Chapter5Realism大四美国文学课件.ppt
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Chapter 5The Age of Realism (1865-1914) 1. Social BackgroundvCivil War. vThe war led many to question the assumptions shared by the Transcendentalists—natural goodness, the optimistic view of nature and man, benevolent God. It taught men that life was not so good, man was not and God was not. The war marked a change, a deterioration of American moral values. vIn post-bellum America, commerce took the lead in the national economy. Increasing industrialization and mechanization of the country, now in full swing after the war, soon produced extremes of wealth and poverty. Wealth and power were more and more concentrated in the hands of the few.vIn the meantime, life for the millions was fast becoming a veritable struggle for survival. vThe worth of the American dream, the idealized, romantic view of man and his life in the New World, began to lose its hold on the imagination of the people. Beneath the glittering surface of prosperity there lay suffering and unhappiness.v Disillusionment and frustration were widely felt. What had been expected to be a “Golden Age” turned out to be a “Gilded” one. The Age of Realismv1) Time: By the 1870s, the age of Romanticism and Transcendentalism was by and large over. v2) Change of Cultural Center: Boston and New England ceased to be the cultural center of the country. It is moved to New York vRepresentatives: William Dean Howells, Henry James, Mark Twain, and a good number of “local colorists”.vWith Howells, James, and Mark Twain active on the scene, realism became a major trend in the seventies and eighties. vDefinition: In American literature, the Civil War brought the Romantic Period to an end. The Age of Realism came into existence. It came as a reaction against the lie of romanticism and sentimentalism. Realism turned from an emphasis on the strange toward a faithful rendering of the ordinary, a slice of life as it is really lived. It expresses the concern for commonplace and the low, and it offers an objective rather than an idealistic view of human nature and human experience. Realistic features:vdownplay plot in favor of details of everyday life, the details rather than the “story,”; vturns away from the noble or heroic towards familiar everyday aspects of life; depicted in a straightforward and matter-of-fact manner designed to reflect the true picture of life; vprefer simple, clear and direct prose; apply the techniques of selection, deletion, concentration and reorganization, often in the form of slice of life. vRealism is defined as the truthful treatment of materials. (W.D. Howells) The Magic Realism: There is a kind of fiction that we call “magic realism,” in which the fantastic, absurd or impossible elements are included in a narrative that is mainly objective and realistic. Local Colorismv1. Definition: Hamlin Garland “such quality of texture and background that it could not have been written in any other place or by anyone else than a native.” (texture: refers to the elements which characterize a local culture, elements such as speech, customs and mores peculiar to one particular place.) v2. Local colorists: Mark Twain, Bret Harte, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Willa Cather, John Steinbeck and William Faulkner. 1. Mark Twain (1835-1910)“the true father of our national literature” --H. L. Mencken realist \ local colorist \ humorist 1) WorkswThe celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County 1865 wLife on the Mississippi 1883 wThe Adventures of Tom Sawyer 1876 wThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 1886 wInnocents Abroad 1869 wRoughing It 1872 wThe Gilded Age 1873 wThe Prince and the Pauper 1881 wA Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court 1889 wPudd’nhead Wilson 1893 wThe Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg 1890 2) LifeMark Twain, pseudonym of Samuel Langhorne Clemens, was brought up in the small town of Hannibal, Missouri, on the Mississippi River.He was twelve when his father died and he had to leave school. He was successively a printer’s apprentice, a trampprinter, a silver miner, a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi, and a frontier journalist in Nevada and California. With the publication of his frontier tale, “The celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”, Twain became nationally famous.The Adventure of Tom Sawyer was an immediate success as “a boy’s book”; its sequel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn became his masterpiece, the one book from which, as Ernest Hemingway noted, “all modern American literature comes.” wIn his later works the change from an optimist and humorist to an almost despairing determinist is unmistakable.wSome critics link this change with the tragic events of his later life, the failure of his investments, his fatiguing travels and lectures in order to pay off his debts, and added to this, the death of his wife and two daughters which left him absolutely inconsolable. 