Mark Twain
(Samuel Longhorne Clemens)
(1835 - 1910)
“American literature begins with Huckleberry Finn”
E. Hemingway
During his lifetime became an icon of American culture because he embodied most of the traits that characterize the spirit of his people. He was enterprising and idealistic, an optimist and realist.
ü Published over 30 works in various genres: short stories, travel notes, historical fiction, novels.
Main works:
1. “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”
2. “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” (the sequel to Tom Sawyer)
ü established distinctly American style:
a. his characters are very much like himself and embody the values of innocence, independence;
b. departed from traditional British novel, abandoned the artificial language and replaced it with authentic and illiterate (distinctly American); it contains slang, regional dialect, illogical sentences;
c. main themes:
ü deep distrust of “respectable” society and his sympathy for social outcasts and the common man
ü critique of slavery, hypocrisy and prejudices of the time
ü he paints a realistic picture of the life of two young boys growing up in the Mississippi river area.
Theodore Dreiser
(1871-1945)
ü a novelist , one of the greatest American realists
ü is distinguished by his sharp social criticism profound analysis and precise proof
Main themes:
ü -his novels deal with everyday life
ü is usually concerned with difficult and unconventional careers of men and women from the lower ranks of American society, why try to achieve some share of the «American dream» of success, but are prevented in one way or another from realising it.
ü human beings are not tragic ,but pathetic in their inability to escape their petty fates
ü the author shows his own attitude towards things depicted and his view point is creatively expressed
Main works:
ü “Sister Cary”
ü “ An American Tragedy”
ü “The Financier (trilogy)
“Sister Carrie”
ü was not offered to the public until 1912
ü was suppressed on publication because of its alleged immorality
ü is considered one of the pioneer works of American literary realism
ü is largely based on evens close to the authors own life
Carrie is a partial portrait of Dreiser’s sister George Hurstwood, who becomes a beggar and hills himself- suggests incidents in the life of Dreiser’s father.
In his works was concerned with society effect on a person than with man apart from his environment. Though surface details (such as peoples clothes, their speech) are out of date now – his treatment the social forces which produce murderers and prostitutes, as well as success, is modern.
The 20 t h century
(1914-1950)
ü The victory in WWI confirmed the status of the USA as an international player and gave the people self- confidence and feeling of security.
ü In the post war “Big Boom” Business flourished:
Americans began to enjoy the world’s highest national average income, Americans of the “Roaring Twenties” fell in love with modem entertainments- dancing, movie going, automobile touring and radio.
ü The Great Depression (1929-1941) disillusioned people; they lost their faith in progress, humanity and rationality. Such beliefs grew into a trend called “the Jazz Age” (20’s)
The main writers:
The USA: poetry
R. Frost
W. C. Williams
R. Lowell
E. Pound
C. Sandburg
E. Robinson
Prose
W. Faulkner
J. Steinbeck
E. Hemingway
F. S. Fitzgerald
The major artistic movement- Modernism
ü Modernismis a term for a number of trends in art which were prominent in the 20th century;
ü Modernismin literature changed the conception of what verse and prose was;
ü it reacted against historism, artistic conventions in art.
ü
It caused:
ü the appearance of the Lost Generation, writers who expressed the mood of insecurity and instability mingled with a desire to find escape in pleasure seeking.
ü