范文一:美国现实主义时期 s
Section 3 American Realistic Period (Late 19th Century-1910)
I Historical Background
1.1 The Civil War (1860 – 1865)
Significance: reunification of the North and the South; fast development of capitalism
A turning point of American culture: most people abandoned Transcendentalism gradually and lost old moral values.
1.2 Industrialization
American economy developed very fast in the late part of the 19th century. Extreme of wealth and poverty appeared. Money concentrated into a small group of people while the masses struggled for survival. Most people in the country developed strong ambition for power and money.
1.3 Closing Frontier
The frontier was closing. The worth of the American dream, the idealized, romantic view of man and his life in the New World, began to lose its hold on the imagination of the people.
―Golden Age‖ turned out to be a ―Gilded Age‖ (Mark Twain: prosperous surface, developing dark sides in society)
II Literature in American Realistic Period
"Realism is nothing more and nothing less than the truthful treatment of material." - William Dean Howells
2.1 American Realism
American Realism rose in the latter half of the 19th century (esp. 1870s, 1880s). Realism reacted against romanticism and sentimentalism. It expressed the concern for the commonplace, and for the familiar and the low. In style, it moved between gentility and graceful prose on the one hand and vernacular diction, rough and ready frontier humor on the other. Realistic writers sought to portray American life as it really was, insisting that the ordinary and the local were as suitable for artistic portrayal as the magnificent and the remote.
Representative writers: William Dean Howells, Henry James and Mark Twain
William Dean Howells (1837-1920): the arbiter of American literary realism, found his subject matter in the experiences of the middle class by sustaining an objective point of view. Though he criticized the materialism, but he was mainly optimistic. He believed in the strength of personal moral elevation. So lots of later scholars criticized his so-called ―smiling aspect‖.
Howells”s major work
The Rise of Silas Lapham《塞拉斯·拉帕姆的发迹》(1885) (wanting in depth)
Notice the meaning of ―rise‖ in the title of the novel: rise in wealth and rise in moral. This novel is a good specimen of Howells’ theory we mentioned above. There is nothing heroic in the novel. The hero is a representative of common Bostonians. And from the plot you can find the author’s stress on ethics. P121 Henry James (1843-1916) was an American-born writer, regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism. He is primarily known for the series of novels in which he portrays the encounter of Americans with Europe and Europeans.
James’ novel
-- ―the international theme‖: the meeting of America and Europe, American innocence in contact and contrast with European decadence, and its moral and psychological complications. (Example: the plot of The Portrait of a Lady) P125
--Special point of view: illumination of the situation and characters through one or several minds. James became probably the first of the modern psychological anticipated the modern stream-of-consciousness technique. P127
James’ major works
The Portrait of a Lady (1881) 《贵妇的肖像》
The Ambassadors 《大使》
The Wings of the Dove 《鸽之翼》
The Golden Bowl 《金碗》
2.2 Local Colorism
The Local Color Movement: Early 19th-century American writers tended to be flowery, sentimental, or ostentatious炫耀的—partially because they were still trying to prove that they could write as elegantly as the English. The second half of the 19th c. saw America becoming increasingly self-conscious at the very time regional writers began to write about its various aspects. American wanted to know what their country looked like, and how the varied races which made up their growing population lived and talked.
Its origins
--Social Background: different culture in different places (no overwhelming mainstream culture)
--frontier tall-tale kind of humors since early 19th century
--good pay from magazines
Local Colorism: The detailed representation in prose fiction of the setting, dialect, customs, dress and ways of thinking and feeling which are distinctive of a particular region. The representative is Mark Twain (Mississippi). The local spirit influences the authors such as John Steinbeck and William Faulkner.
Mark Twain (1835-1910)
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist, beginning as a local colorist, later broke the limit and described the breadth of American experience as no one had ever done before or since.
Mark Twain’s writing
Hemingway stated that all American fiction comes from Mark Twain's novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Twain was the first major author to come from the interior of the country, and he captured its distinctive, humorous slang俚语 and iconoclasm打破偶像得理论.
Twain's style, based on vigorous, realistic, colloquial American speech, gave American writers a new appreciation of their national voice.
For Twain and other American writers of the late 19th century, realism was not merely a literary technique: It was a way of speaking truth and exploding conventions.
Mark Twain’s major works
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876)《汤姆索亚历险记》
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), 《哈克贝利·费恩历险记》
Life on the Mississippi (1883)《密西西比河上》
2.3 American Naturalism (1890s)
2.3.1 Historical Background
Industrialism: create a large group of very poor people; live in slums and cannot control their lives; self-reliance disappeared in the fast development of economy
The Origin of Species (Charles Darwin, 1859, godless world, human beast, the survival of the fittest, cruel natural law correspond with cruel social realities
Herbert Spencer: Social Darwinism (human controlled by heredity and outside social power)
2.3.2 American Naturalism
Naturalism was a new and harsher realism. It developed on the basis of realism but went a step further than it in portraying social reality.
Thematically, naturalistic writers
--wrote detailed descriptions of the lives of the downtrodden受压迫 and of the abnormal
--had frank treatment of human passion and sexuality
--were concerned about how men and women were overwhelmed by the forces of environment and by the forces of heredity
Technically, naturalistic writers
--made detailed documentation of life: nothing but the truth, more naked and wicked than realists
--created gloomy and pessimistic atmosphere
American Naturalism first came into existence in Maggie, a Girl of the Streets by Stephen Crane, then had its manifesto in McTeague by Frank Norris, and later came to its maturity in Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser. Stephen Crane (1871-1900): was an American novelist, short story writer, poet and journalist. Prolific throughout his short life, he wrote notable works in the Realist tradition as well as early examples of American Naturalism.
