American Realism[精品].ppt

American Realism Background 1. the Civil War 1)The industrialized North defeated the agrarian South, and the United States headed toward capitalism. 2)The war taught men that life, man and God were not so good. 3)The war marked a change in the quality of American life, a deterioration of American moral values. * 2. 1880’s urbanization: from free competition to monopoly capitalism Commerce took the lead in the national economy. The spirit of self-reliance became perverted into a lust for money and power. Increasing industrialization produced extremes of wealth and poverty. Wealth and power were more and more concentrated in the hands of the few captains of industry“. In the meantime, millions of people were struggling for survival. * 3. the closing of American frontier 1) Now that the frontier was about to close and the safety valve was ceasing to operate. The American lost their dream and imagination. 2)Beneath the glittering surface of prosperity there lay suffering and unhappiness. What had been expected to be a Golden Age turned out to be a Gilded one. * American Realism (1870-1890) 1. Realism originated in France. A literary doctrine that called for “reality and truth” in the depiction of ordinary life. 2. American realism, different from European realism, is more varied and individualistic. * 4. Development of American realism: first appear in the literature of local color, arbiter: William Dean Howells. He defined realism as “nothing more and nothing less than the truthful treatment of material”. 5. Important writers: Henry James, Mark Twain. * Influences on American Realism Journalistic accounts of the Civil War established a taste for realistic writing. New subject matter - factory and farm life, slums, corruption, politics, hardships, poverty Great interest in science and scientific method. Darwin’s “Law of the Jungle” * Elements of Realism Realists were concerned with the whole of life, not just surface of it Produced intensely personal works