第三周American Romanticism.pptVIP

American Romanticism American Romanticism and Cultural Nationalism : First, romanticism celebrate the triumph of feeling and intuition over reason. Second, if the Enlightenment had annulled the Middle Ages, romanticism looked back to the Middle Ages with a nostalgic fascination. Third, romanticism exalted the individual over society, thus showing a strong disliking for the bondage of conventions and customs. Fourth, nature is believed to be the source of goodness and the antithesis of society tends to be corrupt. Fifth, cultural nationalism—or the proud belief in one’s own cultural genius and heritage—is also a striking characteristics of romanticism. The influence of American nationalism to American Romanticism: First, American romanticism did not have the political radicalism as seen in European Romanticists. second, the romantic celebration of natural beauty was inspired in part by a desire to establish an original relationship with the “new ”landscape. Third, the United States as a young country could not be quite free of a sense of inferiority of “colonial complex” in the face of Europe. Washington Irving and “Rip Van Winkle: The Truth of this fiction: First of all, Rip’s dream is “the other American dream”, one that stands in contrast to the popular myth that America is the Promised Land. Instead of indulging us in this blind optimism, this dream focuses on Rip’s confused state of mind upon waking from his 20-year slumber. Rip’s perplexity is a metaphor which represents the psychological state of many Americans: the changes brought about by the American Revolution. Rip seeks his identity as a new American citizen: the most urgent question for Rip is this: “Does nobody here know Rip Van Winkle? I was myself last night…but I fell asleep…and everything changed, and I am changed, I can’t tell what’s my name, or who I am!” At another level, this tale of dream reveal