Maggie, a Girl of the Streets (1893)《街头女郎玛琪》
The Red Badge of Courage (1895) 《红色的英雄勋章》: bringing him to an international acclaim.
Frank Norris (1870-1902): was an American novelist, during the Progressive Era, writing predominantly in the naturalist genre.
McTeague (1899) 《麦克提格》
A trilogy, comprising of The Octopus (1901), The Pit (1903) and The Wolf (never written), is about the fate of the American farmers.
McTeague is a textbook and manifesto of American naturalism, the forces of environment controlling the destiny of human beings. It tells the story of a couple's courtship and marriage, and their subsequent descent into poverty, violence and finally murder as the result of jealousy and avarice.
Theodore Dreiser (1871-1945): was the greatest literary naturalist. His works are powerful in the portrayal of the American life, but the style is crude with inexact expressions and cliches. Nevertheless, it is in Dreiser's works that American naturalism is said to have come of age. His novels often featured main characters who succeeded at their objectives despite a lack of a firm moral code, and literary situations that more closely resemble studies of nature than tales of choice and agency.
Sister Carrie (1900) 《嘉莉妹妹》
An American Tragedy (1925) 《美国的悲剧》
Jack London (1876 – 1916): an American author, journalist, and social activist. He was a pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction and was one of the first fiction writers to obtain worldwide celebrity and a large fortune from his fiction alone. London was a passionate advocate of unionization, socialism, and the rights of workers and wrote several powerful works dealing with these topics
The Call of the Wild 《野性的呼唤》
White Fang 《白牙》
The Sea Wolf (1904) 《海狼》: super man image, influence of Nietzche
Martin Eden (1909) 《马丁伊登》: autobiographical
III Textual Study
3.1 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Theme: self-realization and seeking one's identity
The journey down the river is a journey of growth and maturity. Huck was innocent at first and we found him naked; later he changed clothes all the time and found his own identity at last. The novel is also about how Huck changed his prejudice against the Black people.
This novel was the first famous novel about growing up and showing the contradictions between adults’ world and teenagers’ world.
Writing features
--Dramatic irony: serious social problems discussed through the narration of a little illiterate boy. Readers
look through the eyes of Huck, but they see things which Huck cannot see or understand.
--Colloquial style: a very important contribution of this novel to American literature. Mark Twain uses different dialect forms for different characters. He made the colloquial speech an accepted, respectable literary medium in the literary history of America.
