part two Chapter 2美国现实主义时期.docx

1、part two Chapter 2美国现实主义时期Chapter 2: The Realistic Period考核要求:1识记：美国现实主义文学产生的社会和文化背景（a）美国南北战争（b）威廉迪安豪威尔斯：美国现实主义的先驱（c）达尔文主义和法国小说家佐拉的影响2领会：A.美国现实主义文学的特点（a）占主导地位的美国现实主义小说（b）现实主义文学中的地方色彩小说（c）现实主义文学中的自然主义倾向B.现实主义文学和自然主义倾向之异同C达尔文主义、法国自然主义作家的主张以及对现实主义时期美国文学的影响3应用：A. 名词解释：现实主义、达尔文主义、自然主义、地方色彩主义 B现实主义文学和自然主义

2、倾向在美国19世纪小说中的反映1. Historical duration and historical position:The period ranging from 1865 to l914 has been referred to as the Age of Realism in the 1iterary history of the United States, which is actually a movement or tendency that dominated the spirit of American literature, especially American f

3、iction, from the 1850s onwards. Realism was a reaction against Romanticism or a move away from the bias towards（对有偏见） romance and self-creating fictions, and it paved the way to Modernism. Instead of thinking about the irrational, the imaginative, realists touched upon social and political realities

4、 and pressures in the post-Civil war society. Three dominant figures are William Dean Howells（威廉迪恩豪威尔斯）, Mark Twain（马克吐温）, and Henry James（亨利詹姆斯） 【例题】Realism was a reaction against Romanticism or a move away from the bias towards romance and self-creating fictions, and paved the way to _. A. Cynicis

5、m B. Modernism C. Transcendentalism D. Neo-Classicalism 【答案】B【解析】(P471. para.1)美国文学史上的现实主义，是对之前的浪漫主义创作原则的背叛，是现代主义流派的先驱，可以看作是文学史上的先现代主义时期。2. Historical and social background:A. the American society after the Civil War provided rich soil for the rise and development of Realism B. People became dubious

6、 about the human nature（人性） and the benevolence（仁慈） of God, which the Transcendentalists（先验论者） cared most. What Mark Twain referred to as “the Gilded Age”（ 镀金时代） replaced the frontier and the spirit of the frontiersman, which is the spirit of freedom and human connection. C. the literary scene after

7、 the Civil War proved to be quite different a picture. The harsh realities（严酷的现实） of life as well as the disillusion of heroism（英雄形象的幻灭） resulting from the dark memories of the Civil War had set the nation against the romance. The Americans began to be tired of the sentimental（感伤的） feelings of Roman

8、ticism. Thus, started a new period in the American literary writings known as the Age of Realism, characterized by a great interest in the realities of life.3. Characteristics of Realism:Guided by the principle of adhering to the truthful treatment of life（按照忠实反映现实的原则）, the realists touched upon var

9、ious contemporary social and political issues（现实主义作家来处理社会问题和政治问题）.In their works, instead of writing about the polite, well-dressed, grammatically correct middle-class young people who moved in exotic places and remote times, they introduced industrial workers and farmers, ambitious businessmen and

10、vagrants（流浪汉）, prostitutes(妓女) and unheroic soldiers(普通士兵) as major characters in fiction. They approached the harsh realities（严酷的现实） and pressures in the post-Civil War society either by a comprehensive(综合的) picture of modern life in its various occupations, class stratifications（分层） and manners, o

11、r by a psychological exploration of mans sub-consciousness.（反映人们内心的感受）The three dominant figures of the period are William Dean Howells（威廉迪恩豪威尔斯）, Mark Twain, and Henry James（亨利詹姆斯）. Together they brought to fulfillment native trends in the realistic portrayal of the landscape and social surfaces（他们

12、真实地描写了美国本地的风土人情，）, brought to perfection the vernacular（本国的） style (带有浓厚的乡土气息), and explored and exploited（利用） the literary possibilities of the interior life. （挖掘了人们的内心生活）The three dominant figures of the Realistic period differed in their understanding of the “truth”（真实） While Mark Twain and Howel

13、ls（豪威尔斯）paid more attention to the life of the Americans, Henry James laid a greater emphasis on the inner world of man. He came to believe that the literary artist should not simply hold a mirror to the surface of social life in particular times and places. In addition, the writer should use langua

14、ge to probe（探讨）the deepest reaches of the psychological and moral nature of human beings. He is a realist of the inner life. Though Twain and Howells both shared the same concern in presenting the truth of the American society, they had each of them different emphasis. Howells focused his discussion

15、 on the rising middle class and the way they lived（上升的中产阶级及其生活方式）, while Twain preferred to have his own region and people at the forefront of his stories（把自己的家乡和家乡人放在故事的最前沿）, which is known as “local colorism”,（地方色彩） a unique variation（变化） of American literary realism.4. The American naturalism:The

16、ory basisReason: The impact of Darwins evolutionary theory on the American thought and the influence of the 19th century French literature on the American men of letters gave rise to yet another school of realism: American naturalism.Theory basis: natural selectionDefinition: (naturalism)American Na

17、turalism: American naturalism was a new and harsher realism. American naturalism had been shaped by the war; by the social upheavals（社会动乱）that undermined（破坏） the comforting faith of an earlier age. Americas literary naturalists dismissed the validity of comforting moral truths. They attempted to ach

