4. Literary career: two parts' }* F5 N* O; U+ ?1 W! y, _
(1) 1809~1832
/ d0 C. ~: L, {+ p a. Subjects are either English or European
: P# f" W& Q% h" c, h/ i b. Conservative love for the antique2 }6 t8 z" q5 u; i
(2) 1832~1859: back to US! i( a. h' m) r) w
5. style – beautiful3 Y. I. C8 `, u5 A, ?) w- L" @
(1) gentility, urbanity, pleasantness/ Y$ J M: c C6 ]. R' z' ]& Q! Q
(2) avoiding moralizing – amusing and entertaining
$ S3 d3 L, Y }# }7 ^ (3) enveloping stories in an atmosphere; p5 `0 Y% u2 } c* {
(4) vivid and true characters; x: h" h! K' y) a, ]
(5) humour – smiling while reading z: y( }8 Q0 ?2 \2 _
(6) musical language
' T' j9 p, X! D* f! W IV. James Fenimore Cooper
1 n* ~! k8 h8 H9 K# x( ~7 f% r( K 1. life
& s( Q6 {( I8 b1 R) Y; q% v 2. works
9 t( ~. X# E% r9 e( K (1) Precaution (1820, his first novel, imitating Austen’s Pride and Prejudice)
9 }( f( a$ D' a% ^* I) ~5 l (2) The Spy (his second novel and great success)
! Z/ m& c- E. o2 E# g, } (3) Leatherstocking Tales (his masterpiece, a series of five novels)
" P/ b+ D Q' R3 a The Deerslayer, The Last of the Mohicans, The Pathfinder, The Pioneer, The Prairie4 K# B$ l; m v2 q5 t
3. point of view+ V; S+ U; }, z1 W/ o# u
the theme of wilderness vs. civilization, freedom vs. law, order vs. change, aristocrat vs. democrat, natural rights vs. legal rights% I L0 s/ ]) _$ I/ @
4. style: C/ o& A. P1 X! {7 ~4 J6 T9 m3 `
(1) highly imaginative0 Z& q1 x, D0 R: e2 a
(2) good at inventing tales2 r+ j0 F$ I5 H' l- U# g( N# o
(3) good at landscape description* e* a' t9 c t0 q! A* r
(4) conservative
+ f/ `# _$ n f y( l9 I (5) characterization wooden and lacking in probability
" ~- F7 |8 D0 Y. m' c* R3 U (6) language and use of dialect not authentic
& }0 b$ M( m; z$ c9 N 5. literary achievements5 d: [$ B& v M) S \, X
He created a myth about the formative period of the American nation. If the history of the United States is, in a sense, the process of the American settlers exploring and pushing the American frontier forever westward, then Cooper’s Leatherstocking Tales effectively approximates the American national experience of adventure into the West. He turned the west and frontier as a useable past and he helped to introduce western tradition to American literature. |