Lecture+8+chapter+6+美国文学.ppt

1、Part ThreeTHE AGE OF REALISM(1860-1910),Chapter 6 New American Outlook Historical background Literary Movement: Realism Writer: Mark Twain Works: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,Background Information,Time: Civil War World War 1 From Romanticism to Realism Name: the Gilded Age镀金时代, the Age of Rea

2、lism, the Age of Energy, the Age of Darwin,Background Information,1. The Civil War transformed the nation, politically, economically, socially and intellectually. Results of Civil War Unification of U.S.A; end of slavery system did not raise blacks to a position of equality with whites. Nor did the

3、war bring about that emotional reunion ; “the bonds of affection” or “With malice toward none; with charity for all. followed by twelve years of “radical” and “false” Reconstruction from 1865 to 1877.,Background Information,2. 1880s industrialization and urbanization extremes of wealth and poverty.

4、life : a struggle for survival. the United States headed toward capitalism. 3. A turning point of American Culture Gradually abandon transcendentalism and old moral values No longer romantic, idealistic, not so optimistic admiration for driving ambition, a lust for money and power. life was not so g

5、ood, man was not, and God was not.,Photos taken in Glide age,Background Information,4. Ceasing of isolation telegraph lines spanning the nation a trans-Atlantic cable joining America and Europe the first transcontinental railroad was built 5. the closing of American frontier Lost hope to go to west

6、as the frontier was peoples hope to realize American Dream. Disillusioned and frustrated, more practical to daily life. Beneath the glittering surface of prosperity there lay suffering and unhappiness. What had been expected to be a Golden Age turned out to be a Gilded one.,ostentation and extravaga

7、nce,Immigration and Migration (1865-1900),1869年，巴特尔完成了自女神像的草图设计。1874年造像工程开工，到1884年完全造竣，前后历时十年，雕像仅食指就有2.5米长，1米宽，指甲则有75厘米厚。,Background Information,The schools of American realism: Frontier Humor Midwestern realism (Howells) Cosmopolitan Novelist (James) Regionalism, local colorism (Mark Twain) Natural

8、ism (Dreiser) The Chicago School of poets The rise of black American literature,William Dean Howells,Henry James,Mark Twain,Theodore Dreiser (18711945),Background Information,American Realism A reaction against the “lie” of Romanticism and sentimentalism Subject matter: Slice of life Theme: the worl

9、d of experience of the commonplace and the familiar and the low; real characters; real scenes; real incidents; look for truth in everyday life, Features: more objective than idealistic and subjective, more descriptive than symbolic Character: studied in depth, more important than action, plot; typic

10、al character under typical circumstance Representatives: William Dean Howells, Mark Twain, Henry James,Mid-term exam,Select 3 Questions to answer (no less than 100 words for each) 1. What is Puritanism? And how did it influence American literature? 2. In what way was Edgar Allan Poe different from o

11、ther writers of his time? 3. Explain the influence of Puritanism and transcendentalism in Scarlet Letter 4. Why do we say Emerson is a thinker while Thoreau a doer? 5. Why do we call Whitman the poet of people?,美国文学,Frontier Humor,It is the vital and exuberant literature that was generated by the we

12、stward expansion of the United States in the late 18th and the 19th centuries. The spontaneity, sense of fun, exaggeration, fierce individuality, and irreverence for traditional Eastern values in frontier humor reflect the optimistic spirit of pre-Civil War America. Frontier humor appears mainly in

13、tall tales of exaggerated feats of strength, rough practical jokes (especially on sophisticated Easterners and greenhorns), and tales of encounters with panthers, bears, and snakes. These tales are filled with rough, homely wisdom,美国文学,Midwestern Realism,It just refers to William Dean Howellss reali

14、sm because he came from the American midwest and carefully interweaved the life and emotions of ordinary middle-class there in his works. Also because he was the champion of realism. His masterpiece: The Rise of Silas Lapham 塞拉斯拉帕姆的发迹 A fine specimen of American realistic writing. There is nothing h

15、eroic, dramatic or extraordinary. Howells is here so devoted to the small, the trivial, and the commonplace.,William Dean Howells (1837 - 1920),Background information,Local colorism: In late 1860s and early1870s An important part of realistic movement Differences existed between different parts of t

16、he country. Emphasis on local peculiarities of speech, dress and habits. Idealize and glorify, give true color of local life,Background Information,Naturalism A new and harsher realism The post-bellum decades Darwinism: survival of the fittest human beast Determinism: heritage environment Tear the m

