迷惘的壹代(The Lost Generation)
黑山派詩歌(Biack Mountain Poems)
垮掉的壹代(the Beat Generation)
黑色幽默(Black humor)
重農派(Agrarians)
美國現代南方作家組成的壹個松散的文化團體，又稱“逃亡者派”。1915年，壹些與田納西州納什維爾鎮範德比爾特大學有關的文化人常常聚會討論文學及哲學問題。第壹次世界大戰期間集會曾壹度中斷，1919年重又恢復。範德比爾特大學教師、詩人約翰·克羅·蘭塞姆成為這壹活動的實際領導者，他的周圍聚集了壹批有才華的年輕人，如詩人羅伯特·潘·華倫、阿倫·泰特、唐納德·戴維森以及小說家安德魯·納爾遜·萊特爾、詩人莫裏爾·莫爾等。1922至1925年，他們出版了有影響的小型文藝雜誌《逃亡者》，它所發表的重要的文章後來收組成為《逃亡者文選》(1928)。“逃亡者派”壹詞即由此而來。
“逃亡者”們提倡維護南方傳統的文學地方主義，成為“南方文藝復興”的壹文中堅力量。1930年，以“逃亡者派”為主體的12個南方作家，其中有蘭塞姆、華倫、泰特以及詩人約翰·弗萊徹、劇作家斯塔克·揚格等人，撰寫的專題論文集《我要表明我的態度》出版。這部被看作“重農派”宣言的著作在社會上引起了不小反響。這些文章的主旨都是以南方農業社會為尺度來評價、批判現代美國資本主義社會。此後，阿倫·泰特等人編輯出版了“重農派”的第二部論文集《誰占有美國?》(1936)。
30年代經濟大蕭條時期，重農思想對南方知識分子影響極大。這種思想不僅貫穿在蘭塞姆、戴維森、泰特、華倫等人的作品中，在威廉·福克納、卡羅琳·戈登、萊特爾以至尤多拉·韋爾蒂等人的小說中也有鮮明的體現，壹時形成了壹股很有聲勢的文化潮流，以致有“重農運動”之稱。1935年，華倫與克林斯·布魯克斯***同創辦了《南方評論》，1939年蘭塞姆創辦了《肯庸評論》，這些雜誌便成為“重農派”作家重要的活動陣地。美國現代重要的文藝批評流派“新批評派”就是圍繞著這些刊物形成的。“新批評派”中的不少成員也都是“重農派”的核心人物。
迷惘的壹代(The Lost Generation)
第壹次世界大戰後出現在美國的壹個文學流派。它不是壹個有組織、有***同綱領的團體。這個名詞源出僑居巴黎的美國女作家格特魯德·斯泰因。她有壹次指著海明威等人說：“妳們都是迷惘的壹代。”海明威把這句話作為他的長篇小說《太陽照樣升起》的壹句題辭，於是“迷憫的壹代”成了壹個文學流派的名稱。“迷惘的壹代”作家的***同點是厭惡帝國主義戰爭，卻又找不到出路。第壹次世界大戰爆發時，他們大多是20歲左右的年輕人。他們在美國政府“拯救世界民主”口號的蠱惑下，懷著民主的理想，奔赴歐洲戰場。他們目睹人類空前的大屠殺，發現戰爭遠不是他們原來設想的那種英雄的事業，所謂“民主”、“光榮”、“犧牲”都是騙人的東西。他們在戰爭中經歷了種種苦難，了解到普通兵士中間的反戰情緒。這在他們心靈中留下了無法醫治的創傷。他們的作品反映了這些思想感情。例如，約翰·多斯·帕索斯的《三個士兵》、愛·肯明斯的《巨大的房間》、威廉·福克納的《士兵的報酬》和《薩托裏斯》。厄內斯特。海明威是“迷惘的壹代”的代表作家。他到歐洲打過仗，負過重傷。海明威當時對待戰爭的態度，象其他反戰作家壹樣，只限於厭惡、逃避與詛咒。他對戰後的和平生活也不抱希望，所以在作品中迷惘、悲觀的情緒較為濃厚。“迷惘的壹代”不僅指參加過歐洲大戰的作家，也包括沒有參加過戰爭、但對前途感到迷憫和遲疑的20年代作家，例如司各特·菲茨傑拉爾德、托·斯·艾略特和托·馬斯·沃爾夫等。“迷憫的壹代”主要繁榮在20年代；30年代以後，他們的創作傾向，包括海明威在內，都有了變化。
