美国浪漫主义时期诗歌.docVIP

Chapter 2 Literature of American Romanticism A Brief Introduction The American Romantic period is considered one of the most important periods, the first literary Renaissance, in the history of American literature. It stretches from the end of the eighteenth century through the outbreak of the Civil War. It started with the publication of Washington Irvings The Sketch Book and ended with Whitmans Leaves of Grass. American romantic literature is best explained by referring to certain stirring events of American national history. Historically, it was the time of western expansion. The western boundary had reached to the Pacific by 1860; the number of states had increased from the original thirteen at the time of independence to twenty-one by the middle of the 19th century; its total population increased from four million people in 1790 to thirty million in 1860. Economically, the whole nation was experiencing an industrial transformation, which affected American peoples lives. The growth of industrialization helped restructure economic life. The sudden influx of immigration gave a big push to the booming industry. Politically, democracy and political equality became the ideals of new nation, and the two-party system came into being. Literarily and culturally, the new nation needed to express its own experiences: their early Puritan settlements, their confrontations with the Indians, their frontiersmens life, and the wild west. Besides, the ever-increasing numbers of newspapers, magazines, journals and books reviews provided a great market. All these produced a strong sense of optimism for American romanticism. This surging romanticism also had support abroad. In Europe, the Romantic Movement which had flourished earlier in the century both in England and Europe added incentive to the growth of Romanticists in America. The American writers who traveled to Europe and kept in touch with European Romanticism were greatly influenced. Washington Irving was the m