midd
36、le age of improving, and old age of spending.,Authority without wisdom is like a heavy axe without an edge: fitter to bruise than polish.,I am obnoxious (极不愉快的)to each carping（吹毛求疵的） tongue Who says my hand a needle better fits, A poets pen all scorn I should thus wrong For such despite they cast on
37、 female wits. . . .,If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant. If we did not sometimes taste of adversity（逆境，厄运）, prosperity would not be so welcome.,Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672),Born in 1612 into a prosperous English family, Anne Dudley was given a wide education uncommon for girls at
38、 that time. In 1628 she married Simon Bradstreet, and two years later the couple migrated to North America along with others of the Puritan outlook. The Bradstreets were an influential family in Massachusetts Bay; Simon became judge, legislator, and eventually governor of the colony. Meanwhile Anne
39、Bradstreet cared for her husband and growing family, and wrote poetry.,Anne Bradstreet,Her first publish work appeared in London. It was taken there without her knowledge by her brother-in-law, who put the work into the hands of a publisher. She was perhaps too shy to offer it herself. The title of
40、this collection of poems complimented her, in classical allusion, as The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America.,Some of Anne Bradstreets poetic ventures were over ambitious, but she wrote well when she dealt with the simple events of her daily life.,Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672),The Complete Works of
41、 Anne Bradstreet Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up In America (1650) Several Poems Compiled with Great Wit and Learning (1678).,Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672),“To My Dear and Loving Husband” If ever two were one, then surely we. If ever man were loved by wife, then thee; If ever wife was happy in a man, Comp
42、are with me, ye women, if you can. I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold,Or all the riches that the East doth hold. My love is such that rivers cannot quench, Nor ought but love from thee, give recompense. Thy love is such I can no way repay, The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray. Then w
43、hile we live, in love lets so persevere That when we live no more, we may live ever.,Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672),Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672),Poem Appreciation,Study Note,Close Note,What does this paradox mean? How should they live now, as lovers, if they are to live and love forever? How does this t
44、ie in with their Puritan beliefs in predestination? Note the extra syllable in these final two lines. What is its effect?,Many times, a great deal; marked by diversity or variety,What does this paradox mean? How should they live now, as lovers, if they are to live and love forever? How does this tie
45、 in with their Puritan beliefs in predestination? Note the extra syllable in these final two lines. What is its effect?,Why should she want to “repay“ if they two are truly one?,Edward Taylor (1645-1729),Like Anne Bradstreet, the intense, brilliant poet and minister Edward Taylor was born in England
46、. The son of a yeoman farmer - an independent farmer who owned his own land - Taylor was a teacher who sailed to New England in 1668 rather than took an oath of loyalty to the Church of England. He studied at Harvard College, and, like most Harvard-trained ministers, he knew Greek, Latin, and Hebrew
47、.,The Poetical Works (1939) Edited by Thomas Johnson. Poems of Edward Taylor Edited by Donald E. Stanford. Yale, 1960.,Taylor did not publish any of his work. His poems were found in manuscript in 1937, more than two hundred years after his death. This discovery brought Taylor to immediate prominenc
48、e in the colonial literary history, and enriched American poetic heritage. A complete edition of Taylors poems appeared in 1960.Taylor wrote a variety of verse: funeral elegies, lyrics, a medieval “debate,“ and a 500-page Metrical History of Christianity (mainly a history of martyrs). His best works
49、, according to modern critics, are the series of short Preparatory Meditations.,Edward Taylor (1645-1729),Exit,Meditation 1,What Love is this of thine, that Cannot bee In thine Infinity, O Lord, Confinde, Unless it in thy very Person see, Infinity, and Finity Conjoynd? What hath thy Godhead, as not
50、satisfide Marride our Manhood, making it its Bride? Oh, Matchless Love! filling Heaven to the brim! Ore running it: all running ore beside This World! Nay Overflowing Hell; wherein For thine Elect, there rose a mighty Tide! That there our Veans might through thy Person bleed, To quench those flames,
51、 that else would on us feed. Oh! that thy Love might overflow my Heart! To fire the same with Love: for Love I would. But oh! my streightned Breast! my Lifeless Sparke! My Fireless Flame! What Chilly Love, and Cold? In measure small! In Manner Chilly! See. Lord blow the Coal: Thy Love Enflame in mee.,
