The Age of Realism.doc

The Age of Realism (The Civil War - The 1890s)Backgrounds for the Rise of Realism 1. Historical and Social backgroundsn The effect of the Civil War: 1) American industrialization, the gap between the rich and the poor 2) The close of the frontier, disillusionment, the Gilded Age (p117) 3) To question the goodness of man, nature and God (p116)2. Intellectual background (p117-118) 1) The decline of the age of Romanticism and Transcendentalism 2) The emergence of the younger writers William Dean Howells, Henry James, Mark Twain, the coming of realismFeatures of American Realism n Concern for the commonplace, the familiar and the lown Creation of typical character in typical surroundings, pursuit for verisimilitude of detail through keen observation n To offer an objective rather than an idealized view of human nature and experience William Dean Howells (1837 1920) The Champion of Realism现实主义文学的旗手.Life Experiencesn Ohio (1837); n became a reporter (1857);n American consul in Venice (1861-1865); n Editor-in-chief of The Atlantic Monthly (1871-1881); n The first president of the American Academy of Arts and Letters (1909); n Died in New York (1920)The Champion of Realismu Howells played a great role in shaping the public taste into the track of realism. He is called the champion of realism by virtue of 1. His powerful critical writings 2. His generous help to the younger writers 3. His literary practice1. His powerful critical writings 1) He spread the credo of realism in these writings.n Eight critical books (评论文集) n 1,700 book reviews （文学评论） His Literary Theory1) Fidelity to experience 忠实于生活n To talk of some ordinary traits of lifen To interpret the common feelings of the common people2) Probability of motive 反映动机n Realism is by no means mere photographic pictures of externals but includes a central concern with motives and psychological conflicts.3）The supreme form of fiction：A free and simple designed plot where everything grows naturally out of character and conditions（让故事情节应顺其自然的发展）4）The test of a civilization was the principle of the greatest happiness of the greatest number.（最大多数人的最大幸福原则）2. His generous patronage to the younger writers n To get the voice of the younger and more radical writers to be heard. Writers such as Hamlin Garland, Stephen Crane, Frank Norris, Henry James and Mark Twain all enjoyed his friendly advice and assistance in times of need. 3. His Literary Practicen As a prolific writer, he wrote volumes of drama, poetry and novels in addition to criticism, travelogues and autobiography. He revealed the credo of Realism in his works n The greatest of all his works is The Rise of Silas Lapham. The Rise of Silas LaphamThe greatest of all his works; a fine specimen of American realistic writing1. The Story (p120)2. Analysis and Commentary1) A realistic writing of the commonplace lifen Reveal the commonplace Bostonian of the late 19th centuryn The characters in their “habitual moods”n There is nothing heroic, dramatic or extraordinary, Howells is here devoted to the small, the trivial, and the commonplace. 2）Representative characters Silas Lapham: He is the very symbol of the newly rich, post-War millionaire.a self-made man; first a materialistic-oriented person but later winning his moral and ethical “rise”Tom Corey: A gentleman of self-confidence and considerateness without bias of class distinctions 3) Writing Technique A. Symbolism (p122)The symbolic meaning of the house n To Lapham it is a symbol of his success and his aspiration for the polite societyn To his wife it is a symbol of her husbands selfish individualism.n To the author it is the representation of all those evils in the capitalist society B. The love subplot serves as a foil to the main plotn The triangle love: Tom Corey loves Penelope; Irene loves Tom Corey. n Embodying the principle of “economy of pain” to prepare Lapham for the self-sacrifice he was to make.n Providing a similar pattern of experience and behavior between Penelope and Lapham.Assignments1. Explain the term “American Realism”2. Howells is reagarded as the champion of American realism. Discuss. Henry James (1843-1916) Introduction n One of the three advocates of 19th American realism n A psychological realist 心理现实主义大师 n The founder of the modern stream-of-consciousness technique I. Notes on His Lifen His wealthy cultured familyn The influence from European culturen His critical attitude of American life and became a naturalized British citizen in 1915(厌倦美国社会物质主义的粗俗和精神上的缺乏典雅与修养 )n a voluminous writer and his “ international theme”II. The International Theme n “The international theme” refers to the moral and psychological complications when the American innocence encountered the European sophistication. n 国际题材小说写欧美两种文化的碰撞及在美国人心理上所引起的反响。 