Tekst- og litteraturhistorie i de engelsksprogede lande Session Four: American Naturalism

Agenda Writing America American Naturalism Steven Crane amd Jack London Øvelsesopgave

Writing America Sarah Orne Jewett, "A White Heron" Jack London, "The Law of Life”

Writing America Nationalism: USA vs Europe Regionalism: city vs country Realism and Naturalism: individual vs society, man vs nature, against Romanticism

Forms of Realism ”the truthful treatment of material” (Howells)

Naturalism Darwinism: Nature is a struggle in which the fittest, i.e. the best adapted through natural selction, survives Social Darwinism: Society is competitive Zola: ”The Experimental Novel”

Émile Zola, ”The Experimental Novel” In short, we must operate with characters, pasions, human and social data as the chemist and the physicist work on inert bodies, as the physiologist works on living bodies. Determinism governs everything. It is scientific investigation; it is experimental reasoning that combats one by one the hypotheses of the idealists and will replace novels of pure imagination by novels of observations and experiment.

Émile Zola, ”The Experimental Novel” Scientific investigation and experimental reasoning are in combat with the hypotheses of the idealists The novelist turns scientist (the chemist, the physicist, the physiologist) Characters, feelings, and emotions (human and social data) are matter Novels of observations and experiment will replace novels of pure imagination

American Naturalism A number of American writers adopted aspects of this pessimistic form of realism, this so-called naturalistic view of humankind, though each writer incorporated such naturalism into his or her work in individual ways, to different degrees, and combined with other perspectives. (The Norton Anthology of American Literature, Vol. C, ”Introduction”)

American Naturalism: Steven Crane How does Crane adopt the ”naturalistic view of humankind”? With which ”other perspectives” does Crane combine Naturalism? How? Setting, characters, plot, imagery, point of view

American Naturalism: Jack London How does London adopt the ”naturalistic view of humankind”? With which ”other perspectives” does London combine Naturalism? How? Setting, characters, plot, imagery, point of view

Øvelsesopgave/ Bunden skriftlig hjemmeopgave Stephen Crane, "The Open Boat" (1897) and American Naturalism Speaking of Naturalism, The Norton Anthology of American Literature, Sixth Edition, Vol. C, states that, “A number of American writers adopted aspects of this pessimistic form of realism, this so-called naturalistic view of humankind, though each writer incorporated such naturalism into his or her work in individual ways, to different degrees, and combined with other perspectives.” (9) Analyse Stephen Crane's short story "The Open Boat" as an example of American naturalism.

Bunden skriftlig hjemmeopgave AFLEVERINGSDATO: Tirsdag den 25/10 kl AFLEVERINGSFORM: Print AFLEVERINGSSTED: Jens Kirks dueslag Besvarelsen er individuel Besvarelsen må højst fylde 6 sider á 2400 anslag (tegn og mellemrum). Eksaminandens navn og besvarelsens længde skal angives på forsiden/ titelbladet Besvarelsen skal udgøre et sammenhængende essay og indeholde titel, indledning og konklusion. Besvarelsen afleveres som print til Jens Kirks dueslag

Bunden skriftlig hjemmeopgave: A Few Dos and Don'ts Do: Include an introduction and conclusion in your essay. Unpack the topic question in your introduction. Define the key terms of the assignment by making use of the course resources, i.e. the Norton Anthologies, Abrams, the Norton websites, the course homepage, the slides, your notes, etc) Analyse the text using a genre specific method (eg make consistent use of the terms plot, characterisation, point of view, and imagery, and related terms in your analysis of a narrative) in order to arrive at the theme of the text. Make connections to other (literary) texts. Look for similarities and contrasts. Use pagination! Follow the standard conventions concerning quotation and reference. Write proper English: Focus on coherence and cohesion and do double check ortography, grammar, and syntax. Don’t: Summarise (unless you have a clear point with your summary) Plagiarise