美国文学 Mark Twain.ppt

1、Regionalism or Local Colorism,Regionalism or Local Colorism1865-1880/1895,1. Definition 2. Appearance 3. Tasks of local colourists 4. The First local Colorist 5. features 6. Major Local Colorists,a variation of American literary realism A type of writing that was popular in the late 19th century, pa

2、rticularly in magazine sketches.,Attentive to the dialect and customs of regional cultures thought to be vanishing in the face of the modern corporation.,2. Appearance,a. uneven development in economy in America b. culture: flourishing of frontier literature, humorists c. magazines appeared to let w

3、riter publish their works,3. Tasks of local colourists,to write or present local characters of their regions in truthful depiction distinguished from others, usually a very small part of the world.,4. The First local Colorist Writer,Bret Harte, 布列特哈特 The first work: The Luck of Roaring Camp(咆哮营的幸运儿,

4、 1865),5. features,Local color or regional literature is fiction and poetry that focuses on: the characters the dialects the customs other features particular to a specific region,Concerned with the life of a small, well-defined region or province. The characteristic setting: the isolated small town

5、.,Its weaknesses may include nostalgia or sentimentality. Its customary form: the sketch or short story, although Hamlin Garland argued for the novel of local color.,6. Major Local Colorists,Mark Twain, 马克吐温 (1835-1910) Bret Harte,布莱特哈特 (1836-1902) Kate Chopin,凯特肖邦 (1851-1904) Hamlin Garland, 加兰 (18

6、60-1940),Mark Twain,Great literary giant of America (1835-1910),Pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens H. L. Mencken: “(Twain) the true father of our national literature”,I. Life II. Literary Career III. Style IV. Artistic Features V. Main Works,1. Life,born in Florida, Missouri on November 30, 1835 t

7、o a Tennessee country merchant the sixth of seven children Only 3 survived childhood.,the Mark Twain birthplace in Florida, Missouri,When Twain was 4, his family moved to Hannibal, Missouri a port town on the Mississippi River that served as the inspiration for the fictional town of St. Petersburg i

8、n The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,Mark Twains Hannibal house,At that time, Missouri was a slave state Young Twain became familiar with the institution of slavery, a theme he would later explore in his writing.,In 1847 when Twain was 11, his father died of pneumonia. The n

9、ext year, he became a printers apprentice. In 1851, he began working as a typesetter and contributor of articles and humorous sketches for the Hannibal Journal.,Mark Twain Memorial Bridge I-72 Mississippi River Crossing At Hannibal,When he was 18, he left Hannibal and worked as a printer in New York

10、 City Philadelphia St. Louislu(:)i Cincinnati,He educated himself in public libraries in the evenings, finding wider sources of information. At 22, Twain returned to Missouri (mizuri).,His apprenticeship as a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi which later was ended by the advent of the Civil War. Jo

11、ined in an excursion to Nevada.,“Mark Twain Riverboat, Hannibal, Missouri”,Hannibal, MO: Sign on the Mark Twain-Steamboat Pilot statue,Gained employment at a local newspaper in 1862. Clemens had displayed a unique gift for writing material.,In 1863 Clemens assumed the pseudonym Mark Twain, a Mississ

12、ippi phrase which meant two fathoms deep.,obtained employment as a journalist in San Francisco It was there that that his contributions to various newspapers and magazines increased dramatically.,Twains literary success culminated in 1865, when the New York Saturday Press published, “The Celebrated

13、Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”,In 1867, Twain took his lectures across the Atlantic Ocean, and his visits to France, Italy, and the Holy Land would provide him with ample opportunity to satirize European culture.,His visits were translated into travel letters, which would contribute to the format

14、 of The Innocents Abroad in 1869.,Following his return to the United States, Twain married Olivia Langdon, and shortly thereafter he produced Roughing It.,The newlyweds moved to Hartford, Conneticut; a town which boasted an impressive pedigree of writers. Twain was prolific during the years extendin

15、g from 1869 until 1889.,It was during this period of time that he produced the classics: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Life on the Mississippi The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,Twain made a substantial amount of money through his writing, but he squandered much of it in bad investments, mostly in ne

16、w inventions, particularly the Paige typesetting machine.,His experience with bank-ruptcy forced him to conduct lectures as a means of income, and this reversal in fortune seemed to affect his personal philosophy as well.,Twain passed through a period of deep depression in 1896 his favorite daughter

17、 Susy died of meningitis Olivia, his wife, died in 1904 Jean, another daughter, died in1909,He repeatedly emphasized the deterministic (注定的) nature of man, which necessarily conflicted with the idea of choice in moral situations.,The book that exemplifies this brooding uncertainty evident during Twa

18、ins later years is, The Tragedy of Puddnhead Wilson, which was published in 1894.,In 1909, Twain is quoted as saying: “I came in with Halleys Comet in 1835. It is coming again next year, and I expect to go out with it. It will be the greatest disappointment of my life if I dont go out with Halleys C

19、omet. The Almighty has said, no doubt: Now here are these two unaccountable freaks; they came in together, they must go out together.”,His prediction was accurate: Twain died of a heart attack on April 21, 1910 in Redding, Connecticut, one day after the comets closest approach to Earth.,Upon hearing

20、 of Twains death, President Taft said: “Mark Twain gave pleasurereal intellectual enjoymentto millions, and his works will continue to give such pleasure to millions yet to come.”,Twain is buried in his wifes family plot at Woodlawn Cemetery in Elmira, New York, near that of Herman Melville.,His gra

