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1、--------------------------------------------精品文档Word可编辑值得收藏------------------------------------------------LiteraryGiant:WashingtonIrvingLiteraryGiant:WashingtonIrvingIntroductionInspiteofIrving’sseventeenyearsinEurope,hissearchfornativethemesledhimtocontributeimportantlytoportraitureoftheAmer
2、icanIndian.AlthoughhisfirsthandobservationofIndianswaslimited,hewasliberatedohmthepioneer’sneedtojustifyIndiandisplacement.HewasabletoviewIndianssympathetically,bringingtheperspectiveofaworldlymantoquestionsofcivilizationandsavagery.Inhisfirstbook,AHistoryofNewYorkfromtheBeginningoftheWorldtot
3、heEndoftheDutchDynasty,byDietrichKnickerbockers(1809),hesatirizespretentioushistoriansandwittilydeflatessomeshibbolethsofAmericanhistory.InChapterFiveDietrichKnickerbockerspretendstojustifytherightsofEuropeancoloniststothelandthey“discovered.”Hesucceeds,ofcourse,inrevealingthefalsityandinjusti
4、ceoftheirclaims.Attheendofthechapter,IrvingoffersaSwiftIansummaryofcolonization;thispassageisreprintedbelow.11----------------------------------------------------精品文档值得收藏-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------精品文档Word可编辑值得收藏------
5、------------------------------------------Inamorestraightforwardway,butnotmoredevastatingly,IrvingtakesupthetopicofdisplacedIndiansagainintwosketchesaddedtoTheSketchBookofGeoffreyCrayon,Gent.in1820.In“TraitsofIndianCharacter,”IrvingexpressessuccinctlythatsympathyforwrongedIndiansimpliedinKnick
6、erbockersHistory:IthasbeenthelotoftheunfortunateaboriginesofAmerica,intheearlyperiodsofcolonization,tobedoublywrongedbythewhitemen.Theyhavebeendispossessedoftheirhereditarypossessionsbymercenaryandfrequentlywantonwarfare,andbigotedandinterestedwritershavetraducedtheircharacters.Inthisessay,Irv
7、ingpraisestheIndiansforcourageandmagnanimity,andexplainstheirdeepresentmentofwhiteinjuries;hecallsit“thedarkstoryoftheirwrongsandwretchedness.”Inthenextsketch,“PhilipofPocomoke,hebringstogethermaterialsforthemanynineteenthcenturytreatme