美国文学简史常耀信版讲义4课件.pptVIP

American Naturalism Background Influences 1. Darwin’s theory: “natural selection” --- survival of the fittest in natural selection 2. Spenser’s idea: “social Darwinism” --- the utilization of Darwin’s ideas to justify predatory competition between men. 3. French Naturalism: Zora --- an overemphasis on the coarser sides of life Features 1. environment and heredity 2. scientific accuracy and a lot of details 3. general tone: hopelessness, despair, gloom, ugly side of the society significance It prepares the way for the writing of 1920s’ “lost generation” and T. S. Eliot. Realism vs. Naturalism Specific changes in subject matter and characterization which help in defining Naturalism as different from Realism: 1. The subject matter: A. The subject matter deals with those raw and unpleasant experiences which reduce characters to “degrading” behavior in their struggle to survive. These characters are mostly from the lower middle or the lower classes - they are poor, uneducated. B. The milieu is the commonplace and the unheroic; life is usually the dull round of daily existence. But the naturalist discovers those qualities in such characters usually associated with the heroic or adventurous --- acts of violence and passion leading to desperate moments and violent death. The suggestion is that life on its lowest levels is not so simple as it seems to be. C. Generally the controlling force is society , the surrounding environment and heredity. 2. The concept of a naturalistic character: a. Characters are conditioned and controlled by environment, heredity, chance, or instinct; but they have compensating humanistic values that affirm their individuality and life --- their struggle for life becomes heroic and they maintain human dignity. b. The Naturalists attempt to represent the intermingling in life of the controlling forces and individual worth. ---“The primary goal of the late nineteenth-century American Naturalists was not to demonstrate the