黑山派詩歌(Biack Mountain Poems)
美國當代的壹個詩歌流派。20世紀50年代初，在馬薩諸塞州黑山學院任教的查·奧爾遜、羅·鄧肯、羅·克裏利等人創辦《黑山評論》雜誌，提倡與40年代流行的傳統格律體相反的“放射體”詩歌，逐步形成壹個流派。奧爾遜的《放射體詩歌》(1950)壹文闡述了他們的主要觀點。奧爾遜認為詩是把詩人的“能”傳遞給讀者的東西，因此詩是“能的結構”和“能的放射”；要以順應呼吸的“音樂片語”代替傳統詩律中的節拍；形式只是內容的延伸；壹個意念必須直接導向另壹個意念，提倡快速寫作。黑山派詩人還倡導詩歌朗誦。他們強調詩歌的自發性和口語化，采用美國口語和埋語，反對艾略特等人精雕細刻、廣征博引的學院派詩風。50年代後期他們與垮掉派詩人合流，引起較大的反響。
垮掉的壹代(the Beat Generation)
第二次世界大戰後在美國出現的壹個文學流派。有人根據英文“Beats”和“Beatniks”(“垮掉青年”的俗稱)譯成“避世青年”或“疲塌派”，也有人取其詩歌的部分特征，稱為“節拍運動”或“敲打詩派”。“垮掉青年”對戰後美國社會現實不滿，又迫於麥卡錫主義的反動政治高壓，便以“脫俗”方式來表示抗議。他們奇裝異服，蔑視傳統觀念，厭棄學業和工作，長期浪跡於底層社會，形成了獨特的社會圈子和處世哲學。50年代初，他們的反叛情緒表現為壹股“地下文學”潮流，向保守文化的統治發動沖擊。多數垮掉派文人來自東部。著名的有傑克·凱魯亞克、艾倫·金斯堡、威廉· 巴羅斯、格雷戈裏。柯爾索、約翰·克萊倫·霍爾姆斯、塞繆爾·克雷姆和加裏·斯奈德等。1950年，凱魯亞克與巴羅斯合寫偵探故事未成，卻各自完成了壹部垮掉派小說《小鎮與城市》(1951)和《吸毒者》(1953)。霍爾姆斯從中受到啟發，在小說《走吧》(1952)中更明確地反映紐約“垮掉青年”的生活感受，又在《紐約時報》上鼓吹垮掉派文學，但這種嘗試受到東部學院派勢力的壓抑，他們就往西部尋求同道和發展基地。當時洛杉磯近郊的西威尼斯有個以勞倫斯·李普頓為首的垮掉派組織，他於1955年發表小說《神聖的野蠻人》。在舊金山，以勞倫斯·弗林蓋梯的“城市之光”書店為中心，聚合了壹群立誌從事“文藝復興”的反學院派詩人，他們的首領即是後來成為“垮掉的壹代”理論家的肯尼斯·雷克思羅斯。
1955年夏天，“垮掉文人”和反學院派詩人(包括舊金山詩人和黑山派詩人)在舊金山聯合舉辦詩歌朗誦會，自此之後垮掉派文學作品開始流行。金斯堡在會上朗讀了他那首被譽為“50年代《荒原》”的長詩《嚎叫》。這首詩以怨氣沖天的哀號表達“我這壹代精英”的痛苦與自暴自棄，斥責“莫洛克”神統治下的軍事化、商業化的社會。1956年，他的詩集出版，轟動全國。1957年，凱魯亞克的長篇小說《在路上》出版，它描寫垮掉分子在各地流浪的生活，使大批精神苦悶的青年為之神往，奉為“生活教科書”。這兩部作品出版後，《常青評論》、《黑山評論》等雜誌連續出版專號，加以推薦。諾曼·梅勒的被稱為美國存在主義宣言的《白種黑人》(1957)，以及1960年他在波士頓審訊中為巴羅斯小說所做的辯護，則從理論上論證了“垮掉文學”的意義。商業化宣傳使得美國青年紛紛接受“垮掉”生活方式，從爵士樂、搖擺舞、吸大麻、性放縱直至參撣念佛和“背包革命”(指漫遊旅行)，壹時成為風氣。
