Critical Realism 批判现实主义 英国文学.ppt

Critical Realism What is Critical Realism? Critical Realism is the main trend of the literary thoughts in the late 19th century. It reveals the corrupting influence of the rule of cash upon human nature. Critical realists first and foremost set themselves the task of criticizing capitalist society from a democratic viewpoint of bourgeoisie reality. As far as the literary form or “genre” is concerned, the major contribution made by the 19th century critical realists lies in their perfection of the novels. Like the realists of the 18th century, the 19th century critical realists made use of the form of novel for full and detailed representations of social and political events, and of the fate of individuals and of whole social classes. What are the main characteristics of the English critical realism? English critical realism of the 19th century flourished in the forties and in the early fifties. The critical realists described with much vividness and artistic skill the chief trait of the English society and criticized the capitalist system from a democratic viewpoint. The English critical realists of the 19th century not only gave a satirical portrayal of the bourgeoisie and all the ruling classes, but also showed profound sympathy for the common people. In their best works, the greed and hypocrisy of the upper-classes are contrasted with the honesty and good-heartedness of the obscure “simple people” of the lower classes. Hence humor and satire abound in the English realistic novels of the 19th century. The critical realists of the 19th century did not, and, due to their world outlook, could not, find a way to eradicate social evils. Aestheticism Fairly early in the nineteenth century there developed in France a devotion to beauty not because beauty reflected a Divine Mind, but because it was good in itself in a materialistic world which otherwise seemed chaotic and depressing. The aesthetic movement thus rejected theories which held that the value of literature i