American literature.ppt
American literatureTop ten books being discussed in U.S. universities (1) R.W. Emerson, “Self-Reliance” (1841) Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter (1850) Mrs. Stowe, Uncle Toms Cabin (1852) Mark Twain, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884) Henry James, Daisy Miller (1878)Top ten books being discussed in U.S. universities (2) F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (1925) William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury (1929) / Light in August (1932) Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937) Thomas Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49 (1966) Toni Morrison, Beloved (1987) What is American literature? What is the status of literature in American education?How is literature taught in American schools?Teaching American literature in the U.S.What is American literature? Literature created by American citizens and written in English? Isaac Bashevis Singer writes in Yiddish? Literature in written form? American Indians? Literature most representing American national spirit by American citizens? womens domestic / private literature? Literature created by American citizens about the U.S. or about any country? Singer, Ha Jin?Change of the definition of American literature The literary canon Nationalism MulticulturalismLiterary Canon “We never read American literature directly or freely, but always through the perspective allowed by theories. Theories account for the inclusion and exclusion of texts in anthologies, and theories account for the way we read them.” Nina Baym, “Melodrama of Beset Manhood: How Theories of American Fiction Exclude Women Authors” (1981), rpt. Locating American Studies, ed. Lucy Maddox (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1999), 215-31. Nationalism a movement, as in the arts, based upon the folk idioms, history, aspirations, etc., of a nation / the United States of America - literature for “democracy” (Emerson)Nationalistic Orientation (1)Dominance of the classic literature of white, middle-class, male and of Anglo-Saxon derivation or at least from an ancestry which had settled in this country before the big waves of immigration (mid-19th-century)Exclusion of the literature of women and colored people (American Indians, African-Americans, Asian Americans, etc) Nationalistic Orientation (2)3. “Good” literature: embodiment of American national spirit e.g. F. O. Matthiessen in American Renaissance (1941) enshrines five writers for their devotion to “democracy”, dismissing Mrs. Stowes Uncle Toms Cabin (1852) as second rate popular writing only. cf. The Scarlet Letter (1850) Moby Dick (1851) Walden (1854) Leaves of Grass (1855) Americanness vs ExcellenceWomen novelists excluded before 1970 Harriet Beecher Stowe Uncle Toms Cabin (1852) Kate Chopin The Awakening (1899) Edith Wharton The House of Mirth (1905), The Age of Innocence (1920) Willa Cather O. Pioneers! (1913), My Antonia (1918) Nora Neale Hurston Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937)Hawthorne: cultural productionEvert Duyckinck, who managed the magazine United States Magazine and Democratic Review , advocate of American literary nationalism, proponent of high cultureJames T. Fields, classic publisher, creating hierarchical canonHoughton Mifflin, promotion of American classics as school texts to be studied as national heritage; elevate elite culture and eradicate cultural differences Herman Melville Moby-Dick (1851) Obscurity Greatest American novel since 1920Mark Twain Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Greatest novel? vs. Racist trash ? Hypercanonized?Redefinition of American literary past since the 1960s Cold War, Vietnam War, Civil Rights Movement, womens movement, minority groups struggles for equity Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937) - Richard Wright, Native Son (1940) vs Alice Walker, “Looking for Zora” (1975) Anthologies of Women writers, Asian-American literature, American Indian literature Inclusion of women and ethnic writers in anthologiescultural pluralism vs. multiculturalism Value of a variety of cultural traditions, esp. those of American Indians (native Americans), Asian-Americans, African-Americans, and Latin-Americans (Hispanics). All cultural traditions are valuable and should also be treated equally.Will the high-culture system crumble? Is the literary canon possible? Reassessment of authors of literary value: the dominance of Euro-American high culture is made problematic Reallocation of funds to “minority” arts organizations Debates will be highly contentious since the cultural authority is challenged. Redefinition of American literature By “the literature of the United States”, we mean all written and oral literary works produced in that part