3) EvaluationwAlthough Howells, James and Twain all worked for realism, there were obvious differences between them. In thematic terms, James wrote mostly of the upper reaches of American society; Howells concerned himself chiefly with middle class life; Mark Twain dealt largely with the lower strata of society. Technically, Howells wrote in the vein of genteel realism, James pursued an “imaginative” treatment of reality or psychological realism, but Mark Twain’s contribution to the development of realism and to American literature as a whole was partly through his theories of localism in American fiction, and partly through his colloquial style. wAnother feature of the book which helps to make it famous is its language. The book is written in the colloquial style, in the general standard speech of uneducated Americans. wOne of Mark Twain’s significant contributions to American literature lies in the fact that he made colloquial speech an accepted, respectable literary medium in the literary history of the country. wIts influence is clearly visible in twentieth-century American literature. wSherwood Anderson was the first writer after twain to take the vernacular as a serious way of presenting reality. Ernest Hemingway was the direct descendant of Mark Twain.wWilliam Faulkner declared, “In my opinion, Mark Twain was the first truly American writer, and all of us since are his heirs, who descended from him.” wJ. D. Salinger, E. A. Robinson, Robert Frost, Carl Sandburg, William Carlos Williams, E. E. Cummings, and even T. S. Eliot and Ezra Pound were all influenced by him. NaturalismØØTerm: As a genre, naturalism emphasized heredity and environment as important deterministic forces shaping individualized characters who were presented in special and detailed circumstances. At bottom, life was shown to be ironic, even tragic. ØØTime: 1890sØØTheoretical basis: Darwin’s Evolutionary Theory “The survival of the fittest”environmenthereditydesire for moneysexual desire ØØRepresentatives: Stephen Crane, Norris and Theodore DreiserØØStephen Crane’s Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (1893) is the first naturalistic novel in America.ØØNorris’ McTeague is the “first full-bodied naturalistic American novel” and “a consciously naturalistic manifesto.”ØØTheodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie is the greatest naturalistic work. 2. Stephen Crane (1871-1900)ØØnovelist, poetØØpioneer in the naturalistic traditionØØprecursors of Imagist poetry: Crane, Dickinson 1) WorksØØ1) Maggie: A Girl of the Streets 1893ØØ2) The Red Badge of Courage 1895ØØ3) The Black Riders 1895 ØØ 4) “The Open Boat” 2) LifeØØCrane was born in Newark, New Jersey, on November1, 1871, as the 14th child of a Methodist minister. ØØHe started to write stories at the age of eight and at 16 he was writing articles for the New York Tribune. ØØAfter his mother's death in 1890- his father After his mother's death in 1890- his father had died earlier-Crane moved to New York.had died earlier-Crane moved to New York.ØØ While supporting himself by his writings, he While supporting himself by his writings, he lived among the poor in the Bowery slums to lived among the poor in the Bowery slums to research his first novel, research his first novel, MaggieMaggie：：：： A Girl Of A Girl Of The StreetsThe Streets(1893).(1893).ØØThe story of the descent of a slum girl in The story of the descent of a slum girl in turn-of-the-century New York into turn-of-the-century New York into prostitution was first published under a prostitution was first published under a pseudonym. pseudonym. MaggieMaggie was generally ignored was generally ignored by readers but it won the admiration of other by readers but it won the admiration of other realist writers. realist writers. ØØHis early works brought Crane better reporting assignments and he sought experiences as a war correspondent in combat areas. ØØCrane traveled to Greece, Cuba, Texas and Mexico, reporting mostly on war events. ØØHis short story, "The Open Boat," is based on a true experience, when his ship sank on the journey to Cuba in 1896. ØØWith a small party of other passengers, Crane spent 27 hours drifting in an open boat before being rescued. This experience impaired his health permanently. ØØIn 1899 Crane returned to Cuba, to cover the Spanish-American War. Due to poor health he was obliged to return to England. Crane died on June 5, 1900 at Badenweiler in Germany of tuberculosis, which was worsened by malarial fever he had caught in Cuba. 3））EvaluationØØBefore dying of tuberculosis Before dying of tuberculosis at age 29, he published at age 29, he published several essays, novels, and several essays, novels, and even a volume of poetry.even a volume of poetry.ØØ Crane's first novel, Crane's first novel, Maggie: Maggie: A Girl Of The StreetsA Girl Of The Streets was a was a milestone in the milestone in the development of literary development of literary naturalism. naturalism. ØØHis second novel, The Red Badge Of Courage (1895), brought him international fame. ØØThe Red Badge of Courage depicted the American Civil War from the point of view of an ordinary soldier. ØØIt has been called the first modern war novel. ØØCrane's unromanticized war novel The Red Badge of Courage depicted the American Civil War from the point of view of an ordinary soldier. ØØ In England readers believed that the book was written by a veteran soldier-the text was so believable. ØØCrane dismissed this theory by saying that he got his ideas from the football field. ØØHis depiction of ghetto life and the deprivation of war made him internationally well known.