从支持正义战争到反对侵略战争——美国文学的简要回顾

From Supporting Just Wars to Opposing Unjust Wars ——A Brief Survey of American Literature

美国的历史不长，如果从1776年美国宣布独立算起，到今年才不过二百一十年。即使加上独立前美国殖民地时期的一段历史，也不过才三百多年，因此同世界文明古国的文学相比，美国文学瞠乎其后。虽然美国早期文学不那么成熟，其文学作品往往是舶来品，然而在世界文学宝库里，它却献出了一份可贵的财富，特别是它的近现代文学。从本世纪三十年代开始到目前为止，仅以获诺贝尔文学奖金的作家而论，就有十个之多。

American literature, young arid vigorous as it is, has a tradition tinged with militant color. The American writers have made a great contribution to the world literature in their own way. This article is a tentative exploration of their different attitudes to the wars of different nature in the different periods of history. The attitudes of theirs are a reflection of the great changes the American society has undergone.