chapter 5 and Henry James

单击此处编辑母版标题样式,单击此处编辑母版文本样式,第二级,第三级,第四级,第五级,*,Chapter,5,Realism,- Henry James,I. Background (1865-1918), reaction “the lie” of romanticism and sentimentalism, the battle between “idealists” and “realists” major issue after the Civil War,I. Background,movement period concept,Realism refers to the approach of realist fiction occurred at the latter part of the 19,th,century. In part, the rise of realism came as a protest against the falseness and the sentimentality which the realists thought they saw in romantic literature. The realists are determined to create a new kind of literature that was completely and totally realistic.,II. Major Features,truthful treatment of material,familiar aspects and everyday scenes, without abstract interest in nature, death, etc.,characters from all social levels are examined in depth,open ending,focus on commonness of the lives of common people,emphasize objectivity, objective rather than idealistic view,III. The Important Writers,William Dean Howells,Henry James,Mark Twain,Theodore Dreiser,IV. Henry James (1843-1916),His life: P95,His literary career:,novelist, literary critic;,novels,“Daisy Miller”, “The Portrait of A Lady”, “The Wings of the Dove”,etc.,His “International Theme”,IV. Henry James,His “International Theme”,“,International Theme” refers to the conflict of America and Europe. Compared to Europe, America was still an innocent and new country. Europeans in Jamess novels are more cultured, more concerned with art than Jamess Americans. Americans were innocent, and more concerned about moral issues.,IV. Henry James,The Conflict in personality,Americans in Europe, Europeans: over-refined, degenerate and artificial by Americans,Americans; vulgar by many Europeans, Americans: fresh, enthusiastic, not cultured, but eager to learn, basically good - morality,European: high cultivated and urban, sometimes boring, but always correct,- manners,IV. Henry James,“,Daisy Miller”: p97,His style:,a. his narrative point view: avoid the authorial authority, with his minimal intervention,b. language: not easy to understand,large vocabulary; accurate in word-selection; trying to find best expression; difficult, complicated, but subtle,