美國(guó)文學(xué)現(xiàn)實(shí)主義與自然主義.ppt

1、Review:,American romanticism Literary independence on the way to maturity,Read p5-8 Q1: whats the definition of realism? Q2: In which kind of literature form did American realism first appeared? Q3: summarize the main features of Howells, Mark Twain and Henry James?,Part FourLiterature of realism an

2、 age of decline and progress, of poverty and wealth, of gloom and hope. Surface= prosperous, inside = social contradiction Alongside with the great achievement, “dark” side were exposed. hard to build a democratic country (equality/ freedom) The age of materialism and pragmatism (personal success/ w

3、ealth , mammon worship VS Franklins American dream morality/promote the society ) Morality decline, faith (new Eden) lost = disappointment,2. The literary characteristics of the Age,Such new situation calls for new style of literature. Old way: Cooper author should present an idealized portraits of

4、life, and avoid describing something miserable New method: A powerful impulse to mirror the unmitigated (harsh) realities of life (Henry James) Influenced by such Europeans as Zola，F(xiàn)laubert，Balzac，and Tolstoy，Americas authors established a literature of realism,(P6) Realism,a literary doctrine that

5、called for “reality and truth” in the depiction of ordinary life had originated in France ,popular in 19th century,(critical) realism in England:,e.g. 19th cen Dickens (Oliver Twist) Bronte expose the dark side (conflicts/problem) of society criticize/satirize the greed and hypocrisy of the ruling c

6、lasses (bourgeoisie) from a democratic/humanistic viewpoint show sympathy for the laboring people/ the weak,Realism in America (P5),The American writers sought to portray American life as it really was，insisting that the ordinary and the local were as suitable for artistic portrayal as the magnifice

7、nt and the remote 認(rèn)為浪漫主義對(duì)抽象崇高的事物的描寫(xiě)脫離現(xiàn)實(shí)生活,因而強(qiáng)調(diào)以描寫(xiě)作家熟悉的普通人和他們的日常生活而取而代之.還生活的本來(lái)面目,the metaphor of the mirror and the lamp (by M.H. Abrams),the metaphor about the psyche /inner heart since Plato, think that the psyche of men is like a mirror, which can only imitate the physical world passively. 從柏拉圖到18

8、世紀(jì)的主要思維特征 把心靈比作外界事物 的反映者;文學(xué)被視為一種寫(xiě)實(shí)的再現(xiàn)，對(duì)世界的模仿， 并不是創(chuàng)造，如鏡子一樣反照著人間事物 (模仿論mimetic) (Neoclassicism: poetry is the imitation of physical world, a mirror held up to nature) e.g. 3 unity (time/place/plot),Romanticists think that the psyche is like a lamp, which casts its light to the physical world actively

9、浪漫主義時(shí)期：心靈比喻成燈/發(fā)光體; 文學(xué)是心靈的表現(xiàn)，是創(chuàng)造的表現(xiàn)，是對(duì)人類(lèi)主觀世界的表現(xiàn)。 poetry as an expression of the feelings, temperament and mental powers of the author. Expressive theory (表現(xiàn)說(shuō)) Realism: literature= Mirror /imitation (unlike neoclassicism, noble/ magnificent = ordinary people, esp. the low class),P6 Realism first appea

10、red in the United States in the literature of local color鄉(xiāng)土文學(xué) With the development of transportation/society, great need to know the country in full range Novels full of regional features romantic plots + realistic descriptions of things ：the dialects，customs，sights and sounds of regional America th

11、e south/west/new England Transition from R to Realism,local color writers:,Bret Harte the frontier (stories of western mining towns with colorful gamblers/outlaws / scandalous women) Mrs. Stowe the new England (Uncle Sams Cabin -the issue of slavery, intensified the disagreement between the North an

12、d the South which led to the Civil War.) Kate Chopin - the south Americans whose forefather were French and Spanish Vs the Indians and the black The Awakening - the female self-consciousness Mark Twain the west (golden rush) / Mississippi,the literature of local color in different regions helps to p

13、romote the development of realism in America. Realists sought to describe the wide range of American experience in new age Third person point of view Omniscient: narrator as God, know all the things, penetrate into every characters heart, give some comments Limited Omniscient :distance and objectivi

14、ty, readers see things through the one characters mind and eyes Objective/dramatic point of view: the narrator reports events from the outside. (setting, action/dialogue), but does not enter into the minds of any characters,The others,The story mainly narrated by limited third- person point of view.

