1、Section One American ModernismSection Two Modern PoetrySection Three American DramaSection Four Modern Novels American Modernism(19181945)第1页/共72页American Modernism Backgrounds of American Modernism Definition and Features of American Modernism第2页/共72页 Background of Modernism1 The Effect of the Firs
2、t World War and the Great Depression:2 New Theories and Ideas a.German:Karl Marx and Nietzsche b.Austrian:Sigmund Freud c.William James and Carl Jung d.French Impressionism,German Expressionism and Cubism第3页/共72页Impressionism第4页/共72页Expressionism第5页/共72页Cubism第6页/共72页 Definition of Modernism During
3、the first decades of the 20th century modernism became an international tendency in art and literature.It began in Germany in the 1890s,and spread worldwide,and ended in the early 1940s.It included a wide range of artistic expressions such as symbolism,impressionism,post-impressionism,imagism,expres
4、sionism and so on.第7页/共72页 The distinctive feature of literary modernism was its strong and conscious break with traditional forms,perceptions and techniques of expression,and its great concern with language and all aspects of its medium.第8页/共72页A Ezra Pound(1885-1975)and Imagist Movement(19091917)F
5、ollowers of Pound B T.S.Eliot(18881965)and New Poetry Movement Followers of Eliot C E.E.Cummings(18941962)D Three Types of PoetsModern Poetry 第9页/共72页Imagist Movement Definition of Imagism Three principles of Imagism Examples of Imagist poetry第10页/共72页The Imagist Movement(Imagism)Led by Ezra Pound a
6、nd flourished from 1909 to 1917,the movement advanced modernism in arts which concentrated on reforming the medium of poetry as opposed to Romanticism,especially Tennyson s wordiness and high-flown language in poetry.第11页/共72页The three principles followed by the Imagists were:(1)Direct treatment(2)E
7、conomy of expression(3)“Free verse 第12页/共72页Direct Treatment The subject of the poem must be expressed in such a way as to resemble it and reproduce it as closely as possible.Simple language must be used to create an image which the reader can immediately see in his own imagination.Each word must be
8、 used with great exactitude to produce a precise image and nothing more.第13页/共72页Economy of expression No word must be used which does not contribute directly to the image.The language must be concentrated.There must be no drawing of conclusions,no explanations.第14页/共72页Free verse No unnecessary wor
9、ds may be included in order to make meter or a rhyme.A poem should be composed with the phrasing of music,not a metronome.第15页/共72页Examples of Imagist Poems In a Station of the Metro by Ezra Pound The Red Wheelbarrow by William Carlos Williams第16页/共72页In a Station of the Metro The apparition of thes
10、e faces in the crowd;Petals on a wet,black bough.Ezra Pound第17页/共72页The Red Wheelbarrow So much depends upon a red wheel barrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickensWilliam Carlos Williams第18页/共72页 Ezra Pound(18851972)埃兹拉.庞德 His life His works His contribution第19页/共72页His Life (1)Born in
11、1885 in Hailey,Idaho Brought up in Pennsylvania Studied Romance languages at college and university In 1908 sailed to Europe and first poetry in Venice Arrived in London and founded Imagism In 1912 editor of“Poetry”and blue-penciled“The Waste Land”第20页/共72页His life (2)In 1913 began studying Chinese
12、Language and ancient Chinese culture In 1914 sponsored Vorticism In 1915 finished“Cathay”and began working on“Cantos”“Homage to Sextus Propertius in 1917 “Hugh Selwyn Mauberley”in 1920 Treason in World War Two and released in 1958 Returned to Italy and died there in 1972 第21页/共72页His works Personae(
13、1909)人物 Exultations(1909)狂喜 Cathay(1915)译著华夏 Homage to Sextus Propertius(1917)向赛克斯特斯.普罗波蒂斯致敬 Hugh Selwyn Mauberley (1920)The Cantos The ABC Reading (Literary Essay)第22页/共72页A Established Imagism with British poet T.E.Hulmein 1908;B Suggested 3 principles for Imagism with Richard Aldington and Hilda
