美国文学史之John Steinbeck.pptVIP

Lecture Twenty-three The 1930s?Dos Passos? Steinbeck Social background in 1930s A period of economic disaster and physical wasteland The Great Depression (Oct. 24.1929) the paradox in the capital system with the result of people’s doubt about it Major Features of the 1930s’ Literature Content: Social involvement and concern about the society Technique: the revival of naturalism and realism in addition to the influence of modernism Novels in 1930s Writers who made their names in 1920s continued to produce great works Young southern writers, such as Porter, Welty and McCullers, came to the stage John Dos Passos and John Steinbeck Novels of the “hard knocks” generation, “children of the depression” Popular novels, such as Gone With the Wind(1936) Novels of the “children of the depression” James T. Farrell (1904-1979): 18 novels and 200 short stories Studs Lonigan trilogy: Young Lonigan (1932); The Young Manhood of Studs Lonigan (1934); Judgment Day(1935) Features: naturalistic tradition; solidity of detail John O’Hara (1905-1970): Appointment in Samara(1934) (Julian English) Features: honest recording but in the lack of artistic control Limits of novels of the “children of the depression”: Too much time-bound and space-bound without the assertion of confidence and courage in man John Dos Passos (1896-1970) Chicago (1896) Harvard (1912-1916) One Man’s Initiation:1912 (1920) His political outlook Major Works Writings in 1920s: Three Soldiers(1921); Streets of Night (1923); Manhattan Transfer(1925); etc. Writings in 1930s: Trilogy of U.S.A.: The 42nd Parallel (1930); 1919(1932); The Big Money(1936) District of Columbia: Adventures of a Young Man (1939); Number One (1943); The Grand Design (1949) Trilogy of U.S.A. Contents: the trilogy presents a near-authentic fictional history of the evolution of America which began from the Gilded Age Theme: individual physical and spiritual welfare struggling against the crushing power of “machines”, such as Army, Law, Corpora