English-literature-in-English-literature-in-20th-century--2020th-century--20世纪英世纪英国文学国文学 General View of English Literature in the 20th CenturyEnglish Poetry in the 20th CenturyEnglish Novels in the 20th CenturyEnglish Drama in the 20th CenturyProletarian Literature in the 20th Century ⅠⅠ. General View of English Literature in the 20th CenturyHistory BackgroundLiterary Characteristics History Background For Britain ,it was a time of declining in national fortune and power.During the 19th century, in order to pay for the wars,Britain had to give up many of its investments abroad.Since World War Two, Britain has become subordinate to the United States.. Different kinds of philosophical ideas appeared in the Western world.In the mid-19th century,Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels put forward theory which became the guiding theory for the steuggle of the working class and encouraged the oppressed people to fight for their faith in the church. Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity provided newIdeas for the concepts of time and space.based on These ideas,HenriBergson established his irrational philosophy. Literary CharacteristicsThe important and striking features of the 20th century English literature:realism and modernism.Features of modernism:(1) Complexity(2) Radical and deliberate break with traditional aesthetic principles(3) Back to Aristotle There are three periods in English literature development. The first period(1900-1918):The playwright: Bernard.Novelist:John Galsworthy;H.G.Well; Arnold BennettPoet: THOMAS HARDYThis new tendency was found in Oscar Wilde’s writing The second period(1918-1939)It provided a favourable condition for the further development of modernism. 1920s:the best literary works of modernism appeared one after another.Famous person:James Joyce(Irish novelist)Virginia Woolf(brilliant womanwriter) The third period (20th century): This is the period of the contemporary English literature.In poetry,”purity of diction”: Ted Hughes、Philip LarkinIn fiction and drama: appeared a group of vigorous young writer,called“the Angry Young Men”(1960-1970)Representatives: John Osborne、Kingsley Amis、John Wain and John Braine In late 1960s to1970s: representative novelist: William Golding、John Fowles and Graham Greene.In 1950s,appeared new type of plays. Samuel Beckett(Waiting for Godot) English Poetry in the 20th Century Outline Briefly introduction Poets of RealismPoets of Modernism In a literary sense, the 20th century can be said to have begun in the 1890’s, in the political sense it was ushered by the First World War (1919-1918) which had a very shocking influence upon Great Britain, which cost it almost a whole generation of most promising young men. * In the years that followed, the colonies of the Empire gradually broke away and formed independent states until the British Empire was transformed into the British Commonwealth in 1931, consisting only Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, etc., all of which were joined to the mother country in only a loose association. The downward slide of Great Britain, which was brought by the first war, continued through the second (1939-1945), in which it was finally destroyed as a great world power. *In the early years of this century, a major technical revolution occurred in English, as well as in American, poetic theory and practice. W. B. Yeats, T. S. Eliot and Ezra Pound were the leading characters in this revolution. In different ways, they revolted against the imprecise language and sentimental emotions of the late Victorian poets. The result of this revolt was the literary movement that has come to be called Modernism and has great influence on the poetry as well as the fiction of the century. Alfred Edward HousmanPhilip LarkinRupert BrookePoets of RealismThomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (托马斯 哈代)was a English poet, a last and one of the greatest of Victorian novelist, famous for his depictions of the semi-fictional country “Wessex”. Hardy’s works reflected his stoical pessimism and sense of tragedy in human life. (1840-1928) Life experience1840 Born at Higher Bockhampton, Dorset. His father : a stonemason and local builder. His mother : well-read and educated Thomas until he went to school.1848 First schooling at Bockhampton.1856 Studied architecture and continued his reading in English and Latin. 1862 Went to London. Assistant to Arthur Blomfield in designing church restorations.1862 Won two architectural prizes.1865 Writing poems at this time. 1873 Gave up architecture to devote himself entirely to writing.1874 Married on September 17 to Emma Lavinia Gifford.1914 Married his secretary Florence Emily Dugdale, who was 39 years his junior.Emma 1928 Died on January 11. His heart was buried at Stinsford with Emma, and his ashes in Poets' Corner. •Born in 1840, Thomas Hardy became known as a prominent novelist and poet in British and American literature.