童明《美国文学史》（增订版）复习笔记和课后习题详解【完整内容点击文中链接获取】
第1章 “新世界”的文学
Ⅰ. Discoveries of America（发现美洲大陆）
Who discovered America?
谁发现了美洲？
1 The credit is often attributed to Christopher Columbus. Yet this argument is controversial.
一种说法是哥伦布发现了美洲大陆。但是，这种说法颇具争议。
2 Another notable claim is that Amerigo Vespucci, the Florentine navigator, discovered the new land which was named after him.
另一种值得注意的说法是佛罗伦萨航海家阿美利哥·韦斯普奇发现了这片新土地，而“美洲”也正是由他的名字而命名的。
Ⅱ. Native American Oral Literature（美国土著口头文学）
There were mainly three major types of the native American oral literature:
美国土著口头文学主要有三种不同的形式：
1 Origin stories are dramatic explanations of how the world began, how the Earth came into being and how humans built connections with plants, animals and the universe.
起源故事是一些对世界起源的戏剧性的解释，解释地球如何产生，人类如何与植物、动物和宇宙产生联系。
2 Trickster tales are humorous tales featuring trickster characters, people in the form of animals such as Coyote, Raven, Blue Jay, Mink, or Rabbit. They are half animal, half human.
魔法故事是一些关于魔法人物的幽默故事。魔法人物是以动物形象呈现的人，如狼、乌鸦、兔子等。也可以说他们是半人半兽。
3 Historical narratives vary from tribal records of historical events to narratives about legendary figures from real historical backgrounds.
历史叙事种类多样。有些是部落对历史事件的记录。许多其他叙事中的传奇人物来源于真实的历史背景。
Ⅲ. European Exploration Writings（欧洲探索写作）
1 Christopher Columbus (1451—1506)（克里斯托弗·哥伦布）
Christopher Columbus made four voyages to America between 1492 and 1502. The first voyage was recorded in a journal, now lost, but parts of it were written by Casas in an abstract.
克里斯托弗·哥伦布曾在1492至1502年间四度前往美洲。第一次航行被记录在日记里，现已遗失，但是它的部分内容被卡萨斯写在了一篇摘要中。
2 Captain John Smith (1580—1631)（约翰·史密斯上尉）
Because John Smith’s works were the first English-language works to appear in the New World, it is generally believed that American literature began with Captain Smith.
因为约翰·史密斯的作品是在新大陆出现最早的英语作品，所以一般认为美国文学开始于史密斯上尉。
(1) Life（生平）
Smith was born into a moderately prosperous family at Lincolnshire, England. He loved adventure, and after leaving the army, he joined the expedition that established the Jamestown colony.
史密斯出生于英格兰林肯郡的一个小康家庭。他喜欢冒险，离开部队后，加入了建立詹姆斯敦殖民地的探险。
(2) Major Works（主要作品）
A Description of New England (1614)
《新英格兰描述》（1614）
The True Travels, Adventure, and Observations of Captain John Smith (1630)
《约翰·史密斯上尉的真实游历、冒险和观察》（1630）
Advertisements for the Unexperienced Planters of New England, or Anywhere (1631)
《为新英格兰或其他地方无经验的种植园主做广告》（1631）
| 内容来源 |
童明《美国文学史》笔记和课后答案 |
课后习题答案
1 Give a brief account of Christopher Columbus, Amerigo Vespucci and Martin Waldseemuller so that you can establish one version of the “origin” of America.
Key: Christopher Columbus was an Italian navigator who discovered the New World in the service of Spain while looking for a route to China (1451—1506). Yet it is controversial because Columbus thought that he had reached Asia. Therefore, he interpreted everything he saw according to his pre-established view on Asia and Asians.
“America” was named after Amerigo Vespucci, Florentine navigator who explored the coast of South America; he noted, “We arrived at a new land which we observed to be a continent.” In 1503 his book Mundus Novus (The New World) was printed and widely circulated. Many regard him as the very person that discovered “America.”
Martin Waldseemuller was a German geographer. He discovered Vespucci’s work while preparing a new edition of the world map. It was Waldseemuller that decided to name the new land after its discoverer, Amerigo. On his 1507 world map, the German geographer marked the new territory, which he called the “fourth part” of the world after Europe, Africa, and Asia, as “America.” Vespucci was also controversial as an explorer, as he made up a story that he had discovered the continent of South America during a voyage in 1497. It is possible that he invented the story in order to be credited as the first discoverer.
In any case, it was Vespucci’s work and Waldseemuller’s maps that made Europeans aware of the New Land. At the time, Europeans realized that Columbus’s description of the New World as a series of Asian islands was misleading. A wave of European immigrants arrived in America.
2 Give some specific examples for the argument that the “origin” of America is multicultural.
Key: There were many explorers from different countries who came and influenced the life of native people in America. For example, England explorers brought with their culture, religions, traditions and so on.
3 From the first few pages of this book, do you acquire a new understanding of “discoveries” of America? If so, what is this new understanding?
Key: I may have misread the knowledge of Columbus’ discovery of the New World. More evidence is needed to verify the historical facts.
……
【完整版】 达聪学习网 童明《美国文学史》（增订版）笔记和课后习题（含考研真题）详解
热门内容
——————————————————————————————
