John-Barth

JohnBarth杨丽娜201110694Outline•AuthorialLife•IdeasandThemes•Techniques•MajorWorks•BibliographyⅠ.AuthorialLifeJohnBarth,anativesonofMaryland’sEasternShoreandtheholderoftwodegreesfromJohnsHopkinsUniversity,novelistandshort-storywriter.HeisrecognizedasoneoftheforemostAmericanpractitionersofpost-modernistfiction.JohnBarth(1930-)BarthwasbornonMay27,in1930.BeforedevotinghislifetothemusicalqualitiesoftheEnglishlanguage,BarthstudiedmusicbrieflyatJuilliard.HecametoJohnsHopkinsUniversityin1947,earningaBAin1951andaMAincreativewritingin1952.Sincethen,hehasbecomeacollegewritingteacherinanumberofuniversities.Thiscareerallowshimthetimeheneedsforhisfiction:itfiguresinthesettingsofsomeworks,somecriticsfeel,intheeruditenessofallhisficitions.Ⅱ.IdeasandThemes■LiteraryexhaustionandreplenishmentJohnBarththinksthenovelasagenrehasbeenperfectedbythegreatmasterofthe19thcenturyandthefirstpartofthe20th,itspossibilitiesasaformhavebeenexhausted,andalltheavailableplotshavebeenusedup.Flaubert,Tolstoy,Hemingway,andFaulknerhaveourrespectandadmiration,butpossessnomoreappealtowritersofthelastthirdofthe20thcentury.ThetraditionalnovelisdeadwithJoyceandKafka.Youngerwriterswillhavetofindanewwayofwriting.BarthdidnotembraceSigmundFreudandD.H.Lawrence;heturnedinsteadtotheearliestnovelistslikeCervantes,HenryFielding,LawrenceStern,andevenTheArabianNightsforinspiration.Hetookgreatinterestinthenarrativemodeoflinkingmanystoriesinoneframework,andfoundtheabsurdistandmetafictionalworksofEnglishplaywrightSamuelBecketandArgentinenovelistJorgeLuisBorgesespeciallyattractive.Alltheseexertedgreatinfluencesonhiswriting.Objectivelyspeaking,Barth’sattemptdismemberedanddestroyedthetraditionalnovel.■NatureoffictionandrealityJohnBarthismoreinterestedinhowastoryistoldthaninthestoryitself.Inhisworks,heconstantlyreferstotheprocessofwritingandreadingthroughthetechniqueofmetafiction.Barth’sintentistoalertthereadertotheartificialnatureofreadingandwriting,andtopreventhimorherfrombeingdrawnintothestoryasifitwerereal.Toexplodetheillusionofrealism,Barthusesapanoplyofreflexivedevicestoremindhisaudiencethattheyarereadingandsomeoneismanipulatingbehindthescene.■Absurdityoftheworld＆meaninglessnessoflifeInmanyofBarth’sworks,hepresentsthethemeofabsurdworldwithnopurposeandmeaning.InBarth’sopinion,therealityofmodernlifeistoocomplexandelusiveformantorationalizeandidealize.Onlywhenpeoplerejectsitandembracetheworldforwhatitis,canhefeelthesignificanceofhislifeadequately.Barthbelievesthatparticipationandacceptanceofthechaosandabsurdityoftheworldistheonlymeaningfulwayoflife.Ⅲ.Techniques•useofmythandlegend•parody•blackhumor•symbolism•metafiction•self-reflexive(orself-conscious)Ⅳ.MajorWorksTheFloatingOpera(1956)TheEndoftheRoad(1958)TheSot-WeedFactor(1960)GilesGoat-BoyorTheRevisedNewSyllabus(1966)LostintheFunhouse(1968)collectionof14relatedstoriesChimera(1972)collectionof3novellasLETTERS:ANovel(1979)Sabbatical:ARomance(1982)TheFridayBook(1984)TheTidewaterTales(1987)TheLastVoyageofSomebodytheSailor(1991)TheLiteratureofExhaustion(1967)essayTheLiteratureofReplenishment(1980)essayBibliography【1】常耀信：《美国文学简史》，2003年，南开大学出版社【2】陈世丹：《美国后现代主义小说详解（中文版）》，2010年，南开大学出版社【3】胡全生；林玉珍；胡开宝；索宇环《20世纪英美文学选读---后现代主义卷》，2003年，上海交通大学出版社【4】李宜燮；常耀信：《美国文学选读（下）》，1991年，南开大学出版社【5】罗良功；李汝成《美国文学选读新编·20世纪卷》，2010年，华中师范大学出版社【6】美国国务院编，杨俊峰译《美国文学概况》，2003年，辽宁教育出版设ThankYou!