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1、Transcendentalism.AdefinitionfromOxfordLiteraryTerms.TranscendentalismisanidealistphilosophicaltendencyamongwritersinandaroundBostoninthemid-19thcentury.ItgrewoutofChristianUnitarianism（上帝一位论，areligiousdenomination/valuestressingindividualfreedomorbelief）inthe1830sundertheinfluenceofGermanandBritish
2、Romanticism.TranscendentalismaffirmedKant’sprincipleofintuitiveknowledgenotderivedfromthesenses,whilerejectingorganizedreligionforanextremelyindividualisticcelebrationofthedivinityineachhumanbeing.TheleadingTranscendentalistRalphWaldoEmersonissuedwhatwasvirtuallythemovement’smanifestoin10hisessayNat
3、ure(1836),whichpresentsnaturalphenomenaassymbolsofhigherspiritualtruths.ThenonconformistindividualismoftheTranscendentalistsisexpressedinEmerson’sessay“Self-Reliance”(1841)andinHenryDavidThoreau’sWalden(1854)----akindofautobiographicalsermonagainstmodernmaterialism…Thetranscendentalists’mannerofinte
4、rpretingnatureinsymbolictermshadaprofoundinfluenceonAmericanliteratureofthisperiod,notablyintheworksofNathanielHawthorne,HermanMelville,andWaltWhitman.TranscendentalismasaphilosophyfromTomingAsanintensifiedexpressionofRomanticism,Transcendentalismsharestheromanticcharacteristics:the10importanceofint
5、uition,theexaltationoftheindividualoversociety,thenewandthrillingdelightinnature,fascinationwiththeGothicandthe“Oriental,”andthedesiretobuildanationalliteratureandcultureandculture.Transcendentalism,asawayofknowing(orepistemology),believesthatindividualscanintuitivelyreceivehighertruthsotherwiseunav
6、ailablethroughcommonmethodsofknowing,thustranscendingthelimitsofrationalism.Morespecifically,thevisibleworld,ifintuitedwithimagination,offersendlesscluesabouttheinvisibleworldwhosetruthsstandeternallybehindthefactualworldperceivedbythesenses.Translatedintoliterature,thisbeliefbecameanemphasisonsymbo
7、licrepresentation.Initsmoraltone,it10remindsusofthePuritanbeliefinthe“divineandsupernaturallight”ortheQuaker“innerLight.”AsformulatedbyEmerson,thisbecameacallforactionencouragingtheyoungnottobeenslave