--Features of the language used in the novel: mostly Anglo-Saxon in origin, short, concrete and direct in effect; sentence structure is mostly simple or compound; repetition of words; ungrammatical elements
3.2 The Call of the Wild
The story takes place in the extreme conditions of the during the 19th-century , where strong sled dogs were in high demand. After Buck, a domesticated dog, is snatched from a pastoral ranch in California, he is sold into a brutal life as a sled dog. The novella details Buck's struggle to adjust and survive the cruel treatment he receives from humans, other dogs, and nature. He eventually sheds the veneer of civilization altogether and instead relies on primordial instincts and the lessons he has learned to become a respected and feared leader in the wild.
Major themes
--survival of the fittest
--civilization versus nature
--fate versus free will
Assignments
Question:
1. Define American Realism and American Naturalism.
2. What is American local colorism?
3. What are the themes in Sister Carrie?
4. What are the writing features of Mark Twain’s novels?
Preview Reading:
The excerpt from The Waste Land
范文二:不同时期的英国现实主义文学与美国现实主义文学
不同时期的英国现实主义文学与美国现实主义文学
一、 概述
现实主义文学思潮是西欧资本主义制度确立和发展时期的产物,由于资本主义制度种种弊病的暴露,由于人们的浪漫热情和“理想王国”的幻想破灭了,于是形成了一种冷静务实的社会心理。现实主义文学就是这种尖锐复杂的阶级矛盾和社会心理在文学上的反映。在思想方面,辩证法、唯物主义哲学、空想社会主义学说以及自然科学的新成就,都对现实主义文学的兴起产生了不同的影响。现实主义文学继承了古希腊以来的文学优良传统,而十八世纪的启蒙文学又为十九世纪现实主义的勃兴做了直接准备。
现实主义文学的基本特征是:①反映生活的真实性;②强烈的暴露性和批判性;③人道主义思想;④描写典型环境中的典型性格。
现实主义文学作品具有以下几个特点:细节真实,有真实的细节描写,用历史的、具体的人生图画来反映社会生活,现实主义作品是以形象的现实性和具体性来感染人的,因此能使读者如入其境,如见其人。形象典型,通过典型的方法,对现实的生活素材进行选择、提炼、概括,从而深刻地揭示生活的某些本质特征。方式客观,作者要通过对现实生活的客观,具体的描写,从作品的场面和情节中自然地体现出作者的思想倾向和爱憎感情,而不要作者自己或借人物之口特别地说出来。去尽谎言,现实主义属于纯文学之一种。而谎言去尽之谓纯,所以作为纯文学的最重要表现手段的现实主义,必须去尽政治谎言、道德谎言、商业谎言、维护权贵阶级谎言、愚民谎言等。纯文学化,排除文学外的其他目的(包括政治、商业、道德及阶级维护)。
由于种种原因,美国的文学发展较晚,因而19 世纪以前我们只讨论英国现实主义文学。
二、十九世纪以前的英国现实主义文学
在英国文学史上,乔叟当为现实主义的先驱。在《坎特伯雷故事集》中,其现实主义的特点已相当突出。在这部书中,乔叟一反过去骑士传奇、宗教传说或民间传说等浪漫的表现手法,将作品的重点从描述离奇的冒险、浪漫的爱情以及对来世的追求转到描述世俗世界的各个阶层的世俗生活上来,将现实主义引入文学创作中。《坎特伯雷故事集》为读者描绘了一幅真实的中世纪生活画卷,从而成为英国现实主义的第一部典范作品,为现实主义开了先河。
文艺复兴运动杰出的人物——莎士比亚继承和发扬了乔叟开创的现实主义传统,将现实主义推向了一个新的发展阶段,并将现实主义从诗歌引入戏剧。莎士比亚以戏剧为武器,广泛而深刻的批判了英国封建阶级的腐败和罪恶,批判了资本主义社会发展初期金钱万能和利己主义的现象,深刻而真实地描绘了一幅幅没落封建阶级和处于资本积累阶段的资产阶级的生活画卷。可以说,莎士比亚是世界级的现实主义奠基者之一,也是英国现实主义初期阶段的另一位现实主义大师。
文艺复兴之后,英国文学进入资产阶级革命时期,这一时期,现实主义发展的步伐开始放慢。无论是
玄学派还是骑士文学都没有很强的直面人生的勇气,其现实主义因素也不明显。
十八世纪的现实主义是在流浪汉小说的影响下发展起来的,它以社会中下层人物为主人公,以日常生活和社会风气为题材,以日常语言和严格的写实为主要表现手段。一些作家,如笛福、斯威夫特和菲尔丁,打破了古典主义的清规戒律,创造了游记体小说、讽刺小说、书信体小说等多种文学形式,讲文学的重点放在反映现实生活中人民大众的日常生活,描写普通人的英雄行为和崇高感情上,发扬并发展了现实主义精神。
