19 At the end of the 20th century, major European and American countries entered the stage of monopoly capitalism. At that time, the colonies had been completely carved up, and the contradictions between capitalist countries intensified, which eventually led to the First World War. The Treaty of Versailles signed after the war only temporarily eased the contradiction. The Great Depression of the world economy from the late 1920s to the mid-1930s brought pessimism and mental panic, and the fascist forces of Germany, Italy and Japan took the opportunity to rise. The turbulent world situation in the first half of the 20th century brought two disasters to mankind, and the combination and differentiation of capitalist countries and socialist countries constituted the changeable world pattern in this century. The great changes in the world situation in the second half of the 20th century were the rise of the Third World. Realistic literature in the 20th century has to be deeply branded with the times.
The 20th century realistic literature is the continuation and development of19th century realistic literature. Realistic writers in the 20th century accepted predecessors' critical spirit and the most basic creative methods, such as widely reflecting social life and shaping typical characters. They occupied a pivotal position in the literary world in the first half of the 20th century. However, from the Second World War to the 1950s, realistic literature in Europe and America declined to varying degrees. Since 1970s, realistic literature in Europe and America has revived, which is the so-called regression phenomenon. In Latin America in the first half of the 20th century, realistic literature developed rapidly, which was characterized by paying attention to local natural characteristics and cultural traditions. Generally speaking, it can be divided into revolutionary literature, earth novels and Indian novels. They laid the groundwork for the "literary explosion" in the second half of the year.
The ideological characteristics of literature in this period are as follows: first, realistic writers in the 20th century saw the great victory of the October Revolution and the vigorous development of the international proletarian revolutionary movement, and socialist ideology influenced them to varying degrees, making them have a deeper understanding of reality, and spared no effort to expose and criticize the darkness of society and the evil of monopoly capital in their works; It has the broadness, authenticity and profound criticism of traditional realism in describing life; Humanitarian spirit is still their basic weapon to recognize and criticize reality. Second, many realistic writers borrowed the experience of19th century realistic literature, trying to fully reflect the social life of an era. They either take contemporary society as the object, or re-recognize history and fully describe the social background. Some reflect the changes of the whole historical era from the rise and fall of a family, while others limit their horizons to one or two families and describe all kinds of people in order to describe social changes. Third, the life and struggle of the proletariat have increasingly become the object of their reflection. The pauperization of the proletariat and the rapid growth of bourgeois wealth have made the workers' struggle more organized. Their strike changed from economic development to political nature, and formed a whole with proletarian struggles all over the world, supporting and promoting each other. This change is bound to enter the field of vision of realistic writers. Fourth, war literature or anti-fascist literature has become an important theme of realistic literature in the 20th century. In the works with this theme, the strong voice of patriotism resounded through the sky.
The artistic characteristics of literature in this period are as follows: First, the frequent occurrence of "long river novels" can better reflect the changes in various historical periods. Changhe's novels are developed on the basis of Les Miserables, War and Peace and Anna karenin. It takes a family or a family as a clue, condensed and refined, with rich connotations and large novel capacity. Secondly, realistic writers who explore art in the new cultural background are more inclined to explore the spiritual world of characters. Their works obviously show the characteristics of introversion and subjectivity, and the methods of psychological description are more abundant. In addition, we also absorbed other expressions of modernism, such as inner loneliness, fantastic description, time sequence inversion, symbolism, absurd consciousness, multi-level and multi-angle description, etc. And borrowed some useful methods from other art forms such as movies, TV and news reports, which enriched the skills and means of artistic expression. Third, the plot is fading, and the typical characters are fading. They often describe a certain social phenomenon, a certain social psychology, a certain criminal motive, and pay more attention to the description of psychopathy, rather than just the twists and turns of the plot, which is significantly different from traditional realism. Due to the above-mentioned changes in artistic techniques, some works are difficult to determine what type they belong to, some can only be said to be in between, and some are simply modernist works. Accordingly, it is difficult for some writers to define whether he is a realistic writer or a modernist writer. Some realistic writers have evolved into modernist writers.
