Chapter 15美国文学 童明版

Chapter15ModernismintheAmericanGrainTopicsACharacteristicsofAmericanmodernismBHistorical,Philosophical,FormaldimensionsofAmericanmodernismDefinitionofModernismThetermmodernismiswidelyusedtoidentifynewanddistinctivefeaturesinthesubjects,forms,concepts,andstylesofliteratureandtheotherartsintheearlydecadesofthepresentcentury,butespeciallyafterWorldWarI(1914-18).Thespecificfeaturessignifiedbymodernism(orbytheadjectivemodernist)varywiththeuser,butmanycriticsagreethatitinvolvesadeliberateandradicalbreakwithsomeofthetraditionalbasesnotonlyofWesternart,butofWesterncultureingeneral.P198Modernismistheattempttocreatesomethingnewinthespaceofmoderncrisisandchange.CharacteristicsofAmericanmodernismInternational→First,AmericanmodernismistheprocessofAmericanliteraturemergingintothemainstreamofWesternmodernculture.amorecomplexviewofreality→Second,literarymodernistsarejustasconcernedasrealityastherealistsare.However,themodernisthaveamorecomplexviewofreality.Modernismaremoreawarethatlanguageisconstitutiveofreality,notjustatransparent(thusunimportant)medium.severalparadigms（范式）→Third,thereisthequestionofparadigmformodernism.TheattempttodefinemodernismonlyinthetermsofEliotandasmallgroupwhoshareshisvisionistomistakeonetreeforthewholeforest.CharacteristicsofAmericanmodernismBasedontheafore-mentionedobservations——thatAmericanmodernismislessnationalisticbutmoreinternationalandEuropean,thatthemodernistsaremoreawareofhowlanguageconstitutesandshapesreality;thatmodernismincludesseveralparadigmsandawholerangeofresponsestothemodern——Americanmodernismshouldbeexaminedinitsvariousdimensions——theformal,thehistoricalandthephilosophical——sothatwecanperceivemoreclearlythelargerpictureofmodernism.TheHistoricalDimensionLate19thcenturyandfirstdecadeof20thcenturyWilliamJamesWorldWarI:1912,19191Prewargeneration:MenkenPound,Eliot,Frost,WallaceStevens,WilliamCarlosWilliams2Postwargeneration→theRoaringTwenties(theJazzAge)→lostgeneration:Hemingway;Fitzgerald;FaulknerTheradical30sTheGreatDepressionattheendofthe20sandduringthe30sdisillusionedpeopleabouttheeconomicstabilityofthecountryanderodedutopianistthinking→SocialinvolvementinAmericanmodernistwritingsJohnDosPassos,JamesT.Farrell,ThomasWolfe,andJohnSteinbeckTheHistoricalDimensionInfluence:EuropeanmodernismThebasicimpulsesofliterarymodernismemergedin19thcenturyEurope.1Literature→Baudelaire,Flaubert,Dostoevsky2socialscience→Nietzsche,Marx,Bergson,andFreudetc.WilliamJames:theHarvardpsy’chologistphilosopher-pragmatistHepublishedPrinciplesofPsychologyin1890,whichdisplayedthesameinterestinanewsubjectivescienceofconsciousnessthatmenlikeHenriBergsonwereexploringinEurope.Jamesportrayedhumanconsciousnessstrugglingforpragmaticself-definitioninwhathecalledthemodern“pluriverse”.Hisstreamofconsciousnessphrasehadrichimplicationnotonlyforthechanginglanguageofperceptionbutfortheninetieth-centurynovel.streamofconsciousness→anewmetaphorfortheprocessesofmind→ForJames,consciousnesswasnotachainoflinkedsegments,a'river‘ora'stream‘arethemetaphorsbywhichitismostnaturallydescribed.WorldWarIThen,WorldWarIcame,whichchangedthemood,ifnotthedirections,ofmodernism.Americanmodernists:twogenerations1theprewargeneration2thepostwargenerationP192inexaminingtheintellectualandemotionalcurrentswithinAmericanmodernliterature,itisfoundthatthemoderneraofAmericanwritingwaslaunchedbythetwogenerationsof1912and1919whicharesocloseinageandsodividedinexperience.TheprewargenerationwaslargelyfoundedinthepoetryofPoundandEliot,FrostandDoolittle,WallaceStevens,WilliamCarlosWilliams,MarianneMoore,ConradAiken,CarlSandburg,EdgarLeeMasters.IntheatertherewasEugeneO'Neill,infictionGertrudeStein,SherwoodAnderson,WillaCatherandSinclairLewis,ingeneralideasBrooks,RandolphBourne,Mencken.ThepostwargenerationincludedFitzgerald,ErnestHemingway,JohnDosPassos,WilliamFaulkner,e.e.cummings,EdmundWilson,HartCraneetc.Thelatergenerationemphasisshifteddecisivelytowardthenovel,sothatbytheendofthe1920sbothAmericanpoetryandAmericanfictionwereestablishedonaradicalcourse.Thegenteeltradition:Victorianism，PuritanismYet,inthefirstdecadeorsoofthe20thcentury,inthemainstreamofAmericanintellectuallifeandculture,thegenteeltradition-idealistic,polite,culturedandconservative-continueddespitethenewdirections.PrewargenerationH.L.Menken,VanWyckBrooks,Santayana,RandolphBourneandotherradicalintellectualscalledforarejectionoftheirrelevantpastandpresentinordertostartafreshlyassertivefuture.Buttowardstheendofthefirstdecadeandfinally,by1912,themoderntemperthathadbeensweepingacrossEuropearrived…thus,evenintheprewaryears,seedsofopposingviewsregardingmodernismwasplanted.TherejectionofVictoriangentilitywas,inanycase,inevitable.TheboomingofAmericanindustry,withitsgigantic,roaringfactories,itscorporateimpersonality,anditslarge-scaleaggressiveness,nolongerleftanyroomforthecodeofpolitebehaviorandwell-bredmoralityfashionedinaquieterandlesscompetitiveage.Warornowar,asthegenerationspassed,itbecameincreasinglydifficultforouryoungpeopletoacceptstandardsofbehaviorthatborenorelationshiptothebustlingbusinessmediuminw