18世纪末和十九世纪初出现了浪漫主义高潮,然而英国的现实主义并没有被它淹没,这一时期较为著名的作家有司各特和奥斯丁。司各特的作品如《艾凡赫》《罗伯·罗伊》等,既有浓厚的浪漫主义色彩,又继承了启蒙时期的现实主义传统。他客观地揭示历史真相,批判陈旧腐朽势力,展示新的社会变革的重要性,并在一定程度上关注劳动人民的悲惨命运。奥斯丁虽身居深闺,但对女性心理却有敏锐的洞察力,她微妙的笔触使得生活的琐事和平常的人物都变得生动有趣。洞彻的观察力,细腻的笔触,机智戏谑而不乏真情的笔调使她跻身于伟大的现实主义女作家之列。
三、十九世纪的英美现实主义文学
英国现实主义文学
十九世纪中叶,随着资本主义制度的确立和巩固,社会矛盾日益尖锐,促使当时进步作家不得不用冷静的眼光看待和评价资本主义统治所带来的一切,于是英国的现实主义文学于这一时期进入繁荣阶段,出现了狄更斯、萨克雷、夏洛蒂·勃朗特、盖斯凯尔夫人等一派出色的小说家。除此之外,还有爱米丽·勃朗特、乔治·爱略特等有影响的作家,他们的创作共同促成了19世纪中期英国文学的繁荣。这一时期以揭露和批判为主,故而又被称为批判现实主义。
批判现实主义具有以下几个特征:鲜明的批判性,深切的同情心,直面现实的勇气,完美的幽默讽刺手法以及完整曲折的故事情节和典型环境中的典型人物。
批判现实主义作家在其作品中揭露和批判了资产阶级的自私自利、残酷无情、虚伪狡诈以及贪得无厌、嗜钱如命的本质和行为。他们通过描述典型社会环境中的典型事件,集中地展示了当时社会的黑暗和腐朽;通过塑造一系列封建贵族阶级和资产阶级的典型形象,揭露和批判了封建制度和资本主义社会的丑恶现象。在无情的批判资本主义社会丑恶现实的同时,他们也对下层人民及其他被压迫者寄予了深切同情。
作为现实主义文学大师,查尔斯·狄更斯通过《董贝父子》、《马丁·朱述尔维特》等小说,尖锐地嘲讽了资产阶级的贪婪、伪善及金钱崇拜的本质;通过《大卫·科波菲尔》、《荒凉山庄》、《小杜丽》、《我们的共同朋友》等作品,进一步揭露了资产阶级的贪婪伪善以及司法、行政机关的腐败;通过《艰难时世》及《双城记》等小说,直接描述了资本主义社会里尖锐的阶级对立以及人民群众汹涌澎湃的抗争。
萨克雷是与狄更斯齐名的英国现实主义小说家。他继承了斯威夫特、菲尔丁的现实主义传统,在为数
不多的小说创作中,运用讽刺等艺术手法,塑造了为数众多、绚丽多姿的人物形象,成为“当代欧洲作家里的第一流的大天才”,“一位犀利而无情的讽刺家”。他出色的讽刺才能,对社会丑恶的辛辣抨击以及挖苦嘲笑的幽默风格,使他在英国文学史上占据特殊的地位。
夏洛蒂·勃朗特是英国文学史上著名的勃朗特三姐妹之一,是一位富于文学才华和艺术魅力的女作家。她一生创作了4部长篇小说:《教师》(1846)、《简·爱》(1847)、《雪利》(1849)、《维莱特》(1853),描写了小市民知识妇女的命运与抗争。
艾米丽·勃朗特是夏洛蒂·勃朗特之妹,以唯一的长篇小说《呼啸山庄》而享誉文坛。小说写希剌克厉夫与女友卡瑟琳生生死死的奇特爱情和他变态复仇的性格,通过希克厉和卡瑟琳之间痛苦而曲折的爱情经历,展现了人性的扭曲与复归,表现了爱情和复仇的主题。
美国现实主义文学
1865年至1914年间的美国文学在美国文学史上称为现实主义时期。这一时期的美国文学是美国精神的表现,尤其是美国小说。
19世纪60年代后期,美国乡土文学在美国各地纷纷出现, 如费布·哈特、安·比尔斯、赫姆林·加兰等的创作。它是美国现实主义文学的先声,也是科学主义的先导。
南北战争爆发后, 美国的政治与经济都向前跨越了一大步, 但却给美国社会带来了严酷的现实和沉痛的创伤。美国文学也感应着社会的变化而进入了新的阶段。批判现实、揭露社会黑暗的作品逐渐增多, 主题涉及农村生活的艰辛、城市下层人民的困苦、劳资斗争以及揭露种族歧视、海外侵略和政府与大企业的勾结。到了19世纪80、90年代,批判现实主义发展成为美国文学的主流,并进入深化阶段。
时至19世纪末, 现实主义作为一种文学思潮在美国已经得到了蓬勃发展并且日臻成熟。这一阶段的文学主要反映美国人民与垄断资产阶级的矛盾,并广泛地触及这种矛盾制约下的社会生活。
内战以后的美国社会为现实主义的兴起和发展提供了肥沃的土壤。自内战到第一次世界大战的50年,美国历史上经历了巨大变化,无论是政治、经济、文化、还是宗教。这一巨变彻底改造了美国社会的性质和观念。新一代作家不满意于老一代的浪漫主义思想,生发了新的创作灵感。他们对现实生活产生了浓厚的兴趣,企图对生活的各个方面作出他们的解释,主张客观现实,摒弃主观偏颇、唯心主义和浪漫主义的色彩。人们的兴趣现在已转到了日常生活的方方面面,注意到现实的野蛮、肮脏,直接公开描写阶级斗争,这时的作家已能描写人物在各种条件或环境下的反映,描述远西、新移民和劳动阶级的斗争,这些作家受到广大读者的欢迎。这一注重现实生活的创作倾向形成了美国现实主义时期的文学。
这一时期的三个代表作家是豪威尔斯,亨利·詹姆斯和马克·吐温。他们真实地描写了美国本地风土人情,带有浓厚乡土气息,挖掘了人们的内心生活。他们忠实地记录了美国东部地区十九世纪后半叶的生活,有行将消失的边疆地区,有农村、有小镇、还有噪动的都市。有本土的主人公,有美国式的姑娘,有
为生活所迫的中产阶级家庭,有商人,有心理复杂的市民。总之,他们为后来的现实文学在题材、技巧和风格上都树立了典范。
威廉·狄思·豪威尔斯是19世纪末美国最负盛名的作家之一,享有“现实主义文学奠基人”之美誉,也是美国提倡现实主义文学的先驱。他和亨利·詹姆斯及马克·吐温是莫逆之交,并一同开创了美国现实主义文学的新世纪。他以其犀利敏锐的目光,栩栩如生地塑造了书中每一个人物形象。豪威尔斯反对浪漫主义文学, 认为文学创作应该不折不扣地处理原始材料, 即强调文学作品在反映社会现实方面的真实性与准确性。豪威尔斯主张以微笑的态度表现美国, 维护资产阶级的统治秩序, 协调各方面的矛盾, 被称为是“微笑的现实主义”。《塞拉斯·拉帕姆的发迹》通常被称为是豪威尔斯最具感染力的小说。它讲的是一个极度自信并充满独立奋斗精神的商人在破产后依然坚守自己人格的故事,在此书中,豪威尔斯批判了美国社会里的价值观和经济现状。
马克 .吐温通过创作把美国现实主义文学推向了高峰, 具有划时代意义, 是美国现实主义走向成熟的标志。他认为真实高于一切, 写作一定要认真观察, 如实反映, 才能具有审美价值。他打破了地方色彩小说的框框, 将人们的生活画面真实、清晰、透彻地表现出来, 这种深度是以往任何人都未曾达到的。他的作品中那种愤怒的讽刺、雄辩的政论性、细腻的心理描写、优美的抒情气息以及简洁和夸张的语言等, 使他成为美国批判现实主义的范例。
