American literature chapter 4.ppt

Background The American Dream: A dream of being able to grow to fullest development as man and woman, unhampered(无阻碍的) by the barriers in the older civilizations, unrepressed by social orders which had developed for the benefit of higher classes. ——Historian James Adams Jazz Age(1918~1929)： The decade after World War I and before the Great Depression in 1929. Everything seemed to be feasible(可行的) through modern technology. The gaudiest spree (最华而不实的狂欢) in American history. It is also known as “the Roaring 20s”.  American Modern Novels and Poetry  Background 1910-1930 the era of Modernism the decade of the 1920s has been one of special interest in more way than one. Sandwiched as it was between two events of great historic significance , World War I and the Great Depression. World War I (1914-1918) : the United States made a great deal of money in the war and became a lot richer, so that there appeared an economic boom, a deceptive affluence, when the war was over. No one could foresee the crash to befall the country in 1929. the Jazz Age : the country became urban in these years; a new type of industrial economy developed. Mass production, mass consumption and mass leisure became essential to economic and cultural life and was soon to dominate the nations culture and institution. “ the second sex” : new women appeared on the scene, demanding the same social freedom as men enjoyed and effecting life signifcantly. after the war there was a tremendous letdown because nothing had changed. The heroism, patriosm and the zeal for democracy that the romantic notion of war had inspired now proved to be false and tasteless to a generation who had once had faith in them. the loss of faith, which began noticeably with Darwin‘s theories of evolution and was intensified by the development of modern science. People found themselves living in a spiritual wasteland and feel homeless, estranged（疏远的） and haunted by a sense of doom（厄运）. Imagism a movement in early 20th-