Local Colorism.Mark Twain

1、Chapter Local Colorism * Mark Twain 小組成員：謝容容 夏歡歡 劉蓉 劉玉娟 蔣輝American Realism1.1.Background Background 1) The Civil Warl The industrialized North defeated the agrarian South, and the United States headed toward capitalism.l The war taught men that life, man, and God were not so good.l The war marked a

2、change in the quality of American life, a deterioration of American moral values.2) 1880s urbanization: from free competition to monopoly capitalisml Commerce took the lead in the national economy.l The spirit of self-reliance became perverted into a lust for money and power.l Increasing industriali

3、zation produced extremes of wealth and poverty. Wealth and power were more and more concentrated in the hands of few “captains of industry”. In the meantime, millions of people were struggling for survival.3) The closing of American frontierl Now that the frontier was about to close and the safety v

4、alve was ceasing to operate. The American lost their dream and imagination.l Beneath the glittering surface of prosperity there lay suffering and unhappiness. What had been expected to be a “Golden Age” turned out to be a “Gilded” one.2. Characteristics of American Realism2. Characteristics of Ameri

5、can Realism truthful description of life typical character under typical circumstance objective rather than idealized, close observation and investigation of life concerned with social and psychological problems open-ending: leaves much room for readers to think by themselves optimistic tone3. Main

6、writers3. Main writersWilliam Dean Howells (March 1, 1837 May 11, 1920) was an American realist author and literary critic. He was known for the Christmas story Christmas Every Day and the novel The Rise of Silas Lapham. Howells also wrote plays, criticism, and essays about contemporary literary fig

7、ures. Howells defined realism as nothing more and nothing less than the truthful treatment of material. Henry James (April 15, 1843 February 28, 1916) was an American-born writer, regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism. The American, Daisy MillerThe Portrait of a LadyThe

8、 Art of FictionThe turn of the ScrewThe Wings of the DoveLocal Colorism Local colorism as a trend first made its presence felt in the late 1860s and early 1870s. The appearance of Bret Hartes “The Luck of Roaring Camp” in 1868 marked a significant development in the brief history of local color fict

9、ion. Local colorists concerned themselves with presenting and interpreting the local character of their regions. They tended to idealize and glorify, but they never forgot to keep an eye on the truthful color of local life. It did not cease to be a dominant fashion until the turn of the 20th century

10、. It formed an important part of the realistic movement.v Local Colorism is defined by Hamlin Garland in his Crumbling Idols as having “such quality of texture and background that it could not have been written in any other place or by anyone else than a native.” v Garlands “texture” refers to the e

11、lements which characterize a local culture, elements such as speech, customs, and mores peculiar to one particular place. v And his “background” covers physical setting and those distinctive qualities of landscape which condition human thought and behavior.v The ultimate aim of the local colorists i

12、s to create the illusion of an indigenous little world with qualities that tell it apart from the world outside.2. What is Local Colorism2. What is Local ColorismBret Harte: The Luck of Roaring Camp咆哮營的幸運(yùn)兒Hamlin Garland: Main-travelled Roads 大路條條Edward Eggleston: The Hoosier Schoolmaster 山區(qū)校長Harriet

13、 Beecher Stowe: Old Town Folks 老城的人們Sarah Orne Jewett: Deephaven 深深擁有Kate Chopin: Bayou Folk路易斯安娜移民, A Night in Acadie愛克迪之夜, The Awakening覺醒3. Major Local Colorists3. Major Local ColoristsMark Twain, pseudonym of Samuel Langhorne Clemens, was an American humorist and writer. He was lauded as the gre

14、atest American humorist of his age“, and William Faulkner called Twain “the father of American literature”. (The phrase, mark twain, means “two fathoms deep”.)Mark Twain He was born in Nov. 30,1835 in Florida, Missouri, U.S., but grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, on the Mississippi River. He was only 1

15、2 when his father died and he had to leave school. 1. Brief introduction about 1. Brief introduction about his Lifehis LifeTwain in 1867 During the years from 1853 to 1861, he was successively a printers apprentice, a tramp printer, a typesetter and a pilot on the Mississippi. In 1861 the Civil War

16、broke out, which halted the commerce on the river. Mark Twain went west, succumbed to the epidemic of gold and silver fever, but he failed. After the discouragement of his mining failures, he worked at a Virginia City newspaper, the Territorial Enterprise. Here he first used his pen name. Twain move

17、d to San Francisco, California in 1864, still as a journalist. He met writers such as Bret Harte, Artemus Ward. His first success as a writer came when his humorous tall tale, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, was published in a New York weekly, The Saturday Press, on November 18, 186

18、5. It brought him national attention. In 1866 he went east. In 1867, a local newspaper funded a trip to the Mediterranean. During his tour of Europe and the Middle East, he wrote a popular collection of travel letters, which were later compiled as The Innocents Abroad in 1869. Upon returning to the

19、United States, Twain was offered honorary membership in the secret society Scroll and Key of Yale University in 1868. Its devotion to fellowship, moral and literary self-improvement, and charity suited him well. He married Olivia Langdon Clemens in February 1870 in Elmira, New York. Twain was in dem

20、and as a featured speaker. In 1897, Twain spoke to the Concordia Press Club in Vienna as a special guest, following diplomat Charlemagne Tower. In German, to the great amusement of the assemblage, Twain delivered the speech Die Schrecken der deutschen Sprache (The Horrors of the German Language). He

21、 achieved great success as a writer and public speaker. His wit and satire earned praise from critics and peers, and he was a friend to presidents, artists, industrialists, and European royalty. But personal tragedy haunted his entire life, in the deaths of loved ones: his father, dying of pneumonia

22、 when he was 12; in 1858, his brother Henry, killed by a steamboat explosion; the death of his son, Langdon, at 19 months. In 1896, his eldest daughter, Susy, died of spinal meningitis; in 1904, Mrs. Clemens succumbed to a heat attack in Florece, and in 1909, youngest daughter, Jean, an epileptic, d

23、rowned in an upstairs bathtub.Twain himself died of a heart attack on April 21, 1910, in Redding, Connecticut.2.Writing Characteristics of Mark Twain2.Writing Characteristics of Mark Twainu Literature is an art of language. Mark Twains language is artistic and like a sharp weapon without doubt. Mark

24、 Twain is famous for his humor and satire.u Mark Twains humor is based on the humor of the Western in America.u He used a lot of colloquial idioms and colloquial syntax.u He often described persons who was innocent, simple, nave, and ignorant as his heroes or heroines.u He used the artistic style of

25、 hyperbole on the basis of the western traditional humor and made his writing full of allegories that lay behind the humor.3. Master Works3. Master WorksThe Gilded Age (1873) 鍍金時(shí)代The Innocents Abroad (1869) 傻子出國記The Adventure of Tom Sawyer (1876)湯姆索亞歷險(xiǎn)記The Prince and the Pauper (1882) 王子與貧兒Life on t

26、he Mississippi (1883)密西西比河上The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884)哈克貝利芬歷險(xiǎn)記The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg (1900) 敗壞了赫德萊堡的人The Mysterious Stranger (1916) 神秘的陌生人Mark Twains Autobiography (1924) 馬克吐溫自傳l Theme: the constant struggle between freedom and slavery; indicting the American South for its p

27、hony romanticism and hypocritical Christianity The Adventures of Huckleberry Finnl Special point of view: serious social problems discussed through the narration of a little illiterate boyl Main characters: Huck and Jiml Artistic features: the first-person narration and its dramatic irony; Hucks colloquial and vernacular language and Jims Black English; its humor