詹姆斯的主要作品是小说,此外也写了许多文学评论、游记、传记和剧本。他的小说常写美国人和欧洲人之间交往的问题;成人的罪恶如何影响并摧残了纯洁、聪慧的儿童;物质与精神之间的矛盾;艺术家的孤独,作家和艺术家的生活等。
四、二十世纪的英美现实主义文学
英国现实主义文学
进入20世纪后,现实主义作为一个文学流派或一场文学运动在英国文坛上已成为历史。但作为一种文艺思潮,现实主义在20世纪并没有销声匿迹,而是作为一种暗流在奔涌着现代主义浪潮的文学长河下无声无息但又不乏力度的流淌着。这一时期的高尔斯华绥、萧伯纳等大家仍有很强的实力。
肖伯纳受易卜生的影响,坚决主张艺术应当反映迫切的社会问题,反对“为艺术而艺术”的主张。他认为戏剧是“思想工厂”,舞台是“宣传讲台”,并由此开始他的戏剧创作。萧伯纳的戏剧最突出的思想特点是,紧密结合现实政治斗争,敢于触及资本主义社会最本质的问题,把剥削阶级的丑恶嘴脸暴露在公众面前。他是英国现代杰出的现实主义戏剧作家。
20世纪英国现实主义文学改变了维多利亚时代那种高雅温和的倾向,加强了对英国社会的保守性和虚伪性的批判,具有一种冷峻地直面人生的特点。在坚持现实主义的优良传统——如重视情节的完整性、人物的典型性、对现实的密切关注以及对道德的强调等——的基础上,根据历史条件的变化,广采博取其他
文学艺术流派的长处,不断创新,获得了题材的发展,使得界定的难度加大。
美国现实主义文学
二战期间及20世纪70年代后期形成了美国现实主义文学的第二次高峰。两次世界大战之间30年左右, 产生了福克纳、海明威那样别具风格的大师级的作家, 更产生了像欧·亨利、杰克·伦敦、德莱塞、斯泰因、多斯·珀索斯、斯坦贝克等现实主义声名卓著的文豪。
海明威是美国“迷惘的一代”作家中的代表人物,作品中对人生、世界、社会都表现出了迷茫和彷徨。他认为应该从繁杂的社会生活中撷取最有特征的情节,将自己的思想情感隐藏起来,按照“冰山原则”留下八分之七的空间让读者思考与揣摩,这种写法虽是寥寥数笔,却是入木三分,将人物的情感深刻地刻画出来,表现出一种不为命运所屈服的硬汉精神。
20世纪70年代中期又出现了一种现实主义文学复兴的景观。与美国现代主义作品相比, 美国近20年作品的写作重心有了转移, 即创作主题和题材有了变化, 不少作家的创作以家庭、回归为主题,即重温大团圆主题, 这跟现代主义时期作品中离家出走的主题形成了鲜明的对比。这正是20世纪70、80、90年代人们的社会心态在文学作品中的真实反映。
范文三:美国现实主义时期文学家及其作品
美国现实主义时期文学家及其作品 沃尔特·惠特曼(Walt Whitman,1819年-1892年),生于纽约州长岛,他是美国著名诗人、人文主义者,他创造了诗歌中的自由体(Free Verse),其代表作品是诗集《草叶集》。 斯托(Harriet Beecher Stowe ,l811年-1896年),女作家,生于康涅狄格州。她对黑人奴隶的遭遇十分同情,她写的长篇小说《汤姆叔叔的小屋》揭露了南部种植园黑人奴隶制的残暴和黑奴的痛苦。小说赞扬了伊莱扎夫妇所代表的黑人为反抗压迫、争取自由解放而作的斗争,同时也推崇汤姆所体现的逆来顺受的基督教博爱宽恕精神。小说发表后在国内外引起强烈反响,有力地推动了美国反奴隶制的斗争,但也遭到奴隶主的诋毁。1856年她发表了根据黑奴起义领袖德雷德·司各特的事迹写成的长篇小说《德雷德,阴暗的大沼地的故事》。
艾米莉·狄金森(又称狄更生)(Emily Dickinson,1830年-1886年),美国传奇诗人,她深锁在盒子里的大量创作诗篇是她留给世人的最大礼物。在她有生之年,她的作品未能获得青睐,然而周遭众人对她的不解与误会,却丝毫无法低损她丰富的创作天分。根据统计,艾米莉惊人的创作力为世人留下1800多首诗,包括了定本的1775首与新近发现的25首。作品有《我一直在爱》《这是鸟儿们回来的日子》《狂野的夜》《风暴之夜——激情之夜!》《头脑,比天空辽阔》《神奇的书》等。
马克·吐温(Mark Twain,1835年-1910年),原名萨缪尔·兰亨·克莱门 (Samuel Langhorne Clemens),是美国的幽默大师、小说家、作家,也是著名演说家,19世纪后期美国现实主义文学的杰出代表。《百万英镑》、《哈克贝利费恩历险记》、《汤姆·索亚历险记》。
亨利·詹姆斯(Henry James,1843年-1916年),19世纪美国继霍桑、麦尔维尔之后最伟大的小说家,也是美国乃至世界文学史上的大文豪。詹姆斯的主要作品是小说,此外也写了许多文学评论、游记、传记和剧本。他的小说常写美国人和欧洲人之间交往的问题;成人的罪恶如何影响并摧残了纯洁、聪慧的儿童;物质与精神之间的矛盾;艺术家的孤独,作家和艺术家的生活等。代表作有长篇小说:《一个美国人》、《一位女士的画像》、《鸽翼》、《使节》和《金碗》等。他的创作对20世纪崛起的现代派及后现代派文学有着非常巨大的影响。
欧·亨利(O. Henry,1862年-1910年),原名为威廉·西德尼·波特(William Sydney Porter)。美国著名批判现实主义作家,世界三大短篇小说大师之一。曾被评论界誉为曼哈顿桂冠散文作家和美国现代短篇小说之父。他的作品构思新颖,语言诙谐,结局常常出人意外,代表作有小说集《白菜与国王》、《四百万》、《命运之路》等。其中一些名篇如《爱的牺牲》、《警察与赞美诗》、《带家具出租的房间》、《贤人的礼物》(麦琪的礼物)、《最后一片藤叶》等使他获得了世界声誉。
杰克·伦敦(Jack London,1876年-1916年),原名为约翰·格利菲斯·伦敦,美国著名的现实主义作家。他一生共创作了约50卷作品,其中最为著名的有《野性的呼唤》《海狼》《白牙》《马丁·伊登》和一系列优秀短篇小说《热爱生命》《老头子同盟》《北方的奥德赛》《马普希的房子》《沉寂的雪原》等。
范文四:美国现实主义文学时期习题-带答案
The Age of Realism
I. Fill in the blanks.
1. Henry James first achieved recognition as a writer of the “ ” --- a story which brings together persons of various nationalities who represent certain characteristics of their country.