ØØ True to naturalism, Crane shows his characters trapped in situations which they cannot control. Still, these characters show courage and valor in the face of insurmountable adversities. ØØ Crane's works introduced into American Crane's works introduced into American literature realism, although his innovations in literature realism, although his innovations in technique and style and use of symbolism technique and style and use of symbolism gave much of his best work a romantic rather gave much of his best work a romantic rather than a naturalistic quality.than a naturalistic quality.ØØHis works have had a popular success with a His works have had a popular success with a wide range of readers, and his styles and wide range of readers, and his styles and subject matter have influenced numerous subject matter have influenced numerous subsequent writers, including Ernest subsequent writers, including Ernest Hemingway and the free verse “Imagist” Hemingway and the free verse “Imagist” poets, such as Amy Lowell, in the early poets, such as Amy Lowell, in the early twentieth century.twentieth century. 3. Henry James (1843-1916)•novelist, literary critic, playwright and essayist 1) Works•Daisy Miller 1879•The American 1877•The Portrait of a Lady 1881•The Bostonians 1886•The Princess Casamassima 18861865-1881 international novel/theme 1882-1895 tales of inter-personal relationships. •“What Maisie Knew” 1897 •The Wings of the Dove 1902•The Ambassadors 1903•The Golden Bowl 1904 •“The Art of Fiction”1895-1916 novellas and tales dealing with childhood and adolescence; international novelLiterary criticism 2) Life•Henry James was born into a wealthy cultured family of New England.•His father, Henry James, Sr. was an eminent philosopher and reformer, and his brother, William James, was to be the famous philosopher and psychologist.•Henry James was one of the few authors in American literary history who did not have to worry about money. •He was exposed to the cultural influence of Europe ate a very early age.•Later he met and developed a life-long friendship with William Dean Howells.•For a while he attended the Harvard Law School. •He toured England, France and Italy, and met Flaubert and Trugenev who was then staying in Paris. •He settled down in London in 1876 and spent the rest of his life there. In 1915, he became a naturalized British citizen. 3) Evaluation•Henry James was a prolific writer. He composed novels, travel papers, critical essays, literary portraits, plays, autobiographies and a series of critical prefaces on the art of fiction.•Henry James produced a number of international novels. He was fascinated with his “international theme”. •Daisy Miller won him international fame.•The last 3 ones represent the summit of his art.•James’ contribution to literary criticism is immense.•In his whole writing career James was concerned with “point of view” which is at the center of his aesthetic of the novel. The author should avoid artificial omniscience as much as possible. •He is, today, a world literary figure, one of the “largest” to come out of America during the 19th century and the early 20th century, a remarkable New World bridge. Book III NaturalismTerm: As a genre, naturalism emphasized heredity and environment as important deterministic forces shaping individualized characters who were presented in special and detailed circumstances. At bottom, life was shown to be ironic, even tragic. Time: 1890sTheoretical basis: Darwin’s Evolutionary Theory “The survival of the fittest”environmenthereditydesire for moneysexual desire Representatives: Stephen Crane, Norris and Theodore DreiserStephen Crane’s Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (1893) is the first naturalistic novel in America.Norris’ McTeague is the “first full-bodied naturalistic American novel” and “a consciously naturalistic manifesto.”Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie is the greatest naturalistic work. Theodore Dreiser(1871-1945)American author, outstanding representative of naturalism, whose novels depict real-life subjects in a harsh light 1. WorksSister Carrie1900Jennie Gerhardt1911An American Tragedy1925The Financier1912The Titan1914The Stoic (posthumously)The Genius 1915 Dreiser Looks at Russia 1928autobiographicallyTrilogy of Desire 2. LifeTheodore Dreiser was born in Terre Haute, Indiana in 1871. The ninth child of German immigrants, he experienced considerable poverty while a child and at the age of fifteen was forced to leave home in search of work. After briefly attending Indiana University, he found work as a reporter on the Chicago Globe. Later he worked for the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, the St. Louis Republic and Pittsburgh Dispatch, before moving to New York where he attempted to establish himself as a novelist. He was a voracious reader, and the impact of such writers as Hawthorne, Poe, Balzac, Herbert Spencer, and Freud influenced his thought and his reaction against organized religion. Dreiser worked for the New York World before Frank Norris, who was working for Doubleday, helped Dreiser's first novel, Sister Carrie (1900), to be published. However, the owners disapproved of the novel's subject matter (the moral corruption of the heroine, Carrie Meeber) and it was not promoted and therefore sold badly. The young author felt so depressed by “a decade’s delay”—in the words of Larzer Ziff—in social recognition that he was said to have walked by the East River at the turn of the century, seriously committing suicide. Dreiser was left-oriented in his views.Dreiser continued to work as a journalist and as well as writing for mainstream newspapers such as