Part IV The Literature of Realism 美国现实主义文学 (1860-1914) Requirements: 1. Class Attendance 2. Preparatory work and after- class reading Part IV The Literature of Realism 美国现实主义文学 (1860-1914) Part IV The Literature of Realism 美国现实主义文学 (1860-1914) Historical Introduction Literary Movements between the Civil War and the First World War The Establishment of American Poetry Rise of the American Novel Literature on the Black Part IV The Literature of Realism 美国现实主义文学 (1860-1914) Historical Overview 1.The Civil War 2. the development of railroads 3. the spread of industrialism 4. the frontier Part IV The Literature of Realism 美国现实主义文学 (1860-1914) The gilded age镀金时代: seemingly prosperous society; an age of excess and extremes, of decline and progress, of poverty ad dazzling wealth, of gloom and buoyant hope Part IV The Literature of Realism 美国现实主义文学 (1860-1914) 美国资本主义大工业迅猛发展,迫使原住民离乡背井, 这幅图画展示的就是“镀金时代”的景象 Part IV The Literature of Realism 美国现实主义文学 (1860-1914) 1. American Realism 2. American Naturalism 3. Local Colorism II Literary Movements between the Civil War and the First World War Part IV The Literature of Realism 美国现实主义文学 (1860-1914) Realism: a mode of writing that gives the impression of recording or “reflecting” faithfully an actual way of life. Modern criticism frequently insists that realism is not a direct or simple reproduction of reality but a system of conventions producing a lifelike illusion of some “real” world outside the text, by processes of selection, exclusion, description, and manners of addressing the reader. (Oxford Concise Dictionary of Literary Terms) Part IV The Literature of Realism 美国现实主义文学 (1860-1914) u Emphasizes objectivity and offers an objective rather than an idealistic view of human nature and human experience. u Realists seek truth that is verifiable by experience and have practical consequences. They expressed the concern for the world of experience, of the commonplace, and for the familiar and the low. u Realism is embedded in a mimetic theory of art. Realists believe that literature imitates reality. Features of Realism Part IV The Literature of Realism 美国现实主义文学 (1860-1914) Representatives of American Realism vMark Twain 马克吐温 vWilliam Dean Howells 威廉迪恩豪威尔斯 vHenry James 亨利詹姆斯 1.American Realism Part IV The Literature of Realism 美国现实主义文学 (1860-1914) 2.American Naturalism vNaturalism is a more deliberate kind of realism in novels, stories and plays, usually involving a view of human beings as passive victims of natural forces and social environment. Part IV The Literature of Realism 美国现实主义文学 (1860-1914) Features of American Naturalism vA post-Darwinian movement ( the survival of the fittest )of the late 19th century vNaturalism applies the principles of scientific determination to fiction. vThe world is amoral; vMen and women have no free will; their lives are controlled by heredity and the environment vReligious “truths” are illusory vThe destiny of humanity is misery in life and oblivion in death. (pessimism and deterministic ideas) 2.American Naturalism Part IV The Literature of Realism 美国现实主义文学 (1860-1914) 2.1 The major writers of American Naturalism vStephen Crane 斯蒂芬克莱恩 vFrank Norris 弗兰克诺里斯 vJack London 杰克伦敦 vHenry Adams 亨利亚当斯 vTheodore Dreiser西奥多德莱塞 2.American Naturalism Part IV The Literature of Realism 美国现实主义文学 (1860-1914) Local Colorism vLocal colorism is dependent upon a specific geographical location. Local colorists give emphasis to the local details by tapping into its folklore, history, mannerism, custom, beliefs and speech. Dialects peculiarities are the defining characteristic of local color writings. They tend to idealize and glorify, but they never forgot to keep an eye on the truthful color of local life. Mark Twain Part IV The Literature of Realism 美国现实主义文学 (1860-1914) Walt Whitman Emily Dickinson III The Establishment of American Poetry Part IV The Literature of Realism 美国现实主义文学 (1860-1914) I. Reputation vOne of the most original and inspiring American poets “ An American bard at last! One of the roughs, large, proud, affectionate, eating, drinking, and breeding, his costume manly and free, his face sunburnt and bearded, his postures strong and erect” (from “Leaves of Grass” 1st edition) Walt Whitman 沃尔特.惠特曼 (1819-1892) Part IV The Literature of Realism 美国现实主义文学 (1860-1914) II. Life Story v Born on Long Island (长岛), New York (his parents were poor and semiliterate) v Began working as an office boy in a law firm, then for a doctor (he had only five or six years of formal schooling, but through private reading he became well educa