现实主义-American-Literature-of-Realism

AmericanLiteratureofRealism1865-1918HistoricalBackgroundAftertheCivilWar,theU.S.headedtowardcapitalismIncreasingindustrializationandmechanizationofthecountryproducedextremesofwealthandpoverty.Thefrontierwasclosing.HistoricalBackgroundAreexaminationoflifebeganTheworthoftheAmericandream,theidealized,romanticviewofmanandhislifeintheNewWorldbegantoloseitsholdonthepeople.Beneaththeglitteringsurfaceofprosperitytherelaysufferingandunhappiness.Disillusionmentandfrustrationwerewidelyfelt.RealismDefinitionAsaliterarymovementrealismcameinthelatterhalfofthe19thc.asareactionagainst“thelie”ofromanticismandsentimentalism.Itexpressedtheconcernfortheworldofexperience,ofthecommonplace,andforthefamiliarandthelow.WithHowells,James,andMarkTwainactiveonthescene,realismbecameamajortrendinthe1870sand1880s.RealismFeaturesVerisimilitude(逼真)ofdetailderivedfromobservationEfforttoapproachthenormofexperienceOfferanobjectiveratherthananidealizedviewofhumannatureandexperienceWritersofAmericanRealismLocalcolorism乡土文学AsubdivisionofRealism,localcolorwritingwasmarkedbydialect,eccentriccharacters,andsentimentalizedsadnessoreccentrichumor.Itexploitsthespeech,dress,mannerisms,habitsofthought,andtopography(地貌)peculiartoacertainregion,primarilyfortheportrayalofthelifeofageographicalsetting.ItlackedthebasicseriousnessoftruerealismWritersofAmericanRealism3championsofRealism(1)WilliamDeanHowells(1837-1920)(2)MarkTwain(1835-1910)(3)HenryJames(1843-1916)WritersofAmericanRealismNaturalismwroteaboutthehelplessnessofman,hisinsignificanceinacoldworld,andhislackofdignityinfaceofthecrushingforcesofenvironmentandheredity.Theyreportedtruthfullyandobjectively,withapassionforscientificaccuracyandanoverwhelmingaccumulationoffactualdetail.StephenCrane,FrankNorris,JackLondon,TheodoreDreiser