本书以《诺顿美国文学选集》为研究对象，以1979年至2003年选集不同版本呈现出来的改革和变化为切入口，比较研究不同历史时期的各个版本呈现出来的差异和变化，考察和研究美国文学经典的建构与修正。本书以知识考古学的方式，比较分析选集在不同年代和历史背景下的不同版本之间的差异，梳理和挖掘参与美国文学经典这一知识建构的各种权力以及相互之间的关系。通过对差异的比较分析，使我们对美国文学有一个更深的了解和领悟。对美国文学经典的研究可以揭示美国学界在这个领域的立场、观点和态度，从甄别和批判这一知识建构方面，对我们国内美国文学的教学与研究，有很大的影响和借鉴意义。

This book focuses on the differenteditions of TheNorton Anthology of American Literature，published from 1979 to2003.The book concentrateson the construction and revision of the canon of American literature by studying the reforms and changes of the different editions published in different time periods.The political，social and culturalmovements happened in the 60s and 70s of the 20th century caused people to doubt and question the traditional literary canon，and they called on to open up，enlarge and revise the traditional canon——thus a “canon war”happened.During the canon debate，the anthologywhich contains many excellentwriters and works became an important position to be constructed and deconstructed.Academic anthologies compose rich and huge reSOURCEs for literature studies and researches，but the researches on these anthologies are often neglected by the researchers.The study of The Norton Anthology of American Literature combined with the study of canon forms a rather new subject.The Norton Anthology of American Literature is published by the oldest and largest publishing house W.W.Norton＆Company，which also has been known for its distinguished publishing programs in both trade and the college textbook areas.Since its publication，the anthology has always been the textbook or reference book for college studentswhomajor in English and literature in the United States，and on the top of the reading list for graduates and postgraduatesof Englishmajors in colleges in China.Being a textbook familiar to the public，it has undergone a lot of changes since its publication in 1979，but it has been kept out the sight of the researchers.That is the first reason why I take The Norton Anthology of American Literature as the research object.Secondly，the anthology plays a very important role in the American college education，especially in literature，themost importantarea of the liberal arts.Thirdly，the reprintand use of the anthology presents the vitality and vigor of the text.Fourthly，the change and development of the anthology，in fact embody the construction and revision of American literary canon，isworth of concern and research.TheW.W.Norton ＆Company published the firstedition of The Norton Anthology of American Literature in 1979; from then on，the company published a new edition every five years or so averagely，that is，individually in 1985，1989，1994，1998 and 2003，to provide learners with a newer and better textbook.We can find some concrete reforms and changes in each edition：e.g.the division of historical period; the increase of women writers and their works; the emergence and increase ofmultiethnic writers; the inclusion of different works，or the addition and deletion ofworks by the same author; the exclusion of a particular author…the changes of the anthology are the start point of our thinking and the place to cut in to begin the research.This book combs and digs out various powers，which participate in the construction of the knowledge of the American literary canon，as well as their relationship，by beginning research with the reforms and changes of the anthology.The search and sorting out the construction of the knowledge is essentially a kind of archaeological research done to American literary canon.The differenteditions of the anthology published in different years and different contexts provide a difference，as well as possibility and base for the archaeological research of the knowledge.We will have a deeper understanding and perception about the American literature through the study of contrast and analysis.During the research，the book concernsmainly about the following questions：What is the context of the construction of the traditional canon？What does it reveal，and what does it conceal？What role does the gender studies play in the constructing and revising process of the canon which presented by The Norton Anthology of American Literature since the 1970s？How does the difference of social classact in the construction and revision？Does racial status operate in the process and how does itwork？How do ethnic studies criticize and overthrow the racism hidden in the traditional literary canon？What kind of social rules of law，principle or abnormal factor are existing or allowed to exist in the canon？Do the works in the anthology spread about social and political resistance or subversion？Who are the readers of the anthology？How were the works produced and allotted in the anthology？Feminist criticism，ethnic studies and various new thoughts and theories became the tools and modes to deconstruct and reconstruct the literary canon.The research led by feminism，ethnic research and new theories composed a paralleled relationship，while these theories，or some aspects of a certain theory，were stressed and given prominence to in different historical periods.The resultant force produced by different social powers and literary theories that both dominate the academe，acts on the construction and revision of American literary canon.The research and analysis of American literary canon will reveal the standpoint，viewpoint and attitude of the American academe in this area，which will have a great effect and function on the teaching of American literature in China，while a critical consciousness is necessary.Chapter Five is an extension of the former chapters：anthology，literary history and curriculum design are related with each other and work together to construct American literature.The article is involved in the numbers，portion and proportion of writers and works presented in the anthology，so the statistical tactics of sociology are applied in the book to work out these data to support the discussion of the paper，so that it is well based and reasoned.And some appendices which provide a clear data of those changes happened in the anthology are attached at the end of the book.The book consists of Preface，Chapter1-5，and Conclusion.Preface is a general introduction of the background，the reasons for choosing this project and its academic value.The author will sort out the American literary canon and its canonization by studying the different editions of The Norton Anthology of American Literature，in that way，we will have an all-round and brand-new view about American literature，which will help us to do a better practice in American literature teaching.Moreover，itmaps out the basic modes of thinking，research methods and original ideas of the whole book.Chapter One，“The Establishment