Legend Of American Lowlife Laureate

Origin of the Issue:Charles Bukowski is one of American's best-known and most controversial contemporary writers. The truth that Bukowski enjoys far more common readers than any of his contemporaries does not cover up the fact that his works, at the present time, still remain the target of criticism as whether they have true literary or aesthetic values. As a public figure, Charles Bukowski remains a outsider to the world in which he was born and brought up as a result of his seemingly purposeful indifference to and violation against its established mainstream values. For the same reason, he is at the mean time hailed as a hero of counter-culture movement and a long-lived pillar of the Beats. What are the reasons for Charles Bukowski's enduring popularity among common readers throughout Europe, America and Asia? What are the main concerns about the controversies triggered by him? Deep down the surface of his popularity and controversy, what truth we might find? Through systematical studies on Charles Bukowski's life and literature, this thesis endeavors to probe probable causes and effects of Charles Bukowski's controversy and popularities from different perspectives and to answer the questions above.Rationale and Methodology:Charles Bukowski's works began to arrest critical attention as early as the late 60s. In 1969, Hugh Fox published Charles Bukowski:A Critical and Bibliographical Study, which marked the first monograph about Charles Bukowski study in the United States. However, in the ensuing two decades, Charles Bukowski was largely ignored by the literary establishment because of his self-claimed image of an old dirty man. Not until the mid 90s of the 20th century, did there appear any sign of sudden thriving of Charles Bukowski studies. By now there are hundreds of monographs about his poetry and novels and dozens of his biographies, not to mention innumerable papers and dissertations about his works coming up every year. After 2000, works of Charles Bukowski were introduced to Japan, where they are accepted with great enthusiasm by common readers as well as critics. After that, Taiwan followed suit by publishing Charles Bukowski's short story collection Ordinary Madness. However, in mainland China, common readers only can have access to this writer of worldwide reputation from very few poems published in several avant-garde literary magazines. In view of this, it is safe to say that Charles Bukowski and his over 60 published books are totally new to Chinese common readers as well as the vast majority of Chinese literature critics, which renders this research all the more worthwhile. At the first stage of this thesis, two major concerns about Charles Bukowski's controversy are first introduced. The first is about the controversy of Charles Bukowski as a public figure; the second being the controversy of his identity as a serious writer of talent. Next, the thesis probes into the historical background and probable causes which might be responsible for these controversies. Another highlight of this thesis focuses on the popularity which Charles Bukowski enjoys throughout the world, which is followed by a detailed discussion of the process and the primary reasons of his ever-increasing popularity over the years.Organization and Conclusion:This thesis is divided into five chapters. In the first chapter, a general introduction to Charlese Bukowski, mainly his life and major works, and the main ideas of this research paper are provided. Chapter two explores the controversy of the writer as a public figure and cultural phenomenon. Chapter three, the highlight and core part of this thesis, analyzes the controversy of Charles Bukoeski's works, especially his poems and novels which make up his major contribution to the post-beat-generation literature in America. Chapter four suggests some major reasons for Bukowski's popularity and explains their roots and effects in relation to the writer's established position in American literary constellation. Chapter five consists of a summary and a conclusion of the whole thesis. In short this thesis takes the two most striking features of Charles Bukowski---his controversy and popularity among common readers and critics, as a starting point and proceeds to explore and analyze the peculiarities and values of the laureate of American lowlife and his works.