| In the 16th century, the word "grotesquery" was introduced into literature, becoming a term that refers to a certain art form, writing methods, and art effect. Especially in the southern writer's works, the feature of the" grotesquery "grew more evident. Besides William Faulkner who was a great master of southern literature, the woman writer Flannery O'Connor was the very representative.No matter which southern writer's works you read, you can find, with no exception, deformed character and absurd plot as well as strange writing methods. How come this common feature of the southern literature comes into being?First, it resulted from the special history and social process in the south. Before the Civil War, the sole agricultural economy was the foundation of the south economy, and slave system was deeply rooted there. The great majority of the white men in the south were the offspring of Anglo Saxon. After the 1880 election every southern state had been supporting the Democratic. The slave system had become the focus of conflict between the north and the south. Thus broke out the American Civil War, which brought nothing but effect to the southern society.After the Civil War, racial prejudice, remained agriculture, abhorrence and doubt toward intruders, the governing of the conservative Puritanism and the tendency of the narrower of political and social problem. Until the 1920s and 1930s, a group of outstanding writers emerged in the south. They were familiar with their hometown, and could treat it objectively with the spirit of the 20th century. Because of their unique historical experience, the southern people formed their own cultural essence in ideas, morality, ethics and way of living. Meanwhile the unique social and historical experience of the south served as an inexhaustible resource of inspiration. The southern writers tried to describe again the development of the southern society history and ideas from before and after the Civil War to the modern time. Their works reflected the development of the southern society, having high literature value and a social effect. The writers were resentful and critical of the slavery society existing before the Civil War. On one hand, they cursed their ancestors' brutal deeds and their evil crimes which made their descendents deformed monsters. On the other hand, they detested the intruders of northern capitalism and satirized them thoroughly. The complex mind in the works became one of the special features of the southern literature. It seemed that the southern writers regarded the description of the absurd people and things as their writing purpose, because the absurd and strange things frequently appeared in their works and these strange people in the absurd society often did things that could never be understood. The writers just described these strange people as the undertaker of the great pain from the society. These people as well as their creators underwent the pain brought by their twisted life. They "exhaust love in a crookback man, a rock, a tree or a piece of cloud, and at last end it in great mental pain." The American southern literature characterized by grotesquery can also be traced back to an American famous writer of 19th century, Edgar Allan Poe and Nathanial Hawthorn. Being the pioneer of short stories and the criticism of literature psychology, Poe was not in the main stream of literature. He was considered as one of the greatest horror fiction writer. His works followed the tradition of Goth novels, and it was he who began to add psychological description to it. The word "Goth" first came from the Gothic tribe. At the late 18th century, it became a new novel style. Its representatives are: Horace Walpole and Ann Radcliff. Goth novel not only established its position in Britain as a novel style, but also influenced other counties deeply, especially Germany and America.Although Goth novel was born and flourished in Britain, its center appeared to shift to America after 1820s. It is justifiable that the novel style c... |
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