英国文学简史-常耀信-Chapters-19-20

KeyPointsinChapter19TheEarly20thCenturyTheEdwardiansTheGeorgiansTheEarly20thCenturyIntroductionWhenQueenVictoriadiedin1901,anerawasformallyover.Thenewcenturybeganwithitsparticularsetofproblems.Foronething,thecrisisoffaith,firstclearlyfeltwiththepublicationofCharlesDarwin’sTheOriginofSpecies.Pessimismwasprevalent.ThentheBritishempirewasdeclining.Furthermore,thestatusofartsandliteraturewasbeginningtoundergoaprocessofredefining.Therewasastrongsenseofdisaffectionandhugedriveforchangeintheliterarycircles.Importantdevelopmentinthefieldssuchaspsychology,anthropologyandphilosophywereexertingafar-reachinginfluenceonliterarycreation.TheEdwardiansIntroductionInherfamousessay,“ModernFiction,”VirginiaWoolfsingledoutthreenovelistsofthefirstyearsofthe20thcenturyforanalysisandbrandedthemas“Edwardians,”anomenclaturenotfavorableinmeaning.Hermajorcomplaintwasabouttheirover-emphasisonthedescriptionofexternalitiesintheirrepresentationofliferatherthanontheinternalworldofman.Theauthorswhowroteandmadetheirnamesinthis“Edwardian”periodwhenKingEdwardwasonthethroneforadecadeincludedArnoldBennett,H.G.Wells,JohnGalsworthy,JosephConrad,RudyardKiplingandE.M.Forster.TheEdwardiansArnoldBennett(1867-1931)Bennettisfamousforhis“FiveTowns”stories.AllofwhicharebasedonthepotterytownofnorthernEngland.TheseincludeAnnaoftheFiveTowns,TheOldWives’Tale,TheCayhangerTrilogy–Clayhanger,HildaLessways,andTheseTwain.Thedescriptionsinthesenovelsaretrue-to-life,naturalistic,reproductionsoflifetherewithitsfilth,stench,poverty,andtheoveralltediumandgrayuglinessthatcharacterizedthissegmentofsociety.Bennettseemstotakeanimmensedelightintheminuteandaccurateportraysoftheexteriorofdetailsoflife.TheEdwardiansRudyardKipling(1865-1936)KiplingwasborninIndia,hadnocollegeeducation,andtraveledtomanypartsoftheworldsothathegottoknowaboutthelifeofallsocialstrata.Basically,Kiplingisashort-storywriter;itissaidthattheshortstoryasagenrethroveafterheenricheditwithhiscraft.HeisbestknownforhisTheJungleBooks,ataleofawhitechild.Mowgli,leftinanIndianjunglebutsurvivingtheinclementenvironmentinthecompanyofhisjunglefolks.Kipling’spoem,“TheWhiteMan’sBurden,”isnotoriousfortheauthor’sblatant,repellentshowofAnglosuperiority.HewontheNobelPrizein1907.TheEdwardiansJohnGalsworthy(1867-1933)HewasoneofthemostprolificwritersoftheperiodandwontheNobelPrizein1932.HeinheritedthegreattraditionofrealisminEnglishliterature.Histhemesfocusonthelivesandexperiencesoftherichmenofproperty,theirselfishness,theirphilistinism,theirdecadence,depravity,anddecline,andtheirfierceconflictwiththeworkers.Hismajorworksincludethethreetrilogies,TheForsyteSaga,AModernComedyandTheEndoftheChapter.ThebestknownofhisworksaretheForsyteSaganovels—TheManofProperty,InChancery,andToLet.TheEdwardiansH.G.Wells(1866-1946)Wellswasanovelistreformer.Heisbestrememberedforhisachievementinsciencefictionanhispropheciesabouttheoutbreakofthetwoworldwars.Wellshasbeenregardedasoneofthefoundingfiguresofthegenre—sciencefiction.HismajorfictionnovelsincludeTheTimeMachine,TheWaroftheWorlds,TheFirstMenintheMoon,andTheInvisibleMan.TheEdwardiansJosephConrad(1857-1924)ToclassifyConradasanEdwardianistodolessjusticetohimthanhereallydeserves.Hewasaneffectivetransitionalfigure.Conraddrawsinhisliteraryendeavorsmostlyfromhisexperienceontheseaandintheremotepartsoftheworld.OneofthesalientfeaturesofhisfictionsisthestrikinglypermeatingsenseofdisjunctionandfragmentationthatcharacterizestheModernistworks.Anotherfeatureofhisfictionistheirpsychologicalexplorationsandtheirfocusontheinteriorityofthecharacters.TheEdwardiansJosephConrad(1857-1924)Conrad’sfictionsfallroughlyunderthreecategories—theseanovels,theforestnovels,andthesocialnovels.Hismajorworksare:Almayer’sFolly,TheOutcastoftheIslands,TheNiggeroftheNarcissus,LordJim,Typhoon,andTheHeartofDarkness.TheEdwardiansE.M.Forster(1879-1970)Hissubjectstouchuponsuchthemesastheinnerworldofman,thesenseofestrangementandalienation,andtherelationshipbetweenmanandnature,allthemesthatsmellstronglyofModernism.Hisfamousnovel,PassagetoIndia,writteninthetraditionalmanner,triestorepresentandexplorethepsychologicalfacetofman.TheEdwardiansKatherineMansfield(1888-1923)Mansfield’sachievementintheshortstorieshasbeensuchthatsherepresentsamilestoneinthehistoryofthegenre.Shedrawsprofuselyfromherrecollectionsofherchildhood,herfamily,andhernativecity.Herbestwork“Prelude”,and“AtBay,”and“TheGardenParty”aregoodexamples.HercollectionsofshortstoriesincludeBlissandOtherStories,TheGardenPartyandOtherStories,TheDove’sNestandOtherStories,SomethingChildishandOtherStoriesandNovelsandNovelists.TheGeorgiansIntroductionTheGeorgianswereagroupoftypicalpoetswhoseworksareincludedinSirEdwardMarsh’sGeorgianAnthologies.Theywroteandpublishedmainlybetween1910and1920.Theseincluded,amongothers,JohnDrinkwater,D.H.Davies,WalterdelaMare,W.W.Gibbon,EdwardThomas,RupertBrook,RobertGraves,andEdmundBlunden.TheGeorgiansrejectedtheavant-gardeaesthetickindofpoetryofthelastdecadeofthe19thcenturyandturnedbacktotradition.KeyPointsinChapter20The1920s