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1、ContentsChinese Abstract2English Abstract31. Introduction41.1 Theodore Dreiser and An American Tragedy41.2 The Concept of Naturalism52. The Embodiment of Naturalism in An American Tragedy52.1 Objectivity52.2 Authenticity72.3 Tragedy93. Conclusion11References131解析美国悲剧中的自然主义色彩摘 要西奥多德莱塞是美国自然主义文学先驱者，他的长
2、篇巨著美国悲剧被誉为是美国文坛最有影响的小说之一。德莱塞在美国悲剧中不仅生动地再现了十九世纪末二十世纪初的美国社会，而且在小说中表达了他的独特见解和思考。美国悲剧是一部探索和剖析美国现实社会的悲剧。本文从自然主义的视角解读美国悲剧，旨在分析德莱塞的自然主义思想在美国悲剧中如何体现的，通过分析自然主义文学的客观性、真实性和悲剧性对美国悲剧进行深度剖析。德莱塞不仅注重真情实感的细节描写，力求将社会真实的一面展现在人们面前，在揭示了美国社会的丑陋与罪恶的同时，也表达了他对底层人民的悲悯之情。关键词：美国悲剧；客观性；真实性；悲剧性An Analysis of Naturalistic Color i
3、nAn American TragedyAbstractTheodore Dreiser is a pioneer of American naturalistic literature. His novel An American Tragedy has been regarded as one of the most influential novels in American literature. Dreiser not only vividly reproduces the American social background of the late 19th century and
4、 the early 20th century in An American Tragedy, but also expresses his original views and research thoughts in the novel.An American Tragedy is a tragedy that explores and analyzes the reality of American society. This paper interprets An American Tragedy from the perspective of naturalism, aiming t
5、o analyze how Dreisers naturalistic thoughts are embodied in An American Tragedy, and makes an in-depth analysis of the American tragedy by analyzing the objectivity, authenticity and tragedy of naturalistic literature. Dreiser not only pays attention to the details of the real feelings, but also st
6、rives to show the real side of the society to the people. While revealing the ugliness and evil of the American society, Dreiser also expresses his pity for the people at the bottom of the society.Key words: An American Tragedy; objectivity; authenticity; tragedy1. Introduction 1.1 Theodore Dreiser
7、and An American TragedyTheodore Dreiser is a pioneer of American naturalistic literature. His novel An American tragedy has been regarded as one of the most influential novels in American literature. An American Tragedy which took him more than two years to write based on the facts of real crimes in
8、 history, was widely praised and praised when it was published. In his works, the protagonists are usually young people from poor backgrounds with lofty ambitions. However, the enthusiasm of these young people and the inherent shortcomings of human nature are not enough to resist the temptation of t
9、he social environment, and their souls eventually get lost in the pursuit of their dreams.In Dreisers works, we can clearly feel the close connection between his creative inspiration and his life. Dreiser had little formal education, and his learning was acquired in life. Dreisers religious parents
10、had lived a cold, hungry and bullied life as a child. Dreiser began earning his own living at the age of 15, first working as a busboy in restaurants in Chicago. The tough life experience had accumulated a wealth of writing materials for him, and his later career as a journalist had broadened his ho
11、rizon and enriched his knowledge. Therefore, Dreiser, based on his own experience and the results of social investigation, created a series of human tragedies on the stage of the American realistic society at the turn of the century, and revealed the inherent weaknesses of human nature and the natur
12、e of social environment. An American Tragedy is an exploration and analysis of the nature of the American social system and the problems in peoples lives. In terms of the theme of his novel, Dreiser showed various crises in American society, and the deviation of traditional values from social and ec
13、onomic development. The social evil caused by peoples abnormal behavior and expanding desire behind the highly developed society and economy. During his childhood, Clyde followed parents along the street to preach, but the passersby gave them with a strange look, which made his fragile mind once aga
14、in suffered attack. Therefore, in his heart he scorned religion because his father was unable to make a good living to care properly for his family. At the age of 17, he went to Green-Davidson Hotel as a waiter, the decadent hotel life dazzled him. He was out driving with other waiters and hit a ped
15、estrian. When he arrived in Chicago and worked as a foreman in a factory with his uncles connections, he was resentful of his cousins lukewarm attitude toward him and imagined that one day he would be as handsome and rich as his cousin. Carried away by desire, Clyde attempted to murder his pregnant
16、girlfriend Roberta, hoping he could rely on rich family daughter Sandra to join upper class society. So, Clyde lured Roberta to the lake and tried to drown her. While Clyde was hesitating, Roberta accidentally fell into the lake and drowned. As the police investigated further, Clyde was arrested. In
