Indian culture: When Europeans discovered the New World, the indigenous Indians in North America were at various stages of the primitive commune system. Indians created their own culture in the struggle with nature, mainly oral and folk creations, including myths and legends and the legend of heroes. Because there were no words, these legends were later compiled and published, which inspired later American writers.
Indian
Early immigrant culture
When immigrants first arrived in the New World, they were busy with struggle for existence, so literature developed slowly at first. The earliest published works about North America are travel notes and diaries. The authors are all British. After the establishment of the British colony, the rulers took religion, mainly Puritanism, as the main means to control colonial ideology, so many publications were about theology. Famous writers include Cotton Mather (1663 ~ 1728) and Jonathan Edwards (1703 ~ 1758). With the growth of industry, trade and national consciousness, the voice of religious freedom is getting louder and louder, and the theocracy of Puritanism has declined, replaced by national independence consciousness such as humanism, freedom and democracy.
The first book of poetry published in North America, Gulf Poems, is a poem written in the form of folk songs. Michael Wigglesworth's poems (163 1 ~ 1705) all expounded the teachings of Calvinism and became popular religious books. The poetess Anne braz Tritt (162 1? ~ 1672) also wrote about religious life, but expressed women's feelings in a secular style. Edward tylor (about 1644 ~ 1729), a priest who only published elegies, reflected the decline of strict Puritanism. Britain's influence on these poets is also obvious. Blatz Tritt benefited from the poetry of John Donne and George Herbert in Spencer and Taylor.
Independent revolution
American national literature was formed in the revolutionary period. This struggle produced a large number of revolutionary poems and the first batch of important American essayists and poets. Political independence promotes cultural independence. After the war, the works of American writers emerged one after another, and gradually got rid of the monopoly of English literature. Young democracy and republic make people full of confidence and attract more people from the old world to the new world. Such social conditions make the literary creation of1the first half of the 9th century romantic. Writers draw lessons from the spirit of European romantic literature to describe American history, legends and real life, and the content of American nation is gradually enriched and enriched. From the 1920s to the eve of the Civil War, it was the heyday of the Romantic Movement, and writers of different styles flocked out, and their works had distinctive national characteristics from content to form. Critics call this period the "first prosperity" of American literature. By the middle of the century, the tone of romantic literature changed from optimism to doubt, and urgent social contradictions, such as slavery, made some writers adopt realistic creative methods.
The revolution of independence is the background of American national literature. Long before the war broke out, the American colonial people had a sense of national independence under the influence of European enlightenment theory. Franklin's secular motto (1706 ~ 1790) is more attractive to the public than Edward's puritanism. Franklin used a clear and humorous style to spread science and culture and inspire the spirit of self-reliance. His patriotic enthusiasm and remarks about self-study and entrepreneurship have had a far-reaching impact on the American people's outlook on life, career and morality. During the independent revolution, there was a sharp struggle between resistance and compromise, which forced writers to take simple and sharp forms such as political comments, speeches and essays to fight. Patrick Henry (1736 ~ 1799), an orator who once famously said "Give me liberty or give me death", encouraged Thomas Pine (1737 ~ 1809) to bravely kill the enemy like a war drum, but his writing was plain but to the point.
Franklin
Poetry in that period was also very political, and a large number of revolutionary songs came from the people. Philip Freneau (1752 ~ 1832) was a famous revolutionary poet at that time, and his creation created an excellent tradition of American poetry.
Early Romantic Literature
/kloc-at the beginning of the 0/9th century, some works with the American as the background and the American as the protagonist began to appear and began to have the characteristics of the American nation. Owen (1783 ~ 1859) devoted himself to exploring the legends of early immigrants in North America, and his Notes on Experience (18 19 ~ 1820) started the tradition of American short stories. Cooper (1789 ~ 185 1) takes the demise of Indian tribes as the background in The Story of Leather Socks, showing how brave and upright immigrants opened up the road of American civilization. The natural scenery written by the poet Bryant (1794 ~ 1878) is completely American. He praised the local common waterfowl and wild flowers, and praised the harmony between people through them. The works of these writers are full of optimistic spirit of the times. Poe, with a strong color, has reached a new height in poetry, short stories and theoretical criticism, marking the diversification of national literature and the development of art.
Transcendentalism and Late Romanticism
After 1930s, New England, the American cultural center on the northeast coast, became the earliest industrial zone. President Jackson's democratic line has increased the democratic atmosphere in China. This has produced two ideological consequences: on the one hand, transcendentalism groups have appeared, on the other hand, some writers have generated a lot of doubts, and the tone of romantic literature has changed from optimism to doubt and denial. Transcendentalism is an ideological emancipation movement, which is first manifested in the reform of religion and philosophy, and then extended to the field of literary creation. Transcendentalists, led by Emerson (1803 ~ 1882), in order to abandon the idea of "God-centered" of Calvinism and absorb the ideological materials of Kant's transcendentalism and European romantic theorists, put forward that people know the truth intuitively, so they are God in a certain range. The starting point of this school is humanism, which emphasizes human value, advocates intuition, advocates personality liberation, and breaks the shackles of theology and foreign dogma, which has a great influence on American writers.