Review of Uncle Tom’s Cabin——On the Social Duties and Social Functions of Literary works.doc

重读汤姆叔叔的小屋论文学作品的社会责任和社会作用review of uncle toms cabinon the social duties and social functions of literary workscontentsabstract.1i. the direction of the study 2ii.analysis on uncle toms cabin.31. about the author.32. settings.4 iiianalysis on literature.51.what is literature?.5 2.domestic and international current situation5 3.discussion of literary works.64.social duties and social functions of literature94.1.literary creation is a kind of social behavior.94.2.relationship among literary works, politics and society.104.3.strengthen community responsibility is the requirement of time.13iv. conclusion.13.bibliography.15review of uncle toms cabin-on the social duties and social functions of literary works摘 要：汤姆叔叔的小屋是斯托夫人的废奴主义代表作，其价值不仅体现在文学性，更体现在其作为文学作品的社会功能和社会责任上。作为文学作品的创作者，作家应该具有社会责任感，应该考虑自己作品的社会效果，这已成为共识。然而，有的作家把创作当作了与他人，与社会无关的一己私事，当作“逗乐儿，解闷儿”，是“码字的”或“写字的”的时候，重提这一话题，显然是有必要的。关键字：废奴主义、文学的社会责任、社会作用、abstract: uncle toms cabin was mrs.stownes masterpiece of anti-slaveries, its not only famous for its literary value, but also famous for its social functions and social duties. it has already become the common understanding that as an author on literary creation, the writers should consider the social effect of their own works and set up social responsibility, which determined by social relation and social life. however, when some writers have regarded creating as tasks of the others, or just seeing it as an own private business but having nothing to do with the society, or regard it as try to make people laugh, or direct oneself from boredom , even for the yards of word one or write , it is obviously necessary to bring this topic up again. key words: anti-slavishness、social duties and functions of literaturereview of uncle toms cabin-on the social duties and social functions of literary worksi. the direction of the studythis topic belongs to the research of literature and culture, the aim is to study the social duties and social functions of literary works .the study of literature and art in the western countries shifted cultures background in late 20s century. from the 1980s, a new trend of thought in literature has quickly spreaded in the west. with the comparison of literature and culture between the west and the east, the academic circles gradually turn their attention on the essence of literatures social duties and social functions. they begun to focus their eyes on the problems appeared in nowadays literature .so the purpose of reviewing uncle toms cabin is also the introspection of the aforementioned questions on social duties and social functions of literary works. when the day literary works came out, the response of which produced in the society served the masses of reads; this is a social function of literature works. “when justice does not succeed in being a form of memory, memory alone can be a form of justice.” (ana blandiana, romanian poet and dissident). literary works sometimes present philosophical arguments about the nature of politics. more importantly, they aim at creating a shared aesthetic and moral experience of some of the central dilemmas of political life. in this course, we appreciate novels, plays and films as both political theory and literature. only when soviet totalitarianism has drawn its last breath, were we able to reveal the philosophical questions it raised about human nature. this course is designed to introduce you to the literary works of authors that have taken issue with the modern totalitarian system, and to the many questions these works pose to the contemporary individual. a literary work that engages political ideas is, first, a philosophical commentary on individuals place in the political context, but it is also a reflection of the place and time it belongs to. the encompassing question this course tries to answer (by analyzing the perspectives of different authors) is: what does it mean to be free in society (given that we have to live in it)? what does it mean to have political (and social) freedom? the thesis including several parts:firstly, ill give a short analysis on the novel-uncle toms cabin .it is well known that mrs.stownes masterpiece - uncle toms cabin was a representative work in condemning and exposing the guilty slavery of south america. the novel was born in the climax of anti-slavery movement, and propelled the movement vigorously. generally speaking, the origin materials of this novel came form the sharp contradiction of the reality but not of pure literature. thus the artistic technique was led by realism, which broke up the traditional dominant of romanism. through the description of different figures and their experience, the author dauntlessly raised her doubt on religions, laws, politics which bounded together by common interests of the dynasty of those figures .for these reasons, this novel can be seen as the highest achievement of anti-slavery literary work, no matter how high its intellectual level of social effects were, yet, when we discussing the importance of this novel, we couldnt deny that literacy works never take up a detached space, which can escape, from political power and social obligations. actually, it is always under the pressure of politics. secondly, after the discussion about the essence and function of literature, we learn something from the modernization process of literature. from the emphasizing of social functions in chinese literature and the praise of individual personality in the west literature, all of us wonder if there is someway can get a balance or golden mean. indeed there is no way to get it, because we couldnt get such a result. however, we all tried our best on the nearest way to it .in china, we emphasized too much on the social duties and function of literature