1. American Romanticism(美国浪漫主义)
Romanticism refers to an artistic and intellectual movement originating in Europe in the late 18th century and characterized by a heightened interest in nature, emphasis on the individual’s expression of emotion and imagination, departure from the attitudes and forms of classicism, and rebellion against established social rules and conventions.
The romantic period in American literature stretches from the end of the 18th century through the outbreak of the Civil war.
Irving, Whitman and Thoreau are the reprentatives.
Background
(1) Political background and economic development
(2) Romantic movement in European countries
Derivative – foreign influence
features
(1) American romanticism was in esnce the expression of “a real new experience and contained “an alien quality” for the simple reason that “the spirit of the place” was radically new and alien.
(2) There is American Puritanism as a cultural heritage to consider. American romantic authors tended more to moralize. Many American romantic writings intended to edify more than they entertained.
(3) The “newness” of Americans as a nation is in connection with American Romanticism.
(4) As a logical result of the foreign and native factors at work, American romanticism was both imitative and independent.
浪漫主义两大主题：爱和大自然的力量
The social and cultural background of Romanticism：
-
--The young Republic was flourishing into a politically, economically and culturally independent country.
---The Romantic writings revealed unique characteristics of their own in their works and they grew on the native lands.
---The desire for an escape from society and a return to nature became a permanent convention of American literature.
---The American Puritanism as a cultural heritage exerted great influences over American moral values.
Romantics frequently shared certain general characteristics: moral enthusiasm, faith in value of individualism and intuitive perception, and a presumption that the natural world was a source of goodness and man’s societies as a source of corruption.
2. Transcendentalism (超验主义、先验主义) : It was a group of new ideas in literature, religion, culture and philosophy that emerged in New England in the middle 19th century.
It began as a protest against the general state of culture and society. Among transcendentalist’s core beliefs was an ideal spiritual state that “transcends” the physical and empirical(以观察或实验为依据的) and is only realized through the individual’s intuition, rather than through the doctrines of established religions. Prominent transcendentalists included Ralph Waldo Emerson（爱默生）, Henry David Thoreau（梭罗）, Walt Whitman（惠特曼）, etc. It is a kind of philosophy that stress belief in transcendental things and the importance
of spiritual rather than material existence. （相信超凡的事物，认为精神存在比物质存在更重要).
American Transcendentalism(美国超验主义)
Transcendentalism is the summit of the Romantic Movement in the history of American literature in the 19th century, which flourished from about 1835 to 1860.
Transcendentalists place emphasis on the importance of the Oversoul, the individual and nature. Specifically, they stresd intuitive understanding of God, without the help of the church, and advocated independence of the mind.
The most important reprentatives are Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American essayist, philosopher and poet, best remembered for leading the Transcendentalist movement of the mid 19th century.
He expresd the philosophy of Transcendentalism in his 1836 essay, Nature.
Besides, his The American Scholar was considered to be American’s “Intellectual Declaration of Independence”.
Oversoul
It is an all-pervading power for goodness from which all things come of which all things are a part.
It is a key doctrine for Transcendentalists.
Self-reliance
Self-reliance is an essay written by American Transcendentalist philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson.
It contains the most solid statement of one of his repeating themes, the need for each individual to avoid conformity and fal consistency, and follow his or her own instincts and ideas.
The ideas are considered a reaction to a commercial identify. Emerson calls for a return to individual identity.
Individualism(个人主义)
Individualism is a moral, political, and social philosophy, which emphasizes individual liberty, the primary importance of the individual, and the “virtues of lf-reliance”.