“垮掉派”人生哲學的核心是個人在當代社會中的生存問題。霍爾姆斯和梅勒借用歐洲存在主義觀念，宣揚通過滿足感官欲望來把握自我。斯奈德和雷克思羅斯則吸收佛教禪宗的學說，以虛無主義對抗生存危機。在政治上，他們標榜自己是“沒有目標的反叛者，沒有口號的鼓動者，沒有綱領的革命者”。在藝術上，據雷克思羅斯在《離異：垮掉的壹代的藝術》(1957)中宣稱，他們“以全盤否定高雅文化為特點”。凱魯亞克發明的“自發式散文”寫作法和查爾斯·奧爾遜的“放射詩”論，在“垮掉文人”中被廣泛奉行。
由上述藝術觀點支配的“垮掉文學”運動，雖然曇花壹現，而且摻雜大量不健康的因素，仍在美國文學史上留下了壹定影響。大量“垮掉詩”因具有大眾化和反象征主義傾向，長期在青年中流傳。在小說方面，凱魯亞克的壹組用自發表現法寫成的“路上小說”，除了《在路上》之外，還有《地下人》(1958)、《達摩流浪漢》(1958)、《特莉斯苔薩》(1959)、《孤獨天使》(1959)等。它們的壹個特點是繼承了馬克．吐溫的《哈克貝裏·費思歷險記》所開創的美國文學中寫流浪生活的傳統，形成了壹種為當代其他小說家所仿效的模式，主人公為逃脫汙濁的環境而四出漫遊，尋找自由和歸宿。它們的另壹個特點是主人公毫不隱諱地大談自己的境遇和感受，作自我剖析，這種“個人新聞體”手法在印年代得到較大的發展。
巴羅斯對暴行、墮落、吸毒和犯罪等的描寫在“垮掉”作家中首屈壹指。他同時又在語言和小說的形式上進行大膽實驗，用“剪裁法”拼湊和改變小說的結構。他的代表作《裸露的午餐》(1959)，由於反映了“真正地獄般的”地下生活，引起了壹場訴訟和諧爭。以後的作品如《諾瓦快車》(1964)、《柔軟機器》(1966)和《爆炸的火車票》(1967)，也采用了真實與夢屬相混合的手法，全面、冷酷地表現 作者厭惡社會的冷酷的幽默感，後來有人因此把巴羅斯列入“黑色幽默”小說家行列。
黑色幽默(Black humor)
20世紀60年代美國重要的文學流派。1965年3月，弗裏德曼編了壹本短篇小說集，收入12個作家的作品，題名為《黑色幽默》，“黑色幽默”壹詞即由此而來。它是60年代美國小說創作中最有代表性的流派之壹。進入70年代後，“黑色幽默”的聲勢大減，但不時仍有新作出現，它在美國文學中至今仍有相當深遠的影響。它的主要作家有約瑟夫·海勒、克特·小伏尼格、托馬斯·平欽、約翰·巴斯、詹姆斯·珀迪、布魯斯·傑伊·弗裏德曼、唐納德·巴賽爾姆等。
“黑色幽默”的小說家突出描寫人物周圍世界的荒謬和社會對個人的壓迫，以壹種無可奈何的嘲諷態度表現環境和個人(即“自我”)之間的互不協調，並把這種互不協調的現象加以放大，扭曲，變成畸形，使它們顯得更加荒誕不經，滑稽可笑，同時又令人感到沈重和苦悶。因此，有壹些評論家把“黑色幽默”稱為“絞架下的幽默”或“大難臨頭時的幽默”。“黑色幽默”作家往往塑造壹些乖僻的“反英雄”人物，借他們的可笑的言行影射社會現實，表達作家對社會問題的觀點。在描寫手法方面，“黑色幽默”作家也打破傳統，小說的情節缺乏邏輯聯系，常常把敘述現實生活與幻想和回憶混合起來，把嚴肅的哲理和插科打諢混成壹團。例如海勒的《第二十二條軍規》、平欽的《萬有引力之虹》、小伏尼格的《第壹流的早餐》。有些“黑色幽默”小說則嘲笑人類的精神危機，如巴斯的《煙草經紀人》和珀迪的《凱柏特·賴特開始了》。
“黑色幽默”作為壹種美學形式，屬於喜劇範疇，但又是壹種帶有悲劇色彩的變態的喜劇。“黑色幽默”的產生是與60年代美國的動蕩不安相聯系的。當代資本主義社會的荒謬可笑的事物和“喜劇性”的矛盾不是作家們憑主觀意誌所能創造的，它們是那種社會生活的反映。這種反映雖然具有壹定的社會意義和認識價值，作家雖然也抨擊了包括統治階級在內的壹切權威，但是他們強調社會環境是難以改變的，因而作品中往往流露出悲觀絕望的情緒。
What is it?