Second, the 20th century European and American realistic literature
Britain is one of the most successful countries in realistic literature in this period. British novels in the 20th century have strengthened their criticism of the conservatism and hypocrisy of British society, and they have the characteristic of facing life coldly. Bernard Shaw is the most representative realistic playwright in Britain. Lawrence's achievements in novel creation are the most outstanding. Major Barbara by Bernard Shaw (1856- 1950) (1905) criticizes money power through property issues. John Galsworthy (1867— 1933) is one of the most accomplished realistic writers in Britain in the 20th century. His masterpiece Trilogy of the Forsyte Family (1906— 1928) describes the rise and fall of the Forsyte family, widely reflects the British social life from the mid-1980s to the mid-20s of the 20th century, and exposes the bourgeois "property consciousness". He continued to tell the story of this family in another trilogy, Modern Comedy (1928). In these two works, the author created a vivid group portrait of the Forsyte family with delicate and true psychological analysis and meticulous description, showing the outstanding achievements of artistic description. Mao Mu's novel Chains of Life (1874- 1965) is an autobiographical work, which mercilessly exposes religion, education, poverty and poverty through the description of the protagonist Philip Calais' life experience from childhood to adulthood. Graham greene (1904- 199 1) was an important writer in the second half of the 20th century. Quiet Americans (1955) talked about Vietnam during the anti-French period. Green is good at describing major international political themes, telling stories and skillfully using suspense techniques. Kingsley Aymis (1922-1995) is the representative of the so-called "fenqing". The writers of this school have created a new type of characters: they are college graduates from workers' families or middle and lower classes, with higher education than the class they came from, but they don't want to be gentlemen; They relish the special enjoyment of those in power, but regard power as a ridiculous and immoral game. This is an anti-hero. Angry Youth is a response to the British government's policy of promoting the welfare state in the 1950s, and the political reform came to nothing. The famous works of this literary movement are Aymis's Lucky Jim (1953), john osborne's (1929- 1994) and John Blyth's (1954). John fowles (1926—2005) wrote about the French captain's woman (1969). Doris Lessing's Golden Notebook (19 19 I) describes the spiritual dilemma of "free women" with the complex structure of multi-ensemble. Naipaul (1932 I)' s The House of Mr. Bisworth (196 1) describes the life of Indian immigrants. In addition, agatha christie (1890- 1976), a female detective novelist, has written Murder on the Orient Express (1934) and The Nile Massacre (1937). Harry Potter by Rowling (1965 I) has elements of gothic novels and fantasy novels, and its circulation is amazing.
In the 20th century, French realistic literature inherited the tradition of19th century realistic literature, but it changed somewhat, and novel creation was very prosperous, which constituted the second golden age. It analyzes the society from the family, reflects the changes of the society with the changes of the family, and focuses on the international national liberation struggle and the anti-fascist struggle to grasp the pulse of the times. Anatole France (1844— 1924) reached maturity in the 20th century. The short story krank Bill (190 1), the novel Penguin Island (1908), the immortal is thirsty (19 12) and so on. , or use fables to criticize the shortcomings of the times, or sum up the experience and lessons of the French Revolution. Romain rolland played an important role in the first half of the 20th century. Martin Dugard (1881-kloc-0/957)' s The Bo Family (1922-1940) describes the French reality and anti-war thoughts at the beginning of the century through the changes of two bourgeois families. Andre gide (1869— 195 1) is good at psychoanalysis, and most of his works are autobiographical. The hero of Moral Rebel (1902) pursues the joy of life and "absolute freedom". The diary novel Narrow Gate (1909) sets each other off, which is a tragedy of abandoning one's lover under the influence of religion. The counterfeit money maker (1926) reflects the anxiety and anguish of contemporary youth and reveals doubts about the real society. The author adopts the novel style in the novel and is regarded as anti-novel, with no axis and multiple perspectives. Mauriac (1885- 1970)' s Therese Degroux (1927) and Agkistrodon (1932) reflect the depravity of bourgeois morality and the indifference of family relations. Wandering in the Dark by Salina (1894- 196 1) criticized the absurdity of war and exposed the myth that African colonies exploited blacks and the United States lived a happy life. Saint Exupé ry (1900-1944) describes the life and sacrifice of pilots, and The Little Prince (1943) satirizes the shallowness, vanity and stupidity of adults, which is a fairy tale with world influence. Malraux (1901-1976)' s "human feelings" (1933) describes the 1927 Shanghai workers' uprising and the "April 12th" massacre of the Kuomintang. Giono's local novels (1895— 1970) praise nature and deny modern civilization. At the same time, he also wrote new historical novels, such as Rooftop hussars (195 1). Colette (1873- 1954) described the fate of rural girls and the image of rural women in big cities. His works include Xiduo (1930) and Gigi (1944). Margaret. U Sanal (1903- 1987) is good at historical novels, such as Memoirs of Adrian (195 1), Suffering (1968) and Archives of the North (/kloc). Women writers and marguerite duras. Among contemporary writers, Le Clezio (1940 I) is good at writing semi-allegorical novels, and The Proceedings (1963) describes the sinister relationship between people in cities. Mondo and other stories (1978) and desert (1980) describe the nature of vast expanse and reveal the incompatibility between man and society.
Realistic literature in Germany, Austria and Switzerland has reached an unprecedented height. German novels were still in the development stage in the19th century, and developed greatly in the 20th century. It inherits the characteristics that German literature attaches importance to philosophy, strengthens the critical spirit, and the anti-fascist theme becomes the strongest voice. Brecht is the most important playwright. The servant of Heinrich Mann (187 1- 1950) (1914) created the cowardly and cruel role of Heslin who bullied the weak and feared the hard. Thomas Mann (1875- 1955)' s Budenblock Family (190 1) describes the decline of bourgeois families. Austrian writer Stefan Zweig (1881-1942) is good at writing short stories and psychological descriptions. Twenty-four Hours in a Woman's Life (1940) depicts the thoughts and feelings of middle-class women in a delicate psychoanalytic way. The story of chess (1942) attacked the persecution of the people by fascism. Erich Maria remarque (1896-1970) is good at war themes, while All Quiet on the Western Front (1929) and Arc de Triomphe (1946) attack the evils of the two world wars and describe the tragic fate of the protagonists. Heinrich Bohr's Lenny and They (1917-1985) analyzes the present situation of German society from many aspects. The Swiss writer Friedrich Duerrenmat (1921-1990) criticized the influence of money on everything in his play The Return of the Old Woman, while the physicist (196 1) described that scientists could not resist their inventions to serve the war. His novels, in the form of crime novels, reflect the social fashion of coldness and moral degeneration.
American realistic literature has also made great progress. American literature in this period dared to face the social contradictions and spiritual crisis under the prosperity of American economy, and showed a sober realistic attitude, thus a group of writers with world influence emerged and pushed American literature to the peak. The most important novelists are Dreiser (1871-1945) and Hemingway. The Slaughterhouse (1905) by upton sinclair (1878-1968) is the first novel of "Exposing the Shadow Movement". Sinclair lewis (1885- 195 1) wrote Babbitt (1922), which describes the closed and conservative life in villages and small towns, portrays a typical American businessman image, and Babbitt becomes synonymous with vulgar philistine. The Grapes of Wrath (1939) by john steinbeck (1902- 1968) is an epic work reflecting the Great Depression in the 1930s. Scott Fitzgerald (1896— 1940) is an important representative writer of the "lost generation". The "Lost Generation" comes from American woman writer Gertrude Stein (1874- 1946). She once pointed to Hemingway and others and said, "You are all a lost generation. Hemingway used this sentence as an inscription in his novel The Sun Also Rises, so the "lost generation" became the name of a literary school. The common feature of these writers is that they hate imperialist wars, but they can't find a way out. Fitzgerald's novels mainly show the disillusionment of the younger generation with America after the First World War. The Great Gatsby (1925) describes Gatsby's tragedy with sympathetic eyes and shows the disillusionment of the American dream. Richard wright's Native Son (1908- 1960) describes the criminal psychology of black people and points out that it is caused by society. In the second half of the 20th century, Jerome David Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye (19 19-20 10) reflected the anguish and hesitation of middle-class children and exposed the hypocrisy and ugliness of capitalist civilization. The psychological description of the novel is meticulous, and a large number of colloquial and slang words are used. Most of Isaac Bashevis Singh's works (1904- 199 1) describe Jewish life, with profound implications and mysterious colors. The magician in lublin (1960) wrote that a prodigal son turned over a new leaf and became a saint. Saul Bellow (19 15—2005) is also a Jewish writer. He tends to explore the spiritual crisis in the contemporary western world and combine the stream of consciousness technique with the traditional technique. His important works include Adventures of Ogimachi (1953) and Humboldt's Gift (65438+). Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison (193 1 1) (1977) reflects the slavery of African-American youth under the yoke of western spiritual civilization, and has a strong color of African-American literature. The bluest eye (1970) and beloved (1987) are also about the fate of black people. John updike's Rabbit Tetralogy (1932—2009) reflects the changes of American social values. Joyce Carol Oates's works (1938 I) mostly reflect the richness of people's material life, the emptiness of spirit and the indifferent relationship between people in capitalist society. They (1969) reflected the fate of the lower classes in the United States in the 1930s and 1960s, raised serious problems in American urban life, adopted the clip-on structure and leapfrogging, and borrowed from the stream of consciousness, so they were called "psychological realism". Among immigrant writers, Lolita (1955) by Nabokov (1899— 1977) tells the emotional story of a middle-aged man and an underage girl, which has caused great controversy. Chinese writers such as Maxine Hong Kingston (1940 I) and Zhao Jianxiu (1940 I) have emerged. Among the playwrights are Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire (191-kloc-0/983) and arthur miller's Death of a Salesman (19 15-2005). Gone with the Wind by margaret mitchell is a representative of popular literature. In addition, The Da Vinci Code (2003) by dan brown (1964 I) is a best-selling high-tech thriller.
There are also many realistic writers in Eastern Europe, Southern Europe and Northern Europe. In the first half of the 20th century, Eastern European countries fought for national independence, and Eastern European literature also took this as its content, exposing dark reality and describing national suffering. Influenced by Soviet literature after World War II. The most successful literary works in southern and northern Europe are epic works and anti-fascist works describing ancient families. Czech writer yaroslav Hasek (1883- 1923) wrote a political satire, The Good Soldier Shuaike (1920), attacking the militaristic tactics of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the hero Shuaike is a portrayal of the unyielding soul of the Czech people. Milan Kundera's Unbearable Lightness in Life (1984) describes the emotional life and life choices of intellectuals. Norwegian writer Knut Hamsun (1859- 1952) wrote Fruits of the Earth (19 17) and Sigrid Undset (1882- 1949) wrote Fruits of the Earth. Italian realist writer Grazia Deleda (1871-1936) wrote "Reed in the Wind" (19 13), describing the disintegration of ancient families. Pirandello (1867-1936) is also a realist, and he is good at writing grotesque plays, such as Six Dramatists Looking for Authors (192 1). The Adventures of Onion (1920-1980) by Johnny Rodali (195 1) is a children's work that is popular all over the world. The Viscount in Two (1952) by italo calvino (1923-1985) is an allegorical novel in the transition from realism to late modernism. A Traveler on a Cold Winter Night (1979) is an experimental work.
Soviet literature in the 20th century was developed on the basis of traditional literature, and a brand-new atmosphere appeared. Gorky and sholokhov wrote their masterpieces in the first half of the 20th century. Bunin (1870- 1953) a gentleman from San Francisco (19 15) shows the spiritual emptiness of a millionaire. The Life of Arseniev (1930) depicts the natural scenery of Russia and the majestic posture of Moscow, and shows the nostalgia for old Russia. Kuprin (1870- 1938)' s Duel (1905) describes the life of the Russian army, which is also a true portrayal of Russian society. After the October Revolution, literary groups such as the Proletarian Cultural Association, "Serrapi Weng Brothers" and "Lapp" (Russian Federation of Proletarian Writers for short) emerged. Serafimovic (1863- 1949)' s Tieliu (1924) describes that Guo Ruhe, a machine gunner from a farm laborer, leads a chaotic team that looks like an army but is not an army, breaks through the encirclement of the enemy and finds the main force of the Red Army. Chabaev (1923) by Furmanov (1891-1926) is a biographical novel, which describes the hero's glorious life from a spontaneous rebel with serious guerrilla habits in the Russian era to a general of the Red Army, and finally dies. Fadeev's Destruction (1901-1956) reproduces 19 19 in the Wusuli area in the southeast, led by Lai Fensheng. These three novels describe the historical facts of struggle during the civil war. Mayakovski (1893- 1930) moved from futurism to realism, and his long poems Lenin (1924) and Good! "(1927) was magnificent and passionate, and successfully portrayed the image of Lenin. The satire poem Hui Fan (1922) is very sharp. He used a staircase-style poem with a strong sense of rhythm. 