Letteratura inglese inizio ‘900, Appunti di Inglese

Scarica Letteratura inglese inizio ‘900 e più Appunti in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! Conrad Life and works Jozef Konrad (Joseph Conrad) was born in 1857 in Poland, which had been occupied since 1795 by Russia. Conrad's father took part in the insurrections and so Conrad and his family were exiled from Russia. After his parents died, Conrad was brought up by an uncle and from 1874 sailed on French merchant ships, training as a mariner. He learned English as he was important to qualifying as a mariner and in 1886 became a British subject. This work put him in contact with men of different social classes and a different background from his own. In 1890 he made a trip to Africa and in "The Congo Diary" talks about the brutality of colonial explorations. He died in 1924. The writer’s task In the preface to "The Nigger of the Narcissus," Conrad says writer’s task isn’t to amuse or teach readers. The writer must explore the meaning of human conditions. Conrad sets his novels at sea or in exotic places: because they are places that he knows well and because he wants to isolate the characters so that their problems manifest themselves Conrad’s characters and the narrative techniques In contrast to 19th century writers, Conrad's characters are solitary figures and they are viewed through the mind of others. Conrad uses several narrative techniques: first person narration and the invisible narrator (Verga); His novels are told by the same narrator or multiple narrators; Conrad use several points of view to show the relativism of moral values Language Conrad's native language was Polish and his second language was French. However, he wrote in English because it offered more expression for his view of complex life - - A Heart of Darkness Plot The novel is about Marlow, a sailor who sets out from London for the Congo in search of Kurtz, a very ill ivory trader who seems to have lost touch with civilization and gone insane. During the journey, Marlow hears of Kurtz as an extraordinary man, but once he gets to know him, he discovers that Kurtz had been charged with suppressing the customs of the savages and that he had taken part in inexplicable rituals (cannibalism). Before Marlow could question him, Kurtz died screaming "Horror horror." Each of us has the darkness of the heart and this novel shows, with the example of Kurtz, how far man can go. When Marlow returned to England he told Kurtz's fiancée that Kurtz had said his name before he died Setting The novel is set in the late 19th century and is set in London, but mostly in the Congo. The king of Belgium reclaimed the area and said that the agents continue to fight against the barbarian customs > civilise mission Characters Kurt is a trader who has gone to Africa to run the ivory station. He was welcomed by the natives as if he was a God and for this he went beyond his limits and the price was madness and death. Marlow, on the other hand, didn’t want beyond his limits and has managed to hold back thanks to his work ethic. The difference between Marlow and Kurtz is that Kurtz made new experiences, through brutal action, while Marlow lived incompletely. Theme This novel can be read as a mythical journey in search of oneself The imperialist policy of exploitation is criticized The novel presents a series of stories, one intertwined with the other: 1. External narrator who introduces Marlow on his journey and closes the narration 2. Marlow's narration builds suspense by delaying the details of his meeting with Kurtz. He also uses irony and several vague adjectives Structure and style L - ~ - - James Joyce Life Joyce was born in Dublin in 1882 (Ireland is not yet free) and although he was very fond of his country, Joyce moved away from Ireland to be able to observe it from a more cosmopolitan point of view. He moved to Paris, but after his mother died he returned to Dublin and began a career as a writer. In 1904 he got married and started living in different parts of the world. Trieste In 1905 Joyce and his wife moved to Trieste, where he began teaching English and met Italo Svevo. The years in Trieste were difficult and full of financial problems, but his works attracted the attention of the American writer Ezra Pound. Zurigo In 1915 Joyce moved to Zurich because Trieste was occupied by the Austrians. He received several anonymous donations which allowed him to continue writing his most famous novel: Ulysse, which was suspended in 1920 because it was deemed obscene. Parigi In 1920 he moved back to Paris and published Ulysses in 1922. This novel aroused praise but also criticism due to several ambiguous events. The novel traces a whole day of Leopold Bloom. Zurigo In 1940 when France was occupied by the Germans, Joyce returned to Zurich and died in 1941. Style Joyce believed in the impersonality of the artist (as a rod) and