16. American Romanticism（美国浪漫主义）
Romanticism refers to an artistic and intellectual movement originating in Europe in the late 18th century and characterized by a heightened interest in nature， emphasis on the individual‘s expression of emotion and imagination， departure from the attitudes and forms of classicism， and rebellion against established social rules and conventions. The romantic period in American literature stretches from the end of the 18th century through the outbreak of the civil war. It was an age of great westward expansion， of the increasing gravity of the slavery question， of an intensification of the spirit of embattled sectionalism in the south， and of a powerful impulse to reform in the north. In literature it was America’s first great creative period， a full flowering of the romantic impulse on American soil. Although foreign influences were strong， American romanticism exhibited from the very outset distinct features of its own. First， American romanticism was in essence the expression of “a real new experience”and contained “an alien quality” for the simple reason that “the spirit of the place” was radically new and alien. Second， puritan influence over American romanticism was conspicuously noticeable. Emerging as new writers of strength and creative power were the novelists Hawthorne， Melville， the poets Dickinson， Whitman， the essayists Thoreau， Emerson. These American writers had made a great literary period by capturing on their pages the enthusiasm and the optimism of that dream.
浪漫主义是于18世纪晚期发起于欧洲的一场艺术性及思想性的运动，它注重自然，强调个人情感表达与想像力，向既定的社会制度和传统挑战，与古典主义形式相分离。美国的浪漫主义时期从18世纪末一直延续到内战爆发前。这个时期发生了大规模的西迁运动，日益严峻的奴隶问题，南部各州的地方保护主义的是益盛行以及北部呼声愈演愈烈火的革新运动。在文学上，这个时期是美国第一次伟大的创作时期，浪漫主义的种子在北美的土壤里生根发芽。尽管受到欧洲浪漫主义运动的影响，美国浪漫主义文学仍然呈现出自己的独特风格。第一，美国浪漫主义在本质上是一个“全新的经历”的表达，因这个新大陆充满着生机和活力而使美国的浪漫主义蕴含异国的气质；第二，清教主义对美国浪漫主义有着显著的影响，作为新生创作力量的有小说家霍桑，麦尔维尔。诗人狄金森和惠特曼，散文家梭罗，爱默生。这些美国作家充满热情地记录下这个伟大时代的乐观主义精神。
17. Transcendentalism（超验主义）
Transcendentalism is literature， philosophical and literary movement that flourished in new England from about 1836 to 1860. it is the summit of American Romanticism. it originated among a small group of intellectuals who were reacting against the orthodoxy of Calvinism and the rationalism of the Unitarian Church， developing instead their own faith centering on the divinity of humanity and the natural world. Transcendentalism derived some of its basic idealistic concepts from romantic German philosophy， and from such English authors as Coleridge and Wordsworth. Its mystical aspects were partly influenced by Indian and Chinese religious teachings. Although Transcendentalism was never a rigorously systematic philosophy， it had some basic tenets that were generally shared by its adherents. The beliefs that God is immanent in each person and in nature and that individual intuition is the highest source of knowledge led to an optimistic emphasis on individualism， self-reliance， and rejection of traditional authority. The ideas of Transcendentalism were most eloquently expressed by Ralph waldo Emerson in such essays as Nature， and by Henry David Thoreau in his book Walden.
超验主义是从1836至1860于新英格兰发起的一场文学，哲学以及艺术运动。即浪漫主义的顶点。由于一小群知识分子反对加尔文教派和唯一神论教派理性的形式主义，他们从而提出人与自然的神圣这一信念。超验主义受到德国浪漫主义哲学以及英国浪漫主义作家柯勒律治和沃兹华斯的影响，还在一定程度上受到东方古典哲学和宗教的影响。尽管超验主义思想并不能算是严格意义上的哲学， 但是它还是有一些基本原则的。超验主义者认为人人都有内在的神性，只有通过接触自然才能使神性与人的天性相互融合。从而超验主义十分强调个人主义，自立，拒绝传统权威思想。超验主义思想在爱默生的<论自然> 和梭罗的<瓦尔登湖>等书中表现得淋漓尽致。