|==chapter 20??literature in the?great depressionhistorical background
on october 24, 1929, ‘the bottom dropped of the stock market’
the great depression begun
for the next ten years, americans struggled in the dark.
the situation did not change until the outbreak of wwii
in the great depression, for many people, survival itself became a cruel struggle.
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literature in this period
– the writers of the 1930s had to depicted the material wasteland of american
– social attention has became a top priority, and the social participation has become the main feature of literature in the 1920s.
– the 1930s was a great era of novels. dreiser’s naturalistic style became the mainstream during the great depression.
-jon doss passos and john steinback became famous in this period
their works reflects american society during the great depression
– the dramas in 1930s were also excellent. (o’?neil)
– the poems is this period was not as prosperous as novels and dramas. there was no great poet in this age.
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1.?john dos passos?(1896 ~1970) ?
约翰·多斯·帕索斯

life and thoughts
showed a drastic change in political views from left to right.
he claimed himself to be ‘a red radical revolutionary’
his works had a communist tendency for a long time
in the late 1950s he completely turned to conservatism
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major works
u.s. a.????????????????????????????????????????《美国》
– the 42nd?parallel ?????????????《北纬四十二度》
– 1919? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 《一九一九年》
– the big money??????????????????????《赚大钱》
district of columbia? ? ? ? ? ? 《哥伦比亚特区》
adventures of a young man ?????????????????
《一个年轻人的冒险》
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analysis of major work ——?u.s.a.
content:
– the 42nd?parallel?depicted the formation process of the american capitalist ‘machine’, as well as its dictatorship and destruction of individuals.
– 1919?was a record of american life in wwi.
it continues to describe the ‘depersonalizing’?process, laying the foundation for the next novel to describe the prosperity of the 1920s.
– the big money
theme:
* it’s a collective novel, which describes the lives of 11 main characters and more than 30 minor characters.
* its purpose is to expose the social reality of how capitalist ‘machines’?influence individual physical and mental development
* in this work, the author portrayed the lower class with a touching and sad tone.

style:
– this work shows his creative spirit.
– used ‘newsreels’?（新闻片）, ‘biographies’?（人物传记）, and ‘camera eye’?（照相机镜头）
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his language was concise with touching image and full rhyme.
he also used many parallel sentences.
his language is colloquial and was a unique style writer
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2.?john steinback (1902 ~ 1968) ???????????????
约翰·斯坦贝克
he wrote some romantic works, but none of these works produced any repercussions in the literary world.
his masterpiece the grapes of wrath won him the pulitzer prize
he won the nobel prize for literature in 1962
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major works
cup of the gold????????????????????????????《金杯》
the pastures of heaven??????????《天堂的牧场》
to a god unknown? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 《致无名之神》
tortilla flat? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ???《薄饼坪》
in dubious battle? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 《胜负未决的战斗》
of mice and man? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ???《人鼠之间》
the grapes of wrath???????????????《愤怒的葡萄》
the moon is down? ? ? ? ? ??《月亮下去了/月落》
east of eden????????????????????????????《伊甸园之东》
the winter of our discontent?????????????????
《我们的不满的冬天》
travels with charley ????????????????????????????
《查理和我》
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analysis of the grapes of wrathan important novel in the history of american literature- title is taken from a few lines in ‘?the battle hymn of the republic’
– depicted the process of joads and other families moving westward.
-when most people are hungry and cold, they will resort to violence to get what they need. if no measures are taken to prevent them, the social revolution will occur.
-structure: the novel consists of two parts, the wastward trek of the joads and the dispossessed oklahomans, and the general picture of the great depression.
-unlike the depression and defeatism permeated in the works of that era, steinbeck believed in human nature, and he is optimistic.