•He published 8 volumes of poetry, one being published posthumously(于著作者死后出版地于著作者死后出版地) .•Hardy’s poetry is commonly referred to as pessimistic and was not received well during his lifetime. •One of the most common elements seen throughout Hardy’s poetry is his use of autobiographical information within the poems • Wessex Poems, 1898 •Poems of the Past and Present《《今昔诗今昔诗篇篇》》•The Dynasts, 《《列王列王》》•Time's Laughingstocks《《时间的笑柄时间的笑柄》》•Satires of Circumstance, 1914《《环境的环境的讽刺讽刺》》 •Moments of Vision, 1917 《《幻觉的瞬间幻觉的瞬间》》 •Human Shows, 1925 《《人性面面观人性面面观》》 A. E. Housman阿尔弗雷德阿尔弗雷德·爱德华爱德华· 豪斯曼豪斯曼 •A.E. Housman (short for Alfred Edward Housman) was born on March 26th of 1859 in a family of a country solicitor as the eldest of seven children and died on April 30th, 1936. He was an English classical poet, scholar and one of the foremost classicists, best known for his cycle of poems--- A Shropshire Lad. •Housman published only two volumes of poems during his lifetime: A Shropshire Lad (什什罗浦郡的浪荡鬃罗浦郡的浪荡鬃). (1896)and Last poems （最最后的诗篇后的诗篇）(1922) Stylistic feature• A.E Housman’s works are so abundant, and so does his features of the style. He was homosextual(同性恋） , so he wrote a lot of works to justify the legality and chanllenge the conservative perceptions. •He also wrote a lot poems with deep pessimism and preoccupation with death, without religious consolation; however, he then changed his stylistic features with an idealised pastoral light, as his ‘land of lost content’. Rupert Brooke鲁伯特布鲁克鲁伯特布鲁克 •Rupert Chawner Brooke was born in 1887. The son of the Rugby School's housemaster, Brooke excelled in both academics and athletics. •He entered his father's school at the age of fourteen. A lover of verse since the age of nine, he won the school poetry prize in 1905. •Brooke published his first poems in 1909; •his first book, Poems, appeared in 1911. Philip Arthur Larkin菲力普-拉金•Philip Arthur Larkin (9 August 1922 – 2 December 1985) is an English poet, novelist, and jazz critic. He graduated from St John's College, Oxford. His works include The Whitsun Weddings (1964), High Windows (1974), etc. He was offered, but declined, the position of poet laureate in 1984. In 2008 The Times named him Britain's greatest post-war writer. 菲力普-拉金（1922 – 1985）英国诗人，小说家、爵士乐评论家。
毕业于牛津大学圣约翰学院，著有诗集《降灵节婚礼》，《高窗》等1984年曾被授予英国桂冠诗人称号，但是他谢绝了2008年拉金被泰晤士报评为英国战后最伟大的诗人 Modernism •The 20th century has witnessed a great achievement in English poetry. The early poems of Pound and Eliot and Yeats, with its hardening and maturing style, marked the rise of “modernist poetry”, which is, in a way, a revolution against the conventional ideas and forms of the Victorian poetry. The modernist poets fight against the romantic fuzziness and self-indulged emotionalism, advocating new ideas in poetry writing such as to use the common speech, to create new rhythms as the expression of a new mood, to allow absolute freedom in the choice of subjects, and to use hard, clear and precise images in poetic creation. Wystan Hugh AudenT.S. EliotWilliam Butler YeatsTed Hughes William Butler Yeats(1865-1939)威廉威廉·巴特勒巴特勒·叶芝叶芝 • W. B. Yeats is generally acknowledged as the foremost poet of the modern age. T.S. Eliot wrote of him in 1940 as “the greatest poet of our time—certainly the greatest in this language, and so far as in am able to judge, in any language.” • Yeats was born in Dublin. His father was a famous portrait painter. His early life was spent in Dublin, London, and Sligo, his mother’s home in the west of Ireland, and each of these places exerted an influence on his life and work. •In Dublin, he was influenced by the currents of Irish nationalism; in Sligo he obtained a knowledge of Irish peasant life and folklore; and in London, the center of English literature and art, he met many outstanding literary men of the time, such as William Morris and Oscar Wilde, later, T.S. Elito and Ezra Pound.•Yeats’ early poetry was under the influence of the romantic poets, but his Irish theme and his special use of language soon showed him to be a poet of distinction•Yeats visited Paris in 1894 and was introduced to modern French poetry, esp. the symbolists, by the poet-critic, Arthur Symons. Literary Career Altogether, Yeats wrote eleven volumes of poetry, twenty-six plays, nine books of prose, five autobiographical volumes, and four volumes of philosophy. His chief poetic works include The Responsibilities (1914), The Wild Swans at Coole (1919), The Tower (1928) and The Winding Stair (1933). •William Butler Yeats is considered to be one of the greatest poets in the English language; and his poetic achievement stands at the center of modern literature. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923. •Yeats is not a poet of nature, but of man. His poems tend to present life in the mode of drama and conflicts in place and time with the value residing in the conflict rather than in the final victory Comments T.S. Eliot（（ 1888-1965））托马斯·艾略特Thomas Stearns EliotA poet, dramatist, literary critic, and modernist. •He was born in Missouri on September 26, 1888. He lived in St. Louis during the first eighteen years of his life and attended Harvard University.•It was in London that Eliot came under the influence of his contemporaryd, who recognized his poetic genius at once, and assisted in the publication of his work in a number of magazines.•In 1927 he became a British citizen .•In 1948 he received the Nobel Prize for Literature.•In 1965 he died in London. His Aesthetic Views•1. A poem should be an organic thing in itself, a made object. Once it is finished, the poet will no longer have control of it. It should be judged, analyzed by itself without the interference of the poet’s personal influence and intentional elements and other elements.•2.Modern life is chaotic, futile,fragmentary, so poetry should reflect this fragmentary nature of life and this kind nature of life should be projected, not analyzed. •1915: The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock•《《普鲁弗洛克的情歌普鲁弗洛克的情歌》》• 1922: The Waste land《《荒原荒原》》•1930 :Ash Wednesday •《灰色的星期三》 •1935-1942: Four Quartets《《四个四重奏四个四重奏》》•1935: Murder in the Cathedral •《《大教堂谋杀案大教堂谋杀案》》• 1939: Family Reunion •《《合家团聚合家团聚》》• 1949: The Cocktail Party•《《鸡尾酒会鸡尾酒会》》 The Waste Land （荒原）（荒原） •his masterpiece, published in 1922. •It revealed the spiritual crisis of postwar Europe. It reads like the manifesto of the “lost generation” and established Eliot’s position as the leader not only of American poetry, but of a whole generation of writers later to be identified as “Waste Land Painters" like Hemingway and Faulkner. The Waste Land•a 434-line modernist poem published in 1922•It has been called “one of the most important poems of the 20th century.” Style•Eliot’s poetry is difficult to read. For one reason, the images and symbols seem very much disconnected. •And another obvious source of difficulty lies in his learned quotations and allusions. •To appreciate him it is good to understand that the essence of his thought lies in the interaction between the past, the present and the future. Wystan Hugh Auden 威斯坦威斯坦·休休·奥登奥登 (1907-1973)Born: 21 February 1907 Birthplace: York, England Died: 29 September 1973 Life•Wystan Hugh Auden was an Anglo-American poet, born in England, later an American citizen, regarded by many as one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. •His work is noted for its stylistic and technical achievements, its engagement with moral and political issues, and its variety of tone, form and content. •The central themes of his poetry are love, politics and citizenship, religion and morals, and the relationship between unique human beings and the anonymous, impersonal world of nature. Major Work•religious in the Christmas oratorio(清唱剧,神剧) For the Time Being《《因时间而存在因时间而存在》》 (1944); •aesthetic (美感；审美观) in the same volume‘s The Sea and the Mirror《《海与镜海与镜》》(a quasi-dramatic类似戏剧的 “commentary评论” on William Shakespeare’s The Tempest《暴风雨》);• and social-psychological in The Age of Anxiety《《忧虑时代忧虑时代》》(1947), the “baroque eclogue(巴洛克风格的田园诗)” that won Auden the Pulitzer Prize in 1948. Auden wrote no long poems after that. Comments•Often Auden's poetry may seem a rather marginal criticism of life and society written from the sidelines. Yet sometimes it moves to the center of the time in history in which he and his contemporaries lived. •Auden was learned and intelligent, a master of form and technique. •In his poetry he realized a lifelong search for a philosophical and religious position from which to analyze and comprehend the individual life in relation to society and to the human condition in general. He was able to express his scorn for authoritarian(极权主义） bureaucracy（官僚）, his suspicion of depersonalized science, and his belief in a Christian God. Ted Hughes (1930-1998)泰德·休斯 Personal life• Born in Youkshire •English poet and children's writer• Critics routinely rank him as one of the best poets of his generation•Hughes studied English, anthropology and archaeology at Pembroke College, Cambridge.