but neglected its block on the development of the individuals. however, too much attention on individuals was not good for the social sequence .the general comparison of chinese and western literature gave us such an impression: to reflected humans intelligence in the way of learning from others strong points to affect ones own weakness. ii.analysis on uncle toms cabin1. about the authorharriet beecher stowe (1811-1896), american writer and abolitionist, author of uncle toms cabin (1852), a forceful indictment of slavery and one of the most powerful novels of its kind in american literature. born in litchfield, connecticut, stowe was the daughter of the liberal clergyman lyman beecher. her husband, the reverend calvin ellis stowe, was also an ardent opponent of slavery. her first book, the may flower, or sketches of scenes and characters among the descendants of the pilgrims, appeared in 1843. while living in brunswick, maine, stowe wrote uncle toms cabin. it was serialized in 1851 and 1852 in an abolitionist paper, the national era, and issued as a book in 1852.uncle toms cabin was widely read in the united states and abroad and moved many to join the cause of abolition. the south indignantly denied this indictment of slavery. stowes book increased partisan feeling over slavery and intensified sectional differences. as a serial, the story attracted no unusual notice. the success of the book, however, was unprecedented; 500,000 copies were sold in the united states alone within five years, and it was translated into more than 20 foreign languages. it did much to crystallize militant antislavery sentiment in the north, and therefore was an important factor in precipitating the american civil war (1861-1865).in 1853 stowe issued a key to uncle toms cabin, containing an impressive array of documentary evidence in support of her attack upon slavery. she returned to the attack in dred: a tale of the great dismal swamp (1856). the ministers wooing (1859) is the best known of stowes several romantic novels dealing with new england life in the 18th and early 19th centuries. she also wrote short stories and religious poetry. continuing our survey of the 19th century, lets take a look now at harriet beecher stowe. now stowe is best known for her novel uncle toms cabin, a book that details the harshness of plantation life in the south. the book was extremely popular in the united states as well as in other countries. ironically though, for the attention given to uncle toms cabin, it is far from stowes best work. she did write one other novel about life in the south. but much of her best work has nothing to do with the south at all. in fact, stowes best writing is about village life in the new england states in the 19th century. in recording the customs of the villages she wrote about, stowe claimed that her purpose was to reflect the images as realistically as possible. she usually succeeded, for her settings were often described actually and in detail. in this sense, she was an important forerunner to the realistic movement that became popular later in the 19th century. she was one of the first writers to use local dialect for her characters when they spoke. and she did this for thirty years before mark twain popularized the use of local dialect. it makes sense that stowe would write about new england life, since she was born in connecticut. as a young woman there, she worked as a teacher. the teaching job helped lead to her first published work, a geography book for children. later, when she was married, her writing helped to support her family financially. throughout her life, she wrote poems, travel books, biographical sketches and childrens books as well as novels for adults. 2. settingsin general, this novel is the mark of anti-slavishness period in american literature history. this novel based on the south americans plantation economy, which not only reappeared the creed and brutal of the owners of the plantation, but also focused her eyes on slavery and gave a justice, objective and clear analysis on different attitudes of the slave owners ,who were under the slavery environment .to some extent , compared with these anti-slavishness who were lack of experience on it ,mrs. stownes observation own more influence and pursuit power .in this novel ,mrs. stowne pointed away which led us to the dawn -fight until the slavery was abolished .it told us that the influence of anti-slavery movement should not be confined in the blacks ,instead ,it should call the whole society s attention and kindness on the destination and future of the blacks .where were the blacks root ?why the blacks should be slaves? why the law could not protect them? even the merciful god could not help the slaves? referring to the law, we all know that the law is the scale which is used to balance the orders of any society .if there is no denying that the scale of law is wrong, the whole order of the society would be in a chaos, and the people would not have the feeling of peace .of course, law couldnt move the burden which just like the lack that tied on the throats of the blacks, rather than to protect or help the blacks. just as “in all southern states it is a principle of jurisprudence that no person of colored lineage can testify in a suit against a white ”(p648 xlv concluding remark. uncle toms cabin. harriet beacher stowne .yili peoples press.2001.4). under this situation, although those whites showed their discontent with law and expressed their humanities and wishes to protect the slaves, they couldnt get sustain from the law and the admit from the whole society. thus the love couldnt be showed and their hate couldnt be released; from humanity, humans kindness and generous are needed by the society, they re justice and virtue .the writer herself stood on humanity to write up to the novel in order to let the mass in that time directly face the decrees and decay on humanity of this society .it will be seen that this novel created a wide influence over this society, and finished a writers social duty-to call up the goodness among the people and stop the backward of the social moral .further more ,on uncle toms cabin, abraham lincoln said “ a little woman caused a great war !” and there is no denying that this novel played and very important role of its social duties and social functions. here, we will have a discussion on the social duties and social functions on literary works after the review of uncle toms cabin.iiianalysis on literature1. what is literature? in the dictionary, literature concerns with writings that are valued as works of art, esp. fiction, drama and poetry, as contrasted with technical books and journalism.