美国人的天真Vs.欧洲人的世故n 欧洲人讲究风俗礼节，在社会场合都必须合乎规范，一举一动都是经过考虑并按固定的方式而为之。而美国人没什么处世经验，他们正直、善良、聪明、充满活力、自然、从不做作，对生活充满渴望，在欧洲的美国人由于不了解这些规矩而显得格格不入，他们以自己的自然方式为人处世，但他们的自然方式经常会和欧洲根深蒂固的价值标准发生冲突。也因为他们的天真无邪，使他们很容易成为老于世故者猎取的目标，最后受到这些人的腐蚀而走向毁灭。 The Innocent Vs. The Experiencedn The image of Europeans in James novel : highly cultivated, elegant in manners, but sophisticated and artificial n The image of Americans in James novel : unaware of the conventions, inexperienced ; but free, innocent, fresh, eager for lifeu The innocents are preyed on by the experienced, and corrupted and spoiled. III. Three Periods 1. The first period (1865-1882)n The Americann Deisy Miller n The Portrait of a Lady Won him international fame and revealed his “international theme”.2. The second periodn He dropped the “international theme” experimented with different themes and forms in his novels, failed and tried play-writing.n Both efforts were a failure. However, he was able to gained a better knowledge of literary techniques from his five years of play-writing .3. The third periodn A revival of “the international theme Major Worksn The Turn of the Screw 拧螺丝 n What Maisie Knew 梅吉的见闻 n The Ambassadors 使节 n The Wings of the Dove 鸽翼 n The Golden Bowl 金碗n The last three represent the summit of his art IV. The Portrait of a Lady 1. The story n Isabel Archer: the heroine, a poor orphan at first, then a wealthy heiress n Mrs. Touchett : Isabels auntn Warburton : Isabels English suitor n Caspar Goodwood : an American suitorn Gilbert Osmond : an Europeanized American, interested in art collection, Isabels husbandn Madame Merle: a wealthy widow, the friend of Mrs. Touchett , the lover of Osmondn Pansy: the illegitimate daughter of Merle and Osmond, the step-daughter of IsabelIsabel Archer: A typical Jamesian woman Character (p126n Young, beautiful, wealthy, naive and believable at the outset, and easy aim for fortune hunters and other evil persons. Her tragic marriage resulted from her unawareness of evils around her and her money. Arriving in Europe, she was full of hope, and with a will to live a free and noble life, but became a victim of the evil designs of Madame Merle and Gilbert Osmond. . Jamess literary theories The Art of Fiction (p127) 1. The aim of the novel is to represent life. 2. The art form would give the truthful impression of actuality in life. 3. He emphasizes inward movements of his characters instead of external actions. Writing Techniques1. His narrative method of “point of view” (p127) Making his characters reveal themselves; the situation and characters were explained through one or several minds. Isabel Archer in The Portrait of a Lady is the center of consciousness.2. Psychological approach to his subject matters Chapter 42, Isabels vigil and meditation. The forerunner of the 20th-century of the modern stream-of-consciousness technique and a psychological realist (p128)Assignments1.Discuss Henry James theme of fiction in reference to his The Portrait of a Lady. 2. Discuss Jamess psychological realism in relation to his writing technique and his literary theory.Local Colorism vs. Mark TwainLocal Colorismv Time: the last 30 years of the 19th centuryv Features: Detailed representation of the the peculiarities of a local culture. Including 1. Texture: speech, customs, dress, and ways of thinking and feeling which are distinctive of a particular region. 2. Background: physical setting and those distinctive qualities of landscape which condition human thought and behaviour. E.g. the peculiarities in the culture of northeast China 东北话、二人转、猪肉炖粉条、酸菜； “窗户纸糊在外，大姑娘叼烟袋，养活孩子吊起来”; 林海雪原; v The social and intellectual background: Socially, regional differences existed culturally, the frontier tall-tale tradition paved the way and magazines spread the local color. Some representative local colorists (p131)v Bret Harte (18361902), the first American writer of local color to achieve wide popularity. The Luck of Roaring Camp (1868) v Harriet Beecher Stowe: Oldtown Folks, Uncle Toms Cabin v Hamlin Garland , Main-Traveled Roadsv Mark Twain, The best known local colorist v Significance: Through truthful depiction of the common people in their commonplace lives in a particular region, the local colorists formed an important part of the realistic movement.Mark TwainI. Mark Twains Lifev Mark Twain, the pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens 1. His miserable childhoodv In 1835, Hannibal, Missouriv At 12, work in his brothers printing shop v