Literature of the Middle Ages. The Anglo-Saxon period Beowulf

Herman Melville- was born in a rich family but when he was 12 his father went bankrupt and in the long run got mad because of the enormous psychological tension. As a result the boy had to give up school & start earning his living. In the end he went to sea & his sailing experience served as the basis for his numerous novels.
His greatest work was the novel "Moby Dick; o r, White Whale"(1851) - a sea - captain Ahab by name who was crippled by a white whale during his whaling expedition swears to find his offender & to kill him. The whole novel is a story of his dramatic, full of dangerous hardships, search for the whale, the struggle which he & his crew have to have with the whale (Moby Dick) & death of Ahab & his men. The only person who survived is Ishmael, who tells the story of Ahab This novel has very many layers. It's an adventure novel full of exotics of the sea. Secondly, it's a realistic novel, for the reader learns a lot about the whaling business in the 19^th c. It's also a philosophical novel dealing with issues of life, its objectives & other moral matters. The novel is replete with symbolic images. The whale can be treated as a symbol of Nature itself. It also can be treated as a symbol of dark forces that Man has to deal with. The ship symbolizes a state. The ship in the novel is meant with people of different nationalities, so here is the symbol of the USA. There are also many religious, historical allusions, allusions from literature in the novel (for example, the names of the characters are taken from the Bible).
Besides the novel has elements of different narrative styles. All these features make the novel an outstanding work of fiction which can be adequately appreciated only in the 20^th centure (20-30ss). By its structure, composition, abandons in illusions the book may be placed among contemporary postmodernist novels. Thus there is no wonder that the great deapt of the story was not appreciated by Melville’s contemporaries.
17. Critical Realism in American Literature. M. Twain, J. London, Th.Dreiser, J. Salinger.

REALISM IN AMERICAN LITERATURE (1860 - the first World War)

The 1860s was A watershed in American history (the Civil War of 1861 - 1865). In 1914 World War 1 began. American literature within this period is noted for its realistic character. And literature between World War 1 & World War II is mostly of modernist character.
The Civil War in the USA cardinally changed the hislory of the country, Before the war American
literature was marked with optimism & idea1ism, while postwar reality with its rapid industrialization, with growing lust for money & acquisition left no more room for idealism. The writers of this period realized that their task was not to take the reader away into the past or into some remote exotic places like Melville, or Cooper, or Poe did but that they should deal with everyday realities. Unlike Romaiitic characters who were usually outcasts, the characters of realislic novels were typical people of their time & place. Like the European counterparts American writers stressed the link between Man & society that is influence of society on the formation of human character. All these writers in some way dealt with the notion of the so called American Dream (the idea of having an opportunity to go "from rags to riches" - such a "poor-boy-gets-rich-myth"), explaining it, showing its reverse side. The most prominent writers of this period are: Mark Twain (originally - Samuel Clemens) (I 835 - 1910); Jack London (1876 - 1916); Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser (1871 -1945).
Mark Twain was born on the Mississippi River, state Missouri. He spent his first 40 years there. The sight of the Mississippi River inspired him to become a pilot. Later it inspired his many works. He worked as a pilot for many years, his literary pseudonym came from this experience: his name means "two fathoms deep". So he commemorated his love to the river in this way.
1) The 1^st period of his literary work (50 - 60s) was closely connected with & based on folklore popular stories, fairy tales, legends & tall tales (a tall tale is a humorous exaggerated story, common on the American frontier, often focusing on cases of superhuman powers). The most famous of his stories of the 1^st period is "The Celebrated Gumping Frog of Calabenes Country". M. Twain's greatest merit was the introduction of the life language of his countrymen into literature.
2) The 2^nd period of his work was the most productive & significant. A number of fantastic or imaginary tales were written at that time (the so called novels of the Old Times):
—"The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" (1876) it is a book for & about children (!),yet it touches upon some serious matters. Its hero hates protests against hypocrisy, religious fanatism & philistinism;

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