山东农业大学：《英美文学史》课程教学资源（PPT讲稿）Unit 15 Early Twentieth Century - American Modernism：A Brief Introduction

Unit 15 Early Twentieth Century -American Modernism:a Brief introduction The centers of modernism 1. Stylistic innovations- disruption of traditional syntax and form 2. Artist's self-consciousness about questions of form and structure 3. Obsession with primitive material and attitudes a 4. International perspective on cultural matters

Unit 15 Early Twentieth Century - American Modernism: A Brief Introduction ◼ The Centers of Modernism ◼ 1. Stylistic innovations - disruption of traditional syntax and form. ◼ 2. Artist's self-consciousness about questions of form and structure. ◼ 3. Obsession with primitive material and attitudes. ◼ 4. International perspective on cultural matters

Modern Attitudes a 1. The artist is generally less appreciated but more sensitive even more heroic, than the average person a 2. The artist challenges tradition and reinvigorates it. 3 a breaking away from patterned responses and predictable forms

◼ Modern Attitudes ◼ 1. The artist is generally less appreciated but more sensitive, even more heroic, than the average person. ◼ 2. The artist challenges tradition and reinvigorates it. ◼ 3. A breaking away from patterned responses and predictable forms

a Contradictory Elements 1 Democratic and elitist 2. Traditional and anti-tradition a 3 National jingoism and provincia lity versus the celebration of international culture 4. Puritanical and repressive elements versus freer expression in sexual and political matters

◼ Contradictory Elements ◼ 1. Democratic and elitist. ◼ 2. Traditional and anti-tradition. ◼ 3. National jingoism and provinciality versus the celebration of international culture. ◼ 4. Puritanical and repressive elements versus freer expression in sexual and political matters

Literary Achievements a 1. Dramatization of the plight of women 2 Creation of a literature of the urban experience a 3. Continuation of the pastoral or rural spirit a 4. Continuation of regionalism and local color

◼ Literary Achievements ◼ 1. Dramatization of the plight of women. ◼ 2. Creation of a literature of the urban experience. ◼ 3. Continuation of the pastoral or rural spirit. ◼ 4. Continuation of regionalism and local color

Modern themes 1. Collectivism versus the authority of the individual 2. The impact of the 1918 Bolshevik Revolution in russia ■3. The Jazz Age 4. The passage of 19th Amendment in 1920 giving women the right to vote 5. Prohibition of the production, sale, and consumption of alcoholic beverages, 1920-33 6. The stock-market crash of 1929 and the Depression of the 1930s and their impact

◼ Modern Themes ◼ 1. Collectivism versus the authority of the individual. ◼ 2. The impact of the 1918 Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. ◼ 3. The Jazz Age. ◼ 4. The passage of 19th Amendment in 1920 giving women the right to vote. ◼ 5. Prohibition of the production, sale, and consumption of alcoholic beverages, 1920-33. ◼ 6. The stock-market crash of 1929 and the Depression of the 1930s and their impact

Modernism and the self 1. In this period the chief characteristic of the self is one of alienation. The character belongs to a lost generation"(Gertrude Stein), suffers from a dissociation of sensibility (T. S. Eliot), and who hasa dream deferred (Langston Hughes). 2. Alienation led to an awareness about one 's inner life

◼ Modernism and the Self 1. In this period, the chief characteristic of the self is one of alienation. The character belongs to a "lost generation" (Gertrude Stein), suffers from a "dissociation of sensibility" (T. S. Eliot), and who has "a Dream deferred" (Langston Hughes). 2. Alienation led to an awareness about one's inner life

Modernism and the New Negro Renaissance(see my Introduction to the Harlem Renaissance) a 1. The relationship between the two is complex. a 2. They both share the important motif of alienation 3. However, american modernism is inspired by the European avant-garde art, the renaissance represents the unique and distinct experience of black Americans

◼ Modernism and the New Negro Renaissance (see my Introduction to the Harlem Renaissance) ◼ 1. The relationship between the two is complex. ◼ 2. They both share the important motif of alienation. ◼ 3. However, American modernism is inspired by the European avant-garde art; the Renaissance represents the unique and distinct experience of black Americans

4. Modernism borrows from the Renaissance the themes of marginality and the use of folk or the so-called primitive material 5. The use of the blues tradition important for the Renaissance- is not shared by white modernists; considered too limiting(mere complaint about one's repressed and exploited condition), the blues tradition represents images and themes of liberation and revolt the renaissance is important for black 6. This relationship requires reevaluation and white readers and writers

◼ 4. Modernism borrows from the Renaissance the themes of marginality and the use of folk or the so-called "primitive" material. ◼ 5. The use of the blues tradition - important for the Renaissance - is not shared by white modernists; considered too limiting (mere complaint about one's repressed and exploited condition), the blues tradition represents images and themes of liberation and revolt. ◼ 6. This relationship requires reevaluation; the Renaissance is important for black and white readers and writers

Sherwood Anderson(1876-1941)

Sherwood Anderson (1876-1941)

Achievement I will be a servant to words alone。-SA An excellent storyteller, Anderson seems to be preoccupied by a need to describe the plight of the grotesque-the unsuccessful, the deprived and the inarticulate. He sensitively describes poverty and eccentricity. His simple style, in the oral tradition of storytelling, influenced writers like Hemingway and Faulkner who, in 1956, acknowledged Anderson as"the father of my generation of American writers and the successors will carry on, mng which our tradition of American writin

◼ Achievement ◼ "I will be a servant to words alone." - SA ◼ An excellent storyteller, Anderson seems to be preoccupied by a need to describe the plight of the "grotesque" - the unsuccessful, the deprived, and the inarticulate. He sensitively describes poverty and eccentricity. His simple style, in the oral tradition of storytelling, influenced writers like Hemingway and Faulkner who, in 1956, acknowledged Anderson as "the father of my generation of American writers and the tradition of American writing which our successors will carry on