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Chapter 3 The Age of Realism
I. Background: From Romanticism to Realism 1.the three conflicts that reached breaking point in this period （1）industrialism vs. agrarian1 （2）culturely-measured east vs. newly-developed west （3）plantation gentility vs. commercial gentility 2.1880＊s urbanization: from free competition to monopoly capitalism2 3.the closing of American frontier II. Characteristics 1.truthful3 description of life 2.typical character under typical circumstance 3.objective rather than idealized, close observation and investigation4 of life ※Realistic writers are like scientists.§ 4.open-ending: Life is complex and cannot be fully5 understood. It leaves much room for readers to think by themselves. 5.concerned with social and psychological problems, revealing the frustrations6 of characters in an environment of sordidness7 and depravity III. Three Giants in Realistic Period 1.William Dean Howells 每 ※Dean of American Realism§ （1）Realistic principles a. Realism is ※fidelity to experience and probability of motive§. b. The aim is ※talk of some ordinary traits of American life§. c. Man in his natural and unaffected dullness was the object of Howells＊s fictional9 representation. d. Realism is by no means mere10 photographic pictures of externals but includes a central concern with ※motives§ and psychological conflicts. e. He condemns11 novels of sentimentality and morbid12 self-sacrifice, and avoids such themes as illicit13 love. f. Authors should minimize plot and the artificial ordering of the sense of something ※desultory, unfinished, imperfect§. g. Characters should have solidity of specification15 and be real. h. Interpreting sympathetically the ※common feelings of commonplace people§ was best suited as a technique to express the spirit of America. i.He urged writers to winnow16 tradition and write in keeping with current humanitarian17 ideals. j.Truth is the highest beauty, but it includes the view that morality penetrates18 all things. k. With regard to literary criticism, Howells felt that the literary critic should not try to impose arbitrary or subjective19 evaluations20 on books but should follow the detached scientist in accurate description, interpretation21, and classification. （2）Works a. The Rise of Silas Lapham b. A Chance Acquaintance c. A Modern Instance （3）Features of His Works a. Optimistic tone b. Moral development/ethics c. Lacking of psychological depth 2.Henry James （1）Life （2）Literary career: three stages a. 1865~1882: international theme l The American l The Portrait of a Lady b. 1882~1895: inter-personal relationships and some plays l Daisy Miller （play） c. 1895~1900: novellas and tales dealing23 with childhood and adolescence24, then back to international theme l The Turn of the Screw l When Maisie Knew l The Ambassadors l The Wings of the Dove l The Golden Bowl （3）Aesthetic ideas a. The aim of novel: represent life b. Common, even ugly side of life c. Social function of art d. Avoiding omniscient25 point of view （4）Point of view a. Psychological analysis, forefather26 of stream of consciousness b. Psychological realism c. Highly-refined language （5）Style 每 ※stylist§ a. Language: highly-refined, polished, insightful, accurate b. Vocabulary: large c. Construction: complicated, intricate 3.Mark Twain （see next section） Local Colorism 1860s, 1870s~1890s I. Appearance 1.uneven27 development in economy in America 2.culture: flourishing of frontier literature, humourists 3.magazines appeared to let writer publish their works II. What is ※Local Colour§? Tasks of local colourists: to write or present local characters of their regions in truthful depiction28 distinguished29 from others, usually a very small part of the world. Regional literature （similar, but larger in world） lGarland, Harte 每 the west lEggleston 每 Indiana lMrs Stowe lJewett 每 Maine lChopin 每 Louisiana III. Mark Twain 每 Mississippi 1.life 2.works （2）※the two advantages§ （3）Life on the Mississippi （4）A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur＊s Court （5）The Man That Corrupted31 Hardleybug 3.style （1）colloquial language, vernacular32 language, dialects （2）local colour （3）syntactic feature: sentences are simple, brief, sometimes ungrammatical （4）humour （5）tall tales （highly exaggerated） （6）social criticism （satire33 on the different ugly things in society） IV. Comparison of the three ※giants§ of American Realism 1.Theme Howells 每 middle class James 每 upper class Twain 每 lower class 2.Technique Howells 每 smiling/genteel realism James 每 psychological realism Twain 每 local colourism and colloquialism 点击  收听单词发音
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