Chapters 23-24 英国文学简史ppt(English Literature）教学文稿.pptVIP

* * Key Points in Chapter 23 Fiction of the 1930s Aldous Huxley George Orwell Evelyn Waugh Graham Greene Christopher Isherwood Fictions of the 1930s Introduction I It is a critical commonplace to state that, in the 1930s and ever since, English fiction has not been as good as it used to be. One thing to note about the fiction of this period was its refusal to deal with serious international crisis. These writers reverted back to the traditional plot and characterization which modernist writers had despised and almost discarded. The writers of the 1930s were no longer “Modernist.” Fictions of the 1930s Introduction II British writers focused now more on Britain and felt less concerned with “international” or European literary creativity. Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) Introduction Aldous Huxley was grandson of the famous Thomas Huxley, the strenuous and discreet defender of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. His best literary effort is Brave the New World. George Orwell (1903-1950) Introduction Orwell started off with his leftist sympathies in the 1930s, came off under the influence of the socialist ideas afloat then, took an active part in the Spanish War, but ended up sorely frustrated with Stalinism. His Animal Farm played an important part in the post-WWII anti-Soviet campaign. Christopher Isherwood (1904-1986) Introduction Isherwood was a left-oriented realist in the 1930s, and wrote his best works in the decade. His best famous works are his Berlin stories that appear in his novels Mr. Norris Changes Trains, Goodbye to Berlin, and The Berlin Stories. Key Points in Chapter 24 Postwar Poetry Philip Larkin Donald Davie Thom Gunn English Poetry since the 1960s and 1970s Postwar Poetry Introduction I On the one hand, Modernist poets and works were still highly visible. On the other hand, a new generation was emerging. Literary historians have tended to label the new poets of the 1950s all as part of what has come to be known as “Movement” poetry. The “Movement