2. was Mark Twain’s masterpiece from which, as Hemingway noted, “all modern American literature comes.”
3. The three dominant figures of the American Realistic Period are William Dean Howells, and Henry James.
4. Henry James's emphasis on psychology and on the human consciousness proves to be a big breakthrough in novel writing and has great influence on the coming generations. That is why he is generally regarded as the forerunner of the 20th century “
5. As one of America’s first and foremost realists and humorists, _the pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens, usually wrote about his own personal experiences and things he knew about from firsthand experiences.
6.
realism was a special kind of psychological realism.
7. One of Clemens’s best books _
8. Mark Twain’s first novel, _was an artistic failure, but it gave its name to the America of the post-bellum period which it attempted to satirize.
9. The impact of Darwin’s evolutionary theory on the American thought and the influence of the 19th century French literature on the American men of letters gave rise to another school of
II. Decide whether the statements are true or false.
1. In the latter half of the nineteenth century, women somewhat became the nation’s dominant culture force. T
2. In the late nineteenth century, although Americans continued to read the works of Irving, Cooper, Hawthorne, and Poe, the great age of American romanticism had ended. T
3. The American realists sought to describe the wide range of American experience and to present the subtleties of human personality. T
4. Mark Twain had, as his aim of writing, the soul, the life, and the speech of the people in mind. T
5. Mark Twain’s later works unmistakably showed his change from an optimist and humorist to an almost despairing determinist. T
6. The bulk of America’s literary realism was limited to optimistic treatment of the surface of life.F
7. American naturalism, like realism, had come from Europe. T
8. Mark Twain’s last writings revealed the deep grief his personal losses had caused him and reflected the deep cynicism and disillusionment with his world. T
9. Henry James was not only one of the most important realists of the period before the First World War, but also one of the most expert stylists of his time. T
10. Henry James’ greatest influence was exerted not on his own age but on the one that followed.T
11. Uncle Tom’ s Cabin is written with vivid life-description and an enthusiastic political passion. T
12. Uncle Tom’ s Cabin plays an important role in promoting the political struggle against slavery. T
13. Mark Twain’s humor, satire and the unique artistic works are the gems of American literature. T
14. Jack London vividly describes the miserable life of the working people. T
15. O. Henry uses slang to give force and humor. T
16. Jack London tells his story through action rather than through words. T
17. Jack London’s prose style is forceful and colorful rather than precise. T
18. Henry James was concerned with the moral values. T
Ⅲ . Each of the following statements below is followed by four alternative answers. Choose the one that would best complete the statement.
1.
was dominated by the irresistible forces of evolution.
A. Unitarianism B. Origins of Species C. Puritanism and Influence D. Capitalist Economy
2. Who is called “the true father of our national literature” by the writer H. L. Mencken? B
A. Benjamin Franklin B. Mart Twain C. Hemingway D. William Faulkner
3. In the first part of the 20th century, apart from Darwinism, which was still a big influence upon the writers of this period, there were two thinkers __A___ whose ideas had the greatest impact on the period.
A. the German Karl Marx and the American Sigmund Freud
B. the German Karl Marx and the Austrian Sigmund Freud
C. the Swiss Car Jung and the American William James
D. the Austrian Karl Marx and the German Sigmund Freud
4. The American realists approached the harsh realities and pressures in the post-Civil war society by _D____.
A. a comprehensive picture of modern life in its various occupations, class stratifications and manners
B. a psychological exploration of man’s subconsciousness
C. a disillusion of heroism resulting from the dark memories of the Civil War
D. both A and B
5. By the turn of the century, with the publication of The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg and The Mysterious Stranger, the change in Mark Twain from ______ to _____ could be felt. C
A. an optimist...an almost despairing pessimist
B. an almost despairing pessimist...an optimist
C. a local colorist...a naturalist
D. a naturalist...a local colorist
6. The Portrait of a Lady is generally considered to be James’s masterpiece, which _B___.
A. incarnates the clash between the Old World and the New in the life journey of an American girl in a European cultural environment
B. tells a story about a young and innocent American confronting the complexity of the European life
C. is about a young American girl who gets “killed” by the winter in Rome
D. tells about some Europeans who learn with difficulty to adapt themselves to the American life
7. About Henry James’ literary criticism, which of the following is not right?D
A. It is both concerned with form and devoted to human values.
B. He indicates that the aim of the novel is to present life in every possible form.
C. He advocates the freedom of the artist to write about anything that concerns him.
D. He believes that the artist can’t feel the life, but he can understand human nature in their own way.
8. The characters presented by the naturalist writers were _A____.
A. more often than not dominated by their environment and heredity
B. usually idealized heroes or heroines of unspotted virtue and dazzling accomplishments
C. in most cases examples of human experience
D. people who were simply all good or all bad
9. After the Civil War America was transformed from ______ to ____. A
A. an agrarian community … an industrialized and commercialized society
B. an agrarian community … a society of freedom and equality
C. a poor and backward society … an industrialized and commercialized society
D. an industrialized and commercialized society … a highly developed society
10. Which of the following is said of the American naturalism? D
A. They preferred to have their own region and people at the forefront of the stories.
B. Their characteristic setting is usually an isolated town.
C. Humans should be united because they had to adapt themselves to changing harsh environment.
D. Their characters were conceived more or less complex combinations of inherited attributes, their habits conditioned by social and economic forces.
