When it came to the 20th century, three main persons remain the most influential writers in American realistic literature. They are Mark Twain (1835-1910), William Dean Howells (1837-1920) and Henry James (1843-1916). With the promotion of Howells, the development of realistic school was growing rapidly and soon became the dominant trend of American literature.
Mark Twain used local dialects and based his writing on the real American life. In this way, he created a new writing style, getting rid of the European traditional culture, thus giving significant influence on the later novelists, such as O. Henry, Jack London and Theodore Dreiser. And, among them, Mark Twain was considered as the “Father of Modern literature” in America.
Henry James is another key figure of 19th century literary realism. His plots are centered on the personal relationships, the proper exercise of power in such relationships, and other moral questions. His method of writing from the point of view of a character within a tale allowed him to explore the phenomena of consciousness and perception, and his style in later works has been compared to impressionist painting. Some critics regard him as the founder of American realism in psychology,原文请+QQ3249'114 辣.文^论,文'网
In the early of 20th century, there were Jack London and Theodore Dreiser, who both tried hard to keep promoting the development in realism. Jack London was regarded as the key figure in this stage. He was a realistic writer of critical spirit. He also influenced the later writers who were talking the American Dream.毕业论文http://www.751com.cn/
Dreiser has opened up a new description of social tragedy, strengthened the political tendencies of critical realism. In the mean time, literature and philosophy trend from European continent also produced a certain impact on the American realistic literature. With the booming of industry and rapid growing in the press, it furthered the process of realism.
During the period of World War One and World War Two, there has been the second prosperity time in American literature. It is called “the renaissance in the 20th century” by some historical thinkers in literature. In the development of American literature in nearly 30years, various schools and creative writers have shown up, which fully reflects the diversity, modernity, and creativity in American literature. And thus it becames one of the mainstreams in the world literature.
In the 1920s, another key issue in American literature cropped up, the turning up of “The Lost Generation”, a literary school advocated by a group of writers with Ernst Hemingway as their brilliant representative. The writers of this school also have realistic point in their works, but mainly to highlight the feeling on an object, unlike those of the tradition writers, only to give an authentic description of an object. There were some glorious figures in this period, including Sinclair Lewis, the first Nobel Prize in America, and Sherwood Anderson.
However, a great financial crisis took place in America, resulting in social contradictions. People began to feel upset against the government, and tried every bit to find a new way out. Writers in this period aimed to disclose the inequity in social life. Lots of left-wing culture groups of writers had been organized, and later gradually turned themselves to be the mainstream in the 1930s.