(p867,oxford advanced learners english-chinese dictionary ,fourth edition, the commercial press)“literature is the consciousness of the society”，“literature is the consciousness of aesthetic”，“literature is the art of language”（第1，8， 18页，文学概论精讲，姚鹤鸣编著，北京大学出版社）from all above，it is not hard to see that literature indeed is the study of human beings. it researches on human and society, at the same time, it is used to be content with mans spiritual requirement which out of the need love. in another words, literature is the form that contents with the need of love! be born in the society, it is needed by the people from all the society. sometimes, a man who has a good body condition but without healthy spirit, its terrible! thus mr. lu xun gave up the dream of being a doctor but of being a writer when he was young, just for he knew that to cure the illness of mans thoughts was more important than to kill the pain of his body. therefore, it follows that to save humans mind is an important social duty of literary works.2. domestic and international current situationin china, now some learners think that social function of literature is comprehensive, which is brought into play through its characteristics. detailed function of different work is varied, which is consolidated in the field of aesthetics. aesthetics is the centrum of the net of social function. function of literature is the comprehensive aesthetic function, which is an attribute of literature aesthetics.in abroad, the western literature passed the long old and medieval english literature period, through the renaissance period, neoclassical period, romantic period and realism period, came to the 20s centurys modernism. the essence of literature from shakespeares “representation of life” to balzacs “literature is a mirror to social life”, till “literature is the vehicle of psychology and sensibility”, which was held by he western realists. however, with the development of modern society, on one hand, human beings can get more and more benefits from new techniques and raw materials; on the other hand, we always complain that the cases of our soul decreased day after day. on these, literature means that, it can be seen both as a tool for saving ourselves, and a way of escaping from this noisy world. 3. the discussion on literary worksbefore we discuss the social duties social functions of literary works, we should recognize the innate characteristics of literature witch could help us to understand literature. both on the eastern and western history of literature, the early ones did not have obvious differences form other academic fields such as philosophy, history, religions etc, with the development of literature history, as an unique subject, literature in china was established in wei and jing period which sought a kind of metaphysics style like heyan and wangbis philosophical works, these works were theoretical and needed us to understand them with heart and soul, knowing that, we have to think about the duties and functions of literature. one of an important fact is its social character. literature needs communication; it means that the authors and reader groups weigh a lot in this case of our society. literature not only has the character of giving vent to ones feeling, but also plays an important role on a nation or a society. to look back, literary works played an important role in the whole society, the sages gave a very high evaluation on the function of literature. confucius accurately advanced that poems have social function of “flourishing, concerning, unity and appealing”, although literature was not an independent ideology at that time. till wei and jing period, literature was separated from other scientific fields; its functional social role was improved. caopi,wendi emptor of wei dynasty, said directly that article was the great undertaking for managing a counting, in tang dynasty, poems and bestows became very important means of imperial examination system, and literature was a necessary tool in choosing qualified persons, and it lasted to qing dynasty - the transfer era of the society . lots of reformists and initiators become noticing that literature especially novels weigh a lot in social politics. just as what liangqichao said, if you want to change the politics of a nation, you must change the mind of your fellow people; if you want to change their mind. the necessary way is through novel. literature in chinese history was not just a way or media to show ones personal temperament and interest, and it also could encourage the society and the effects of pushing it forward .our human beings in the society has supplicated social relations, so we couldnt avoid having relations with others, the society was built by all human beings .for literature this special form, and we have special reorganizations on it. philosophy, history, religion are all explanations of our society, so is literature. further more, it has more effects, which other