现代主义the 20th Century American Literature.docx

1、现代主义the 20th Century American Literaturethe 20th Century American Literature (1900-1910s)Historical Background The influence of WWI ：an economic boom a sudden jump in technology The breakdown of old moral values bobbed hair, short skirts, women drinking and smokinga tremendous disillusionment (幻想破灭，

2、美国梦，Benjamin Franklin)Nothing had changed. There was a popular contempt轻视 for the lawthe prohibition of alcohol, bootleggers走私者, etc. The dream美国梦 had failed and the country was building up economic troubles toward disaster. A loss of faith began with Darwins theories of evolution达尔文进化论. Without fai

3、th man could no longer keep his feeling and thought whole; hence a sense of life being fragmented变成碎片 and chaotic混乱的. Without faith, man no longer felt secure and happy; hence the feeling of gloom阴暗 and despair绝望Bertrand Russell伯特兰罗素（英国哲学家）, commented评论 on the spirit of the periodMan must not expect

4、 any help from a beneficent慈善的 God. Man must recognize that he is of no importance in such a world - Nothing can preserve保护 an individual life beyond the grave. Death will doom注定 all human endeavors努力 and achievements to ultimate extinction化为灰烬. He advises man to believe in himself, to face life wit

5、h “a despairing courage绝望的勇气”.ImagismImagism意象主义 was a movement in early 20th-century Anglo-American英裔美国人 poetry that favored赞成 precision精度 of imagery and clear, sharp language. The Imagists意象主义诗人 rejected the sentiment情感 and discursiveness散漫、推论 typical of much Romantic and Victorian （强调理性）poetry. W

6、hat is an image?T. E. Hulme: The image must enable one “to dwell存在于 and linger徘徊 upon a point of excitement, to achieve the impossible and convert转变 a point into a line”.Ezra Pound: An image is “that which presents an intellectual and emotional complex in an instant 瞬间of time”.Richard Aldington: The

7、 exact word must bring the effect of the object before the reader as it had presented itself to the poets mind at the time of writing.Literary Sources of ImagismThe Imagist Movement drew from a variety of poetic traditionsGreek, Provencal, Japanese and Chinese poetry. The ideographic表意的 and pictogra

8、phic象形文字的 nature of Chinese language, and virile男性的 laconism简洁 and austere pregnancy丰富，意味深长 which characterize ancient Chinese poetry fascinated the Imagists.three major phases19081909An Englishman, T. E. Hulme, founded a Poets Club in 1908, which met in Soho every Wednesday evening to discuss poetr

9、y. He believed that the most effective means to express the momentary瞬间的 impressions is through “the use of one dominant image”. 19121914Ezra Pound took over the movement. In 1912, they published a collection of poems, entitled Des Imagistes, in which a manifesto宣言 came into being. a. Direct treatme

10、nt of the “thing”, whether subjective or objective; b. To use absolutely no word that does not contribute to the presentation; c. As regarding rhythm, to compose in the sequence of the musical phrase, not in the sequence of a metronome. 19141917Amy Lowell took over the movement and developed it into

11、 “Amygism”. In 1915, 1916, 1917, three volumes of Some Imagist Poets came out, containing six principles based on the original three. After 1917, Imagism ceased to be a movement. Features of Imagism1.To use the language of common speech, but to employ采用 the exact word, not the nearly-exact, nor the

12、merely decorative装饰性的 word. 2.We believe that the individuality of a poet may often be better expressed in free verse自由诗体 than in conventional传统的 forms. In poetry, a new cadence韵律、节奏 means a new idea. 3.Absolute freedom in the choice of subject. 4. To present an image. We are not a school学派 of paint

13、ers, but we believe that poetry should render particulars exactly and not deal in vague generalities模糊的概论, however magnificent华丽的 and sonorous响亮的. It is for this reason that we oppose the cosmic广大无边的 poet诗人, who seems to us to shirk逃避 the real difficulties of his art. 5. To produce a poetry that is

14、hard and clear, never blurred玷污 nor indefinite. 6. Finally, most of us believe that concentration is of the very essence本质 of poetry. In a Station of the Metroa classic specimen of Imagist poetry the use of one dominant image to represent what he was experiencing apparition: appearance, something wh

15、ich shows up; something which is not real and which cannot be clearly observed influence from ancient Chinese poetry (长恨歌: “玉容寂寞泪阑干，梨花一枝春带雨.”)在地铁站 人潮，人面，魅影，闪现，潮湿，黑枝，花瓣。The apparition of these faces in the crowd; Petals on a wet, black bough. 人群中那些亡魂的脸 花瓣，在潮湿的黑色枝头 荒木田守武俳句落花飞回枝蝴蝶Ezra Pound (译文)A falle

16、n blossom is coming back to the branchLook, a butterfly题都城南庄 去年今日此门中,人面桃花相映红。 人面不知何处去， 桃花依旧笑春风。 Questions for Comprehension1. Where does the narrator叙述者 see the “faces”?2. What are the “faces” compared to?3. What adjectives does the narrator use to describe the “bough”? How does the description foreground 前景、近景the