1、Part Three THE AGE OF REALISM (1860-1910),Chapter 5 The Conflict between North and South Historical background Writer: Walt Whitman, Emily Dickenson Works,Background Information,1. historical background In 1850s prosperity and rapid progress in agriculture, commerce, and great public works.Sectional
2、 disharmony between the South and the North, dating from colonial times,Background Information,Economically:the North: an industrial society; believe in the high tariff to protect its own products from cheap foreign competition the South: agricultural society; detest federal governments high tariff
3、for industrial improvement.,Background Information,Politically: the North: need and depend more on central government to build infrastructure, to protect its complex trading and financial interests and control national currencythe South: need no central government to interfere; no need to strengthen
4、 it,Background Information,Ideologically:the South: slavery as a heritagethe North: slavery as violation of human rightsDispute over the lands from the acquisition of Texas and lands gained from Mexican War. The south: slavery system; The North: closed to slavery,Background Information,By 1860, the
5、North and the South had developed into two very different regions, with divergent social, economic, and political points of view.“A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. “ By Abraham Lincoln,Background Information,2.
6、literary background Fictions: Harriet Beecher Stowe s Uncle Toms Cabin, later published in 1852 Essays: Abraham Lincoln,Background Information,Poets:Whittier, Lowell, Bryant, Emerson, and Longfellow had already expressed their hatred of slavery with powerful effect. Walt Whitman outlived other roman
7、ticists; he harmonized this romanticism and realism to achieve a true representation of the spirit of America. Emily Dickinson: the new spirit of realism affected her musings,Walt Whitman (1819-1892),Contributions: Transitional figure from Romanticism and transcendentalism to realismSon of his timeS
8、inger of his countryThe founder of free verse,Writing Style,subject matter self ordinary people city life revolutionary attitude Theme: always Whitmanesque love-death motif harmony between man and nature, body and soul,Writing Style,Style: sea-wave style; parallelism, repetition simple and vivid sym
9、bols Sexuality exotic and vulgar, oral, simple language use of free verse,Free verse: poetry Without fixed rhythm (meter,beat) or regular rhyme. irregular length of its lines, as is its use of rhyme repeated and parallel sentences to strengthen the feelings.,Literary Works,Leaves of Grass 12 poems p
10、ublished in 1855 revolutionary form and content use of free verse ；break through the convention, manifest American idea, democratic equality and ordinary self. become a landmark in American literary history His intention in writing Leaves of Grass, he said, was to create a truly American poem, one “
11、powerful races of men, its tremendous historic events, its great oceans, its mountains, and its illimitable prairies.” goes beyond its specifically American subject to deal with the universal themes of nature, fertility, and mortality.,Symbolizes: the common people their spirit (tough, brave, indomi
12、table) the eternity youth, hope the equality the poet his poems His belief that poetry should include the lowly, the profane, even the obscene,II. Literary Works,Song of myselfMasterpiece, 1,346 lines, longest Self as central image the idealized American Whitmanized character, open-minded, optimisti
13、c, democratic selfreveal a world of equality, without rank or hierarchy e.g. P168,Song of Myself,Three Themes,The celebration of the self; The identification of the self with other selves; The poets relationship with the elements of nature and the universe.,a series of Paradoxes; line 2,3,4,5,6,15,1
14、6 Emphasis on the equality of all the people, regardless of their age, occupation, religion, birthplace and son on.,Images & Symbols,Whitman and Dickenson,Similarity pioneers in American poetry Thematically, extolled, an emergent America, its expansion, its individualism and its Americanness, part o
15、f “American Renaissance”. Technically: the literary independence ; breaking free of the convention ; freedom in form,Whitman and Dickenson,differences: (1) Whitman : society at large; Dickinson: the inner life of the individual. (2) Whereas Whitman is “national” in his outlook, Dickinson is “regiona
16、l”( “Because I see New-Englandly” 因为我用新英格兰眼光看). (3) In formal terms, Whitmans endless, all-inclusive catalogs contrast with the concise, direct and simple diction and syntax which characterize Dicksons poetry. (4) Technically speaking, Whitmans poetry is “free verse” , Dickenson: other innovation li
17、ke using punctuations,Emily Dickinson (1830-1886),Title: Precursor of the Imagist movement,I. Life and Career,Life: She was born in a Puritans family. Her father was a famous lawyer. She received college education. She lived a leisure and simple life and kept single all her life. She enjoyed gardeni
18、ng and writing and tried to avoid visitors. She wrote 1775 poems, but only seven of them published in her life time. Before her death, she asked her sister to burn all her poems. However, her sister published those beautiful poems.,Poetry,“All good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feel
19、ings”. The poet has found the emotion, the emotion has found the word. -Wordsworth The best words in the best order. -Samuel Coleridge When I read something I feel so cold that no fire can warm me, I know its poetry; When I read something I feel my head is chopped off, I know its poetry. Emily Dicki
20、nson,Features,A. Strong influence of Puritanism on her thought (pessimism and tragic tone of her poems) C. exploring humans inner world D. severe economy of expression; direct and plain language; short, rarely more than twenty lines centered on a single image or subject matter. 6 common n. day, life
21、, eye, sun, man, heaven E. original images unusual audio-visual effect A Narrow Fellow in the Grass, I Hear a Fly Buzz-When I Died F. Rebellious against traditional Forms: no title (first line) highly subjective, 1/5 of them begin with “I“ a particular stress pattern, dashes and capital letters; Imp
22、erfect rhymes, punctuation; four-line,Theme,death and immortality 1/3 Physical, psychological and emotional aspects of death Death leads to immortality, marks the beginning of a higher life “I heard a Fly buzzwhen I died-” “My Life Closed Twice before Its Close” “Because I Cant Stop for Death” Natur
23、e poems 500 Skepticism about man-nature relationship; Mythical bond, but indifference “Ill tell you how the sun rose” 我会告诉你太阳是如何升起的 “New Feet within My Garden Go” 我花园里的新脚步 “These are the days when birds come back” 鸟回来的那些日子 Love poems/Religious poems/on ethical level/on psychological tension/sympathy
24、 for the poor,Poem Appreciation Im Nobody! Who Are You?,Im nobody! Who are you? Are you nobody, too? Then theres a pair of us - dont tell! Theyd banish us. You know.How dreary to be somebody! How public, like a frog To tell your name the livelong day To an admiring bog!,我是无名之辈，你是谁？ 你也是无名之辈？ 那么，咱俩是一对
25、且莫声张！ 你懂嘛，他们容不得咱俩。 做个名人多无聊！ 象青蛙到处招摇 向一洼仰慕的泥塘 把自己的大名整天宣扬！,explain the reason why Emily Dickinson preferred solitude to public life and was contented to become a recluse and stayed away from the bustle and clamorous society which she thought to be material-oriented and fame-driven.,3 different types of people: nobody, somebody and snobs. Nobody: the poet, simple and honest. somebody: self-important boasting and advertising like a frog the snob: admires him as a bog admires the frog.,THE END THANK YOU,
