大学美国文学史及作品选读8.ppt

* Lecture 8 The Age of Modernism: Literature in the 1920s (Ezra Pound, T. S. Eliot and Robert Frost ) Content The 1920s Imagism Ezra Pound T. S. Eliot Robert Frost Teaching Objectives and Requirements： 1 Make the students know clearly about Modernism. 2 Help the students to know about the characteristics of the American 1920’s and Imagism. 3 Help the students to know Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot. 4 Help the students know clearly about Robert Frost. (The 1920s can be termed as the second renaissance in the history of American literature and as the “Jazze Age”. It was a chaotic age and also a transitional age. After 1920s, US society stepped into its modern times. The works of T. S. Eliot and Ernest Hemingway and their generations constituted an adequate expression of the spirit of their times.) 1 The 1920s The twentieth century began with a strong sense of social breakdown. A series of wars fought on the international scene during the first part of the century were to affect the life of Americans and their literary writings. Among them the two World wars, especially the First World War (1914-1918), became the emblem of all wars in the twentieth century, which means violence, devastation, blood and death. 1.1 Historical background ● With all these wars the whole world had undergone a dramatic social change, a transformation from order to disorder. And so had the United States. ● The First World War had made a big impact on the life of the American people. After the war, there was a booming industry and material prosperity (radio, automobile, movie). ● At the same time there was a sense of unease and restlessness (strikes, unemployment, political corruptions, organized crimes, radical labour force). ● There was a decline in moral standard and this period was best described as a spiritual wasteland. ◆ People became less certain about accepted standards of honesty and morality. ◆ The idea of “seize the day” or “enjoy the present” was pervasive, as opposed t