the Saturday Evening Post, also had work published in socialist magazines such as The Call. However, unlike many of his literary friends such as Sinclair Lewis, and Jack London, he never joined the Socialist Party. In 1898 Dreiser married Sara White, a Missouri schoolteacher, but the marriage was unhappy. In his own life Dreiser practiced his principle that man's greatest appetite is sexual - the desire for women His strength clearly ebbing, Dreiser died of heart failure on December 28, 1945, before completing the last chapter of The Stoic. Dreiser was buried in Hollywood's Forest Lawn Cemetery on January 3, 1946. The Financier (1912) and The Titan (1914) are about Frank Cowperwood, a power-hungry business tycoon. An American Tragedy (1925) was based on the Chester Gillette and Grace Brown murder case that had taken place in 1906. 3. About Sister CarrieØSister Carrie, published in 1900, stands at the gateway of the new century. ØThe book was initially rejected by many publishers on the grounds that it was "immoral". Indeed, Harper Brothers, the first publisher to see the book, rejected it by saying it was not, "sufficiently delicate to depict without offense to the reader the continued illicit relations of the heroine". ØDreiser received a reputation as a naturalist-barbarian. Sister Carrie sold poorly but was redeemed by writers like Frank Norris and William Dean Howells who saw the novel as a breakthrough in American realism. However, the publication battles over Sister Carrie caused Dreiser to become depressed, so much so that his brother sent him to a sanitarium for a short while. Sister Carrie, published in 1900, is one of the best-known story of American Dream, tracing the material rise of Carrie Meeber and the tragic decline of G. W. Hurstwood. Materialism, including the desire for money, is an important theme in Sister Carrie.The theme is primarily personified through Carrie with her desire for a fine home, clothes and everything else money can buy. Dreiser faced every form of attack that a serious artist could encounter misunderstanding, misrepresentation, artistic isolation and commercial seduction. But he survived to lead the rebellion of the 1900s. 4. EvaluationDreiser has been a controversial figure in American literary history.His works are powerful in their portrayal of the changing American life, but his style is considered crude.It is in Dreiser’s works that American naturalism is said to have come of age. Dreiser’s novels are formless at times and awkwardly written, and his characterization is found deficient and his prose pedestrian and dull, yet his very energy proves to be more than a compensation.Dreiser’s stories are always solid and intensely interesting with their simple but highly moving characters. Dreiser is good at employing the journalistic method of repetition to burn a central impression into the reader’s mind. “despite Dreiser's flaws as a stylist, "the fact remains that he is a great artist, and that no other American of his generation left so wide and handsome a mark upon the national letters.”-- H. L. Mencken “American writing, before and after his time, differed almost as much as biology before and after Darwin. He was a man of large originality, of profound feeling, and of unshakable courage. All of us who write are better off because he lived, worked, and hoped." Here lies the power and permanence that have made Dreiser one of America’s foremost novelists. 1.Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869-1935) A poet of transitionNaturalistic poeta sober TranscendentalistHe used the traditional forms to express the modern fears and uncertainty in his own era. 1) WorksThe Children of the Night (1897)The Town down the River (1909)The Man against the Sky (1916) “Richard Cory”“Miniver Cheevy”“Mr. Flood’s Party” 2））LifeRobinson was born in Head Tide, Maine, and was raised nearby in Gardiner which, as “Tilbury Town”, became the setting for many of his poems. His father was a prosperous merchant; his mother had been a schoolteacher. The third of three sons, Robinson had been considered a disappointment by his mother, who had wanted a daughter. He began writing regularly at the age of eleven and in high school attended meetings of the town's poetry society as its youngest member. In 1905, President Roosevelt, who admired his work, arranged a job for Robinson at the New York Customs House where he worked until 1910. After World WarⅠcame the poetic revival and as a poet, after going his own way quietly for so many years, Robinson began to play a major role. 3) EvaluationIn his shorter works, Robinson excelled in limning characters who failed on a materialistic level but somehow succeeded, though at great cost on a moral or spiritual level. He received the Pulitzer Prize for his poetry three times in the 1920s (1922,25,28), a record exceeded only by Robert Frost, who was rewarded the prize four times in all.Joseph Plitzer Robinson was the first major American poet of the twentieth century, unique in that he devoted his life to poetry and willingly paid the price in poverty and obscurity. At his death, many critics considered Robinson the greatest poet in the United States. He is now best remembered for his short poems characterizing various residents of “Tilbury Town,” In an age of free verse and experimentation, his technical expertise is considered intolerably old-fashioned, but there is no doubt he was a master of many forms. 。
