第1章殖民地时期的美国文学1.1复习笔记I.HistoricalIntroduction（历史背景）(1)Atthebeginningoftheseventeenthcentury,thevastcontinentalareathatwastobecometheUnitedStateshadbeenprobedonlyslightlybyEnglishandEuropeanexplorers.Atlastearlyintheseventeenthcentury,theEnglishsettlementsinVirginiaandMassachusettsbeganthemainstreamofwhatwerecognizeastheAmericannationalhistory.(2)ThefirstpermanentEnglishsettlementinNorthAmericawasestablishedatJamestown,Virginiain1607.AmongthemembersofthesmallbandofJamestownsettlerswasCaptainJohnSmith,anEnglishsoldieroffortune.Hisreportsofexploration,publishedintheearly1600s,havebeendescribedasthefirstdistinctlyAmericanliteraturewritteninEnglish.（1）直到17世纪初，美国所在的广袤大陆才被英国及少数几个欧洲国家的探险家涉足。17世纪晚期，定居在弗吉尼亚和马萨诸塞州的英国殖民者开始了被我们看作是美国民族史的主流生活。（2）1617年，英国殖民者在弗吉尼亚詹姆斯顿建立了第一个在北美的永久性殖民地。英国雇佣兵约翰·史密斯上尉就是这批殖民者中的一员。17世纪初，他发表的关于探寻新大陆的报告被认为是第一部用英语写作的美国文学作品。II.TheFirstAmericanWriter（第一位美国作家）(1)CaptainJohnSmithbecamethefirstAmericanwriter.HisfirstworkisATrueRelationofSuchOccurrencesandAccidentsofNoteasHathHappenedinVirginiaSincetheFirstPlantingofThatColony,alettertotheVirginiaCompanyinLondon,defendingthehandlingofthesettlementandproclaimingthemeritsofthenewland.(2)HisnextbookwasAMapofVirginia:withaDescriptionoftheCountry(1612).Likemanysimilaraccountsoftheperiod,thebookwasaguidetothecountryandaninvitationtotheboldspiritsneededtoenlargeandstrengthentheEnglishplantationsinthenewland.(3)Smithpublishedeightinall.Hemaynothavebeenamodestman,butitisclearthathecontributedmoretothesurvivaloftheJamestowncolonythandidanyoneelse.（1）约翰·史密斯成为第一位美国作家。他的第一个作品是寄给在伦敦的弗吉尼亚公司的一封信，回应了关于开辟殖民地的意见，赞扬了新大陆的优越之处。（2）他随后又写了《弗吉尼亚地图：一个乡村的描述》。像当时一些报告文学一样，这是一本去美国的指南，也是一封请柬，召唤着那些需要在新大陆拓展、强大英国种植园的勇敢的灵魂的到来。（3）史密斯共出版了8部作品。或许他不是一个谦虚的人，但是显然，他对詹姆斯殖民地的贡献是无人能及的。III.EarlyNewEnglandLiterature（早期新英格兰文学）ThePuritansinNewEnglandhadembracedhardships,togetherwiththedisciplineofaharshchurchforaverylongtime.OvertheyearsthePuritansbuiltawayoflifethatwasinharmonywiththeirsomberreligion,onethatstressedhardwork,thrift,piety,andsobriety.ThesewerethePuritanvaluesthatdominatedmuchoftheearliestAmericanwriting,includingthesermons,books,andlettersofsuchnotedPuritanclergymenasJohnCottonandCottonMather.DuringhislifeCottonMatherwrotemorethan450works,animpressiveoutputofreligiouswritingsthatdemonstratethathewasanexample,aswellasanadvocate,ofthePuritanidealofhardwork.新英格兰的清教徒长期地忍受着困苦和教堂严酷的教规。通过多年的努力，他们养成了一种与他们忧郁的宗教相适应的生活方式，即勤劳、节俭、虔诚和节制。这些主要价值观充分体现在他们的作品中，包括一些著名的牧师如约翰·科顿和科顿·马瑟等的布道词，书籍和信件等。科顿·马瑟毕生创作了450多部书，作品充分体现了他是努力工作这一宗教理念的典范和倡导者。IV.WilliamBradfordandJohnWinthrop（威廉·布拉德福德和约翰·温斯罗普）(1)WilliamBradfordwasthefirstgovernorofPlymouth,andhisrepresentativeworkisTheHistoryofPlymouthPlantation.(2)BradfordwrotemuchofhisHistoryinthemidstoftheeventshedescribes.InadditiontoHistory,Bradfordleftawealthofletters,otherprosewritingsaboutthecolony,andevenanarrativepoem.(3)Whenhedied,theNewEnglandcoloniesmournedhim,inwordswrittenlaterbyCottonMather,as“acommonblessingandfathertothemall”.(4)JohnWinthropwasthefirstgovernorinBoston,andhisnotableworkisTheHistoryofNewEngland.(5)Winthrop’sworkisnotableforitscandid,simplicityandhonesty.(6)BothTheHistoryofPlymouthPlantationandTheHistoryofNewEnglandarethemostvaluablekindofhistoricalsource--anaccountofeventsbyamanwhohasbeenamajorfigureofhistime.Bothwerewritten,notfromliteraryambition,butfromasenseoftheneedtorecordimportanteventsinpermanentform.