Lecture 6.docx

Lecture 6.docx

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Lecture6

Lecture6

AmericanRealism

DempseyandFirpo（1924）,SummerInterior1909,Bandit'sRoost 

1888,from HowtheOtherHalfLives.

1GeneralIntroduction

•Americanrealism wasanearly20th-centuryideainart,musicandliteraturethatshowedthroughthesedifferenttypesofwork,reflectionsofthetimeperiod.Whetheritwasaculturalportrayal,orascenicviewofdowntownNewYorkCity,theseimagesandworksofliterature,musicandpaintingdepictedacontemporaryviewofwhatwashappening:

anattemptatdefiningwhatwasreal,thetrue reality 

oftheearly20th

centuryinAmerica

•Fromthelate19thtotheearly20thcenturies,the UnitedStates experiencedenormousindustrial,economic,socialandculturalchange.Acontinuouswaveof European immigrationandtherisingpotentialforinternationaltradebroughtincreasinggrowthandprosperitytoAmerica.

•Throughartandartisticexpression（throughallmediumsincludingpainting,literatureandmusic）, AmericanRealism attemptedtoportraytheexhaustionandculturalexuberanceofthefigurative Americanlandscape andthelifeofordinaryAmericansathome. 

•WritersandauthorstoldanewstoryaboutAmericans:

boysandgirlsrealAmericanscouldhavegrownupwith.Artistsusedthefeelings,texturesandsoundsofthecitytoinfluencethecolor,textureandlookoftheircreativeprojects.Musiciansnoticedthequickandfastpacednatureoftheearly20thcenturyandrespondedwithafreshandnewtempo.

•Pullingawayfromfantasyandfocusingon thenow, AmericanRealismpresentedanewgatewayandabreakthrough—introducingmodernism,andwhatitmeanstobeinthepresent. 

2BriefIntroductiontotheRealistPeriodof

TwainandJames

•MarkTwain（thepennameusedby SamuelLanghorneClemens,1835–1910）wasthefirstmajorAmericanwritertobebornawayfromtheEastCoast–intheborderstateof Missouri.

ØHisregionalmasterpieceswere

thememoir LifeontheMississippi 

andthenovels AdventuresofTomSawyer 

and AdventuresofHuckleberryFinn.

ØTwain'sstyle–influencedbyjournalism,weddedtothevernacular,directandunadornedbutalsohighlyevocativeandirreverentlyhumorous–changedthewayAmericanswritetheirlanguage.

ØHischaractersspeaklikerealpeopleandsounddistinctivelyAmerican,usinglocaldialects,newlyinventedwords,andregionalaccents.

●Otherwritersinterestedinregionaldifferencesanddialectwere GeorgeW.Cable, ThomasNelsonPage, JoelChandlerHarris, MaryNoaillesMurfree（CharlesEgbertCraddock）, SarahOrneJewett, MaryE.WilkinsFreeman, HenryCuylerBunner,andWilliamSydneyPorter（O.Henry）.

ØAversionoflocalcolorregionalismthatfocusedonminorityexperiencescanbeseenintheworksof CharlesW.Chesnutt （AfricanAmerican）,of MaríaRuizdeBurton,oneoftheearliest MexicanAmerican noveliststowriteinEnglish,andinthe Yiddish-inflectedworksof AbrahamCahan.

●WilliamDeanHowells alsorepresentedthe realist traditionthroughhisnovels,

including TheRiseofSilasLapham 

andhisworkaseditorof

the AtlanticMonthly.

Nicknamed"TheDeanofAmericanLetters"

●HenryJames （1843–1916）confrontedtheOldWorld-NewWorlddilemmabywritingdirectlyaboutit.AlthoughborninNewYorkCity,

hespentmostofhisadultyears

inEngland.Manyofhisnovels

centeronAmericanswholivein

ortraveltoEurope.

●Withitsintricate,highlyqualified

sentencesanddissectionofemotional

andpsychologicalnuance,James's

fictioncanbedaunting

（discouragingthroughfear）.

ØAmongthemoreaccessibleworksofHenryJamesarethenovellas DaisyMiller,aboutanenchantingAmericangirlinEurope,and TheTurnoftheScrew,anenigmaticghoststory.

●RealismalsoinfluencedAmericandramaoftheperiod,inpartthroughtheworksofHowellsbutalsothroughtheworksofsuchEuropeansasIbsenandZola.Althoughrealismwasmostinfluentialintermsofsetdesignandstaging—audienceslovedthespecialeffectsofferedupbythepopularmelodramas—andinthegrowthof localcolor plays,italsoshowedupinthemoresubdued,lessromantictonethatreflectedtheeffectsoftheCivilWarandcontinuedsocialturmoilontheAmericanpsyche.

●Themostambitiousattemptatbringingmodernrealismintothedramawas JamesHerne's MargaretFleming,whichaddressedissuesofsocialdeterminismthroughrealisticdialogue,psychologicalinsightandsymbolism;theplaywasnotasuccess,ascriticsandaudiencesalikefeltitdwelttoomuchonunseemlytopicsandincludedimproperscenes,suchasthemaincharacternursingherhusband'sillegitimatechildonstage.

●JamesA.Herne （1839–1901）was

an Americanplaywright and actor.

Consideredbysomecriticstobe

the"AmericanIbsen,"hiscontroversial

play MargaretFleming isoftencredited

withhavingbegunmodern drama 

inAmerica.