11. Which of the following is not right about Mark Twain's style of language? A
A. His sentence structures are long, ungrammatical and difficult to read.
B. His words are colloquial, concrete and direct in effect.
C. His humor is remarkable and characterized by puns, straight-faced exaggeration, repetition and anti-climax.
D. His style of language had exerted rather deep influence on the contemporary writers.
12. Which of the following is not written by Henry James? D
A. The Portrait of A Lady and The Europeans
B. The Wings of the Dove and The Ambassadors
C. What Maisie Knows and The Bostonians
D. The Genius and The Gilded Age
13. By the end of the 19th century, the American realists sought to _____ and therefore rejected the portrayal of idealized characters and events in their writings. D
A. describe the wide range of American experience
B. show animal nature of human beings
C. present the subtleties of human personality
D. both A and C
14. Which of the following is not right about Mark Twain? C
A. In his writings, he made a more extensive combination of American folk humor and serious literature than previous writers had ever done.
B. His The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is usually considered a classic book written for boys about their particular horrors and joys.
C. His caustic and increasingly bleak view of human nature began to appear in his early books.
D. As a sequel to Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn marks the climax of his literary creativity.
15. One of Henry James’s literary techniques innovated to cater for his psychological emphasis is his__D______.
A. technique of stream of consciousness
B. first person narrative
C. author’s participation in narrating
D. narrative point of view
16. The great American realist Henry James treated with great care ___C______ in the first period.
A. ancient European civilization which is satirized severely in his writings
B. the emotional and moral problems of Americans in Europe, or Europeans in America
C. the clashes between two different cultures, European and American
D. both B and C
17. Henry James’s fame generally rests upon his novels and stories with ___D____.
A. the love and marriage theme
B. the theme of humor and satire on life
C. the theme of revealing the miserable life of the poor and criticizing the capitalism
D. the international theme
18. After the Civil War America had been transformed from to . B
A. an agrarian community…a society of freedom and equality
B. an agrarian community…an industrialized and commercialized society
C. an industrialized and commercialized society…a highly developed society
D. a poor and backward society…an industrialized and commercialized society
19. The three dominant figures in the period of Realism of America are William Dean Howells, Mark Twain and___A_____. A. Henry James B. Tom James C. James Joyce D. Henry Joyce
20. The use of __D______ in his writings has made Mark Twain one of the major literary figures in the 19th century American literature.
A. point of view B. stream-of-consciousness C. interior monologue D. vernacular
21. ___A____ is generally considered to be Henry James’ masterpiece, which incarnates the clash between the Old World and the New in the life journey of an American girl in a European cultural environment.
A. The Portrait of a LadyB. The Golden Bowl
C. Daisy MillerD. The Turn of the Screw
22. Upon the publication of The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg (1900) and The Mysterious Stranger (1916), the change in Mark Twain from an optimist to an almost despairing pessimist could be felt and his cynicism and disillusionment with what Twain referred to regularly as the__C_____ became obvious.
A. damned slavery B. damned Negro C. damned human race D. damned society
23. Henry James is generally regarded as the forerunner of the 20th century __D______ novels and the founder of psychological realism.
A. local B. color C. physical D. stream-of-consciousness
24. In the post-Civil War society the American realists portrayed the harsh realities and pressures by __C______.
A. a comprehensive picture of modern life in its various occupations, class stratifications and manners
B. a narrative exploration of man’s subconsciousness
C. a disillusion of heroism resulting from the dark memories of the Civil War
D. a revival of heroism resulting from the glorious memories of the Revolutionary War
25. The realistic period is referred to as “the Gilded Age” by __A____.
A. Mark Twain B. Henry James C. Emily Dickinson D. Theodore Dreiser
26. ___B___, being a boy’s book specially written for the adults, is Mark Twain’s most representative book.
A. Roughing It B. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
C. Life on the Mississippi D. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
27. As a realist, Mark Twain concerned particularly about the local character of a region, which came about as “__C _____”. A. Naturalism B. Transcendentalism C. Local Colorism D. both A and C
28. Realism was a reaction against__B___ or a move away from the bias towards romance and self-creating fictions, and paved the way to Modernism.
A. Rationalism B. Romanticism C. Neoclassicism D. Enlightenment
29. Another fact that made __A__ unique is his magic power with language, his use of vernacular. His words are colloquial, concrete and direct in effect, and his sentence structures are simple, even ungrammatical, which is typical of the spoken language.
A. Twain B. Anderson C. James D. Dreiser
30. About Naturalism, which of the following statements is NOT correct? D
A. Naturalists chose their subjects from the lower ranks of society.
B. They portrayed misery and poverty of the “underdogs”, who were demonstrably victims of society and nature.
C. One of the most familiar themes in American Naturalism is the theme of human “bestiality,” especially an explanation of sexual desire.
D. American Naturalism is a reaction against Realism.
31. Which of the following is NOT a typical feature of Henry James’s writing style? D
A. Exquisite and elaborate language B. Minute detailed description
C. Lengthy psychological analysis D. American colloquialism
32. The Age of Realism is the literary history of the United States refers to the period from to . C
A. 1861 – 1914 B. 1863 – 1918 C. 1865 – 1914 D. 1865 – 1918
33. Who is described by Mark Twain as a boy with
A. Tom Sawyer B. Huckleberry Finn C. Jim D. Tony
34. Mark Twain, one of the greatest 19th century American writers, is well known for his .
A. international theme B. waste-land imagery C. local color D. symbolism
35. Mark Twain’s ____ tells a story of his boyhood ambitious to become a riverboat pilot, up and down the Mississippi. C A. Roughing It B. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
C. Life on the Mississippi D. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
IV . Terms
American Realism
In American literature, the Civil War brought the Romantic Period to an end. The Age of Realism came into existence. It came as a reaction against the lie of romanticism and sentimentalism. Realism turned from an emphasis on the strange toward a faithful rendering of the ordinary, a slice of life as it is really lived. It expresses the concern for commonplace and the low, and it offers an objective rather than an idealistic view of human nature and human experience.