The Lost Generation is a term used to describe a group of American writers who were rebelling against what America
had become by the 1900’s. At this point in time, America had become a great place to, “go into some area of business”
(Crunden, 185). However, the Lost Generation writers felt that America was not such a success story because the country
was devoid of a cosmopolitan culture. Their solution to this issue was to pack up their bags and travel to Europe’s
cosmopolitan cultures, such as Paris and London. Here they expected to find literary freedom and a cosmopolitan way of life.
A cosmopolitan culture is one which includes and values a variety of backgrounds and cultures. In the 1920's the White
Anglo Saxon Protestant work ethic was the only culture that was considered valued by the majority of Americans. It was
because of ethics such as this which made the cosmopolitan culture of Paris so alluring.
American Literature went through a profound change in the post WWI era. Up until this point, American writers were
still expected to use the rigid Victorian styles of the 19th Century. The lost generation writers were above, or apart from,
American society, not only in geographic terms, but also in their style of writing and subjects they chose to write about.
Although they were unhappy with American culture, the writers were instrumental in changing their country's style of
writing, from Victorian to modern.
Who was involved in it?
T.S.Eliot
T.S. Eliot was born into a prominent New England family. His education consisted of Harvard University, the Sorbonne,
and the University of Oxford. Eliot was a disciple of the author/editor Ezra Pound who will be discussed later. His
permanent residence became London, because Eliot found London more appealing due to its cultural tradition. Eliot's studies
and interests stemmed from anthropology, mythology, and religion. His works ranged from subjects such as religion, serenity,
the Italian poet Dante, English metaphysical poets, and Elizabethan dramatists. His poetry has no fixed verse, form, or
regular pattern, with an occasional rhyme scheme. Eliot's most celebrated work "The Wasteland" is a long poem, which
construes his views of the modern society, in comparison of the past. Eliot gave Ezra Pound the poem to edit, and pound and
his wife cut through the poem, often emitting large portions that they felt irrelevant. In "The Wasteland" Eliot incorporates
many footnotes. Some critics claimed it was Eliot's egocentrism that allowed him to do this, because he felt smarter than the
average person did, and they would need the footnote to decode his writings. Others said he was crazy (he did suffer a
nervous breakdown while writing "The Wasteland." Eliot was an essential figure in the modernistic times, and his methods of
literary analysis, such as he develops in the work "Sacred Wood" influenced literary criticism for future writers.
From "The Hollow Men"
We are the hollow men
We are the stuffed men
Leaning together
Headpiece filled with straw
Our dried voices, when
We whisper together
Are quiet and meaningless
As wind in dry grass
Or rat's feet over broken glass
In our dry cellar
Ezra Pound
Ezra Pound was born in Idaho, and at an early age moved to Pennsylvania with his family. His education consisted of
Hamilton College, and the University of Pennsylvania where he meets literary figures such as William Carlos Williams, and
Hilda Doolittle. Hilda Doolittle, Pound, and Richard Aldington published an anthology based on their famous teashop
conversations called "Des Imgistes: An Anthology." Pound had this published to help further his friend's careers. He entitled
the book in French because he felt that they owed a debt to French literature. Pound was an instructor in Romance
Languages at Wabash College. Pound's friendship with various authors and poets helped establish the birth of modernism
with regards to French, English, and American literature. Pound later moved to Europe, as he found nothing of interest in
America. It was in Europe that Pound met T.S. Eliot. His course of readings in Europe had a profound effect on his
writings. In addition to the Romance Languages, Pound studied Chinese. Pound felt a greater admiration to French and
Chinese past histories than he did for American and British. Ezra Pound had a penetrating impact on literature. Not only did
he write his own highly acclaimed works; he helped others to achieve the same recognition.
