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1、ModernismnI.HistoricalBackgroundn1.TheTwoWorldWarsnA.economicalprosperitynTheU.S.Amadealotofmoney,andthereappearedaneconomicboom.nthetechnologicalrevolutionhadbroughtaboutgreatchangesinthelifeoftheAmericanpeople.nAfterthewar,theU.S.Ahadbecomethemostpowerfulindustrializednationintheworld.nB.Spiritual
2、barrennessndeclineinmoralcode(http:/ expatriatesinEuropenWhat does it Mean?nItdefinesasenseofmorallossoraimlessness.The WWI destroyed the innocent ideas, manygood young men went to the war and died, orreturneddamaged,bothphysicallyandmentally;their moral faith were no longer valid- theywere“Lost.”nn
3、To whom does it refer?nNarrowsense:a group of Americanwriters,including Hemingway, F.S.Fitzgerald,J.DosPassos, E.E.Cummings, A.Macleish, SherwoodAnderson,andHartCrane,etc.WholeftAmericaandwenttoEurope.nBroad Sense: the entire post -WWIAmericanyounggeneration.nWhat are the main characteristics?nSuffe
4、ringfromthewar,losingbeliefs,beingcutofffromthepast,disillusioned,strongsenseofloss, puzzled, confused, unable or unwilling tosettle back into the routines of peacetime life,indulgedindrinkingandpartying,cannotadjustthemselvestothepresentlife.nWhat are the main subject matters?nThelostness,nadaandwo
5、und(Hemingway),thebreakingupoftheAmericandream(Fitzgerald),thesociologicalzero(DosPassos),andnothingagainnothing(Eliot)nWhere does it come from?nFromGertrudeStein,anAmericanwomanwriter, and a French garage owner; “unegenerationperdue.”D.TheGreatDepressionnOn October 24, 1929,latertobeknownasBlack Th
6、ursday,the stock marketbeganitsdownhilldrop.nAfterthefirsthour,thepriceshadgonedownatanamazingspeed.Somepeoplethoughtthatafterthatday,thepriceswouldriseagainjustasithaddonebefore.Butitdidnt.nPriceskeptdropping,andon October 29, 1929, Black Tuesday,morethan16millionsharesweresold,butbytheendoftheday,
7、moststocksendedbelowtheirpreviousvalue,andsomestocksbecametotallyworthless.Becauseofthat,somepeoplebecamehomelessandpenniless,allbecauseofthe Stock Market Crash.ByNovember13,thepriceshadhitrockbottom.ThestockAT&Thadgonefrom$304,tothepriceof$197.Americahadcelebratedforeightyears,butnow,everythingwasw
8、astedinjustafewweeks,bytheStockMarket.Itwasasadendingtothisgloriousdecade!CulturalBackgroundn2.TheSpreadofMarxisttheoryandFreudianismnA.Marxisttheory:nB.Freudianism:FreudandhisTheoryn有史以来第一位正视人类心灵问题的人Austrian Originator of Psycho-AnalysisfounderofpsychoanalysisnAustrianpsychiatrist,themostinfluentia
9、lpsychologicaltheoristof20th-centuryn医生对精神病通常的治疗方法是：镇静、电疗、囚禁，直到有一天病人自伤或是自杀，这种无法治愈的病痛才会结束。nFreuddevelopedthetechniquesofPsycho-Analysisforthetreatmentofpsychologicalandemotionaldisorders. The Interpretation of Dreams (In 1900)nwhichestablishedtheimportanceofpsychoanalyticalmovement.nearly all his fun
10、damental observations and ideas nFreudstheories,includingtheconceptoftheOedipuscomplex,havehadanenormousinfluenceonart,literature,andsocialthinking.nFreudsfundamentalideawasthatallhumansareendowedwithanunconsciousinwhichpotentsexualandaggressivedrives,anddefensesagainstthem,struggleforsupremacy.nThe
11、conscious mindiswhatyouareawareofatanyparticularmoment,yourpresentperceptions,memories,thoughts,fantasies,feelings,whathaveyou.nWorkingcloselywiththeconsciousmindiswhatFreudcalledthepreconscious,whatwemighttodaycallavailablememory:anythingthatcaneasilybemadeconscious,thememoriesyouarenotatthemomentt