15、Grace,Shortcoming:,Ornate style: Long and complex sentences, varied adj. 你不憋足一大口氣是讀不完一句句子的，好比一長(zhǎng)列貨車(chē)，站在它面前忘不到盡頭。,Voice from the lower class,Mark Twain broke out of narrow limits of local color fiction and described the various experience of Americans,Realistic writers: Strong sense of ocial responsibi

16、lity Expose the social corruption, moral decay, degradation Better social condition, reform,Mark Twain,the pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens. 測(cè)標(biāo)兩英尋 He got his greatest inspirations from the Mississippi His works are full of witty humor, but they also carried the bitterest satire on human folly an

17、d vices. Humorous /satiric resistance E.g. Running for Governor 競(jìng)選州長(zhǎng) The Gilded Age criticize/expose the seemly prosperous society in late 19th century, filled with moral decline and the crazy mammon worship,Howells called him “the Lincoln of our literature Mark Twain earned a world fame in his life

18、 time and exerted an indelible influence on the great literary masters of the 20th century, such as Hemingway and Faulkner Why?,2. Analysis of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,(1) Set in a small town near the Mississippi River, the novel mainly tells a story about a thirteen-year-old poor boy Hucklebe

19、rry Finn. Tired of the restraints of the civilized society and the ill treatment of his drunkard father, he escaped from the town and set off down the Mississippi River. During his journey, he encountered a runaway slave, Jim who attempted to reunite his family and to flee to salve-free states.,They

20、 together began a journey down the mighty River and met lots of interesting things and people, as well as some danger and malicious swindlers. Though at last they did not reach the destination, they gained a lot from this trip. Huck became mature and decided to continue his “adventures” in the west,

21、 while Jim got his freedom and the precious friendship from Huck.,Analysis of Huck,a boy with a sound heart and a deformed conscience conscience (associated with Social system and Moral criteria) is something imposed on Huck by the influence of society and culture his conscience was distorted by soc

22、ial discrimination/ prejudices. He was taught that slavery was good and right, and the runaway slaves should be reported. E.g. “none, just some niggers.”,Heart: Intuition , Spontaneous, natural thinking -Hucks inherent (inborn) kind heartedness Because Huck comes from the low level of society, he ke

23、pt some distance from the mainstream society and also luckily kept his good heart. all of his virtues come from his good heart and sense of humanity In the journey with Jim, Huck struggled with some of the preconceptions about blacks that society has ingrained in him, gradually denied the racial pre

24、judices, and had made his own judgment, that is, Jim was actually a very good black.,Hucks attitudes towards the Black sound heart Vs distorted conscience “Nobody gets drowned, only a nigger”racial prejudice Making jokes of Jim for funtreating Jim as a an object for fun Apologizing to Jim for his mi

25、sdoingstreating black men as his equalsa mark for Hucks moral maturity “Would rather go to hell than betray Jim”a celebration of humanitarianism,themes:,1. anti-slavery/racial discrimination, humanitarianism 2. escape (1) From the cruelty of his drunkard fatherfor personal safety (2) Joining Jim to

26、help him escape from slaverymuch more positive, a selfless and humanitarian action (3) From evils and bondage of the civilized society; Go to the west territories to have more individual autonomy space for personal freedomHucks escape and the book assume universal significance,desire to escape from

27、the civilization to the nature Cause : Civilized society is filled with human folly and vices liars: the “duke” and the “king commit all kinds of crimes on the Mississippi River, for instance, cheating, stealing money, robbing, and so on.,The Symbolic Contrast between the River and the Shore,The sho

28、refixed Established institution, social bondage Along with Civilization, there are all kinds of social evils-feud, theft, swindling, murdering,The riverraft rolling Individual freedom Chatting, singing, laughing, brotherhood, love,Hemingway once commented, “All modern American literature came from o