14、DoolittleC Sponsored Vorticism with painter Windham Lewis in 1914;D Leading role in poetic renovation and renaissance in the first 25 years of the 20th centuryE Father of modern American poetryHis contribution第23页/共72页New Poetry Movement The years 19121914 witnessed the appearance of a new poetic re
15、volution.The new poets wrote a poetry that defied most of the accepted rules,and dealt with subjects which had not been dealt with.They wrote in new ways and techniques.The new verse was responsive to the fragmentized nature of modern life.第24页/共72页T.S.Eliot(18881965)His life His works His contribut
16、ion About his work第25页/共72页His life famous American poet,playwright and critic major figure in New Poetry Movement a key to modern British and American poetry 第26页/共72页 Born in St.Louis,Missouri;received a good education,especially with classic literature;went to Harvard in 1906;explored the poetry
17、of the 17th Metaphysical poets;finished The Love Song in 1911;settled down in England in 1915 teaching,working as a bank clerk,writing book reviews,suffering an unhappy marriage while composing poetry.第27页/共72页His works Poems:The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock Gerontion The Waste Land The Hollow Men
18、 Ash-Wednesday Four Quartets Dramatic works:Sweeney Agonistes;Murder in the Cathedral;The Cocktail Party,The Confidential Clerk;第28页/共72页His contribution a giver of laws and the arbiter of taste in new poetry and criticism a literary dictator in American literary history.第29页/共72页 His basic themes o
19、f his criticism concerned the relationship between tradition and individual talent,and between the past,the present and the future.第30页/共72页 His famous doctrine on poets and poetry is known as the“impersonal theory”or the theory of impersonality and objectivity.One of the things that this theory emp
20、hasizes is the relation of a poem to the poems by other authors and suggests“the conception of poetry as a living whole of all the poetry that has ever been written”.It explains the importance of tradition and the past.Another thing that this theory tries to focus on is the relation of the poem to i
21、ts author.第31页/共72页 a He started the reevaluation of poets like Milton and the Romantics.b He did more to popularize the 17th-century Metaphysical poets and late-19th-century French Symbolism.c He emphasized the need to see the vitality of the literature of the past and to draw from literary traditi
22、ons other than English literature.第32页/共72页 His poetry is difficult to read:1)For one thing the images and symbols seem very much disconnected.2)Another difficulty lies in his learned quotations and allusions.第33页/共72页 His The Waste Land(P180-183)1)It was composed in the autumn of 1921.2)Its epigrap
23、h is taken from the Satyricon of Petronius representing the motif and the somber mood of the poem:desperate struggle to attain salvation.3)Its title draws its significance from the Fisher King lengend.4)It reveals his strong historical sense:the past is of great significance to writers.5)It was a po
24、em of despair for the 1920s and 1930s.第34页/共72页E.E.Cummings His life His works His contribution His style第35页/共72页His works Poems:Tulips and Chimneys XLI Poems Is 5 No thanks Complete Poems Drama:Him Santa Claus Prose:The Enormous Room -4 months wrong experience in prison Eimi-his experience in Russ
25、ia Six Non-lectures -speeches at Harvard第36页/共72页 His contribution Against traditional poetry with bold attempts at composing poems Unique style Cubism&Dadaism-guide his poems第37页/共72页His style New spatial arrangement of words;New poems dealing with“un-poetic subjects”;His scramble word order in syn