18、ieve extreme objectivity and frankness, presenting characters of low social and economic classes who were determined by their environment and heredity. Subject and themeThey chose their subjects from the lower ranks of society and portrayed（描写） the people who were demonstrably （明确的）victims of societ

19、y and nature. And one of the most familiar themes in American Naturalism is the theme of human “bestiality”（兽性）, especially as an explanation of sexual desire. CharacteristicsArtistically（艺术上）, naturalistic writings are usually unpolished（粗糙） in language, lacking in academic skills and unwieldly in

20、structure. Philosophically（哲学上）, the naturalists believe that the real and true is always partially hidden from the eyes of the individual（真实的东西是人的眼睛所看不见的）, or beyond his control（难以控制）. Devoid of （缺乏）rationality and caught in a process in which he is but a part, man cannot fully understand, let alon

21、e control, the world he lives in; hence, he is left with no freedom of choice.（由于缺乏理性，人只是环境的一部分，所以人类无法完全理解，更别说控制他所生活的世界，因此，人类并没有选择的自由。）In a word, naturalism is evolved from realism（自然主义产生于现实主义） when the authors tone in writing becomes less serious and less sympathetic but more detached（超然的）, ironic

22、（讽刺的）and more pessimistic（悲观的）. It is no more than a different philosophical approach to reality, or to human existence（自然主义是另一种形式的现实主义）. The similarity and difference between realism and naturalismNaturalism is evolved from realism when the authors tone in writing becomes less serious and less symp

23、athetic but more detached, ironic and more pessimistic. It is no more than a different philosophical approach to reality, or to human existence.The distinction lies, first of all, in the fact that Realism is concerned directly with what is absorbed by the senses; Naturalism, a term more properly app

24、lied to literature, attempts to apply scientific theories to art. Second, Naturalism differs from Realism in adding an amoral attitude to the objective presentation of life. Naturalistic writers, adopting Darwins biological determinism and Marxs economic determinism, regard human behavior as control

25、led by instinct, emotion, or social and economic conditions, and reject free will. Third, Naturalism had an outlook often bleaker（荒凉的） than that of Realism, and it added a dimension of predetermined （已决定的）fate that rendered（描绘） human will ultimately powerless.The typical authors during this period考核

26、要求:马克吐温1一般识记：马克吐温的生平及创作生涯2识记：马克吐温的主要作品3领会：马克吐温作品中的地方色彩、幽默及语言特色4应用：（1）选读哈克贝里费恩第三十一章：主题结构、人物刻画、语言特色（2）哈克的性格分析及其社会意义亨利詹姆斯1一般识记：詹姆斯的生平和创作生涯2识记：詹姆斯的早期作品3领会：（1）詹姆斯的“现实主义”（2）詹姆斯的小说艺术特色：“视角”与心理分析4.应用：（1）选读黛西米勒第一章：主题结构、人物刻画、语言风格 （2）黛西米勒的主题和人物分析艾米莉狄金森1一般识记：狄金森的生平及创作生涯2识记：狄金森的诗歌 （1）狄金森有关“永恒”主题的诗 （2）狄金森的爱情诗 （3）

27、狄金森的自然诗3领会：狄金森诗歌的主题结构，创新和艺术特色4应用：选读狄金森诗歌第441、465585和712首的结构、主题、语言特色西奥多德莱塞1一般识记：德莱塞的生平及创作生涯2识记：德莱塞的主要作品3领会：德莱塞小说的语言风格4应用：（1）达尔文主义与德莱塞作品中的自然主义倾向 （2）选读嘉丽妹妹的最后一章节选：主题结构、人物刻画、语言风格. Mark Twain（马克吐温）1. Mark Twains life and position:Mark Twain is a great literary giant of America, whom H.L.Mencken（门肯） consi

28、dered “the true father of our national literature.”（真正的民族文学之父） With works like Adventure of Huckleberry Finn哈克贝利费恩历险记 (1884) and Life on the Mississippi密西西比河上的生活 (1883) Twain shaped the worlds view of America and made a more extensive combination of American folk humor and serious literature（将美国民间幽默

29、严肃文学完美地结合起来） than previous writers had ever done.Mark Twain, Pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens（塞缪尔兰霍恩克莱门斯）, was born on November 30, 1835, in Missouri（密苏里州）, and grew up in the river town of Hannibal（水村）汉尼巴尔. After his father died, he began to seek his own fortune .He once worked as a journeyman

30、printer, a steamboat pilot, a newspaper colunist and as a deadpan lecturer. Twains writing took the form of humorous journalism of the time, and it enabled him to master the technique of narration. 2. Writing features: Local coloristTwain is also known as a local colorist, who preferred to present s

31、ocial life through portraits of the local characters of his regions, including people living in that area, the landscape, and other peculiarities like the customs, dialects, costumes and so on. Consequently, the rich material of his boyhood experience on the Mississippi became the endless resources

32、for his fiction, and the Mississippi valley and the West became his major theme. Unlike James and Howells, Mark Twain wrote about the lower-class people, because they were the people he knew so well and their 1ife was the one he himself had lived. Moreover he successfully used local color and historical settings（历史背景） to illustrate and shed light on the contemporary society.Vernacular (langu