29、ne book called Huckleberry Finn. There was nothing before. There has been nothing as good since” why? Reasons: He broke away from the influence of English literature tradition in terms of content and form. He presented a detailed picture of American society, and whats more, he firstly adopted Americ

30、an dialects /colloquial speech in the writing. 為美國(guó)文學(xué)開(kāi)創(chuàng)了新的文風(fēng),成功地在作品中使用了充滿(mǎn)美國(guó)俚語(yǔ)的口語(yǔ)體.,Style:,one of Twains significant contributions to American literature is to make colloquial speech an accepted, respectable literary medium. This style influenced many following writers, such as Hemingway, Faulkner, Sa

31、linger, and so on. A. L. gained independence not only in themes, but also in form/language Chaucer London dialect,O. Henry,Many of his stories tell about the lives of poor in New York. His stories are usually short and the end is always surprising , sometimes ironic O. Henry ending His best stories

32、include: “ The Gift of the Magi” and “ The Cop and the Anthem “,“The Gift of the Magi” a young wife sells her beautiful hair to buy a watch chain for her poor husband as a Christmas present, unaware that her husband has sold his watch to buy combs for her hair.,The Cop and the Anthem a New York City

33、 tramp named Soapy (no family name, homeless), who sets out to get arrested so he can avoid sleeping in the cold winter as a guest of the city jail. All the attempts turn out to be failure a. break the window of a luxury shop =the police pursue an innocent bystander; b. rob the umbrella = the victim

34、 gives up the item without a struggle- he had stolen the umbrella himself. ),Soapy fails to draw the attention of the police. Gloomy, he pauses in front of a church, where an organ anthem inspires him to clean up his lifewhereupon he is charged for loitering 游蕩and sentenced to three months in prison

35、, exactly what he originally set to do. = irony is achieved to reveal the absurdity of the society,Naturalism: a new and harsher realism,At the end of the 19th century, monopoly capitalism came into being, the conflicts in society became more and more intense, naturalism came upon the American liter

36、ary stage,Sources:,Darwins theory of evolution / modern science shook the basis of the Christianity Social Darwinism: (Hebert Spencer) society = nature ,man= animal the fittest, the survival/ the human beast man is the animal driven by greed, lust in a struggle for existence in which only the fittes

37、t, the most ruthless can survive.,New ideas about man and mans place in the universe came into being.,God is dead (Nietzsche), no religious faith/ support The world= cold, indifferent, Godless life = a struggle for survival , a battle against the amoral world hopeless and pessimistic,Vs: mens positi

38、on in the previous concepts,Colonial age: servant of God The age of reason: still low, but can learn the rules and improve themselves （reason） the age of romanticism(Tran.): divinity in men, perfect themselves,Some people esp, the naturalists, believed: men are just “a leaf/feather in the wind” full

39、 determined by the social and natural forces the world was amoral，that men and women had no free will，that their lives were controlled by heredity and the environment,religious“truths”were illusory，the destiny of humanity was misery in life and obscurity in death Such pessimism and deterministic ide

40、as 悲觀主義命定論 pervaded the works of major naturalistic writers.,Naturalism: a literary school that originated in France and came to American literature at the end of the 19th century. The naturalistic writers attempted to achieve extreme objectivity and frankness, presenting characters of low social an

41、d economic classes who were dominated by their environment and heredity.,Naturalism in America (P8),In America it had been shaped by the war, by the social upheavals and by the disturbing teachings of Charles Darwin which undermined the comforting faith of an earlier age and pushed the flood of mate

42、rialism Some Famous American naturalists, e.g. Stephen Crane, Jack London and Theodore Dreiser, muckrakers (Sinclair)= corruption and cruelty of politicians and capitalists Described the miserable lives of low class in scientific accuracy to show that men are overwhelmed by heredity and environment.