of the world that has become the United States of America. See Emory Elliott, et al eds. Introduction. Columbia Literary History of the United States. NY: Columbia UP, 1988. xixTraditional outline of American literary history The Colonial Period: 16091776 The Revolutionary Period: 17761820 The Romantic Period: 18201865 The Realism and Naturalism: 18651920 The Modern Period: 19201960 The Post-modern Period: since 1960Nortons Outline of American Literature Beginnings to 1700 From colonies to nation: 1700-1820 The Romantic period: 18201865 The Realism and Naturalism: 18651914 The Modern period: 19141945 Contemporary literature: since 19451 弱势群体概况女性作家非裔作家本土作家亚裔作家拉丁裔作家全书作家第一版人数页数人数页数人数页数人数页数人数页数人数页数2971414205128489922.7%14.6%10.9%4.2%第七版8015483773814157770667224542635.7%29.2%16.5%13.6%6.3%4.6%3.1%1.3%2.7%1.2%14555（其中女性）Norton Anthology of American Literature诺顿美国文学选读2 女性作家 诺顿收录的美国女作家从第一版的29位增加到第七版的80位，总数增加51位，但第一版中有4位女作家未被选入第七版，因此新增共55位。其中1945年以前的阶段从20位增加到46位，除去删掉的2位，新增共28位，这些女作家有的在当时有一些影响力，也有的一开始就少人问津，是在几十年或一两百年之后，尤其是1970年代以后才突然被“重新发现”的。汉娜福斯特（Hannah Webster Foster, 1758-1840）风尘女子（1797）和塔碧萨坦尼（Tabitha Tenney, 1762-1834） 女唐吉诃德（1801）凯瑟琳塞奇威克（Catharine Maria Sedgwick, 1789-1867）莉迪娅西戈尼（Lydia H. H. Sigourney, 1791-1865）夏洛特吉尔曼（Charlotte Perkins Gilman, 1860-1935） 黄色墙纸(1892)斯托夫人(Mrs Stowe, 1811-1896) 汤姆叔叔的小屋(1852)薇拉凯瑟(Willa Cather, 1873-1947) 我的安东尼亚(1918)狄金森(Emily Dickinson, 1830-1886)3 非洲裔作家 诺顿收录的非裔作家从第一版的14人增加到第七版的34人，其中1945年以后删去1人，新增10人，1945年以前从10人增加到21人，新增11人。 当代非裔美国文学中女性作家占主导地位，她们从黑人女性特有的视角，不仅反映种族歧视，还揭示了种族内部的性别歧视。佐拉尼尔赫斯顿（Zora Neale Hurston, 1891-1960） 他们眼望上苍(1937)艾丽斯沃克（Alice Walker, 1944-） 紫色(1982)托尼莫里森（Toni Morrison, 1931-） 爱娃(1987)弗雷德里克道格拉斯（Friderick Douglass, 1818-1895） 一个美国黑奴的自述(1845) 英勇的奴隶(1853)内勒拉森（Nella Larsen, 1891-1964） 流沙(Quicksand) (1928)4 本土作家 诺顿第一版美国本土文学是空白，第七版收录有14位本土作家，还有美国印第安传统文学，包括印第安起源神话、恶作剧者传奇和典仪曲词共63页，此外还收有关于白人与印第安人冲突的两个专题文集。 本土作家的作品几乎都带有浓厚的印第安人文化传统色彩和关注印第安人在美国的生存状况。莱斯利西尔科（Leslie Marmon Silko, 1948-）仪式(1977)斯科特莫马迪（N. Scott Momaday, 1934-） 晨曦之屋(House Made of Dawn) (1968)路易丝厄德里奇（Louise Erdrich, 1954-） 爱药(1984)舍曼阿列克西（Sherman Alexie, 1966-）5 亚裔作家 诺顿第一版亚裔美国文学是空白，第七版收录有7位亚裔作家，其中5位女性作家，5位华裔作家，5位是1945年以后的当代作家。 1865-1914期间收录了1位亚裔作家，是第六版开始收入的华裔女作家水仙花（原名伊迪丝伊顿）（Sui Sin Far or Edith M. Eaton, 1865-1914），是已知有记载的第一位美国亚裔作家。宋凯西（Cathy Song, 1955-）李立扬（Li-Young Lee, 1957-）汤亭亭（Maxine Hong Kingston, 1940-） 女勇士(Woman Warrior) (1976) 中国佬(China Men) (1980)谭恩美（Amy Tan, 1952-） 喜福会(The Joy Luck Club) (1989) 灶神娘娘(The Kitchen Gods Wife) (1991) 通灵女孩(The Hundred Secret Senses) (1995)6 拉丁裔作家 第七版选入了一些墨西哥民谣和6位拉丁裔作家的作品，其中5位是女性作家，5位是1945年以后的当代作家 桑德拉西斯内罗斯 （Sandra Cisneros, 1954- ） 芒果街的房子(The House on Mango Street) (1983)弱势群体作家数量的增多跟第二代、第三代移弱势群体作家数量的增多跟第二代、第三代移民生活改善以及新的移民素质倾向有很大关系，民生活改善以及新的移民素质倾向有很大关系，但排除这些因素之外，多元文化主义浪潮应该但排除这些因素之外，多元文化主义浪潮应该说从政治、文化和教育等方面起着很大的推动说从政治、文化和教育等方面起着很大的推动作用，促使弱势群体文学逐渐发展和繁荣。作用，促使弱势群体文学逐渐发展和繁荣。Literature in American schools (1)Before the 1870s - literature was subordinated to grammar, etymology, rhetoric, logic, elocution, theme writing, textbook literary history and biography. - boring teaching method: recitationLiterature in American schools (2) After the 1870s - There was a growing expectation of English as a potential cultural forces. - Teaching literature was professionalized. - There gradually appeared the department of English & Literature in American Universities, established the literary canon when universities set a list of texts for college entrance examinations in English. A nation without a literature is a nation without true greatness and without true independence. The literature of a nation is the source of its chief glory. Teaching literature is a most effective way to acculturate the young and to incorporate them into the deep American ethos.Advocacy of literary nationalismLiterature in American schools (3) Literature, language, and culture are mixed together in the English Department courses - Introductions to literature - Creative writing workshops - Studies of minority or ethnic literatures - Seminars of individual writers - Seminars of periods, genres, literary criticism Great books are taught for students of all majors, mostly required of students with Humanities major.Literature teaching methods in American schools Lectures Discussions Presentations Recitations Writing: creative writing & paper writing Students are strongly encouraged to read the original works (since elementary school) and to develop their independent thinking and original interpretation of literature.Assignments for Dickinsons Poems Read Dickinsons poems in Tradition Read Adrienne Richs “Vesuvius at Home” Think about the following and choose one topic to write a short paper: - Dickinsons unique style and language - relationship between nature and humans - concept of love - concept of death - relation between Dickinsons life and her poetry
