Chapter 4 American Naturalism4 k& | z* j2 i3 e$ z
I. Background
, M) T# `: o9 i# P* B* G 1. Darwin’s theory: “natural selection”3 n& ]" U2 F3 H9 q. o
2. Spenser’s idea: “social Darwinism”
+ g) ]1 k! C/ }' {5 K7 x7 W 3. French Naturalism: Zora
! H; l5 a2 P8 y( g' {( n+ O II. Features+ E$ v! |# C# t
1. environment and heredity
1 A6 n1 g! t& L+ d+ C 2. scientific accuracy and a lot of details
8 X# a+ t4 @: h# H" T* Q) S9 d 3. general tone: hopelessness, despair, gloom, ugly side of the society
" ?. _. e0 C" M7 s. i9 T% W III. significance1 T& p) c3 i1 x, M% u- K, q
It prepares the way for the writing of 1920s’ “lost generation” and T. S. Eliot./ H. I; o/ P$ B+ I- o& N
IV. Theodore Dreiser. i% A: C# R. ^- X2 X, j
1. life& Q4 f4 Q+ i0 o
2. works
# v* q7 @% _" u0 ~- E" V6 V (1) Sister Carrie
; c2 U# `/ c, A8 V7 Y- v3 q (2) The trilogy: Financier, The Titan, The Stoic
( h8 x& E. C( ^, ^5 @ (3) Jennie Gerhardt
; G/ i; a& O4 R# k+ ~( _ (4) American Tragedy
) L' e! B1 x& V* s (5) The Genius8 T" C# H: R$ ?1 W) ]( ?
3. point of view
( o' X: c, `8 H; m. k (1) He embraced social Darwinism – survival of the fittest. He learned to regard man as merely an animal driven by greed and lust in a struggle for existence in which only the “fittest”, the most ruthless, survive.; B! u: l: Z, E9 b/ L1 {9 R5 D
(2) Life is predatory, a “game” of the lecherous and heartless, a jungle struggle in which man, being “a waif and an interloper in Nature”, a “wisp in the wind of social forces”, is a mere pawn in the general scheme of things, with no power whatever to assert his will.
6 D! Y. a( [* w; J( X) C (3) No one is ethically free; everything is determined by a complex of internal chemisms and by the forces of social pressure.2 ]) E) R* C* S' q0 h% h3 |
4. Sister Carrie& d4 V# e+ W0 M0 q+ Z
(1) Plot4 B2 `8 v& a9 f
(2) Analysis' S# ~1 I. C: X) A1 g3 n
5. Style
1 b5 A) I* G9 H" m) m d (1) Without good structure
. M/ Y/ j' @6 u4 ~6 { (2) Deficient characterization
# n7 I( a4 E4 T) }& ? f7 r, B* k (3) Lack in imagination
& _1 G7 j! o5 p* U (4) Journalistic method3 {* q( h% h3 Y8 y) Q
(5) Techniques in painting |
发表于 2012-8-14 11:29:10