of the Canon：The Norton Anthology of American Literature”，is mainly about the establishment，the construction and reconstruction of The Norton Anthology of American Literature.The first section is an analysis of the first edition of The Norton Anthology of American Literature; as a result，it turns out to be a representative of the mainstream ideology of British and American academe in its context.The second section is a discussion on the factors of canonization which is composed of the exterior and interior factors，so that the powers involved in the construction of the canon are revealed.The third section，“Theory Development and Edition Update”，focuses on the cause of the reconstruction of the canon，and a general introduction about different editions of the anthology urged by the development of the literary theories，published in the different times and contexts.This chapter puts forward the entry of the research and the base of the discussion of the book.Chapter Two，“The Expansion of the Canon：the Influence of Feminism on American Literary Canon”，studies the impact of the feminism and the feminist theories on the expansion of American literary canon.The inclusion of women writers in different editions illustrates the fact that women writers were excluded and hidden from view.What's more，we will find the inclusion of women writers in different historical periods approximately interlock with and reflect the emphases and requirement of feminism in different times.Women writers almost faced and experienced the similar difficulties and restrictions in their writing in the patriarchal society.In order to resist these restrictions and gave out their own voice，they took different strategies.Women writers of different style made their own contribution to the whole collection of American literature.Chapter Three，“The Canonization of Multiethnic Literature：From One Center to Pluralism”，probes into the destruction and reconstruction of American canon by the ethnic studies.The first to the fourth section of this chapter focus on the outstandingmultiethnic literatures，that is，Jewish American literature，African American literature，Asian American literature and Latino American literature in present America，and their inclusion in the anthology.The U-nited States of America is always an immigrant country of different nations，and people from different nations made their own contribution to the establishment and development of America.But during the past historical development，Euro-pean whites dominated the society，and they had far-reaching and long influence on American politics，economy，society，culture，and language.Europecentered racism and“melting-pot”cultural policy always exclude the influence and function ofminority people in America.Multiethnic literature sprang up and became prosperous after the Second World War，later the Human Right Movement of the middle of 20th century，together with the emergency and development of the ethnic studies，urged themainstream of the society to take seriously of and recognize the existence of literature of minority people and their requests.The appearance and quantity of multiethnic literature in the anthology has been increased gradually.These changes reflect the tendency that pluralism is taking place of European-centrism.The inclusion and increase ofmultiethnic literaturemake American literaturemore colorful and closer to the true situation of American literary reality.Chapter Four，“Revaluation of Texts”，mainly discusses the reinterpretation and critique of some great，important and classic texts in the light of some new theories and new thoughts.The first section is an illustration of Walt Whitman's poem-sequence Live Oak，With Moss，by applying the theory of gender studies.The publishing history of the sequence and its newly admission of The Norton Anthology of American Literature both show critics’new opinion and action and the great influence gender studies brings to the literature research.The second section is a discussion of the native Indian literature in the context of globalization.The inclusion of traditional oral literature and the inclusion ofmodern native Indian writers have changed the cognition and verdict that European literature and culture，especially represented by the British literature and culture，are the unique origin of American literature.The anthology is the result of the balance and compromise of various cultural powers in the“canon war”.Chapter Five，“Reconstruction of American Literature”，ismainly about the history of American literature，and the teaching and curriculum of American literature in the US colleges.As a complete literary unit，the developmentof anthology，literary criticism，the writing and rewriting of literary history and the teaching of literature interweave with each other，in substance; and these com-bine to make a whole of American literature.First Section，“Canon and the Writing of Literary History”，is a discussion of thewriting and rewriting of literary history caused by the developmentof literary theories and the change of historiographic conception.The book takes Columbia Literary History of the United States and The Cambridge History of American Literature as examples to illustrate the changes，or even the revolutionary reforms of historiographic conception，the conceptof literature，literary genre，the origin of literature，and historical period.The tendency of from one center to pluralism has been strengthened for the intervention of gender consciousness and ethnic studies.Second Section，“Canon and the Teaching of American Literature”，studies American literature teaching influenced by the reconstruction and revision of literary canon.The important significance of literary canon and its educational function determined that literary teaching is focused on the teaching of canon，and tries to reflect the true visage of American literature justly and really in textbooks and in classrooms.At the same time，the teaching of canon and its feedback afford the first handmaterials for canon reconstruction.The writing of literary history and the teaching of literature are closely connected with literary canon，and also very important.Conclusion stresses the significant of sorting out and getting to know the construction and revision of American literary canon by working out the cause andmanner of reconstruction of the canon.The differences between each edition exhibit and reflect the construction and revision of canon in western academe.We should make good use of this knowledge in the teaching of American literature according to the real situation of our country. Key Words： Literature study; American Literary Canon; Culture Critique; Feminist Criticism; Ethnic Studies