english-culture--16-Modernism-&-T.-S.-Eilot

20thCenturyEnglishLiteratureModernism&T.S.EliotHistoricalBackgroundAttheturnofthe20thcentury:agravecrisisin:anabyssofmountingproblemsout:thetensionbetweentheimperialistpowers,thethreatofthenationalindependencestrugglesafterWWI:TheEmpirelostitsworldpowersupremacy.CulturalbackgroundContinuousinfluenceofDarwinism:spreadfarandwide,shakethereligiousfaithNewideasandtheoriesFreudiantheory：analyticalpsychologyalteringtheconceptionofhumannature(theunconscious;id,egoandsuperego;OedipusComplex)Irrationalphilosophy:arebellionagainstrationalism.stressingthedimensionsofinstinct,feeling,andwillasoverandagainstreasonSchopenhauer叔本华，Nietzsche尼采,Bergson柏格森,ModernismTheriseandgrowth:forerunnerofFrenchSymbolism→risingduringWWI→boomingin1920s(Matisse,Picasso,Kafka,Pound,Eliot,Joyce&Woolf)→decliningin1930s→risingagainafterWWII(post-modernism)→disappearingin1960sModernismroseoutofskepticismanddisillusionmentofcapitalism(spiritualcrises).theoreticalbase:theirrationalphilosophy&theideaofpsychoanalysis.majorthemes:thedistorted,alienatedandillrelationshipsbetweenmanandnature,manandsociety,manandman,andmanandhimself.ModernEnglishLiteratureRealisticwritingintheearly20thcentury:--poetry:ThomasHardy,warpoets--novel:JohnGalsworthy--drama:GeorgeBernardShawHighModernisminthe20sand30s:amovementofexperimentsintechniquespoetry:W.B.Yeats,T.S.Eliot.novel:D.H.Lawrence,E.M.Foster,JamesJoyce,VirginiaWoolfAfterWWII:postmodernismModernismFeatures:Astrongandconsciousbreakwitheverythinginthepast.Transferfromthepublictotheprivate,fromtheobjectivetothesubjective.Anewviewoftime---Psychictime:flowoftimewithoutstartingorendingpointAfreeexperimentationonnewformsandnewtechniquesinliterarycreation.(stream-of-consciousness,imagesinpoetry,etc.)ModernistmovementModernistpoetry:T.S.Eliot,W.B.Yeats(NobelPrizewinners)Modernistnovel:pioneers:HenryJames:psychologicalstudiesJosephConrad:impressionisticpresentationStream-of–consciousness:JamesJoyce,VirginiaWoolfRevolutionarywriters:E.M.Foster,D.H.Lawrence.(oldtraditions,modernsubject,symbolicorpsychologicalpresentation)ModernistDrama:Theatreofabsurd(post-modernismafterWWII)SamuelBeckettThomasStearnsEliot(1888-1965)Americanbybirth;Britishfrom1927MymindmaybeAmericanbutmyheartisBritishNobelPrizewinnerin1948arguablythemostimportantEnglish-languagepoetofthe20thcenturyLifeborninSt.Louis,Missouri.educatedatHarvardanddidgraduateworkinphilosophyattheSorbonne,Harvard,andOxford.settledinEngland,foratimeaschoolmasterandabankclerk,andeventuallyaliteraryeditorandadirectorfortheindependentpublishinghouseFaber&Faber.BecameaBritishcitizenin1927andenteredtheAnglicanChurch.LiterarycareerPoet,dramatist,literarycriticPoetry:PrufrockandOtherObservations，1917《普鲁弗洛克及其他》TheWasteLand，1922《荒原》TheHollowMen,1925《空心人》AshWednesday，1930《圣灰星期三》FourQuartets，1943《四个四重奏》Plays(versedrama):MurderintheCathedral，1935《大教堂中的谋杀》TheFamilyReunion，1939《家庭聚会》TheCocktailParty，1950《鸡尾酒会》Criticism:TheSacredWood，1920TheUseofPoetry1933PointsofviewadramaticchangeinhisattitudetowardstheworldYoung---radical,pessimistic,satiricandexplorativeThewastelandderogationofthecivilizedworldSpokesmaninversefortheLostGenerationconservativewhenwell-establishedconversiontotheAnglicanChurchin1927“anAnglo-Catholicinreligion,aclassicistinliteratureandaroyalistinpolitics.”TheLoveSongofJ.AlfredPrufrock(1915)J·阿尔弗瑞德·普鲁弗洛克的情歌astreamofconsciousnessintheformofadramaticmonologueThemeditationofanmiddle-agedmanoverthebusinessofproposingamarriage.anironiccontrastbetweenapretended“lovesong”andaconfessionofhisincapabilityoffacinguptoloveandtolifeinasterileupper-classworld.theme:HumanpredicamentTheLoveSongofJ.AlfredPrufrock(1915)Prufrock:akindoftragicfigurecaughtinasenseofdefeatedidealismandtorturedbyunsatisfieddesire,arepresentativeoffrustrationsinmodernsociety.Thedispute,liesinwhoPrufrockistalkingto,whetherheisactuallygoinganywhere,whathewantstosay,andtowhatthevariousimagesrefer.Literarilythe“I”and“youofthepoemarenottwopersonsbutrathertwoaspectsofthesameperson---thepublicpersonalityandtheego.Literaryallusion1:EpigraphGuidodaMontefeltro,afalsecounselorconcealedwithinaflameDante'sTheInferno,CantoXXVII,61-66IfIbelievedthatmyanswerweretoapersonwhoshouldeverreturntotheworld,thisflamewouldstandwithoutfurthermovement;butsinceneveronereturnsalivefromthisdeep,ifIheartrue,Iansweryouwithoutfearofinfamy.Literaryallusion2:HowtolookateveningItisabeauteouseveningcalmandfree,TheholytimeisquietasaNunBreathlesswithadoration;thebroadsunIssinkingdowninitstranquility;--WordsworthWhentheeveningisspreadoutagainsttheskyLikeapatientetherizeduponatable;Literaryallusion3:therewillbetimeAnallusiontoEcclesiastes(传道书）3.1-81Toeverythingthereisaseason,andatimetoeverypurposeundertheheaven;2Atimetobeborn,andatimetodie;atimetoplant,andatimetopluckupthatwhichisplanted.3Atimetokill,andatimetoheal;atimetobreakdown,andatimetobuildup;4Atimetoweep,andatimetolaugh;atimetomourn,andatimetodance;5Atimetocastawaystones,andatimetogatherstonestogether;atimetoembrace,andatimetorefrainfromembracing;6Atimetoget,a