21、ve is marked by a 12-foot (i.e., two fathoms, or “mark twain”) monument, placed there by his surviving daughter, Clara. There is also a smaller headstone.,“His humor was American, but he was nearly as much appreciated by Englishmen and people of other countries as by his own countrymen. He has made

22、an enduring part of American literature.”,Twain died in 1910 at Stormfield, the familys home located near Redding, Conneticut. His autobiography was published posthumously, and he left behind several unpublished works as well.,As a Realist, he was strongly attracted to the mundane(平凡的) elements of A

23、merican life His portrayal of the commonplace was both vivid and detailed. It is often the characters, as opposed to the plot, which capture the reader.,Much of his material was based on personal experiences, both as a child growing up in the South, and later as a seasoned traveler.,III. Main Works,

24、The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County 卡拉维拉斯县著名的跳蛙, 1865 The Innocents Abroad 傻瓜出国记,1869 The Adventures of Tom Sawyer 汤姆索耶历险记,1876,The Prince and Pauper 王子与贫儿, 1881 Life on the Mississippi 密西西比河上, 1881 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 哈克贝里费恩历险记,1885,A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Co

25、urt 亚瑟王朝里来自康涅狄格州的美国佬, 1889 Pudds Head Wilson 傻瓜威尔逊, 1894 Following the Equator 赤道行, 1897,The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg 败坏哈德莱堡的人,1900 What is Man? 人是什么？, 1906 The Mysterious Stranger 陌生来客,1916,Changes,His earlier works: light, humorous, optimistic His later works: darker and more obscure showing

26、his discontent and disappointment toward the social reality His last works: acute pessimism, despair, skepticism determinism,IV. Style,1. language: colloquial, vernacular, dialects Before him there had been only American dialect; after him there was an American language.,One of Mark Twains significa

27、nt 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.,Huck Finn,YOU dont know about me without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; but that aint no matter.

28、 No, but there wont be nobody to see what I look like.,3. syntactic feature(句法): sentences: simple, brief, sometimes ungrammatical diction: simple and plain, precise, direct,4. humour 5. tall tales: highly exaggerated 6. local colour 7. social criticism satire on the different ugly things in society

29、,V. His influences,Howells wrote the following on Twains style: “So far as I know, Mr. Clemens is the first writer to use in extended writing the fashion we all use in thinking.”,Sherwood Anderson: the first writer after twain to take the vernacular as a serious way of presenting reality. Ernest Hem

30、ingway: the direct descendant,William 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.”,He also influenced:,J. D. Salinger E. A. Robinson Robert Frost Carl Sandburg Ezra Pound,William Carlos Williams E. E. C

31、ummings T. S. Eliot,VI. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,1. Assessment 2. The Plot 3. Symbols 4. Features of the language,5. Theme 6. The character analysis and social meaning of Huck Finn 7. comparisons,“All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn. But its

32、 the best book weve had. All American writing comes from that. There was nothing before. There has been nothing as good since.” - Ernest Hemingway, Green Hills of Africa, 1935,Huck Finn the climax of Twains literary creativity the best book that Twain ever produced,1. Assessment,first published in E

33、ngland in 1884 taken as a sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Considered as one of the Great American Novels,widely known as one of the first true “American Novels” among the first in major American literature to be written in the vernacular characterized by local color regionalism,2. The Plot,Hu

34、ck is motherless, and his father Pap is a drunkard and good-for-nothing. For that reason, Huck is brought up to hate “civilization” and “rules”.,He smokes, swears(咒骂), and roams(闲逛) outside his home without restraint. However, he is good, innocent, and upright(正直的).,He is adopted by Widow Douglas an

35、d her spinster sister Miss Watson, who together try to rehabilitate him, but in vain. One day, Pap comes to ask him for the money and does not get it, so he put Huck in a cabin.,Huck is beaten and hungry. Pap even threatens to kill Huck. One night, Huck uses pig blood to pretend that he is killed, s

36、o he escapes the drunkard father.,On Jackson Island, Huck sees Jim, a runaway slave of Miss Watsons, who flees on overhearing that his mistress is going to sell him to the south.,Since his escape is right after the death of Huck, it is believed that he kills Huck, so there is a 300-dollar reward off

37、ered to get him.,They plan to go to the free north and Canada, but in a fog they miss the port they are planning to go to: Cairo.,One day, their raft is wrecked. Jim missing, Huck swims ashore. Huck is saved by the Grangerfords who are at the time having a feud with the Shepherdsons.,With the slaves

38、 in the Granger-ford family, Huck finds Jim again, and when they continue their drift, they encounter two frauds: the “King” and the “Duke”.,Later, the two rascals attempt to sell Jim at the price of 40 dollars but fail. They are feathered and tarred after their bad doings are discovered.,At Mr. Phe

39、lpss farm, Huck is mistaken as his nephew and is greatly treated. Later, Tom comes to see his aunt.,They conspire a scheme to save Jim, whose whereabouts are known to Miss Watson through the ambivalent Huck.,In the end of the story, Pap dies, Jim is freed in Miss Watsons will before her death, and Huck prepares to go away from home again for Aunt Sally intends to adopt and “civilize” him again, which Huck cannot stand.,3. Symbols,The Raft: