The Inheritance of the 19th Century in Us Fiction
Autor: viki • February 3, 2012 • Research Paper • 9,090 Words (37 Pages) • 1,535 Views
TOPIC 1: The inheritance of the 19th Century in US fiction. Realism: from classical to psychological, from Howells to James. The novel as "a direct impression of life". The new "American century" and the cultivated artist.
INTRODUCTION TO THE TOPIC. HISTORICAL CONTEXT.
1. Historical and cultural context at the turn of the century
• Modernization of America (1865-1914): from agrarian to industrial
• A time of contrasts:
o Inventions
o Growth
o Wealth
o Nostalgic images
o Poverty and discrimination...
• Scientific discoveries:
o Darwin's The Origin of Species, 1859
o Second Law of Thermodynamics or Law of Entropy (Rudolph Julius Claudius), 1865
• Change in values
o Individualism, capitalism, survival of the fittest, self-made man...
• Industrialization and economic transformation:
o Technological progress after the Civil War
• Change in landscape
o The city
• Social transformation
o 1860: 40 million; 1900: 80 million
o 27 million immigrants from 1840 to 1910
o Social polarization
o Terrible work conditions of the lower class
Reflection in literature
• Changes in literary industry: mass production, commercialization, middle class reading public, new journals and presses...
• U.S. literature in process of transformation
• Regionalist literature: popular and mass culture from the West, Midwest, South, women and minorities; local themes, nostalgia (romance, domestic novels, frontier stories...).
• New literary themes:
o Self-made man,
o The city
• Controversy:
o Popular vs. elitist culture,
o East vs. West,
o Imagination vs. the machine,
o Pragmatism vs. idealism,
o Material vs. spiritual progress,
o U.S. vs. Europe,
...