1、American LiteraturePeriods of Am. Lit.Beginning of American Literature: 1607-1776 Colonial Period 1765-1790 The Revolutionary Age 1775-1828 The Early National Period2. Romanticism, Transcendentalism1828-1865 The Romantic Period (Also known as:TheAmerican Renaissance)The Age of Transcendentalism 1865

2、-19003. Realism, NaturalismThe Realistic Period 1900-1914The Naturalistic Period (extreme realism)1914-1939 1920s 1920s, 1930s: American Modernist Period: Jazz Age, Harlem Renaissance The Lost Generation 1939-present 1950s 1960s, 1970s The Contemporary Period:The Beat generation American Literature

3、recognizes works of: African-American Writers Native American Writers Asian-American Writers Colonial PeriodPeriods of Am. Literature vary a lotIts impossible to give exact datesThe first literature started to appear after founding of the first settlement at Jamestown in 1607It continuoud till the o

4、utbreak of the RevolutionLiterary genres:Historical writingsReligious themes sermons (kzn) tractsWriters:Anne Bradstreet (poet)Benjamin Franklin (The Way to Wealth)William BradfordThe Revolutionary AgeThe greatest documents of American history were authored:Thomas Paine (Common Sense he urged indepe

5、ndence)The Declaration of Independence (Thomas Jefferson - 1776) The Constitution (1789 - ratified)The Early National PeriodBeginnings of true Am. LiteratureThe writers wrote in th English style but the settings, themes and characters were authentically AmericanWashington Irving he wrote about Am. L

6、ife, biography of G. WashingtonJames Fenimore Cooper The Last of the MohicansEdgar Allan PoeE.A.Poe (1809-1849)son of a poor actress (drastic death)his father alcoholicHe was taken by his guardian Mr. AllanStudied West Point kicked outMarriage with 13 year-old cousinShe died of TB ten years later de

7、spair, grief was reflected in his works1849 found delirious in a steetThe Raven (poem) - a tired, unhappy student asks if he ever meets his love againHis doubts are underlined by the ravens repetition nevermore“, symbol of doubts and longingThe Golden BugThe Pit and the PendulumThe Black CatThe Murd

8、ers in the Rue MorgueThe Fall of the House of UsherHis work:1. realism: detective stories logical, brilliant, rational2. romanticism irrationalism, mystery, violence, criminality, death, passion Perverse, vulgar, grotesque style.TranscendentalismAmerican reflection of European romanticismPhilosophic

9、al movementThe transcendal philosophy was based on:Free willHumanityIntuitionIndividual conscienceIt glories natureAll transcendentalists were isolated peopleThey lived in Utopian Community“ Brookfarm near BostonThe individual can transcend the world and discover union with God and IdealMain represe

10、ntatives:Ralph Waldo ThoreauHenry David ThoreauOther Romantic WritersHerman Melville symbolist (Moby-Dick)Nathaniel Hawthorne (The Scarlet Letter)the main theme sinHester has te wear letter A means adulteressWalt Whitman (poet)Emily Dickinson (poet)Realistic PeriodAfter Civil War:Social injustice fi

11、rst millionaires appear (Rockefeller)discoveries in science (railway, telegraph cable, telephone,)Growth of educationTwain called this period gilded age“RealismAction against romanticismMain literary form novelAuthors accuse romanticism of falsehoodThey describe common things, common places, everyda

12、y lifeMark TwainHis real name: Samuel Langorne ClemensHe spent his childhood on the Mississippi riverWorkedon a steamboat on the MississippiTravelled a lotHe recollects his childhood in his booksThe Innocents AbroadThe Gilded AgeThe Adventures of Tom SawyerThe Advedntures of Huckleberry Finn Tom lik

13、es danger, hes always able to avoid problems, Huck represents social conscience, hes sensitive to everything around himNaturalismDerived from the word nature (interest in nature)It has its origin in France ZolaProple are influenced by environmental forces (outside us) and inner drives (inside us) pe

14、ole can t control themThe main drives of characters: hunger, fear, sex, Their writings are often cruel and tragic.Stephen CraneJack London (Tjhe Call of the Wild)Theodore Dreiser (An American Tragedy)Upton Sinclair (The Jungle)Lost GenerationA term applied for Am. Writers born around 1900, who fough

15、t in WWIThe term comes from Gertrude SteinMain features: description of the loss of traditional values as the result of the war other social evilsErnest HemingwayFind some info. about himF. S. FitzgeraldConnected with Jazz Age in 20sWrote many stories about wealthy peopleThe Great Gatsby masterpiece

16、(a rich man earns money by smuggling, he loves Daisy, but Daisy is marriedNick a narrator is is disgusted)American DreamOther 20th century writersThe Harlem Renaissance:Harlem (N.Y.) was a centre of itMotto: Let us return to Africa! (in a literary sense) We all have sth. in commonMain representative

17、s:Langston HughesCountee CullenRichard WrightThe Great Depression= the end of American Modernist PeriodWilliam FaulknerJohn SteinbeckEugene ONeil (a playwright)Dealt with social and political issuesJewish WritersBig emigration of the Jews to the USWriters explore new themes of identity, psychologica

18、l problemsThey are looking at their racial backgroundSaul BellowJ.D. Salinger (The catcher in the Rye)Bernard MalamudJoseph Heller (Cath 22)The Beat GenerationThe main personalities:A. Ginsberg, W. Boroughs, J. Kerouac, G. CorsoKnew each other, travelled through the US by taking drugs and having many sexual affairsSAn Francisco cradle of the BeatsBasic CharacteristicsWanted to live life