Chapter-5--Postwar-Literature

Chapter5AmericanLiteratureSince1945AmericanLiteraturesince19451.Introduction2.PostmodernFictionBlackHumorLiterature12周MetafictionPostmodernRealismAvant-PopLiterature3.RealisticFiction（13周）4.Postmodernpoetry（14周）5.JewishAmericanLiterature6.AfricanAmericanLiterature（15周）7.NativeAmericanLiterature8.ChineseAmericanLiterature（16周）9.NewDevelopmentinTheatreIPostmodernFictionPostmodernismliterallymeans“afterthemodernistmovement”.While‘modern’itselfreferstosomething“relatedtothepresent”,themovementofmodernismandthefollowingreactionofpostmodernismaredefinedbyasetofperspectives:-DominicStrinatilistedcharacteristicsofpostmodernism.thebreakdownofthedistinctionbetweencultureandsociety;thebreakdownofthedistinctionbetweenartandpopularculture;confusionovertimeandspace;thedeclineofmeta-narratives---Strinati,Dominic.AnIntroductiontoTheoriesofPopularCulture.London&NewYork:Routedge,1995,p.223-28.postmodernismiscomposedofsixelements,BreakingtheFrame;FactMeetsFiction;PopularCultureandHighCultureCollide;RevisitingHistory,RevisingTradition;Technoculture.----PaulaGeyhandFredG.Leebron,eds.PostmodernAmericanFictions:ANortonAnthology.NewYork:Norton&Company,1998.IhabHassanlistssomeitems:“deconstruction”,（解构）“intertext”,（互文性）“indeterminacy”,（不确定性）“immanence”（固有性）----IhabHassan.Postface1982:TowardaConceptofPostmodernism.CriticalEssaysonAmericanPostmodernism.NewYork:MacmillanPublishingCompany,1995,p.87.GanWenpingsummarizespartofthecore:PopularCultureFromConstructiontoDeconstruction,‘Grandrecrits’aretoputendby‘petitsrecrits’，SurrealismandMetafiction.---GanWenping,OnRobertStoneandTimO’BrienAmericanFictionoftheVietnamWarWithinandBeyond.Xiamen:XiamenUniversityPress,2004.GanWenpingsummarizespartofthecore:“PopularCulture”,forexample,Commercialismandvulgarity,suchasadvertisements,popmusic,filmsandtravelinghadfoundtheirwayintopostmodernistfiction.“FromConstructiontoDeconstruction”,‘Grandrecrits’,whosefunctionistounify,synthesize,totalize,andlegitimate，aretoputendbytheheterogeneityofmillionsof‘petitsrecrits’，whosefunctionistoresist,subvert,andunderminetheformer.SurrealismandMetafiction.Surrealismfocusesondepictingdreams,illusions,andthelikedeeplyimbeddedtheunconsciousrealm.Metafictionarguesthatallnovelsarefictional.Forinstance,thewritersliketobreaklinearandsequentialnarrativesbyemployingfragmentedornonlinearnarration.Somefurtherarguethatthebeginningofpostmodernliteraturecouldbemarkedbysignificantpublicationsorliteraryevents.Forexample,somemarkthebeginningofpostmodernismwiththefirstperformanceofWaitingforGodotin1953,thefirstpublicationofHowlin1956orofNakedLunchin1959Irony,playfulness,blackhumor,thesethemesandtechniquesareoftenusedtogether.Thesearenotusedbyallpostmodernistsandthislistisnotanexclusiveoneoffeatures.Infact,severalnovelistslatertobelabeledpostmodernwerefirstcollectivelylabeledblackhumorists.PartII:BlackhumorLiteratureTheuseofthemorbidandtheabsurdfordarkcomicpurposeinmodernfictionanddrama.Thetermrefersasmuchtothetoneofangerandbitternessasitdoestothegrotesqueandmorbidsituations,whichoftendealwithsuffering,anxietyanddeath.PartII:BlackhumorLiteratureBlackhumorisregardedasapostmodernisttechniqueofexpression.Itregardstheworldasabsurdandunreasonableandgivesasmileafterfeelingextremelyandthoroughlypessimistic.Theabsurdityifexistencecanonlybeacceptedbecauseitisessentialyapartofthelifeandtheworld.Theblackhumorfictionistsusethelanguagetoplaythegameinwhichexistencedoesnotputforthacardwithreason.PartII:BlackhumorLiteratureItisasubstantialelementintheAnti-novelandthetheateroftheabsurd.JosephHeller’sCatch-22《第22条军规》isanarchetypalexample.黑色幽默(BlackHumor)20世纪60年代美国重要的文学流派。1965年3月，弗里德曼编了一本短篇小说集，收入12个作家的作品，题名为《黑色幽默》，“黑色幽默”一词即由此而来。它是60年代美国小说创作中最有代表性的流派之一。进入70年代后，“黑色幽默”的声势大减，但不时仍有新作出现，它在美国文学中至今仍有相当深远的影响。它的主要作家有约瑟夫·海勒、克特·小伏尼格、托马斯·平钦、约翰·巴斯、詹姆斯·珀迪、布鲁斯·杰伊·弗里德曼、唐纳德·巴赛尔姆等。“黑色幽默”的小说家突出描写人物周围世界的荒谬和社会对个人的压迫，以一种无可奈何的嘲讽态度表现环境和个人(即“自我”)之间的互不协调，并把这种互不协调的现象加以放大，扭曲，变成畸形，使它们显得更加荒诞不经，滑稽可笑，同时又令人感到沉重和苦闷。因此，有一些评论家把“黑色幽默”称为“绞架下的幽默”或“大难临头时的幽默”。“黑色幽默”作家往往塑造一些乖僻的“反英雄”人物，借他们的可笑的言行影射社会现实，表达作家对社会问题的观点。在描写手法方面，“黑色幽默”作家也打破传统，小说的情节缺乏逻辑联系，常常把叙述现实生活与幻想和回忆混合起来，把严肃的哲理和插科打诨混成一团。例如海勒的《第二十二条军规》、平钦的《万有引力之虹》、小伏尼格的《第一流的早餐》。有些“黑色幽默”小说则嘲笑人类的精神危机，如巴斯的《烟草经纪人》和珀迪的《凯柏特·赖特开始了》。“黑色幽默”作为一种美学形式，属于喜剧范畴，但又是一种带有悲剧色彩的变态的喜剧。“黑色幽默”的产生是与60年代美国的动荡不安相联系的。当代资本主义社会的荒谬可笑的事物和“喜剧性”的矛盾不是作家们凭主观意志所能创造的，它们是那种社会生活的反映。这种反映虽然具有一定的社会意义和认识价值，作家虽然也抨击了包括统治阶级在内的一切权威，但是他们强调社会环境是难以改变的，因而作品中往往流露出悲观绝望的情绪。PartIII3.1Catch22byJosephHellerThenovelfollowsYossarian,aU.S.ArmyAirForcesB-25bombardier,andanumberofothercharacters.Mosteventsoccurwhiletheairmenofthefictional256thsquadronarebasedontheislandofPianosa,intheMediterraneanSeawestofItaly.Amongotherthings,Catch-22isageneralcritiqueofbureaucraticoperationandreasoning.Resultingfromitsspecificuseinthebook,thephraseCatch-22iscommonidiomaticusagemeaningano-winsituationoradoublebindofanytype.Withinthebook,Catch-22isamilitaryrule,theself-contradictorycircularlogicthat,forexample,preventsanyonefromavoidingcombatmissions.TherewasonlyonecatchandthatwasCatc