2. The Period of Enlightenment

The 18th century American history witnessed two great revolutions: American Revolution Enlightenment
Enlightenment

an intellectual movement whose rationalistic spirit inspired American men of letters brought them into a new horizon beyond the limitation of prevailing Puritanism
nine American Nobel Prize Winners in Literature



1930: Sinclair Lewis, 刘易斯 1936: Eugene O’Neill, 奥尼尔 1938: Pearl S. Buck, 赛珍珠 1949: William Faulkner, 福克纳 1954: Ernest Hemingway, 海明威 1962: John Steinbeck, 斯坦贝克 1976: Saul Bellow, 索尔· 贝娄 1978: Isaac Bashevis Singer, 辛格 1993: Toni Morrison, 莫里森

I. The Colonial Period (1607-1765) & the Period of Independent Revolution (1775-1783)

Beginning: the settlement of America in the early 17th century

Ending: the end of the 18th century
The main literary works
(no 1st-rank literary works produced)
ห้องสมุดไป่ตู้
diaries & journals travel books collections of letters histories poetry biographies prose

1. Puritanism


清教思想
Here American Puritanism will be the first major topic, the one enduring influence in American Literature.

main figure: Jonathan Edwards
Introduction to American Literature
美国文学：与思想伟人 和文学大师同行，愿大家各
有各的收获！
主要参考书




常耀信:《美国文学简史》 李宜燮，常耀信:《美国文学选读》 童明:《美国文学史》, 外语教学与研究出版 社； 吴定柏:《美国文学大纲》, 上海外语教育出 版社 吴定柏:《美国文学欣赏》, 上海外语教育出 版社 杨金才:《新编美国文学史》 秦小孟:《当代美国文学》
1980: Czeslaw Milosz 米沃什 (Poland/USA) 1987: Joseph Brodsky 布罗德斯基 (USSR/USA)


Basic common qualities of American Writers: Independent，独立精神 Individualistic，个性意识 Critical，批判精神 Innovative，革新意识 Humorous，幽默风格
swiftly developed well matured began to receive international recognition has exercised an impactful effect upon world
literature

In fact American writers have brought out some of the world’s best literature.

Definition of “American Literature”:
the literature produced in American English
by American citizen
Introduction

American literature may be among the youngest national literatures in the world.

Its real history, if calculating roughly from the end of the Revolutionary War (October,1781), is only about 200 years or more.

Within such a short period, American literature

The two revolutions produced a number of outstanding political and literary figures, such as
The 4 Stages
The Early Age: The Colonial Period The Period of Enlightenment The Romantic Age: Early Romantic Period High Romantic Period

The Age of Realism：现实主义时期 Local-colorism American Realism American Naturalism The Modern Age：现代时期 Modernism Post-modernism