Modern Nostalgic Writing In Willa Cather’s Novels And Its Aesthetic Value

Willa Cather’s novels are indispensable classics in the history of American and even world literature,and nostalgia complex is a hidden thread through these works.The nostalgic writing of Cather’s novels reflects the survival dilemma of modern people and the possible path to break through the dilemma,which needs to be studied urgently and is worth studying.This paper is divided into four chapters:the first chapter clarifies the literary expression and connotation of nostalgia by combing and explaining the nostalgic writing in Cather’s novels;The second chapter explains why Cather writes nostalgia in her novels by tracing back the literary origin and citing historical materials,so as to clarify the background and motivation of modern nostalgia;The third chapter points out the aesthetic characteristics of Cather’s nostalgic writing and discusses its aesthetic value,that is,the emancipation value of the aesthetic nostalgia in Cather’s novels for modern "one-way people";The last chapter examines the aesthetics reflected by Cather’s modern nostalgic writing and its value in the current society.This paper aims to re-excavate the social phenomenon and humanistic thought reflected in Cather’s nostalgic writing from the macro perspective of modernity,and provide some guidance and reference for our current and future social life.