The-Glass-Mountain

DifferentLiterarySchools•Neo-Classicism:reason理性---order次序(didactic,moralizing)•Romanticism:emotion情感---individuality个性(confessional)•Realism:humanism人道---type典型(critical)•Modernism:alienation异化---absurdity荒诞(nauseating,strange,awakening)•Absurdityisaformofexpressingalienation,amarkofawakeningandthebeginningtorealizetheworldtruly.•Postmodernism:deconstruction解构---playfulness游戏(exaggerating,distorting,grotesque,fantastictorevealthetruthoflife)likebuildingtoybricks积木.Postmodernism(mid20thC-)•Postmodernismdisbelievesrationalism,idealism,andthesubjectiveapprehensionofexperience.•Holdsthattherealityofmodemlifewastooelusiveanduncertainforpeople,torationalizeandidealize.Anyattempttoimposeorderonadisorderedrealitywasartificialandfalsifying.Therefore,theychosetheplayofirrationality,thefreeplayoflanguageoverdiscursivecoherenceandformalisticunity.•Byrenderinglanguageirrationalandevenunreadable,postmodernwritersneutralizedthefiasco(惨败)ofrealityandtheimposture(欺诈)ofhistoryandsuggestedparticipationinthechaosandabsurdityoftheworldastheonlymeaningfulwayoflife.•Theybelievedthiswasthewaytocomeclosertothetruthoftheworld.Byusingpastiche(模仿),parody(仿拟),irony,digression(离题),andplayfulness,postmodernistwritingcreatedarupture(决裂)inordertorevivean“exhausted”genre---agenrethatcouldnolongeraccommodateandexpresstheextravagantnotionsoftimeandspaceofthepostindustrialreality.•Hence,disorder,deliberatechaos,fragmentation,violence,disruption,dislocation,decentering,contradiction,confrontation,multiplicity,andindeterminationcompriseandaccompanythepostmoderntext.modernismandpostmodernism•Postmodernismisareactionagainstmodernism.•Moderniststriedtocontrolthefragmentedsocietythroughtheagencyofartandgiveitanartform,butpostmodernwritersweretoonihilistictotrusttheirownabilitytogiveshapeorsignificancetotheabsurdworld.•Modernconsciousnessdevelopedanumberofresponsesthatcreatedasenseofunderlyingcoherenceandorder,butpostmodernconsciousnesscouldnolongerfindaresponseadequatetothesituationinwhichitfounditself.•Modernistliteraturemanipulatedancientmythsandstablesymbols,butpostmodernfictionconfrontedandexplodedcontemporarymythsandcliches(陈词滥调).•Modernismemphasizedthesubjectiveapprehensionofexperience,butpostmodernismfounditselfunabletostructureanyorderingideasofrealityandsoconceivedofrealityasitselfunreal.RatherthanobservingthemodernistsloganMakeItNew,postmodernismwritersrepeated,parodied,andslowedthingsdown.Theyappropriatedothergenres,bothhighandpopular,longingforaboth/andsituationratherthanoneofeither/or.DonaldBarthelme(1931-1989)•Barthelmeisknownprimarilyasasurrealistandblackhumorist,oneofthemostexcitingandstrikinglyinnovativewritersinthepostwarera.•Hewasacreativefantasticwriterandexperimentedwithnon-linearnarrativeandabsurdisttechniques.•HewaselectedtotheAmericanAcademyofArtsandletters.HisOutlook•Barthelmefeltthatacrisiswasathandforsocietyandforliterature,andthatallformsofdogma,convention,andcovertideologyneededtobereexamined,exposedasartifices,andreplacedifnecessarybyfreshersystemsmoresuitabletothetimes.HisStyle•Herejectedconventionsofplotandcharacterizationandmadelittleattempttomirrorreality.Therefore,heincludedfragments,pictures,questionnaires,catalogues,collages,captionsofvarioussizes,butstillmaintainedhiscommitmenttoaworldoutofjoint.•Inhisfictionparodyisevidentlyhissecondtrick,thoughplayedveryeffectively.SnowWhite(1967)isanabsurdistdissectionoffairytalewhichwonhimtheNationalAward.Barthelmetookadvantageofthefamousfairytaleofthesametitleandwarped(distorted)itinadegradedmodernsetting.•TheinnocentSnowWhitebecomesavulgarhousewifewhokeepspromiscuousrelationswithsevendwarfs.•Byapplyingparody,thenovelsatirizesmodernsocietywhichblemishes(玷污)theromanticinnocenceofthefairytale.Thefrequentnarrationismadeupofwordgamesandrandomallusionstobothliteratureandpopularculture,takingthedisintegrationoflanguageasacentralmetaphorforthebreakdownofpersonalrelationships.“TheGlassMountain”ByDonaldBarthelmeQuestionsforUnderstanding1.Whatarethefeaturesofthetypographyorthearrangementofthewordsin“TheGlassMountain”?Features:•Numberingsystem•Separatelines•FragmentedsentencesEffects:•Illogic/Discontinuity•Playfulness•Fictionality/Fictitiousness•Unbelievablity•2.Isthereanysignificancetothenumberingofsentencesandsentencefragments?What?1)arebelliousinnovationtodefythenormalwayoftypographyandgraphologyofstorywriting2)Achallengetotheconventionalreadinghabit3)theplayfulnessoflanguage4)discontinuityofthecontent5)arevelationofthedisorder,thechaos,theincongruityofrealityunderthesurfaceorder6)thepurefictitiousnessofliterarytexts3.Whatmodernistdevicesareusedinthestory?(1)Repetition:Itnotonlyshowstheplayfulnessofwordsandthefictitiousnessofstoryitself,butalsointerruptsthenarrative.Readersareforetoldabouttheclimaxofthestory;sosuspensiontreasuredbyconventionshereiscompletelyletslidebythewriter.(2)Catalogues（目录）:Themixtureofdifferentcatalogues,suchastheprofessionalcolors,fabricatedknights’namesandtheacquaintances’vulgarcomments,successfullyinterruptsthesequenceofplot,makingitselfanaspectofthediffic