From "Portrait d'unne Femme"
Your mind and you are our Sargasso Sea
London has swept about you this score years
And bright ships left you this or that in fee
Ideas, old gossip, oddments of all things
Strange spars of knowledge and dimmed waves of price
Great minds have sought you-lacking someone else.
Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein was born into an affluent family, which enabled her to spend a considerable amount of time in Europe.
Having such a diverse background, Stein did not know the conventional life that many Americans lived. Her areas of study
include Radcliffe College, where she studied with the philosopher William James. To further her education, Stein attended
Johns Hopkins Medical School, but she did not have the drive to finish her degree. Stein used her knowledge of medicine and
philosophy (particularly what she learned from James about stream of consciousness) and incorporated them into her
writings. Stein then went off to Europe, and with her brother Leo, set up a salon which was visited by such figures as
Picasso, Henri Matisse, Sherwood Anderson, and Ernest Hemingway. With influences such as Picasso, Stein explored
Cubism, with concentration on illumination of the present moment. A good example of this was the work "Tender Buttons."
Stein's first and most celebrated work was "Three Lives"- where she tried to establish new verb forms, and a way to enable
the reader's consciousness to be able to study the workings of another mind. Dialogue was a main focus, because dialogue
allowed the reader to understand the perceptions of the characters, while allowing the reader to understand the perceptions
of the self. Freud was also an influence, as seen in Stein's attempt to get into ones conscious and unconscious mind while
merging the two together.
From "The Gentle Lena"
Poor Lena had no power to be strong in such trouble. She did not know how to yield her sickness nor endure. She lost all her little sense of being in her suffering. She was so scared, and then at her best, Lena, who was patient, sweet, and quiet, had not self-control, nor any active courage.
Ernest Hemingway
Hemingway is probably one of the most celebrated authors of his time. Hemingway is well known for his fiction. His
take on fiction is something invented or imagined. Main topics were centralized around his love of embellishment of the
facts. Hemingway did not have the education as many other writers of his time, rebelling against his parents attempts to send
him to colleges. His idea of education did not consist of lectures, and research papers, but of life experiences, and his love of
reading. Hemingway's readings centered around Russian writers such as Tolstoy and Turgrnev, Tolstoy was a primary
influence in Hemingway's writings. WWI also had a profound impact on him as well, as he was an ambulance driver during
the war. He hated the abstract, especially abstract words such as honor, glory, and courage. Hemingway held strong to old
beliefs, and symbolism, as he used symbolism to depict the Protestant religion he could not accept. He used observation and
description in his works, rather than rhetoric views. The concept of war fascinated Hemingway, as well as the experiences
one could endure in a lifetime. One of the most famous works, "Farewell to Arms" depicted the uselessness for words such
as honor and glory, because they were not the first things in a soldier's mind as he walked onto the battlefield. Hemingway's
works were raw, and dilled with the notion that one could be inside the characters mind, the concrete, and not around in the
abstract view of his works.
From "Big Two Hearted River Part I"
From the time he had gotten down off the train and the baggage man had thrown his pack out of the open car door things had been different. Seney was burned, he knew that. He hiked along the road, sweating in the sun, climbing to cross the range of hills that separated the railway from the pure plains.
When did it occur?
The term "lost generation" was coined by Gertrude Stein, a lost generation writer herself, after World War I. It was
between the first and second World Wars, that these writers spent their time abroad. "In the 1930's, the forces of politics
and war drove artists back to America."
Why was it significant to American Culture?
This temporary emigration of American talent into cosmopolitan cities such as Paris, is significant to American culture in
two parts.
One, because it aided in the desire for a cosmopolitan culture to be established and to exist in America.
Two, because when American Culture became more defined, European and other countries began to recognize a
distinctive Democratic American culture.