1934 held the first congress of Soviet writers and put forward the concept of "socialist realism". Ostrovsky (1904- 1936) wrote How Steel was Tempered (1934). The protagonist Paul has a tenacious will to fight to the end to consolidate the proletarian regime and the proletarian cause: "Life belongs to people only once, and a person's life should be spent like this: when he looks back on the past, he will not. In this way, when he dies, he can say,' I have devoted all my life and energy to the most magnificent cause in the world-the struggle for the liberation of all mankind. "'this is a brave word to hit the floor. Alexei tolstoy (1883- 1945)' s trilogy "The Course of Suffering" (192 1- 1943) describes the dramatic ups and downs of four intellectuals, and thinks that their painful spiritual exploration and transformation. Bulgakov's talent (1891-1940) was not appreciated at that time. Master and Margaret (1929-1940) combines reality with myth, showing the profundity and wit of combining truth with fantasy and seriousness with banter. Many works came out after the Great Patriotic War. The poet TVARDOVSKY (/KOOC-0/9/KOOC-0/0-/KOOC-0/97/KOOC-0/) created a brave, simple and humorous warrior image. Korneichuk's Frontline (1905- 1972), simonov's Day and Night (19 15- 1979), and fadeev's Young Guards. Leonov's (1899- 1994) Russian Forest ~( 1953) dares to expose the struggle of the scientific community and expose the academic swindlers who are double-dealing, politically framed and ignorant. With the death of Stalin in the 1950s, there was a trend of "thawing", which developed until the 1980s. Ovijin (1904-1968) (1952-1956) and ehrenburg (189 1- 1967). Then The Truth of the Trench and Panoramic Novel came out, including The Dawn Here is Silent (1969) and The Besieged (1968- 1975). In the 1960s and 1970s, a large number of works with moral themes emerged, such as Trifon's Apartment in Binhe Street (1976) and Astafyev's The Fish King (1976). In addition, Aitmatov (1928—2008) wrote Chamilia (1958) and The Guillotine (1986) in his early years, with multiple themes intertwined, showing the relationship between man and society, man and nature, man and religion, and man and history. His other works include White Boat (1970) and Getting Older by the Day (1980). He combines Kyrgyz national tradition, Russian literary tradition and western literary skills. 199 1 year, the Soviet Union disintegrated and Soviet literature came to an end. ,
In Latin America, the first half of the 20th century ushered in the dawn of literary development, and realistic literature flourished. This trend is synchronized with the national democratic revolution in Latin America, and the literature expressing the revolutionary process is deeply rooted in Latin American culture and life tradition. The People at the Bottom (19 15) written by the Mexican writer Mariano Azoula (1873- 1952) describes the struggle of oppressed peasants for land and freedom and reproduces the democratic revolution in Mexico. The work Donna Barbara (1929) by Venezuelan writer Romulo Gallegos (1884- 1969) describes the struggle and failure of the rancher Donna Barbara, and shows the theme of the struggle between civilization and barbarism. It is a classic of the so-called earth novel. The Vortex (1923) written by Colombian writer Rivera (1889-1928) describes the sufferings of rubber workers. Argentine writer Borges (1899-1986) is good at writing short stories, and The Garden with Bifurcated Paths (1942) creates a new narrative form. The Peruvian writer Vargas Luesa (1936 I) wrote the Law of the Jungle in City and Dogs (1963) and exposed the military dictatorship in Talking in a Bar (1969). Brazilian writer Cassidy (1912-2001) wrote the trilogy Infinite Land (1943-1946), describing the rise of cocoa growers and the inhuman life of mixed-race workers. Nie Luda (1904- 1973) is an outstanding realistic poet in Chile. Woodcutter Awakening (1948) and others showed his progressive thoughts and unrestrained passion. In short, in Latin America in the early 20th century, social realism, structural realism and psychological realism appeared one after another, and outstanding works emerged one after another, forming a prosperous situation of literary creation. Magic realism is produced on this basis.