1、美国文学中的自然主义NATURALISM IN AMERICAN LITERATUREContents1. introduction 12. Naturalism Literature in American 22.1 Origin of Naturalism Literature 22.2 The Development of Naturalism Literature in the USA 33. Stephen Crane and Naturalism 43.1 The “Precursors” Stephen Crane 43.2 The Create Background of Th
2、e Open Boat 54. An analysis on American Naturalism Literature from The Open Boat 64.1Nature in The Open Boat 64.2 The Fight between Human and Nature 94.3 The Relationship between Man and Man 104.4 Life of Hope 124.5 The Growth of Personal and the Sublimation of Sprint 135. Conclusion 146. Bibliograp
3、hy 151. introductionNaturalism theory is based on the theory of positivism presented by a famous French philosopher Isidore Marie Auguste Franois Xavier Comte (1798-1857). As a product of social development to a certain stage, naturalism is regarded as a new development of positivism. It is also bee
4、n called light realism or pessimistic realism. Instead of reveal the nature authentically which recognized by individuals, it presents a power, for example the social power, social reform, inheritance and environment, that cannot be control, conveying a theory that the human beings are living in a m
5、echanized world. American naturalism could trace back to the transition of social values in the process of American industrialization.It promulgates the deep-seated problems of modern American society core values and explores the historical changes of intricate cultural mode, social mentality and in
6、dividual behavior during the process of industrialization and the post-industrialization. As the representative work of naturalism in American literature, “The Open Boat (1898)” is created by famous American writer Stephen Crane (1871-1900) who creates this work through his own experience of marine
7、perils on the way to Cuba. It is a famous short story of American literature, depicting how four men struggle and fight to the ocean for surviving with a delicate description. In the story of “The Open Boat”, the relationship between natural and human, hope and desperate, human and human and individ
8、ual growth present the naturalism vividly. The article will discuss the origin and the development of naturalism literature in the USA, and then give an introduction of Stephen Crane as well as his representative work “The Open Boat” and make an analysis with naturalism.Key words: Naturalism; Americ
9、an literature; The Open Boat2. Naturalism Literature in AmericanNaturalismis regarded as a type of literature that aims at applying scientific principles of objectivity and detachment to the study of human beings. Unlike realism, which focuses on literary technique, naturalism implies a philosophica
10、l position. In relation to this objective study of human beings, naturalistic writers believed that the laws behind the forces that govern human lives. Naturalistic writers thus used a version of the scientific method to write their novels; they studied human beings governed by their instincts and p
11、assions as well as the ways in which the characters lives were governed by forces of heredity and environment. Although they used the techniques of accumulating detail pioneered by the realists, the naturalists thus had a specific object in mind when they chose the segment of reality that they wishe
12、d to convey.2.1 Origin of Naturalism LiteratureSince the renaissance of European literature, the naturalism, a new literature ideological trend, has sprung out, experiencing the evolution of the classicism, enlightenment and Romanticism. It is an ideology originated from France and gradually propaga
13、ted to German, UK, Spain and Japan, Italy and the US as well as many Latin America countries and regions, replacing the critical realism that flourished in that period and becoming the literary mainstream around the world in late 19th century to early 20th century. Naturalismliterature is based on t
14、he theory of the critical realism. During the reign of Napoleon, form 1851 the beginning of the political reform to 1871 the ending of the franco-prussianwar, France was reached a turbulent society. On one hand, political and economic adventurers disrupted social ethos by jobbery and extravagantandd
15、issipated comforts, on the other hand, the general civilians struggled against ignorance and poverty. In relation to this, some insight men criticized this generalmoodofsociety bravely by criticizing and satirizing in their article. With the gradual development of France, the capitalistindustrializa
16、tion had been done and new inventions and technology has been adopted. The active productivity was based on the development of naturalscience which reversely impacted and promoted the development of scientificresearch. Therefore, the development of naturalscience has led to the rapid development in
17、the field of philosophy, sociology, psychology and literature. Thus the naturalism literature has been created with the powerful driving force by the science, civilization and the history.2.2 The Development of Naturalism Literature in the USAAmerican literary naturalism is well known for its formal
18、 engagement with determination and abstraction and its thematic preoccupation with Anglo-Saxon degeneration.In the last decade of the nineteenth century, with the development of industry and modern science, intelligent minds began to see that man was no longer a free ethical being in a cold, indiffe
19、rent and essentially godless universe. In this chance world he was both helpless and hopeless.European writers like Emile Zola had developed this acute socialconsciousness. They saw mans life as governed by the two forces of heredity and environment, forces absolutely beyond mans control. American n
20、aturalism had been shaped by the war, by the social upheavals that undermined the comforting faith of an earlier age, and by the disturbing teachings of Darwinism.In the last half of the 19thcentury Emile Zola (2 April 1840 29 September 1902),was a French writer, the most important exemplar of the l
21、iterary school of naturalism and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism.One of the most far-reaching intellectual events of the last half of the nineteenth century was the publication in 1859 of Charles Darwins The Origin of SpeciesAmerican writers accepted the more neg
22、ative implications of evolutionary theory and adopted this pessimistic form of realism.Of course,every one incorporated their individual assumption into his or her works.At the end of the nineteenth century came a generation of writers whose ideas of the workings of the universe and whose perception
23、 of societys disorders led them to naturalism, anew and harsher realism.American literary naturalists dismissed the validity of comforting moral truths. They attempted to achieve extreme economic classes who were determined by their environment and heredity. In presenting the extremes of life, the n
24、aturalists sometimes displayed an affinity to the sensationalism of early romanticism, but unlike their romantic predecessors, thenaturalism emphasized that the world was amoral, that men and women had no free will, that lives were controlled by heredity and environment, that the destiny of humanity
25、 was misery in life and oblivion in death.The pessimism and deterministic ideas of naturalism pervaded the works of such American writers as Stephen Crane, Frank Norris, Jack London and Theodore Dreiser.Cranes Maggie: A Girl of the Streets is the first American naturalism work. Norriss Teague is the
26、 manifesto of American naturalism. Dreisers Sister Carrie is the work in which naturalism attained maturity. These writers detailed description of the lives of the downtrodden and the abnormal, their franktreatments of human passion and sexuality, and their portrayal of men and women overwhelmed by
27、blind forces of nature still exert a powerful influence on modern writers. Although naturalist literature described the world with sometimes brutal realism, it sometimes also aimed at bettering the world through social reform. This combination of grim reality and desire for improvements is typical o
28、f America as it moved into the twentieth century.3. Stephen Crane and NaturalismCrane was a great stylist and a master of the contradictory effect. Stephen was born in 1871 and died in 1900.He lived a life of rebellionagainst his strict upbringing, his school and university, and what he considered a
29、 poorly regulated, unjust society. 3.1 The “Precursors” Stephen CraneAs the fourteenth and youngest child of Methodist, active concern with social welfare and public morals, Crane first chafed against the constraints of his structured family life.His father was a strict Methodist minister, who died
30、in 1880, leaving his devout, strong mother to raise the rest of the family.Crane lasted through preparatory school, but spent less than two years in college. When he was 22, Crane escaped to New York City where he lived in over-crowded slums. There he collected firsthand information for his first no
31、vel: Maggie: a Girl of the Streets. His times in New York City were split between his apartment in the Bowery slum in Manhattan and well-off family in the nearby town of Port Jervis. Crane published Maggie in 1893 at his own expense.Crane published this novel himself under a pseudonym. But it turned
32、 out that the novel was a failure because of its frank, realistic description of life in the slums of New York City(Lin, T. &Songtao, W. 2010).Crane worked as a journalist. He was hired to go to Cuba as a journalist to report on the rebellion there against the Spanish.On the way to the island, Crane was in a shipwreck, from which he was originally reported dead. At this point, rumors abounded about Crane, few of them good. There was talk of drug addiction, rampant promiscuity, and even Satanism, none of them true. Crane was disgusted with them and eventually relocated to England.His second n
