Lecture 8 Local Colorism and Mark Twain.doc

Lecture 8 Local Colorism and Mark Twain Local Colorism Definition “Local colorism”, a unique variation of American literary realism, is a type of writing that was popular in the late 19th century, particularly among authors in the American South of the particular region in which the story took place. Local color fiction “exploits the speech, dress, mannerisms, habits of thought which are peculiar to a certain region. Local color writing exists primarily for the portrayal of the people and life of a geographical setting”. The major tasks of local colorists are to write or present local characters of their regions in truthful depiction distinguished from others, usually a very small part of the world. Representatives Bret Harte –The Luck of Roaring Camp 《咆哮营的幸运儿》 Chopin – Louisiana Bayou Folk《路易斯安娜移民》, A Night in Acadie　《爱克迪之夜》, The Awakening　《觉醒》 Mark Twain Pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens, leading figure of local colorism Works The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, 《卡拉维拉斯县驰名的跳蛙》 a frontier tale (tall tale) (1) The Gilded Age 《镀金时代》written in collaboration with Charles Dudley Warner (2) “the two advantages”:　The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (a book from which all modern American literature comes.) (3) Life on the Mississippi 《密西西比河上》 (4) A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court　《亚瑟王朝里的康涅狄格州美国佬》 (5) The Man That Corrupted Hardleybug　《败坏了哈德莱堡的人》 (6) The Mysterious Stranger 《神秘的陌生人》 (7) Autobiography (8)Innocents Abroad 《傻子出国记》 (9)Roughing It《艰难岁月》 (10)Puddnhead Wilson《傻瓜维尔逊》 (11)The Prince and the Pauper《王子与贫民》 (12American Claimant《美国申请人》 (13)Disgraceful Persecution of a Boy《残害一个男童》 (14)Goldsmiths Friend Abroad Again, 《哥德斯密斯的朋友又出国了》 (15)The Treaty with China《与中国的条约》 (16)To the Person Sitting in Darkness《致坐在黑暗中的人》 (13-16 show Mark Twain’s attitude towards the Chinese) Writing Style (1) His use of colloquial language, vernacular language, dialects His words are col1oquial, short, concrete and direct in effect, an