17、ask of gentility and focus on the evil, ugly and miserable side of life More inclusive, less selective Representatives: Norris, Crane, London, Dresier,III. Writing Style,Local colorism: In late 1860s and early1870s An important part of realistic movement Differences existed between different parts o

18、f the country. Emphasis on local peculiarities of speech, dress and habits. Idealize and glorify, give true color of local life,I. Life and Career,Contributions: Father of American Literature Forerunner of 19th Century American Realism Humorist Local colorist,I. Life and Career,Life: Samuel Langhorn

19、e Clemens moved with his family to Hannibal, a port on the Mississippi River at 4 Worked as a printer, a steamboat pilot, Served as a volunteer soldier, reporter and writer an honorary doctorate from the University of Oxford in 1907 Pen name: the phrase Mississippi boatmen used to signify two fathom

20、s (3.6 meter ) of water, the depth needed for a boats safe passage,I. Life and Career,Three writing periods 1. 1865-around 1880s Period of high-hearted, humorous description Rather confident and optimistic Criticize the society with light-hearted humor and satire Believe in social reform. Representa

21、tives: The Adventure of Tom Sawyer The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,I. Life and Career,2. 1880s-1900s Period of bitter and sharper criticism Society turned deaf ear to his advices a combination of romanticism and realism. return to the pure and natural life Representatives: The Advent

22、ure of Huckleberry Finn Life on the Mississippi，1883,I. Life and Career,3. 1900-1910 Period of pessimism and fatalism The darkest period of Mark Twain Disappointed in society Full of miseries in his personal life,Writing Style,language: create a real and genuine American style, colloquial style info

23、rmal, oral, easy, unaffected, wild and humorous; regional language: dialect, jargon, slang sentence structure: simple, compound, a series of “than” and “and”, semi-colons. Dialogues: real to the reader, background information advance the action,e.g. NOTICE Person attempting to find a motive in this

24、narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot. BY ORDER OF THE AUTHOR, Per G.G., Chief of Ordnance.,III. Writing Style,Subject matter: his own experience along the Mississippi River, less influenced by fo

25、reign Cultures from everyday life lower strata of society Special point of view Serious social problems discussed through the narration of a little illiterate boy,IV. Overview of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,“All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called “Huckleberry

26、Finn” -Ernest Hemingway Setting: Time: Around 1826 to 1845, before the abolition of slavery Place: unpopulated wildness an a dense forest along Mississippi River Mark Twains hometown battlefield of slavery and abolitionism,The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,Plot: Hucks father kidnapped him for money

27、 Huck escaped and came across the run-slave, Jim They two started down the river on a raft Later they met Tom because he wanted to take the adventure, he made out a scheme to free Jim Unfortunately, Jim is shot and during his recovery, he revealed that Miss Walson had set Jim free in her will. With

28、Tom Sawyers help, Huck rescued Jim Huck and Jim found their freedom,IV. Overview of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,Characters: Ignorant uneducated black slave Jim Uneducated outcast white boy Huck Finn Tom Widow Douglas Miss Watson,Character,Huck Finn The protagonist and narrator 14 Years Old Th

29、oughtful, intelligent though uneducated, and willing to come to his own conclusions about important matters, even if these conclusions contradict societys norm,Jim One of Miss Watsons household slaves Escaped and wanted to buy his familys freedom Jim is superstitious, and occasionally sentimental, b

30、ut he is also intelligent, practical, and ultimately more of an adult than anyone else in the novel. Jims frequent acts of selflessness, his longing for his family, and his friendship with both Huck and Tom demonstrate to Huck that humanity has nothing to do with race.,Pap -Hucks father -The illiter

31、ate Pap disapproves of Hucks education and beats him frequently. Pap represents both the general debasement of white society and the failure of family structures in the novel. Tom Sawyer -Hucks friend, and the protagonist of Tom Sawyer, In Huckleberry Finn, Tom serves as a foil to Huck: imaginative,

32、 dominating, and given to wild plans taken from the plots of adventure novels, Tom is everything that Huck is not. The duke and the dauphin -A pair of con men whom Huck and Jim rescue as they are being run out of a river town. The duke and the dauphin carry out a number of increasingly disturbing sw

33、indles as they travel down the river on the raft.,Theme,As a journey of Hucks moral growth -Hucks inner waving struggle between what he was taught and what he thought out of good-heart and humanity. Conflict between civilization and natural life -The primary theme of the novel . -civilization corrupts, rather than improves, human beings Conflict between sla