12、hinkingaboutbutcanreadilybringtomind.Nowno-onehasaproblemwiththesetwolayersofmind.ButFreudsuggestedthatthesearethesmallestparts!nThelargestpartbyfaristhe unconscious.Itincludesallthethingsthatarenoteasilyavailabletoawareness,includingmanythingsthathavetheiroriginsthere,suchasourdrivesorinstincts,and
13、thingsthatareputtherebecausewecantbeartolookatthem,suchasthememoriesandemotionsassociatedwithtrauma.nAccordingtoFreud,theunconsciousisthesourceofourmotivations,whethertheybesimpledesiresforfoodorsex,neuroticcompulsions,orthemotivesofanartistorscientist.Andyet,weareoftendriventodenyorresistbecomingco
14、nsciousofthesemotives,andtheyareoftenavailabletousonlyindisguisedform.nFreud classified mental activity to exist at three levels: the Id, the Ego, and the Superego.nthe Id:The Id is the centre of our primitive instincts; it is blind and ruthless and caters to the business of gratifying our desires a
15、nd pleasures.(all kinds of repressed sexual and other instincts,desires)nLibido,libidinousdesiresnthe Ego:nthe Superego:nFreudpropoundedanideaofhumanbeingsthemselvesasgroundedinthe“unconscious”thatcontrolledagreatdealofover(公开的，明显的)behavior,andmadethepracticeofthepsychoanalysiswhichemphasizestheimpo
16、rtanceoftheunconsciousortheirrationalinthehumanpsyche. Oedipus complex Modernism in Literature nThe modernist literary movement was driven by a conscious desire to overturn traditional modes of representation and express the new sensibilities of their time.nModernismtakestheirrationalphilosophyandth
17、eideaofpsychologicalanalysisasitstheoreticalbase.nThe major themes of the modernist literature are the distorted, alienated and ill relationship between man and nature, man and society, man and man, and man and himself. nSenseoflost;alienation;distortion;foreignization;longingforbelongingnThecharact
18、ersinmodernwritersworksareusuallydistortedinspirit,andtwistedinheart.nLoneliness,fragmented,disillusioned,astrongsenseofloss,incapable,twisted,distorted,depressed,despaired,hopelessn1). Modernism marks a strong and conscious break with the past by rejecting the moral, religious and cultural values o
19、f the past nAnti-romantic:donotavoidtheugly,horrible,andsexualdescriptionsnAnti-traditional:experimentingwithdifferenttechniquestoreflectmodernpeoplesinnermind.nAnti-heroes:nototallygoodorbadcharactersnAnti-climax:n2).Modernismemphasizestheneedtomoveawayfromthepublictotheprivate,fromtheobjectivetoth
20、esubjective.nfocustheirattentiononpeoplesinnerworlddescription,mentalactivity,theirpsychologyandthoughts.n3).Modernismis,inmanyrespects,areactionagainstrealism.Itrejectsrationalism,whichisthetheoreticalbaseofrealism.nItcastsawayalmostallthetraditionalelementsinliteraturelikethestory,plot,character,c
21、hronologicalnarration,etc.,whichareessentialtorealism.n4).Modernismupholdsanewviewoftimebyemphasizingthepsychictimeoverthechronologicalone.Itmaintainsthatthepast,thepresentandthefutureareoneandexistatthesametimeintheconsciousnessofindividualasacontinuousflownratherthanaseriesofseparatemoments.nWorth
22、yofmentionareWilliamJames,anAmericanpsychologistfamousforhistheoryof“streamofconscious,”andCarlJung,aSwisspsychiatrist,notedforhis“collectiveunconscious”and“archetypalsymbol”aspartofmodernmythology.nThe20th.centurybeganwithastrongsenseofsocialbreakdown.AseriesofwarsfoughtontheinternationalsceneduringthefirstpartofthecenturyweretoaffectthelifeoftheAmericansandtheirliterarywritings.Amongthem,thetwoworldwars,especiallytheFirstWorldWar(1914-1918),becametheemblemofallwarsinthe20th.c.whichmeansviolence,devastation,bloodanddeath.
