西北师范大学美国文学通史课件 Chapter9 Colonial Period.ppt

Chapter 9 Local Colorism * Mark Twain I. Local Colorism (p. 130-132) 1. Local Colorism is defined by Hamlin Garland in his Crumbling Idols as having “such quality of texture and background that it could not have been written in any other place or by anyone else than a native.” Garland’s “texture” refers to the elements which characterize a local culture, elements such as speech, customs, and mores peculiar to one particular place. And his “background” covers physical setting and those distinctive qualities of landscape which condition human thought and behavior. 2. The ultimate aim of the local colorists is to create the illusion of an indigenous little world with qualities that tell it apart from the world outside. Chapter 9 Local Colorism * Mark Twain 3. Local colorism or Regionalism as a trend first made its presence felt in the late 1860s and early 1870s. It did not cease to be a dominant fashion until the turn of the 20th century. It formed an important part of the realistic movement. 4. The appearance of Bret Harte’s “The Luck of Roaring Camp” in 1868 marked a significant development in the brief history of local color fiction. 5. Local colorists concerned themselves with presenting and interpreting the local character of their regions. They tended to idealize and glorify, but they never forgot to keep an eye on the truthful color of local life. 6. The representative figures are such as Sarah Orne Jewett (Deephaven about coastal Maine), Kate Chopin (Bayou Folk, The Awakening about Lousiana), Thomas Nelson Page (about the South), Harmlin Garland, Bret Harte, and, of course, Mark Twain. 7. It greatly affected the later giant such as Willa Cather, Steinbeck and Faulkner. Other Definitions Local Colorism or Regionalism as a trend first made its presence felt in the late 1860s and early 1870s in America. It may be defined as the careful attention in speech, dress or behavior peculiar to a geographical locality. The ultimate aim of the local colorists i