•His first wife: Sylvia Plath the American poet novelist, children's author, and short story author works•Earlier poem: nature, the innocent savagery of animals •His later work: deeply reliant upon myth and the British bardic tradition, heavily inflected with a modernist, and ecological viewpoint. Poetry collections1957 The Hawk in the Rain《《雨中的鹰雨中的鹰》》1960 Lupercal））《《天狗星天狗星》》1967 Wodwo《《沃德沃怪物沃德沃怪物》》1970 Crow: From the Life and the Songs of the Crow《《烏鴉烏鴉》》1972 Selected Poems 1957-19671975 Cave Birds《《穴居之鳥穴居之鳥》》 1977 Gaudete））《《高黛特高黛特》》1979 Remains of Elmet (with photographs by Fay Godwin)《《愛密特遺跡愛密特遺跡》》1979 Moortown《《摩尔镇摩尔镇》》 ⅢⅢ．．English Novels in the 20th Century1.The Development of Novel Writing in the Century•2.Realist Novelists•3.Mordenest Novelist Novel Writing in the Pre-war Period The pre-war period saw the continuation of critical realism in English novels.The writers still followed the liberary tradition that dominated English novel writing in the 19th century.There were three writers who inherited their 19th century predecessors’ tradition in their novels.Their chief concern was society itself—it’s organisation,outlook,values and tone.Herbert George Wells,Arnold Bennet,and John Galsworthy,the three writers in question,were far from being alike either as men or as writers,but in their fiction they all had a sociological foundation in common. Three most famous writers in the century The writer Work Time Herbert George WellsThe Time Machine《时光机器》The Invisible Man 《隐形人》The War in the Air 《空中战争》The Shape of Things to Come《未来互联网纾》1866—1946 John GalsworthyThe Old Wives Tale《老妇人传说》The Forsyte Saga《福尔赛世家》19081922 The writer Work Time James JoyceUlysses《尤里西斯 》 1922 virginia woolfTo The Lighthouse《到灯塔去》Between The Acts 《幕 间》 1927 1941 ForsterA Passage to India《印度之行》 1920sNovel Writing Between the Two Wold WarAt this time,the Modernism began to show its appearance in novel writing. Novel writing since Wold War 1. The Second World War brought people spiritual trauma.Man felt lonely and meaningless in life.In such a spiritual state,existentialism appeared.Existentialism thought that the exterior wold was absurd life was meaningless,all human efforts only brought people more pain,loneless and dispair.Under such complecated backgroud, “the angry Young Men”bagan to publish their writings.They reflected the social reality and expressed their anger and discontent for social injustice. The writer Work TimeJohn OsborneLook back in Anger《愤怒中回顾》1956Kingsley AmisLucky Jim《幸运的吉姆》1954Samuel BeckettWaiting for Godot《等待戈多》Molloy《莫里》19551951William GoldingLord of the Flies《蝇王》1954John FowlesThe French Lieutenant’ woman《法国中尉的女人》1969 Realist Novelist(John Calsworthy)TIMEWhat hapened 1867Borned. 1885He studied law at Oxford.After graduated His first book A Man of Property 《有产者》 was published.The Forsyte saga 《索姆斯.福赛特》 was published.The play The silver Box 《银盒》was published.The play Strife 《冲突》was published.1933Died The Forsyte saga The Forsyte SagaThree ntrilogiesThe Forsyte SagaA morden ComedyThe end the ChapterA Man of PropertyThe Indian Summer William Somerset MaughamTimeWhat happened 1874He was born in Paris.Late 1890sHis first novel,Liza of Lambeth was published.After Word War Human Bond was published.The Moon and Sixpence was published.Cakes and Ale was published. 1965Deaded. timeWhat happened1922Born.After Wold WarLucky Jim was published.1955That Uncertain Feeling was published.1958I Like It Here was published.1968I want It Now was published.1995Died. Modernist Novelists David Herbert Lawrence(1885--1930)Born He was very much on his mother's side during his childhood.After the death of an elder brother He became the centre of his Mother's emotional life and played a loving and prothctive role Education Nottingham high school work as an elementary schoolteacher(1902-1906)Nottingham University College(1908)Published worka group of poems that appeared in thr English Review(1909)short story(1909,Feb.)frist novel(1911) James Joyce(1882--1941)Familyborned in the capital of Irelandgradually reduced to povertyEducationCongowes wood collegeBelvedere CollegeUniversity Collegemarriageget married in 1931worksA Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man(1914--1915)Dubliners(1914)Collected Poem(1936)Exiles(1918) Virginia Woolf(1882--1941)FamilyLuck person ,in a cultured world of middle--class London intelligentsia.writing pouposeappeal for women's rights .Fetures of her writinga poet who wants to write something as near to a novel as possible.Healthy conditionsuffer from mental instability.Most succesful booksMrs. Dalloway. Willian Goldingz(1911--1993)Education:he graduated from Oxford UniversityHe published a collection of poems 1934basic moral :human nature ithemes imperfectbest-known novel:Lord of Flies(1954.) John Fowles(1926-2005)reputatio rests not only on his innovative spirit,but also the great attraction of his noverls to the reader.inspiration for his later writings:the beautiful and vast plains and the mysterous valleys.Education experience& novels. 结束！结束！ 。