At 18, a printer in different cities2. His life on Mississippi At 22 (1857), he encountered Horace Bixby, the captain of the boat. One and a half years later, he became a licensed pilot. At 24 (1859), as a licensed pilot, a job which gave him the pen name “Mark Twain”. Mark Twain（测标两寻）is a measurement of taking the depth of water. It means two fathoms, about 3.6 metres)3. His marriage At 35 (1870), he married Olivia Langdon. II. His Principal Works1) The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County the work that made Mark Twain become nationally famous.2) The Gilded Age It is his first novel written in collaboration with Charle Dudley Warner, was an artistic failure, but it gave its name to the America of the post-war period which it attempts to satirize. 3) Works based on his boyhood experience v The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) v The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884) 4) Works based on his steamboat pilot experience v Life on the Mississippi (1883) 5) Two periods of his writing First period: An optimist and humorist in the first period; drawing heavily from his rich personal experience p134 Second period: His change from an optimist and humorist to a determinist in his later works p133 A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court (1889) The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg (1900) The Mysterious Stranger (1916) Autobiography (1924)III. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn A local color fiction, from which, as Ernest Hemingway noted, “ all modern American literature comes.”1. The setting: life along the Mississippi valley around 1850, before the Civil War2. The protagonists: Jim - an ignorant, uneducated black slave; Huck Finn-a little illiterate outcast white boy 3. The themes A. Escape: Jim escapes from slavery for freedom; Huck escapes from the stupidity of the adult world and the brutality of his father. B. Awakening: The journey down the river for Huck is a voyage of growth in realization and morality, a journey of learning. Huck becomes a person of sound heart, and a democratic individual. The Awakening of Huckv 小说反映了哈克对社会成规、积习的认识过程及最后走向心理成熟道德成长的过程。v Received values：Slavery was good and right. Black people are by nature lower than whites. Slaves are part of property of the owners. v Hucks awareness of good and evil comes from his good heart and a sense of humanity. 哈克纯真善良的天性终于使他自己找到了真理，认识到吉姆不仅是人，而且是好人、好朋友。 4. The form: a picaresque novel or novel of the road. The river is like a road that holds together the adventures of the two runaways on the raft. What they saw and experienced along the Mississippi formed a moving panorama of American society of the great Mississippi valley before the Civil War. 5. Mark Twains achievements in Huck Finn 1) Setting: veritable recreation of living models and social life along the Mississippi River (p136)v Huck Finn is a true recreation of living models. Huck and his father, Jim, all these characters had prototypes in real life. The feud between the “genteel” families, the dirty tricks of the swindlers, the murder, the drunk, the violence and the cruelty of the mobs all these and many other incidents are a common sight in the south then. All these are depicted by Mark Twain in true-to-life detail. 2) Language: The colloquial style. Mark Twain uses different dialect forms for different characters with the following features. (p137) A. simple and concrete words B. simple and compound sentences C. repetition of some verbs D. ungrammatical elements 3) Chracterization: The portrait of Huck FinnIV. Mark Twains contributions to American literature 1. His literary theory (p134) To represent social life through portraits of local cultures which the author knows best 2. His colloquial style (p138) He made colloquial speech an accepted, respectable literary medium in the literary history of the country The Infuence of his colloquial style v Mark Twains colloquial style has impacted American literature and made books before Huck Finn and after it quite differentv Ernest Hemingway, whose own style is based on Twains, once said, “All modern American literature comes from Huckleberry Finn.” v “In my opinion, Mark Twain was the first truly American writer, and all of us since are his heirs, who descended from him.” - William Faulkner v The long list of American authors acknowledged their indebtedness to Mark Twain (p138)V. Differences between Howells, James and Twain (p133)v James: the upper class life ; Psychological realismv Howells: the middle class; Genteel realismv Mark Twain: the lower class ; local colorismAssi