第二部分　理性时代和革命时期文学

第5章　本杰明·富兰克林

5.1　复习笔记

I. Historical Introduction (背景介绍)

(1) Theology dominated the Puritan phase of American writing. Politics was the next great subject to command the attention of the best minds.

(2) By the mid-eighteenth century colonial America became a series of neighboring, flourishing colonies with rapidly expanding, mixed populations. The word “state”, which suggests an independent government, was beginning to replace “colony” in the people’s thinking.

(3) The War of Independence lasted for eight years (1776－1783) and ended in the formation of a Federative bourgeois democratic republic—the United States of America.

(4) American bourgeois Enlightenment opposed to old colonial order and religious obscurantism and dealt a decisive blow to the Puritan traditions and brought to life secular education and literature. The American reading public was greatly interested in the works of English scientists, philosophers and writers.

(5) Although American literature throughout the century was largely patterned on the writing of 18th century Englishmen, the heroic and revolutionary ambitions of the age had created great political pamphleteering and state papers.

(1) 神学在清教徒时期的美国文学中占主导地位。而后，政治成为作家们的主要题材。

(2) 18世纪中期，美国成为一系列人口迅速增长、不断融合的相互毗邻、繁荣的殖民地。在人们的思想中，象征独立政府的词语“国家”，开始取代“殖民地”。

(3) 独立战争持续了八年（1776－1783），最终建立了联合的资产阶级共和国——美利坚合众国。

(4) 美国资产阶级启蒙运动反对旧殖民地秩序和宗教蒙蔽主义，给予清教传统致命打击，使世俗的教育和文学焕发生机。美国读者对英国科学家、哲学家及作家的作品很感兴趣。

(5) 尽管本世纪的美国文学很大程度上模仿了18世界英国文学，但此时英勇进取的美国人怀着雄心壮志，创作了极好的政治小册子和国内报纸。

II. Benjamin Franklin (1706－1790) (本杰明·富兰克林)

1．Life (生平)

Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston in 1706. His energy and versatility were remarkable throughout his life. He was well known as a writer, a statesman, an inventor as well as a preeminent scientist of his day. He was also a humanist and humanitarian who believed in the possibilities of human progress and the comforts of material success. He signed the Declaration of Independence. He was one of the makers of the new nation. When Franklin died in 1790, at the age of eighty-four, he was an honored figure, mourned by many nations.

1706年，富兰克林出生在波士顿。他一生多才多艺，能量充沛。他不仅是一名作家、政治家、发明家，他也是当时著名的科学家。同时他也是一个人文主义者和人道主义者，相信人类进步和物质财富的舒适。他签署过《独立宣言》，是美国的缔造者之一。1790年富兰克林去世，享年84岁，作为一位备受崇敬的人物，被多国人民哀悼。

2．Literary Status (文学地位)

In addition to his public achievements, Franklin was one of the first major writers with a definite gift for writing. He had power of expression, a subtle humor and sarcasm. He was a prose stylist whose writing reflected the neoclassic ideals of clarity, restraint, simplicity and balance.

除了他的社会功绩，富兰克林也跻身于美国第一批主要作家之列。他具有写作天赋，表达有力，带有一丝幽默和讽刺。他的文章平铺直叙，反映了新古典主义崇尚的明晰、节制、朴素和平衡。

3．Major Work (主要作品)

Poor Richard’s Almanac 《穷理查历书》

The Autobiography 《自传》

The Way to Wealth 《致富之道》

Collected Works 《全集》

4．Selected Works (选读作品)

The Autobiography《自传》

The Autobiography was probably the first of its kind in literature. It is the simple yet immensely fascinating record of a man rising to wealth and fame from a state of poverty and obscurity into which he was born, the faithful account of the colorful career of American’s first self-made man. He represented in America all its ideas, that man is basically good and free by nature, endowed by God with certain inalienable rights of liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Through telling a success story of self-reliance, the book celebrates the fulfillment of the American dream.

The Autobiography is also an eloquent elucidation of the fact that Franklin was a spokesman for the new order of eighteenth-century Enlightenment. It is a Puritan document and a record of self-examination and self-improvement. The book is also a convincing illustration of the Puritan ethic that, in order to get on in the world, one has to be industrial, frugal and prudent.

The style of The Autobiography reveals that it is the pattern of Puritan simplicity, directness and concision.

《自传》是自传体文学中的上乘佳作。它简明而极其引人入胜地叙述了富兰克林由穷苦卑微跃至富有、闻名的故事。它忠实地记录了美国第一位自力更生者光辉灿烂的职业生涯。他代表着，在美国，人本质是善良自由的，拥有上帝赋予的不可剥夺的自由及追求幸福的权力。该书通过讲述自力更生而获取成功的故事，歌颂了美国梦的实现。

《自传》充分说明了富兰克林是18世纪美国启蒙运动的代言人。这也是一本清教文献，记录了清教徒的自我反省和自我完善。它也是清教徒道德原则的最好说明，即为了取得成功，人必须勤劳、简朴、谨慎。

《自传》的文体体现出清教徒朴素、直率、简洁的风格。