43、,Jack London(1876-1916),an early spokesman for the philosophy of “the survival of the fittest” E.g. The Call of the Wild (1903) 野性的呼喚 in the Alaskan wilderness, a gentle dog gradually reverts to the ways of his wolf ancestors in order to survive,Martin Eden-The disillusionment of American Dream his

44、semi-biographical novel, Jack London has described a tragic story about a young man Eden who, inspired by the legend of American dream, strives to achieve his success but only to realize the futileness and emptiness of this dream.,Theodore Dreiser (1871-1945),American naturalistic novelist insisted

45、on an authors right to interpret life frankly. Dreiser was influenced by such philosophers as Herbert Spencer. He saw man as an animal driven by lust and desire as well as the external forces, both social and economic. men and women had no free will，that their lives were controlled by heredity and t

46、he environment Human tragedy results from the collision between mens biological needs and societys ruthless manipulation.,Important literary works,Sister Carrie：widely regarded as his masterpiece Jennie Gerhardt：a sequel of Sister Carrie Trilogy of Desire：including The Financier，The Titan，and The St

47、oic，with Frank Cowperwood as the protagonist An American Tragedy：one of his most important works and a sequel of Sister Carrie The Genius：his autobiography,Analysis of Sister Carrie,mainly talks about a story of two characters, that is, Carrie Meeber, an ordinary girl who rises from lower class to a

48、 high-paid actress, and George Hurstwood, a member of the upper middle class who falls from a comfortable life into the miserable death.,Like the rest of the country girl, Sister Carrie came to Chicago to look for a better life. She first stayed with her sister and found a low-paid job in the factor

49、y. Soon she was frustrated to find out that she could not adapt to this kind of job, and fell into serious illness. At this time, a traveling salesman Druet 杜洛埃who Carrie met in the train, came to help her and took her home as his mistress. Later, Sister Carries beauty appealed to Druets friend Hurs

50、twood, a very respectable bank manager so much that he deserted his comfortable live and forced her to elope with him.,They ran first to Canada and then settled down in New York. Soon they spent all of money Hurstwood stole from the bank and then experienced dire poverty. Driven by hunger, Sister Ca

51、rrie had to go out to find work on the stage, and then achieved great success. However, Hurstwood could not find any suitable work, and was reduced to begging for little money to maintain his life. At last, he committed suicide on one cold winter night.,Why Sister Carrie survived and Hurstwood faile

52、d?,The book demonstrates a survival of the fittest ethic, with the survival qualities being largely accidental. Carrie Meeber survives merely because she has the right instincts and her luck is good. Hurstwood is destroyed because his instincts betray him and his luck turns bad. his tragic fate was

53、actually contributed to his incompetence of controlling the intuitive thirst for sex and money. Nothing could overcome his biological need and stop him from falling into savage and unreasonable state. As a man driven by his desires, his tragic fate is doomed.,Human tragedy results from the collision

54、 between mens biological needs and societys ruthless manipulation.,Poetry in this period,Two important poets : Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson Transitional figures between the Romanticism and realism, and even the Modernism in poetry (1) inherited certain elements of R, such as, appeal to the power

55、ful feeling and imagination, praise individual freedom (2) Innovate in the form: add to the literary independence by breaking free of the convention of the iambic pentameter, and exhibiting a freedom in form unknown before (free verse) 自由詩(shī)poetry without a fixed beat or regular rhyme scheme Dickinson

56、: vivid image the forefathers of Modern poetry, influencing Pound, Eliot, and Frost,Walt Whitman (18191892),(1) Little education-typesetter-teacher-journalist-poet his poems sang the praises of the common people and democracy. (traces of realism) (2) Turning PointEmersons Essays advocated individual

57、 freedom (romanticism) He said many years later, “ I was simmering, simmering, simmering; Emerson brought me to the boil.”,one of the greatest innovators in American literature. He devised a poetic style which is now called free verse自由詩(shī)poetry without a fixed beat or regular rhyme scheme. What Whitm

58、an wishes to celebrate are the ideas of democracy, equality, universal love and individual freedomthe new ideas should be expressed without any restraints. So the free verse is the most suitable form for his new and free ideas.,Leaves of Grass:the first collection of truly modern poetry,This collect

59、ion of poetry represented the zenith of Whitman poetic achievements both in form and in thematic depth. Realistic in Details but Idealistic and Romantic in Spirit Praise democracy, individualism, the great nation full of hope and optimism,The longest poem Song of Myself, (p10)has become one of the most discussed poems in all of American poetry. In it Whitman constructs a democratic I, a voice that sets out to celebrate itself and the rapture of its senses experiencing the world, and in so doing to celebrate the unfettered