20世纪美国小说

20thCenturyAmericanNovel“Thechildbornin1900wouldbebornintoanewworldwhichwouldnotbeaunitybutamultiple”_____HenryAdams20thcentury---amultipleworldDarwinismMarxismTheoryofRelativityScienceofpsychologyDiversified20thcenturyAmericannovelRealisticFictionModernistFictionSouthernFictionBlackFictionJewishFictionWomenfictionRealisticFictionSherwoodAnderson(1876-1941)NormanMailer(1923-)JohnUpdike(1932-)J.D.Salinger(1919-)ModernistFictionGertrudeStein(1874-1946)F.ScottFitzgerald(1896-1940)ErnestHemingway(1899-1961)WilliamFaulkner(1897-1962)FlanneryO'Connor(1925-1964)SouthernFictionBlackFictionRichardWright(1908-1960)RalphEllison(1914-1994)ToniMorrison(1931-)AliceWalker(1944-)JewishFictionSaulBellow(1915-2005)BernardMalamud(1914-1986)SherwoodAnderson(1876-1941)“thefatherofmygenerationofAmericanwritersandthetraditionofAmericanwritingwhichoursuccessorswillcarryon-----WilliamFaulknerawriter’swriterMentorofModernFictionThematically:toexplorenewmaterialforfictiontheagoniesandthefailuresofthegrotesque“inAmericansmall-town----theunsuccessful,thedeprived,andtheinarticulate.Technically:sensitivepsychologicalandemotionaldescriptionStyle:deceptivelysimple,intheoraltraditionofstorytelling,openednewperspectivesfortwentieth-centuryliteratureHeinfluencedwriterslikeHemingwayandFaulkner.Winesburg,Ohio(1919)NormanMailer(b.1923)Amulti-facetedtalent:anovelist,aphilosopher-metaphysician,apoet,aplaywright,afilmmaker,ajournalist,apolitician,andaperformer.Oneofthemostimportantwritersof20thcenturyAmericaTheNakedandtheDead(1948)ThestoryofaU.S.ArmyplatoonduringtheinvasionofaJapanese-heldislandinthePacificduringWorldWarIIoneofthefinestnovelswritteninAmericasinceWorldWarIIAbouttheTitle:TheNakedandtheDead“Thosewhohadfoughtsuchawarwereeitherstrippednaked,havinglostallhope,ordead,havinglostevenlifeitself.”thewasteofwarandmadnessofwarmentalityHowever,mailer’sconclusionwasnotoneofabsolutehopelessness.Mailersaidina1948interview:Thebookfindsmancorrupted,confusedtothepointofhelplessness,butitalsofindsthattherearelimitsbeyondwhichhecannotbepushed,anditfindsthateveninhiscorruptionandsicknessthereareyearningsforabetterworld.J.D.Salinger(1919-)Thenovelcenteredonasensitive16-year-old,HoldenCaulfield,whofleeshiseliteboardingschoolfortheoutsideworldofadulthood,onlytobecomedisillusionedbyitsmaterialismandphoniness.TheCatcherintheRye(1951)JohnUpdike(1932-)awriterofmannerswithhissuburbansettings,domesticthemes,reflectionsofennuiandwistfulness,and,particularly,hisfictionallocalesontheeasternseaboard,inMassachusettsandPennsylvania.UpdikeisbestknownforhisfourRabbitbooks,depictionsofthelifeofaman--HarryRabbitAngstrom–throughtheebbsandflowsofhisexistenceacrossfourdecadesofAmericansocialandpoliticalhistory.Rabbit,Run(1960)isamirrorofthe1950s,withAngstromanaimless,disaffectedyounghusband.RabbitRedux(1971)--spotlightingthecountercultureofthe1960s--findsAngstromstillwithoutacleargoalorpurposeorviableescaperoutefrommundaneness.InRabbitIsRich(1981),Harryhasbecomeprosperousthroughaninheritanceagainstthelandscapeofthewealthyself-centerednessofthe1970s,astheVietnamerawanes.Thefinalvolume,RabbitatRest(1990),glimpsesAngstrom'sreconciliationwithlife,andinadvertentdeath,againstthebackdropofthe1980s.SouthernWritersFlanneryO'Connor(1925-1964)“ForallhisconcernwiththeSouth,Faulknerwasactuallyseekingoutthenatureofman.Thuswemustturntohimforthatcontinuityofmoralpurposewhichmadeforthegreatnessofourclassics.”—RalphEllisonWilliamFaulkner(1897-1962)AddieBundrenhasdiedandherfamilyiscartinghercoffintoJeffersontobeburiedwithherpeople.Themacabrefuneraljourneyfacesnaturalcatastrophesoffloodandfireaswellasanintensefamilystruggle.Herhusband(Anse)andherchildren(Cash,Darl,Jewel,DeweyDell,andVardaman)allhavetheirownagendasastheytraveltowardtheburial.Cashmakesthecoffinandcarrieshistoolswithhim;Jewel'streasuredhorseservesseveralsymbolicfunctionsinthestory;andtheytravel,coffinandall,inawagondrawnbyateamofmules.MajorThemes:1.DutyandObligation2.Isolation3.ExistenceandMortalityFlanneryO'Connor(1925-1964)oneofthegreatAmericanshortstorywriterswhosesubjectsarethedualityoftheDeepSouthandherCatholicfaith.Andalusia,HomeofFlanneryO’ConnorAGoodManisHardToFind(shortstorycollection)-1955O'Connoroncereferredtothecollectionas'ninestoriesaboutoriginalsin'.Combiningadeftcomicsensibilitywiththegrotesqueandtragic,theyarestoriesinwhichcharactersleadlivesofbrutalpovertyandfiercecruelty;whereordinaryeventscantipoverintomisfortune,violenceanddespair.BlackWritersRichardWright(1908-1960)RalphEllison(1914-1994)ToniMorrison(1931-)AliceWalker(1944-)RichardWright(1908-1960)NativeSon(1940)protestnovelThemes:racialprejudice,poverty,criminalityMajorcharacter:BiggerThomasTripartitestructure:“Fear,”“Flight,”and“Fate”RalphEllison(1914-1994)Hemayturnouttobethemostalivefictionaltalentofhisgeneration,andperhaps,withFaulknerandMelvilleandTwain,ofAmericanwritingofalltime.----JackLudwigInvisibleMan(1952)AgreatclassicinAmericanliteratureAbookonracialdiscrimination,black-whiterelationship,andtherebelliousstancetowardanunjus