17、 New York, the Democrats held executive and judicial power, and Clydes uncle was a republican. Just in time for the state election, both parties made a big deal of Clydes murder, even fabricating evidence, and Clyde was soon sentenced to death.1.2 The Concept of Naturalism Naturalism is a literary g
18、enre that started as a movement in late 19th century in literature. The term was introduced to the United States by Frank Norris at the end of the 1880s. The naturalistic movement followed in general the biological determinism of Darwin or the economic and historical determinism of Marx. Naturalism
19、pertains to a method of literary composition that aims at a detached, scientific objectivity in the treatment of the individual. It conceives of the individual as being controlled by instincts and passions or by social and economic environments. In this view,ones free will is limited,the naturalisti
20、c writer does not attempt to make moral judgments and, as a determinist, tends toward pessimism. Naturalistic writers attempt to present the whole panoramic view of life. They could choose a subject deliberately, observe it, and present the result in a dispassionate manner. The father of naturalism,
21、 Zola, applied this concept to literature to advocate a creative idea that pursued pure objectivity and authenticity to understand human actions from physiological and genetic perspectives. Naturalistic literary theory is not a simple combination of literature and natural science, but an attempt to
22、fully control literature and art with the concept of natural science. In Dreisers works, determinism is the most consistent with naturalism, which is a new philosophical basis for his works. “In terms of his creation technique, the American naturalism represented by Dreiser pays less attention to th
23、e pathological and physiological anatomy of human beings, pays more attention to the true restoration of human nature, and accurately presents the natural attributes of human beings in content and language” (周进, 2018(12): 50-51). 2. The Embodiment of Naturalism in An American Tragedy 2.1 Objectivity
24、Naturalistic literature emphasizes the objectivity of creation and requires that “the discourse used in the novel cannot make people infer the authors tendency, attitude and ideology on the whole” (高建为, 2004(S1): 233-234). In literary creation, naturalist writers tend to use narrative discourse with
25、 strong objectivity. Dreiser, on the other hand, adopted a calm and objective narrative discourse in his narration of An American Tragedy.Naturalist writers attempt to “hide” themselves, the real narrative subject. As the “initiator” of the narrative, the writers seldom intervene in the development
26、process of the story as “I” and refuse to make comments and judgments. Instead, they only explain the environment and describe events from another aspect, so as to achieve the “concealment of the narrative subject” (许银霜, 2012: 4). “This change in narrative angle or perspective not only promotes the
27、objectivity of the whole narrative, but also greatly enhances the sense of reality of the work” (曾繁亭, 2008: 158). Dreiser only objectively analyzed the inner world of the characters, and did not use words with strong colors of praise or criticism. The authors attitude was rather vague, and he did no
28、t directly appear as “I” in the first person. At the beginning of the novel, although the author spilled a lot of ink describing Clydes parents preaching in the street, the emphasis is on Clydes inner monologue:That oldest boy dont wanna be here. He feels outa place, I can see that. It aint right to
29、 make a kid like that come out unless he wants to. He cant understand all this stuff, anyhow.Clyde, the eldest boy, and the two younger children merely gazed at the ground, or occasionally at their father, with a feeling that possibly it was all true and important, yet somehow not as significant or
30、inviting as some of the other things which life held. They heard so much of this, and to their young and eager minds life was made for something more than street and mission hall protestations of this sort. (Dreiser, 1926: 5-6)The author first used the words of others to show Clyde has no intention
31、to preach, and then used the inner activities of the protagonist Clyde to show his resistance to the cause of preaching. It seemed perfectly normal to the reader that a childs world is one of innocence, of longing, of little interest in the dull business of preaching. The whole narration cannot see
32、any emotional tendency of the author. Dreiser narrated the real thoughts in the masters heart with an objective and fair tone, showing Clydes inner resistance to the sermon and wiping out the traces of the presence of the narrative subject, thus creating an objective and calm narrative style of the
33、novel. In An American Tragedy, there are more such narrations, but because they all give the reader a sense of calm and detachment, they do not reach the extent to destroy the overall objective effect of the discourse (高建为, 2004(S1): 233-234).In addition, free indirect speech in naturalistic literat