（1）威廉·布拉德福德是普利茅斯的第一位统治者，代表作品是《普利茅斯种植园史》。（2）布拉德福德在他的《历史》中写下了很多自己亲身经历的事件。除了《历史》，他还写了大量的诗歌，散文和叙事诗等。（3）他去世时，整个新英格兰殖民地都为他哀悼。科顿·马瑟后来为他题词，称他是“众人之福，众人之父”。（4）温斯罗普是波士顿的第一位统治者，代表作是《新英格兰史》。（5）温斯罗普的作品坦率、质朴、真实。（6）《普利茅斯种植园史》和《新英格兰史》是非常珍贵的历史资料，记录了作者所处时代的重大历史事件。作者的写作不是出于创作的兴趣，而是出于一种将重大事件永久记录下来的需要。V.PuritanThoughts（清教徒的思想）(1)Astheworditselfhints,Puritanswantedtomakepuretheirreligiousbeliefsandpractices.ThePuritanwasa“would-bepurifier.”Thewordwascoinedbytheopponentsofthegroupandwasappliedtotheminscorn;itwasintendedtoridiculethemaspersonswhothoughtthemselvesholierorbetterthanothers.TheundauntedPuritansclaimedthenameforthemselves,adoptingitasabadgeofhonor.(2)ThePuritanswishedtorestoresimplicitytochurchservicesandtheauthorityoftheBibletotheology.(3)PuritansincludedpeoplefromthehumblesttotheloftiestranksofEnglishsociety,educatedanduneducated,poorandrich.Theirfaultswerethosecommontopersonswhoholdextremeopinions.ThePuritanslookeduponthemselvesasachosenpeople,anditfollowedlogicallythatanyonewhochallengedtheirwayoflifewasopposingGod’swillandwasnottobeaccepted.Theywerethuszealousindefenseoftheirownbeliefsbutoftenintolerantofthebeliefsofothers.(4)Puritanoppositiontopleasureandtheartssometimeshasbeenexaggerated,butitistruethattheirlivesweredisciplinedandhard.Puritanstendedtosuspectjoyandlaughterassymptomsofsin.(5)PuritanreligiousteachingtendedtoemphasizetheimageofawrathfulGodandtoforgetHismercy.（1）从字面上讲，清教徒想要净化他们的信仰和行为，他们是“净化者”。这一词是由他们的对手造出来讽刺他们的，用来嘲讽那些自认为更圣洁、更美好的人。这些无畏的清教徒接受了这一称呼，并视其为荣誉的象征。（2）清教徒希望恢复教堂的朴素和圣洁，以及《圣经》的神学权威。（3）清教徒涵盖英国社会中最卑微到最高贵的人，受过教育的和没受过教育的人，贫穷的和富裕的人。他们的共同不足是对事物看法过分极端。清教徒认为自己是上帝选定的人，而那些与他们生活方式不同的人就是违背上帝的意愿，不被接受。他们热衷于为自己的信仰辩护，而通常难以容忍其他信仰。（4）说清教徒反对快乐和艺术有时是言过其实，但是他们确实过着一种自律艰苦的生活。清教徒倾向于将快乐和欢笑看成是一种罪恶的表现。（5）清教徒的宗教教育向于过分强调上帝严厉的一面，而忽略了上帝仁慈的一面。VI.JohnCottonandRogerWilliams（约翰·科顿和罗杰·威廉姆斯）(1)JohnCottonwasthefirstmajorintellectualspokesmanoftheMassachusettsBayColonyandsometimeshewascalled“thePatriarchofNewEngland”.(2)JohnCottonwroteseveralbooksofhard-hittingPuritanargument,buthisprimaryinfluencewasthroughthepulpit.(3)ThroughJohnCottonwecanseeanimportantcharacteristicofthePuritans.Theyweremuchmoreconcernedwithauthoritythanwithdemocracy.(4)CottonwaspartlyresponsibleforRogerWilliams’sexilefromMassachusetts.However,whateverfaultsandlimitationshemayhavehad,JohnCotton’sfirmnessanddevotiontohisbeliefsalwaysdemandedrespect.(5)RogerWilliamshadbeeneducatedinlawatCambridgeUniversity.Insteadoffollowingthatcalling,heenteredthechurchandwascaughtupinthePuritantide.WhenhecametotheMassachusettscoloniesin1631,hewasmoredemocraticinhisviewofchurchgovernmentthantheleadersofanyofthesettlements.Asaresulthewassoonindisagreementwiththem,whicheventuallyledtohisexiletowhatisnowRhodeIsland.(6)WithWilliamsbeginsthehistoryofreligioustolerationinAmerica,andwithhim,too,thehistoryoftheseparationofchurchandstate.Williams’stolerationdidnotstemfromalackofreligiousconvictions.Instead,itsprangfromtheideathatsimplytobevirtuousinconductanddevoutinbeliefdidnotgiveanyonetherighttoforcebeliefonothers.(7)HewasexiledbytheleadersofPuritanforhisdifferentcreeds,andlater,hefoundedacommunitywhichhecalledProvidence,becauseof“God’smercifulprovidencetohiminhisdistress”.（1）约翰·科顿是马萨诸塞湾殖民地第一个知识分子的主要发言人，有时被称为“新英格兰的族长”。（2）约翰·科顿写了几本有力地说明清教徒理论的书，但是他的主要影响在于他的讲道。（3）通过约翰·科顿我们可以看到清教徒的主要特点。他们关注更多的是权威而不是民主。
吴伟仁《美国文学史及选读》笔记和考研真题详解(1-5章)【圣才出品】