26、tactic anagram;His extension of the semantic possibilities of words(he chooses to stretch,squeeze,or intensify by typographical acrobatics or grammatical innovations);(see an example on P208)第38页/共72页in Just-spring when the world is mud-luscious the littlelame balloonmanwhistles far and weeand eddie
27、andbill comerunning from marbles and piracies and its springwhen the world is puddle-wonderfulthe queerold balloonman whistlesfar and weeand bettyandisbel come dancingfrom hop-scotch and jump-rope and 第39页/共72页its springand the goat-footedballoonman whistlesfarand wee第40页/共72页Three Types of Modern P
28、oets A:Chicago Poets B:Leading figures in the poeticrevolution C:in-between poets 第41页/共72页Chicago PoetsVachel Lindsay(18791931)维切尔.林赛Edgar Lee Masters(18691950)埃德加.李.马斯特斯Carl Sandburg(18781967)卡尔.桑德堡Hart Crane(18991932)哈特.克兰/克莱恩第42页/共72页Leading figures in the poetic revolution Ezra Pound(18851972)埃
29、兹拉.庞德T.S.Eliot(18881972)T.S.艾略特E.E.Cummings(18941962)卡明斯第43页/共72页Followers of Imagism:Amy Lowell(18741925)艾米.洛威尔Hilda Doolittle(18861961)（希尔达.杜利特尔）William Carlos Williams(18831963)威廉.卡洛斯.威廉斯第44页/共72页Followers of T.S.Eliot:Wallace Stevens(18791955)华莱士.史蒂文斯第45页/共72页 in-between poets Robert Frost(18741
30、963)罗伯特.弗罗斯特 Edwin Arlington Robinson(18691935)埃德温.阿灵顿.罗宾逊第46页/共72页Chicago Poets Chicago:the revolutionary center against traditional poetry Poetry (a magazine)Adhere to the tradition of Whitman Reflect feelings of laboring people第47页/共72页Vachel Lindsay(18791931)维切尔.林赛“a tramp and a beggar”The Tree
31、of Laughing Bells Rhymes To Be Traded for Bread General William Booth Enters into Heaven and Other Poems The Congo and Other Poems -widely recognized as an exponent of the“new poetry”Tried to stimulate a popular taste for poetry through a method that he called“the higher vaudeville”in which his reci
32、tations were marked by a dramatic use of gesture and chant,emphasizing his strong rhythms and syncopation.Eg:Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight;The Congo The Santa-Fe Trail 第48页/共72页The Chinese Nightingale and Other Poems -marked the peak of his artistic achievement:its title poem and The Ghost of Bu
33、ffaloes In Praise of Johnny Appleseedone of his most significant piecesLater collections with comparatively little value:The Daniel Jazz The Golden Whales of California Collected Poems The Candle in the Cabin Johnny Appleseed His prose works include:Adventures While Preaching the Gospel of Beauty A
34、Handy Guide of Beggars The Golden Book of Springfielda mystic Utopia based on his gospel of beauty The Litany of Washington Streeta book of political essays His biography was written by his friend Edgar Lee MastersMark Harriss City of Discontentan interpretation of his life and his region第49页/共72页Ed
35、gar Lee Masters(18691950)埃德加.李.马斯特斯Kansas-born lawyer in ChicagoFirst entered literature as an avocation A Book of Verse Maximilianblank-verse drama Spoon River Anthology:free-verse epitaph suddenly catapulted into fameThe New Spoon River-a bitter commentary on the vicious urban standards of changin
36、g America Domesday Book and its sequel The Fate of the Jury 陪审团的命运among the best of his later poetry第50页/共72页other later poetry:Songs and Satires The Great Valley Toward the Gulf Starved Rock Dramatic poems:Lee Jack Kelso Godbey Lichee Nuts statements of philosophy in the Chinese manner Invisible La
37、ndscapes Poems of People The New World panoramas of America and its outstanding figures Illinois Poems Also wrote prose and novel 第51页/共72页Carl Sandburg(18781967)卡尔.桑德堡American modern poet and biographical writerBenefit from his humble personal backgrounds and rich experienceWrite plain poems for pl
38、ain people“为朴素的人民写朴素的诗”To be sound of the people 成为“人民的声音”Contribution to colloquial style of American literaturebe awarded the American Poetry Society prize in 1919 and 1920be awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his Complete Poems in 1950 第52页/共72页His worksIn Reckless Ecstasy Chicago Poems Famous Imagis
