TheAgeofRealism

現(xiàn)實(shí)主義文學(xué)時(shí)期12

Theyear1865isconsideredasanimportantyearintheshiftfromRomanticism（浪漫主義）toRealism（現(xiàn)實(shí)主義）inAmericanliterature．Realismhadalwaysexistedinliterature，butyetnotuntilthelatenineteenthcenturydidrealismdominateinAmericanLiterature．TheAmericansocietyaftertheCivilWar(1861—1865)providedrichsoilfortheriseanddevelopmentofRealism．3TheCivilWarwasaturningpointinAmericanhistory．ItbroughtAmerica’sgreatchangefromanagrarian（農(nóng)業(yè)的）toanindustrialsociety．Theprincipalissueofthewarwastheconflictbetweenindustryandcapitalist

dermocracy（民主）intheNorthandagriculture

andslaveryintheSouth．Thewarendedwiththeoverwhelmingtriumphofindustrialismover

agrarianism.TheWarbroughtmanygreatchangestoeveryaspectofAmericanpeople.4TheCivilWardestroyedtheromanticconceptof

war.Intheeyesofromanticists，warswerealwaysglorious,grand，andnobleencounters，somethingheroic.However,theamazingnumberofdeadsoldiersmadeithardforpeopletohaveanoblevisionofmankindanymore.Therefore,MarkTwainoncedescribedmanas“theonlyanimalwhoindulgedinoneafteranotheroftheatrocity（兇惡，殘暴）ofwar．”Thisstatementisarepresentativeattitudeofthepost-CivilWarwritersinAmerica．Tothem，thereisnothingromanticaboutwar．5Moreover,theCivilWaralsochangedAmericanpeople’s

viewsonvalues,moralityandreligion．BeforetheCivilWar，thepuritanethic（清教的價(jià)值觀）wasthedominantmoralityinAmerica．Puritansbelievedintheprinciplesofeviland“salvation”.Theyconsideredperseverance（堅(jiān)持不懈），stark（全然的）simplicity，andstrenuous（艱苦，繁重的）goodworksasvirtue，andregardedidleness，drunkennessandsexualimmoralityasdepravity（墮落）.6However，materialismhadshakenthereligiousconvictionofthePuritans.Stimulatedbymaterialism，peoplewereeagertopursuemoneyandenjoyedthepleasuresoflife．TheybecamedubiousabouthumannatureandGod’sbenevolence（仁慈）.TheCivilWarmarkedadeterioration（惡化）ofAmericanmoralvalues．7AnotherimportanteffectoftheCivilWarwasAmericanindustrializationandurbanization（城市化）withitsaccompanyingsocialdiseases．Withthewar,therewasanexplosivegrowthofbusinessandindustry．Thisgrowthissymbolicallyshownintherapiddevelopmentoftherailroad．The35,000milesofrailroadtrackof1865increasedtoabout2,000,000milesbytheendofthecentury．8Theimprovementsinindustrialtechnologyandtransportationprovidedtheincentive（刺激）andcapacityforlarge-scaleagriculture，manufacturing，andmining．Withthedevelopmentofindustry，moreandmorefactoriesappeared，andurbanizationwasrequiredandfacilitatedbyindustrialization．9Nevertheless,industrializationandtheurbanizationwereaccompaniedbytheincalculablesufferingsofthelaboringpeople．Beingattractedbyhigherpay,manyfarmersflocked（蜂擁至）totheindustrializedcities．Therefore,inthecitiestherewereanoversupplyoflabor，whichkeptwagesdownandallowedtheindustrialiststoofferworkersadverse（惡劣）workingconditions．10Wealthwasmorethaneverinthepossessionofthefew----bankersandindustrialists----withthepoorpoorerand

therichricher．ItwasthebeginningofwhatMarkTwaincalled“TheGildedAge（鍍金時(shí)代）”，anageofextremes（充滿極端和對(duì)立的時(shí)代）ofdeclineandprogress，ofpovertyanddazzlingwealth，ofgloomandbuoyant（持續(xù)上漲的）hope．11Thepost-CivilWaryearswereaperiodofgreatplunder（掠奪）andexploitation，ofgreedymaterialismandpoliticalcorruption．Alltheaccompanyingsocialdiseases，especiallyslum（貧民窟）conditions，childlabor，poverty，crime，andlaborstrikesbecamereflectedinAmericanliterature.12