3MoreaboutMarkTwain

●SamuelLanghorneClemens （November30,1835 –April21,1910）,betterknownbyhis penname MarkTwain,wasanAmericanauthorandhumorist.Hewrote TheAdventuresofTomSawyer （1876）andits sequel,AdventuresofHuckleberryFinn （1885）, thelatteroftencalled"theGreatAmericanNovel."

●Twainwasfascinatedwithscienceandscientificinquiry.Hedevelopedacloseandlastingfriendshipwith NikolaTesla,andthetwospentmuchtimetogetherinTesla'slaboratory.

●Twainwasfascinatedwithscienceandscientificinquiry.Hedevelopedacloseandlastingfriendshipwith NikolaTesla,andthetwospentmuchtimetogetherinTesla'slaboratory.

●Twainwasindemandasafeaturedspeaker（特邀演讲嘉宾）,performingsolohumoroustalkssimilartowhatwouldbecome stand-upcomedy（单口相声）.Inthelate1890s,hespoketothe SavageClub inLondonandwas

electedhonorarymember.Whentoldthat

onlythreemenhadbeensohonored,

includingthe PrinceofWales,hereplied

"Well,itmustmakethePrincefeelmightyfine."

●Twainbeganhiscareerwritinglight,humorousverse,butevolvedintoachroniclerofthevanities,hypocrisiesandmurderousactsofmankind.

●Atmid-career,withHuckleberryFinn,hecombinedrichhumor,sturdynarrativeandsocialcriticism. 

●Twainwasamasteratrendering colloquialspeech andhelpedtocreateandpopularizeadistinctiveAmericanliteraturebuiltonAmericanthemesandlanguage.

●ManyofTwain‘sworks,however,havebeensuppressedattimesforvariousreasons.AdventuresofHuckleberryFinn hasbeenrepeatedlyrestrictedinAmericanhighschools,notleastforitsfrequentuseoftheword"nigger,"whichwasincommonusageinthepre-CivilWarperiodinwhichthenovelwasset.

●AcompletebibliographyofhisworksisnearlyimpossibletocompilebecauseofthevastnumberofpieceswrittenbyTwain（ofteninobscurenewspapers）andhisuseofseveraldifferentpennames.Additionally,alargeportionofhisspeechesandlectureshavebeenlostorwerenotwrittendown;

thus,thecollectionofTwain'sworks

isanongoingprocess.Researchers

rediscoveredpublishedmaterial

byTwainasrecentlyas1995.

MarkTwaininhisgown（scarletwithgreysleevesandfacings）forhisD.Litt. degree,awardedtohimby OxfordUniversity

3.1Earlyjournalismandtravelogues

●Twaincreditedlawyer TomFitch,editorofthecompetingnewspaper VirginiaDailyUnion andknownasthe"silver-tonguedoratorofthePacific,withgivinghimhis"firstreallyprofitablelesson"inwriting.

●Twain'sfirstimportantwork,"TheCelebratedJumpingFrogofCalaverasCounty,"wasfirstpublishedinthe NewYorkSaturdayPress onNovember 18,1865.

CabinwhereTwainwrote"JumpingFrogofCalaverasCounty,"JackassHill,TuolumneCounty.

●OnJune 8,1867,Twainsetsailonthepleasurecruiser（游轮） QuakerCity forfivemonths.Thistripresultedin TheInnocentsAbroadorTheNewPilgrims‘Progress。

●In1872,Twainpublishedasecondpieceoftravelliterature, RoughingIt,asasemi-sequelto Innocents.

●Twain'snextworkkept RoughingIt'sfocusonAmericansocietybutfocusedmoreontheeventsoftheday.Entitled TheGildedAge:

ATaleofToday,itwasnotatravelpiece,ashisprevioustwobookshadbeen;itwashisfirstattemptatwritinganovel.

●Twain‘snexttwoworksdrewonhisexperiencesontheMississippiRiver. OldTimesontheMississippi,aseriesofsketchespublishedinthe AtlanticMonthly in1875,featuredTwain’sdisillusionment（幻灭）withRomanticism.OldTimes eventuallybecamethestartingpointfor LifeontheMississippi.

Libraryof TwainHouse,withhand-stenciledpaneling,fireplacesfromIndia,embossedwallpapers,andhand-carvedmantelpurchasedinScotland

●Twain'snextmajorpublicationwas TheAdventuresofTomSawyer,whichdrewonhisyouthinHannibal,boyhoodhomeofMarkTwain. TomSawyer wasmodeledonTwainasachild,withtracesoftwoschoolmates,JohnBriggsandWillBowen.ThebookalsointroducedinasupportingroleHuckleberryFinn,basedonTwain'sboyhoodfriendTomBlankenship.

●ThePrinceandthePauper,despitea storyline thatisomnipresentinfilmandliteraturetoday,wasnotaswellreceived.But,itwasTwain'sfirstattemptathistoricalfiction.

●Twain'snextmajorpublishedwork, AdventuresofHuckleberryFinn,solidifiedhimasanoteworthyAmericanwriter.Somehavecalleditthefirst GreatAmericanNovel,andthebookhasbecomerequiredreadinginmanyschoolsthroughouttheUnitedStates. 

●HuckleberryFinn wasanoffshootfrom TomSawyer andhadamoreserioustonethanitspredecessor.Themainpremisebehind HuckleberryFinn istheyoungboy'sbeliefintherightthingtodothoughmostbelievedthatitwaswrong.

ØErnestHemingway oncesaidof HuckleberryFinninanessay:

ØIfyoureadit,youmuststopwheretheNiggerJimis