for this reason he belongs to realism. - interior monologue - Language broken down into a series of words without punctuation > use stream of consciousness Dubliners Structure and setting Dubliners consists of 15 short stories and is divided into four parts: - First part about childhood in Dublin - Second part about adolescence - Third part about the maturity - Fourth part about the public life of the characters. Joyce was hostile to city life as he degraded the citizens. His Dublin is a place where compassion for others does not exist Characters The Dubliners characters have one thing in common: even when they want to run away, they can't because they are weak. Eveline is a perfect example, in fact the girl instead of starting a new life in Buenos Aires, she stays in Dublin. Realism and symbolism The stories are characterized by a realism, but also symbolism. In fact the superficial details actually have a deeper meaning. The words are chosen by Joyce, for example: in Eveline, he chooses to use the word harmonium, instead of street organ, as it indicates the disharmony of Eveline's family. There is also color symbolism: brown and gray are used to represent paralysis. He also uses a new technique: the epiphany, that is the sudden awareness caused by a trivial gesture, such as a sound, a smell, an object. Epiphany Style The style is characterized by two elements: - the interior monologue > narrator disappears in the form of free direct speech. - Image repetition > chiasmus In the first three childhood stories there is the anonymous first-person narrator. This narrator describes events from a child's point of view. For the other stories there is the narrator in third person. The language is tailored to the characters based on social class. She decides nothing7 Ulysses Publication The novel was published in 1918 in the American Magazine: “The little Review”, but then was stopped because the novel was found obscene. It was published in Paris in 1922 thanks to “Shakespeare & Co bookshop”; in England it was published only after 1936 The epic method The typical characteristics of Homer's epic hero are paralleled with the everyday events of modern Dublin. Joyce uses the epic model to show the lack of heroism in the modern world; together with Eliot’s “The Waste Land”, “Ulysses” is one of the greatest examples of the reworking of myth in modernist literature The novel is set completely on June 16, 1904 on any day by Leopold Bloom The technique used in this novel is the flow of consciousness: Joyce tries to represent the flow of thoughts and sensations of mr Bloom. Joyce uses this technique to immerse readers in the minds of her characters Samuel Beckett Beckett was born in 1906 in Dublin to a middle-class family. He studies French and Italian and moves to Paris, where he teaches English and in Paris he writes most of his works, first in French and then in English> so he expresses complex ideas with simpler language. He writes short stories and novels, but becomes famous thanks to his plays and develops, together with other playwrights, the "Theater of the Absurd" (characterized by a sense of confusion and lack of meaning) Waiting for Godot, published in 1952, is the first example of this style. Beckett believes that man is impotent and trapped in his life > his protagonists (Vladimir and Estragon) are symbols of the absurd. In 1969 he received the Nobel Prize for literature Waiting for Godot Plot Two wanderers, Vladimir and Estragon, meet and talk while waiting for a man named Godot. Sometimes other characters also arrive: Pozzo and his slave Lucky and some messengers from Godot who tell Vladimir and Estragon that Godot will arrive the next day (the wait increases). The plot has no beginning, no development and no end > nothing ever happens. There is not even a real setting, there is only a tree > it can be any place in the world VLADIMIR AND ESTRAGON They are the protagonists of the work, but they are flat characters, because they just wait, they do nothing. Vladimir and Estragon complement each other (theme of the double) > V persevering, hates dreams, is protective, has hope a Godot, remembers past events; And E dreamer, forget everything, skeptic about Godot, weak, afraid of the new. Beckett was inspired by Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy for Vladimir and Estragon. PoZZO AND LUCKY They are another complementary but more deranged duo > they have the same slave and master relationship that Hegel claimed. Who is Godot? And why will he never come? Godot with the suffix "ot" is the diminutive of the word "God". There are different interpretations of who Godot is: some think he is a savior divinity, in fact he is described as a man with a white beard; others believe he doesn't exist. He will never arrive because he doesn't exist, the real protagonist of the work is the wait, the hope that will never arrive. Hope for a change 7