Theabovepolitical，socialandmoralchangeshaveinfluencedAmericanwritersinboththemeandtechnique．AftertheCivilWar，thereappearedanewgenerationofwriterswhoweredissatisfiedwiththeoptimisticideasoftheRomanticistsandshowedagreatinterestintherealitiesoflife.13TheserealistwriterssoughttoportrayAmericanlifeasitreallywas.Theyinsistthattheordinaryandthelocalwereassuitableforartisticportrayalasthemagnificentandtheremote.Theytriedtheirbesttocreateanewkindofliteraturethatwascompletelyrealistic．

14

RealismfirstappearedintheUnitedStatesinliteraturewithlocal,anamalgam（混合物）ofromanticplotsandrealisticdescriptionofthingsimmediatelyobservable：thedialects，customs，sights，andsoundsofreginalAmerica.15Wecanseethisinthetrue-to-lifedescriptionsofBretHarte，WilliamDeanHowells,HamlinGarland，andMarkTwain．BretHarteisthefirstAmericanwriteroflocalcolortoachievewidepopularity．Hepresentsstoriesaboutwesternminingtowninvolvingcolorfulgamblers，outlaws，andscandalous（丑惡可恥的）women16Thereaftereditorseversensitivetopublictaste（大眾的閱讀興趣）demandedsuchworks，andwritersincludingHarte,HarrietBeecherStowe，andMarkTwainprovidedregionalstoriesandtalesofthelivesofAmerica’sWesterners，Southerners，andEasterns．17Local-colorfictionsreacheditspeakofpopularityinthe1880s，butbytheturnofthecenturyithasbeguntodeclineasitslimitedresorceswereexhaustedandasitsmostpopularwritersgrewtediouslyrepetitiousorturnedtootherliterarymodes.18RealismisadirectcontrasttoRomanticism．Asamovement，AmericanRealismstartedduringtheCivilWarperiodandevolvedinthesecondhalfofthe19thcentury．AmericanRealismhasrealistically-flawed

（有缺陷的）heroesinsteadoftheidealizedcharactersinRomanticism．19ThewritersoftheRealismtriedtorepresentlifewiththeirwritings．Theirsettingsoftenincludefactoriesandslums，andtheircharactersare

ordinarypeoplesuchaspoorworkers，businessmen，vagrants（流浪者），swindlers，（詐騙者）andevenprostitutes．20Therealiststendtobehighlyselectiveintheirchoiceofmaterial，focusinguponwhatseemsrealtomiddle-classreaders。Thesubjectsofrealisticfictionthustendtobecontemporary，ordinary，andmiddle-class．“Truthful”treatmentofsuchsubjectsusuallyconsistsofafaithfulimitationofsurfacedetailswiththegoalofcreatingtheillusionofreality．21Creatingsuchanillusionrequirescertainartisticchoices．Charactershavetobeordinary，averagecontemporarypeople．Plotshavetobeunobtrusive（尊重事實(shí)的，自然的）madeupofthetrivialincidentsofeverydaylife，as“natural”aspossibleintheirdevelopment，capturingthewandering，indeterminatenatureofordinaryexperienceratherthancontriving（致力于）thetensionsandclimaxesoftraditionalplots．22….certainartisticchoices:

Thelanguagehastobeequallynaturaloratleastgivetheimpressionofbeingso；notonlyarecharactersmadetospeakintheintonationsofeverydaylifebuttheauthorhimselforherselfstrivestomakethelanguageasinvisibleaspossible，aneutral（不偏不倚的）reflectorofimpersonal（客觀）reality23Inconclusion，realismemploysastraigiltforwardpresentationormatter-of-factmannertoexpress“thetruthfultreatmentofmaterial”．Thecharacterscreatedbyrealistwritersmustbelife-likeandrecognizedinreal1ife．24Theactionsandspeechofthelife-likecharactersmustbeconsistentwiththeirpersonalitiesandpositionsinlife．Anditfocusesonthecommonlivesofcommonpeople，realplacesandeverydaythingsthatareoftenignoredbythearts25Inrealisticfictioncharactersofallsocialclassesareexaminedindepth．Thecharactersaremorecomplex，notjustgoodorbad．Realismemphasizesthefunctionoftheenvironmentinshapingthecharactersandhasatendencytoexplorethepsychologyofthecharacters．26Realismstressesobjectivityandoffersanobjectiveviewofhumannatureandhumanexperience．Openendings

（開(kāi)放式結(jié)局）areoftenusedinrealisticwritingtoindicatethatsocietyissocomplicatedthatreaderscannotmakeoneconclusion27OfalltheAmericanrealisticwriters，thethreedominantonesareWilliamDeanHowells，MarkTwain，andHenryJames．AlthoughHowells，Twain，andJamesallstriveforrealism，thereareobviousdifferencesamongthem．

Thematically

（從主題的角度分析），Jamesfocusesontheupperclass，andHowellsisconcernedmoreaboutthemiddleclass，whereasTwainisinterestedinthelowerclass．28Technically，Howellswritesintheveinofgenteelrealism，whileJamespursuesan“imaginative”treatmentofreality(psychologicalrealism心理現(xiàn)實(shí)主義)．’Twain’scontributiontothedevelopmentofrealismandtoAmericanliteratureasawholeispartlythroughhistheoriesoflocalism

（地方色彩主義）andpartlythroughhisuseofcolloquialstyle．29WilliamDeanHowells(1837—1920)isunquestionablythemostinfluentialAmericanliteraryrealistofthelastquarterofthenineteenthcentury．Asarepresentativerealisticwriter，hedoeshisbesttoportraytheAmericanmiddleclassasfaithfullyaspossible．Howellsdefinesrealismas“nothingmoreandnothinglessthantruthfultreatmentofmaterial．”Inadditiontoagoodnumberofsocialnovels,Howellshaswritteneightbooksofcriticismandabout1,700bookreviewstospreadhiscreedofrealism．30

Howellsnovelsfocusontherisingmiddleclassandtheirwayofliving．Hisfirstnovels，TheirWeddingJourney(1782)，AChanceAcquaintance(1873)，andAForegoneConclusion(，1875)reflectskillfulandconvincingcharacterization，akeenearforcolloquialdialogue，andasenseofmorality---allofwhichareaspectsofrealisticfiction．Hisobservationissatiric,andhissubjectmatterconcrete．31Howells’mostfamousworkisTheRiseofSilasLapham(塞拉斯．拉帕姆的發(fā)跡，1885)．Itcentersonthestoryofaself-mademanwhomakesthetruerisefromhisbankruptcythroughruiningothers．Howells’indictment（譴責(zé)）ofthevoracious（貪欲的）andgreedycharacteristicsofcapitalismisclear．HecontrastsSilas’rmoralrighteousnesstotheprevalent（普遍的）immoralityofthenineteenth-centurybusinessworld．Howells’subjectmatterisrealistic：themiddle-classfamily，theeconomicaspectsofmiddle-classlife，industry，andcommerce．32HenryJamesisnotarealistinthesamewayasTwainorHowells．Heisconsideredthefounderofpsychologicalrealism．HenryJamesbelievesthatrealityliesintheimpressionsmadebylifeonthespectator，andnotinanyfactsofwhichthespectatorisaware．Realismisthereforemerelytheobligationthattheartistassumestorepresentlifeasheseesit，whichmaynotbethesameaslifeasit“really”is（他所謂的“真”，不是指客觀世界，而是指作者真實(shí)的想法，所謂“抓住生活本身的色彩”，是指作者心中的“感覺(jué)能力”．）33Bymakingtheconscio