34、ure does not specify the specific speaker, nor does it use quotation marks, but only uses the third-person pronoun to represent the specific character. (许银霜, 2012: 7). Free indirect speech refers to the authors use of the characters language and thoughts to narrate, so that the characters language i
35、s natural and fluent, and the reader cant help but substitute Clydes role, which also enhances the sense of reality and objectivity of the work to some extent. Similarly, free indirect speech is used more frequently in An American Tragedy. In the novel, free indirect speech is frequently used to exp
36、ress the complex mind of the characters in describing the inner activity of Clydes attempt to kill Roberta. At the time, Clyde and Sandra were close, while Roberta was pregnant and forced to marry. Clyde happened to read about the lake pass tragedy in the newspaper. Immediately, those terrible thoug
37、hts have been lingering in his mind. The author shows the characters inner conflicts and struggles :But now once more in Lycurgus and back in his room after just explaining to Roberta , as he had, he once more encountered on his writing desk, the identical paper containing the item concerning the tr
38、agedy at Pass Lake. And in spite of himself, his eye once more followed nervously and yet unwaveringly to the last word all the suggestive and provocative details.But, good God! What was he thinking of anyhow? He, Clyde Griffiths! The nephew of Samuel Griffiths! What was “getting into” him? Murder!
39、Thats what it was. This terrible item-this devils accident or machination that was constantly putting it before him! A most horrible crime, and one for which they electrocuted people if they were caught. Besides, he could not murder anybody-not Roberta, anyhow. Oh, no! Surely not after all that had
40、been between they. And yet-this other world!-Sondra-which he was certain to lose now unless he acted in some way-His hands shook, his eyelids twitched-then his hair at the roots tingled and over his body ran chill nervous titillations in waves. Murder! Or upsetting a boat at any rate in deep water,
41、which of course might happen anywhere, and by accident, as at Pass Lake. (Dreiser, 1926: 479-480)Except for the first two sentences, this passage is the narrators statement, while the middle part is more like Clydes inner monologue, which is the authors quotation of the characters. We can feel Clyde
42、s struggle and fear as he tries to kill Roberta. Dreiser quoted free indirect quotation to show the complex psychology of the characters, which made the inner thoughts of the protagonist Clyde emerge naturally, and blurred the boundary between the narrators words and the characters words. Besides, t
43、he characters thoughts were very smooth and natural, which greatly enhanced the objectivity of the novel.2.2 AuthenticityThe authenticity of the novel requires the author to trigger the readers resonance with specific events and accurate description. In other words, authenticity is to feel nature an
44、d describe it as it is, so as to impress readers with the truth of events. “Dreiser was good at showing the social background of the characters through a lot of details, which made his novels not only have the reality of life, but also vividly represented the historical era” (徐玲, 2001(5): 75-78). Th
45、e American critic Malcolm Cowley said, “Literary naturalism is not a theory that can be advocated officially and taught in high schools” (Cowley, 1970: 145). Dreiser was an expert in showing the characters dispositions through their own language and behavior. In addition, the authenticity of details
46、, the inevitability of plots and the individuality of characters language are enough to impress readers.Dreisers method of creation is to take the material of reality as the direct source, focusing on the description of characters from such aspects as environment and psychology. According to the ana
47、lysis of social environment and psychological analysis, the author made the characters more real.Under his feet was a checkered black-and-white marble floor. Above him a coppered and stained and gilded ceiling. And supporting this, a veritable forest of black marble columns as highly polished as the
48、 floor-glassy smooth. And between the columns which ranged away toward three separate entrance, one right, one left and one directly forward toward Dalrymple Avenue-were lamps, statuary, rugs, palms, chairs, divans, tete-a-tetes-a prodigal display. (Dreiser, 1926: 27-28)The Green-Davidson was the mo
49、st luxurious place in Kansas City, and in Clydes eyes, it not only symbolized the luxury of American cities, but also indicated his desire for the high life. In order to highlight the influence of social environment on Clyde, Dreiser spilled a lot of ink describing the furnishings of Green-Davidson Hotel and the