39、t poems:Fog Lost The Harbor Chicago Cool Tombs I Am the People,the Mob The People,Yes The American Songbag -folk songs of cowboys,vagabond and black peopleBiography of Lincoln (6 volumes)1 autobiography 1 historical novelCornhuskers Smoke and Steel Good Morning,America Collected Poems 第53页/共72页Hart
40、Crane(18991932)哈特.克兰/克莱恩 Poor childhood，adolescence and life White Buildings-early 23 poems The Bridge He was not approved until 1937.第54页/共72页Amy Lowell(18741925)艾米.洛威尔Female American poet and criticLeading advocator and organizer of Imagist Movement together withEzra PoundAmplify Pounds principles
41、 for Imagism(36)John Keats(1925)A Dome of Many Colored Glass(1912)Sword Blades and Poppy Seed(1914)Men,women and Ghosts(1916)Pictures of the Floating World(1919)Legend(1921)第55页/共72页Hilda Doolittle(18861961)（希尔达.杜利特尔）Well-known as an American Imagist poetOne major representative of ImagismOnce lover
42、 and later friend of Ezra PoundH.D.(pen name given by Ezra Pound)Trilogy:The Walls Do Not Fall(1944)Tribute to Angles(1945)The Flowering of the Rod(1946)枝干开花-combine personal experience with contemplation on history Using classical images 运用古典意象:Hymen(1921)Heliodora and Other Poems(1924)Collected Po
43、ems(1925,1940);Helen in Egypt(1961)Her long novels:Hedylus(1928)Bid Me to Live(1960)第56页/共72页William Carlos Williams(18831963)威廉.卡洛斯.威廉斯 a most important figure in modern American poetry unique theory on literary composition “say it!No ideas but in things.”(Book I,Paterson)“思想仅寓于事物中”Free verse and a
44、ccentual verse 自由体诗、重音诗 Famous American poet第57页/共72页His worksPoem 诗集The Tempers Spring and All A Novelette and Other Prose Kora in Hell Collected Earlier Poems Collected Later Poems The Desert Music Journey to Love Pictures from Breughed The Red Wheelbarrow Paterson White Mule 小说三部曲 Many Loves and
45、Other Plays In the American Grain Selected Essays Selected Letters Autobiography 第58页/共72页Wallace Stevens(18791955)华莱士.史蒂文斯Unsuccessful lawyer and then worked in insurance company Insurance and poetryreality and imagination/artvalue of art and mission of artistsduty of poetsHarmonium (first collecti
46、on of his poems at the age of 44)Notes toward a Supreme Fiction The Idea of Orders The Man with the Blue Guitar Parts of a World Transport to Summer The Auroras of Autumn Collected Poems Opus Posthumous The Necessary Angel 第59页/共72页Robert Frost(18741963)罗伯特.弗罗斯特“New England poet”Robert Frost was the
47、 most popular American poet of this century.received four Pulitzer Prizes for his poetry:The Road Not Taken Mending Wall Fire and Ice Acquainted with the Night 第60页/共72页Robert Frost Literary Achievements His works His style Appreciation of his poems:1 Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening 2 The Road
48、Not Taken 第61页/共72页Literary Achievements Frost mainly wrote about the landscape and people in New England.He wrote many poems that investigate the basic theme of mans life.第62页/共72页His works:My butterfly A Boys Will North of Boston Mountain Interval New Hampshire West-Running Brook A Further Range M
49、ending Wall After Apple-Picking The Birches A Witness Tree Steeple Bush A Masque of Mercy Collected Poems Complete Poems In the Clearing won Pulitzer Prize 4 times Appointed as professor or visiting poet by dozens of universitiesBe entitled“national poet”by American senate at age of 75Recited his po
50、em The Gift Outright on Inauguration Day of John Kennedy Last poem at age of 88第63页/共72页His styleFrost took no part in the literary movement in the 20th century.He did not experiment with form,as many poets did in the 1920s.He used conventional forms,plain and a graceful style.His poems were very ca
