英国20世纪文学

IntroductiontoLiteraturein20thCentury1.ThebackgroundtoModernism1.1ThesocialbackgroundTheinfluencesofthetwoWorldWarsonEnglishliterature:Pre-war---over-suppliedenergy;over-confident;---over-greedy;over-enthusiastic;---imperialistideas;---colony-dismemberedintheworld.Post-war---Thesenseofbeinglost,adrift,weightless,aimless.It'sallsoabsurd,withoutmeaning.Modernismroseoutofskepticismanddisillusionofcapitalism.Esp.theSecondWorldWarmarkedthelaststageofthedisintegrationoftheBritishEmpire.Britainsufferedheavylossesinthewar:thousandsofpeoplewerekilled;theeconomywasruined;andalmostallitsformercolonieswerelost.Peoplewereineconomic,cultural,andbeliefcrisises.1.2IdeologicalbackgroundIdeologically,theriseoftheirrationalphilosophyandnewsciencegreatlyincitedmodernwriterstomakenewexplorationsonhumannaturesandhumanrelationships.A.Einstein's(1879—1955)theoryofrelativityprovidedentirelynewideasfortheconceptsoftimeandspace.B.Freud's(1856-1939)analyticalpsychologydrasticallyalteredourconceptionofhumannature.C.Nietzsche(1844-1900)Withthreesimplewords:Godisdead,Nietzschesenthisreadersintodespair.D.Basedonthemajorideasofhispredecessors,HenryBergson柏格森(1859-1941)establishedhisirrationalphilosophywhichputtheemphasisoncreation,intuition,irrationalityandunconsciousness.2.CharacteristicsofModernisminLiterature1).OnecharacteristicofEnglishModernismis“thedehumanizationofart”.(艺术的非人化）Themajorthemesofthemodernistliteraturearethedistorted,alienatedandillrelationshipsbetweenmanandnature,manandsociety,manandman,andmanandhimself.2).Themodernistwritersconcentratemoreontheprivatethanonthepublic,moreonthesubjectivethanontheobjective.Theyaremainlyconcernedwiththeinnerbeingofanindividual.Therefore,theypaymoreattentiontothepsychictimethanthechronologicalone.Intheirwritings,thepast,thepresentandthefuturearemingledtogetherandexistatthesametimeintheconsciousnessofanindividual.3).Modernismis,inmanyaspects,areactionagainstrealism.Itrejectsrationalism,whichisthetheoreticalbaseofrealism;itexcludesfromitsmajorconcerntheexternal,objective,materialworld,whichistheonlycreativesourceofrealism;byadvocatingafreeexperimentationonnewformsandnewtechniquesinliterarycreation,itcastsawayalmostallthetraditionalelementsinliteraturesuchasstory,plot,character,chronologicalnarration,etc.,whichareessentialtorealism.Asaresult,theworkscreatedbythemodernistwritersareoftenlabeledasanti-novel,anti-poetryandanti-drama.3.LiteraryreactionsWritersofthisperiodfallintothreegroups.1).thereactionarywriterswhoglorifyimperialismandthedecadent,whosechieftraitsareextremeindividualism,pessimismandcynicism.TherepresentativewriterofthisgroupisRudyardKipling.2).thecriticalrealistswhocontinuedanddevelopedthetraditionsofcriticalrealism.Theysoughtfornewwaysandmeansofrevealingthetruthoflife.Intheworksofthesewriters,criticismofthebourgeoisworldreachesconsiderabledepthandpoignancy.Theycondemnedthecapitalistorderofthingsandutteredcriesofsufferingandprotest.TherepresentativewritersofthisgroupareGalsworthy,andBernardShaw.3).theprogressivewritersaftertheOctoberSocialistRevolution,whoarecloselyconnectedwithsocialistmovementofthepeople.TherepresentativesareRalphFox.3.1PoetryItis,insomesense,arevolutionagainsttheconventionalideasandformsoftheVictorianpoetry.Themodernistpoetsfoughtagainsttheromanticfuzzinessandself-indulgedemotionalism,advocatingnewideasinpoetry-writingsuchastousethelanguageofcommonspeech,tocreatenewrhythmsastheexpressionofanewmood,toallowabsolutefreedominchoosingsubjects,andtousehard,clearandpreciseimagesinpoems.W.B.Yeats,T.S.EliotandEzraPound3.2NovelsThedevelopmentof20thcenturyfictionischaracterizedbytwosimultaneousbutcontrarytendencies.Thefirstofthesetendenciesismodernism,amovementdeeplyaffectedbypsycho-analysisandexistentialismandrepresentedinfictionbystreamofconsciousnessnarration.Thesecondtendencyisacontinuationofthetraditionofrealisminheritedformthe19thcentury.Mostcriticstodayagreedthatthecrosscurrentsof20thcenturyfictionmorelikeapendulumswingingbetweenthesetwopoles.Atthebeginningofthiscentury,realismwasstillthemaintrend.Theheroicageofmodernistnovellastedfrom1912to1930.Realismreturnedinthe1930’sand50’s,andinthe1940’s,60’s,andearly70’sthependulumswungbacktoaformofmodernism.Theresultofthisalternationhasbeenareciprocalinfluencethatcausedgreatchangeinbothmodernismandrealismsothatbothoftheseformsinthelatterhalfofthecenturyarequitedifferentfromtheearlyyears.3.2.1.RealisticNovelsAsdiscussedintheprevioussections,theEnglishrealisticnovelwasinitiatedbyRichardson,Fielding,Austen,andbroughttoitsclimaxbyDickens,Thackeray,andotherbrilliantVictoriannovelists.Thislongtraditionofrealismwascontinuedintheearly20thcenturybysuchnovelistsasJohnCalsworthy,ArnoldBennett,andH.G..Wells,butintermsofdepthandbreadth,theirworksareinferiortothoseoftheirVictorianpredecessors.3.2.2Psycho-AnalyticalNovelD.H.LawrenceandJamesJoycebroughtEnglishmodernistfictiontoitsclimax.Lawrencechangedthetraditionalwaysofthinkingandfeelingabouthumanrelationshipsandrevealedthedeepestinstinctsofhumannaturethroughh