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1、《美国文学史》扩充材料第3部分超验主义与美国的文艺复兴PartI.BackgroundReading：TranscendentalIdeas:DefinitionsAnOverviewofAmericanTranscendentalismMartinBickman,UniversityofColoradoAlthoughTranscendentalismasahistoricalmovementwaslimitedintimefromthemid1830stothelate1840sandinspacetoeasternMassachusetts,itsripplescontin
2、uetospreadthroughAmericanculture.BeginningasaquarrelwithintheUnitarianchurch,Transcendentalism'squestioningofestablishedculturalforms,itsurgetoreintegratespiritandmatter,itsdesiretoturnideasintoconcreteactiondevelopedamomentumofitsown,spreadingfromthespheresofreligionandeducationtoliterature,
3、philosophy,andsocialreform.WhileTranscendentalism'sambivalenceaboutanycommunaleffortthatwouldcompromiseindividualintegritypreventeditfromcreatinglastinginstitutions,ithelpedsetthetermsforbeinganintellectualinAmerica.Itiseasiertonoteitspervasiveinfluence,though,thanitistoclarifyitsdoctrines.Th
4、efluidityandelusivenessofTranscendentalismwasregisteredevenbysomeofitsmostintelligentcontemporaries.NathanielHawthorne,forexample,writes:"HeisGermanbybirth,andiscalledGiantTranscendentalist,butastohisform,hisfeatures,hissubstance,andhisnaturegenerally,itisthechiefpeculiarityofthishugemiscrean
5、tthatneitherheforhimselfnoranybodyforhimhaseverbeenabletodescribethem.Aswerushedbythecavern'smouthwecaughtahastyglimpseofhim,lookingsomewhatlikeanill-proportionedfigurebutconsiderablymorelikeaheapoffogandduskiness.Heshoutedafterus,butinsostrangeaphraseologythatweknewnotwhathemeant,norwhethert
6、obeencouragedoraffrighted."[from"TheCelestialRailroad"]OnanAmericanvisit,CharlesDickenswastold"thatwhateverwasunintelligiblewouldcertainlybetranscendental"andEdgarAllanPoeinstructsayoungauthortowritetheToneTranscendentalbyusingsmallwordsbutturningthemupsidedown.ABaltimoreclergymannotedthat"an
7、ewphilosophyhasrisen,maintainingthatnothingiseverythingingeneral,andeverythingisnothinginparticular."WhilethesequotationsimplythatTranscendentalismhadalanguageproblemcompoundedofforeignborrowingsandoracularjargon,theunderlyingdifficultyincomp
