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LITERATURĘ

So far. nir.e Amencans have wen the Nobel Pnze for Literaturę Sinclair Lewis (1930). Eugene 0'Nei!l (1936), Pearl Buck (1938). William Faulkner (1949). Ernest Hemingway (1954). John Steinbeck (1962). Saul Bellów (1976). Isaac Bashevis Singer (1978), and Toni Morrison (1993). Because of limited space. only three of them have been presented here

7.3.1.    Sinclair Lowis (1885-1951).

Sinclair Lew.s was the first American to receive the Nobel Prize for Literaturę. He was one of the representatives of the ‘revolt from the village* movement and his success as a novelist resulted from his unusual abiiity to satirize the American middle class Lewis' works express the attitude of rebellion against a limited ife, stagnation and the oppresswe atmosphere of the provincial American towns in the first decades of the 20* century. The writer himself came from the Midwest, often referred to as the 'heartland* of America, and mhabited by hard-working but conservative. narrow-minded, duli and seif-complacent people.

Babbit is usually considered as the best of Lewis' works The hero of this novel. Babbit. is a businessman in a smali city. He is a typical representative of the American middle class with all its limitations and drawbacks. such as morał hypocrisy. intellectual mediocrity. conformism and devotion to making money. Although he rebels against the banality of everyday life. he is unabte to break away from the confmes and conventions of his class.

The American middle class has also been satirized in Lewis' Main Street This time the protagonist is an ambitious college graduate who tries to reform the local community. However. ail her attempts to evoke certain intellectual aspiratiens in people are in vain. Ultimately, she gives in and surrenders to ordinarir.ess.

In his next major novel. Arrovr$mrth. Lewis ridiculed the medicat profession. and in Elmer Gantry he attacked religious institutions. In all his works. Sinclair Lewis seemed to sum up what small-town America was all about

7.3.2.    John Steinbeck (1902-1968)

Steinbeck is often desenbed as a Califomia regionalist Indeed. the action of his novels is often set in the Californian countryside. He represents the realistic and romantic current in American literaturę. His novels and short stories also contain symbolic. metaphysical and naturalistic elements.

In Steinbeck’s eariy works. for example Torttlla Fiat. the protagonists are happy people. free from greed for money. spontaneous. carefree and living according to natura! ethics Later. Steinbeck gets morę involved in social issues. His greatest novel. The Grapes of Wrath, tells a story of poor farmers from Oklahoma who head west to the Promised Land of California in search for a better life The novel is the major Steinbeck's statement about the Depression and an important document of social protest in the 1930s. The last major Stembeck's work. East of Eden, is a family saga. The mam motif of the novel is the Biblical parable of Cain and Abel personifymg right and wrong. Steinbeck is also the author of a collection of short stories The Pastures of Heaven. and a novele?te Of Mice and Men

Although not all enties are convinced of Steinbeck's literary gonius, they agree that he is a suporb storytoller

7.3.3. Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961)

Hemingwa/s whole life was a great adventure. As a journalist. he travel!ed widely He took part in World War I and in the Spanish Civil War. His literary works often reflect his rich experiences.

Hemingwa/s first novel. The Sun Also Rises. places him among the novelists known as The Lost GoneraUon It captures the spintual lameness and disillusionment of the post-war generation. A Forowali /< Hemingwa/s novel of Worki War I, reveals the inhumanity and pointlessness of w Whom the Bell Tolls. a story of an American fighting for the Spanish causo, c Hemingwa/s affirmative statement about the death for the idea. The writorY. hun credo has been fulfy expressed in his short story The Old Man and the Soa tor whtcfi honoured with the Nobel Prize in 1954 The essence of Hemingwa/s philosophy conviction that man can be destroyed but never defeated The story of tho okl Inlu struggle with a marlin is the greatest Hemingwa/s literary achievement On a symboli it is a universal fable of human life

Hemingwa/s power of expression has been achieved by his charactunslu. alf and carefully restrained 'journalistic' language lacking in flowery terms or comploi no structures

Ernest Hemingway committed suicide in 1961 Still. his works hovo immortaLty. Together with William Faulkner, he is considered the greatest Amoocon w

YOCABULARY A

average reader - przeciętny czytelnik

Nobel Prize - Nagroda Nobla

*revołt from the wilage" - "bunt wsi"

to satirize - przedstawiać w satyryczny sposób

middle class - klasa średnia

rebellion • bunt

limited life - ograniczone życie

oppresswe atmosphere - duszna atmosfera

heartland of America - serce Ameryki

narrow-minded - ograniczony

self-complaccnt - zadowolony z sicbio

limitations and drawbacks - ograniczenia i wady

intellectual mcdiocrity - intelektualna przeciętność

devotion - poświęcenie

to break away from sth - uciec od czegoś

confines - ograniczenia

protagonist • protagonista

attempt - próba, usiłowanie

to evoke • wywoływać

to give m - poddać się

ord narinoss • przeciętność

to ridiculo • ośmioszyć

to sum up • strośoć

action of a nnv«l - akrUI i..

realistic / romantic current realistyczny I romantyczny nml

symbolic / metaphysical / naturulisllc oleflfte symboliczne / metafizyczne / nahnntisiyfl

olani*

greed for money - chciwość na pieniądze to get involved in - angażować atę w social tssues - sprawy społeczno The Grapes of Wrath* - "Grona on<>wu* to head - zdążać

statement • deklaracja, wypowiedz depression - kryzys family saga • saga rodzinna parablc - przypowieść to personify • uosabiać novelette - opowiadanie collection - zbiór cntic - krytyk

literary genius - geniusz literacki storytellor - pisarz posiadający dar Opowwd.

lost gcnorntion • stracono pokolenie

to capturo • uchwycić

•plnUial lAnitOOli duchowo okntpr/enm