其他
美国文学简史（四）
Section 1 Early Romantic Period
I. Characteristics of romanticismII. American RomanticismIII. Washington IrvingIV. James Fenimore Cooper
(1) first American writer(2) the messenger sent from the new world to the old world(3) father of American literature
2. life
3. works(1) A History of New York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty(2) The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. (He won a measure of international recognition with the publication of this.)(3) The History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus(4) A Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada(5) The Alhambra
4. Literary career: two parts(1) 1809~1832a. Subjects are either English or Europeanb. Conservative love for the antique(2) 1832~1859: back to US
5. style – beautiful(1) gentility, urbanity, pleasantness(2) avoiding moralizing – amusing and entertaining(3) enveloping stories in an atmosphere(4) vivid and true characters(5) humour – smiling while reading(6) musical language
IV. James Fenimore Cooper
1.life
2. works(1) Precaution (1820, his first novel, imitating Austen’s Pride and Prejudice)(2) The Spy (his second novel and great success)(3) Leatherstocking Tales (his masterpiece, a series of five novels)The Deerslayer, The Last of the Mohicans, The Pathfinder, The Pioneer, The Prairie
3. point of viewthe theme of wilderness vs. civilization, freedom vs. law, order vs. change, aristocrat vs. democrat, natural rights vs. legal rights
4. style(1) highly imaginative(2) good at inventing tales(3) good at landscape description(4) conservative(5) characterization wooden and lacking in probability(6) language and use of dialect not authentic
5. literary achievementsHe created a myth about the formative period of the American nation. If the history of the United States is, in a sense, the process of the American settlers exploring and pushing the American frontier forever westward, then Cooper’s Leatherstocking Tales effectively approximates the American national experience of adventure into the West. He turned the west and frontier as a useable past and he helped to introduce western tradition to American literature. 本文为节选，来源：沪江网
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