Local colorism
Local Colorism or Regionalism as a trend first made its presence felt in the late 1860s and early seventies in America. It may be defined as the careful attegogoms in speech, dress or behavior peculiar to a geographical locality. The ultimate aim of the local colorists is to create the illusion of an indigenous little world with qualities that tell it apart from the world outside. The social and intellectual climate of the country provided a stimulating milieu for the growth of local color fiction in America. Local colorists concerned themselves with presenting and interpreting the local character of their regions. They tended to idealize and glorify, but they never forgot to keep an eye on the truthful color of local life. They formed an important part of the realistic movement. Although it lost its momentum toward the end of the 19th century, the local spirit continued to inspire and fertilize the imagination of author.
Naturalism
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. Naturalism was a new and harsher realism. It developed on the basis of realism but went a step further than it in portraying social reality.
V . Questions
1. What are the identifying Characteristics of Realistic Writing?
2. What is realism? What features does it have? Who are the important representatives?
3. Why did Whitman use the style of free verse to write his poetry? What kind of thoughts does Whitman express in his poetry? Find relative information from other sources.
4. Comment on Mark Twain’s Features
5. What is the most famous theme in Henry James’ fiction? What is his favorite approach in characterization, which makes him different from Mark Twain and W. D. Howells as realists?
6. A ccording to Henry James’ viewpoint, what is the conflict between the American personalities and European personalities?
7. What is naturalism? What features does it have? What connections does it have with realism? Who are the representatives?
8. What kind of literary position did Jack London hold? What about his literary ideas? Analyze his naturalistic ideas in The Call of the Wild and Martin Eden.
范文五:美国现实主义文学
Realism l
There is a period in American literature called “Realism ”. The period is ranging from 1865 to 1914 . But how to difine it ? In art and literature, Realism refers to an attempt to describe human behavior and surrounding or to represent figures exactly as they act or appear in life . It was a reaction against Romanticism or sentimentalism .
Realism expressed the concern for the world of experience ,of the commonplace ,and for the familiar and the low. Guided by the principle of adhering to the truthful treatment of life. The realists touch upon various contemporary social and political issues , it a comprehensive picture of modern life .
Three dominant figures in this period are William dean howells, Mark Twain, and Henry James .But there are other authors ,such as, Emily Dickinson, Harriet Beecher Stowe. O.Henry, Jack London ect. Howells,the champion of the new school ,felt that he must write what he observed and knew ..Howell’s emphasis has always been on ethics .he stresses the need for sympathy and integrity, and show his sympathy to the common and the poor .we can see it from his famous book “The Rise of Chance” ,”The minister’s Charge”, “A Modern Instance” ect. Henry
James ,his main theme “the art of fiction ” reveals his literary credo that representation of life should be the main object of the novel .He laid a greater emphasis on the :”inner world” of man .The creative life of Henry James can be divided into 3 distinct periods .In the first period he produced a large number of novels ,among which the most important include “The American ”,”Daisy Miller”, “The Portrait of a Lady ”which won him international fame and which reveals his fascination with his “international theme ”(American innocence in face of European sophistication ) . The second period ,in which he dropped the “international theme ”and wrote his tales of subtle studies of inter – personal relationships. The third period ,he wrote a few novellas and tales about the childhood and adolescence ,he back to his the first period theme international
theme ”.His books “ The Ambassadors” , “ The Wings of the Dove” The Golden Bowl “”, Which represents the summit of his art and career. Mark Twain preferred to have his own region and people at the forefront of his stories, which kown as “local colorism, a unique variation of American literary realism .With works like Adventure of Huckleberry Finn and Life on the Mississippi Twain shaped the world’s view of America and made a more extensive combination of American folk humor and serious literature than previous writers had ever done. We can see him use a lot of dialects and humorous words in his products .such as “Huckleberry Adventure
distinctive temperament , Uncle tom ,a inherent goodness and piety persan , a passive Christ-figure ,he do nothing when facing the wrongs committed against him . There are two majou plots : uncle tom’s harsh experiences, Eliza’s struggle foe her own happiness and freedom. We can see the evil of slavery ,the discrimination between the whites to the blacks. We show sympathy to the slaves.their lives are under the controls of their owners. We can see the moral power of women. Eliza’s struggle for freedom , and lastly she succeded. Tom is an adiremable person, he is faithful , kind, has the conciousness to define the right and wrong , broden-hearted. Loyal .such a person just get a misery ending . Harriet Beecher Stowe use thiu figure to arouse the sympathy from the white people and evoke the white men. The other character Eliza ,she represents the new power, Harriet Beecher Stowe express the highly reward to her. The book shoe us the picture of the united states. It’s a good book..
Realism write the common people ,different from the romanticiam. It express the true life of the people. It makes the language as invisible as possible, a neutral reflector impersonal reality. There is no doubt that realism is a property period in American literature history .It creates a lot of wealthy culture. It describe the phenoneme of the society, provide us the real history. It paved the way foe the modernism.