Research On Contemporary History Of Anglo-American Dickensian Criticism(1940-2010)

Dickens (1812-1870) is one of the unusual and great writers who combine classics with popularity, entertainment with enlightenment in the history of world literature. Western study of Dickens has been170years, and articles and monographs researching on Dickens and his works can be said to be voluminous, therefore, diversity is revealed in the interpretation of his thought and works and study of Dickens. Dickens undergoes ups and downs, praise or blame, compliment or depreciation in the tremendous amount of comments in the western academic circles. Making a thorough study of the research results of Dickens for more than70years in contemporary west through the study of criticism history, distinguishing merits from drawbacks, clarifying the origin and development, and summing-up the developing law of research on Dickens and its gain and loss, not only help Chinese scholars to understand oversea Dickens studies in a more comprehensive, systematic and in-depth way, and to provide useful "nutrition" for us to learn and absorb the excellent achievements of civilization, and to provide a solid foundation and a useful reference for the development of Chinese literature and culture and the future Dickens studies in China, but also are of significant reference value and inspiration for us to cultivate mature state of mind of cross-cultural acceptance and to enhance the awareness of the value of literary study.This dissertation collates and examines contemporary western research on Dickens through close reading more than one hundred monographs on Dickens criticism in English and comparing Chinese Dickens research over a hundred years from the perspective of research on criticism history, in an attempt to present the real characteristics of Dickens'criticism history for70years in a full and clear way, to identify the main line running through it, to straighten out the evolution track in order to establish systematically a contemporary criticism history of Dickens. At the same time, the thoughts, opinions and methods which are valuable to the present reality and scholarship are summed up by outlining the context, showing the growing point of knowledge and the evolution law, based on the national position and the principle of adapting foreign things for Chinese use.This dissertation consists of three Sections, that is, introduction, body text and conclusion, among which the body text is divided into six chapters.Introduction explains the origin, significance, train of thought, methods and innovations of this dissertation, reviews the present situation of domestic research on Dickens and surveys Anglo-American study of Dickens before World War â…¡.Chapter â…  probes into the first turn of Dickens studies. On the one hand, research on Dickens nearly a century before World War â…¡ is amateur criticism, and the reading public is the subject of criticism. Dickens criticism enters the specialization period due to the rise of the scholastic criticism after World War â…¡. As a result, the scholastic criticism promoted the generation of "Dickens industry". On the other hand, the attitude towards Dickens in academia changed significantly, the criticism trend pioneered by George Orwell and Edmund Wilson makes Dickens's reputation in academia greatly improved. From the perspective of criticism methods, formalism criticism dominated Dickens criticism in the Anglo-American academia during the1940s and1950s.Chapter â…¡ examines the criticism position and attitude of the Anglo-American mainstream critics towards Dickens in the1960s. The "Dickens industry" developed in a healthy way in the1960s, and Dickens's position in academia is gradually increasing. The major experts on Dickens, such as, Philip Collins, Sylvere Monod, Stephen Marcus, Edward Wagenknecht, and Graham Smith never stopped researching on Dickens, and their important research results come out. Their topics are very broad, and methods of criticism are diverse and intertwined. In addition, a number of collections of Dickens criticism having a significant impacts came out.Chapter â…¢ probes into the second turn of Dickens'criticism, shifting from the traditional criticism to post-modern criticism. Critics use a variety of critical theory to interpret Dickens's life, fiction and nonfiction from different levels, and methods and perspectives of criticism are characterized by diversity and interaction. The traditional studies of Dickens are challenged, but it does not mean that they disappeared. Both of them co-exist in the competition. Traditional criticism was fruitful in the1970s, mainly shown in three aspects, that is, theme criticism, impact studies and formalist criticism. Post-modern criticism based on post-structuralism lays the foundation for the prosperity of research on Dickens in the1980s.Chapter â…£ mainly explores post-modern Dickens criticism."Dickens industry" is prosperous after the1980s, more and more criticism and aesthetic theory enter the field of Dickens studies, and critical methods have been more diversified, mainly including the criticism of deconstruction, feminist criticism, psychological criticism, new historicism criticism and cultural criticism, and so on. But there are three main trend of criticism in a wide range of critical methods, that is, Marxist criticism, psychological criticism and feminist criticism. The post-modern criticism, on the one hand, deconstruct the traditional critical view, on the other hand, it enriches and deepens the connotation of Dickens's art world.Chapter â…¤ probes into the traditional study of Dickens. Traditional criticism, such as, biographical criticism, social and historical criticism, formalism criticism, humanist studies, thematic studies, comparative studies and Marxist criticism remain the main method of Dickens studies while the post-modern criticism deeply influence Dickens studies. Both of them maintain a lively dialogue and compete with attention in the academic market.Chapter â…¥ is composed of seven independent papers, attempting to conduct in-depth exploration of Dickensian research results and critical viewpoint having far-reaching impact in the field of Dickens criticism for more than70years since World War â…¡ from the academic and theoretical level, based on carding, and to pass judgment its pros and cons from the standpoint of the Chinese culture.Section â…  is the reflections on Leavis's Dickens criticism. Leavis adhered to the humanist tradition of Arnold, regarding literature as the criticism of life, and the seriousness of life as the only ruler to judge the great writer. His pan-moralism criticism stresses sense of social mission and responsibility of literature, therefore, is both cultural criticism and social criticism.Section â…¡ explores Nabokov's Dickens criticism. Nabokov's criticism quotes a large number of texts of Dickens'novels, makes his unique understanding in concise and clear language, and appreciates art characteristics of works to demonstrate the success or failure of the works of art and the reason for generation starting from the evaluation of literary forms, such as, the structure, style, image, genre, language, narrative person and so on.Section III is the reflections on Hillis Miller's consciousness criticism on the basis of carding. Miller interprets Dickens's novel as the symptom of world view of the author, and considers consciousness as the meeting point between the writer and reader, and proposes the literary concept of integration of objective reality and subjective psychology, and subverts the causal relationship between the spirit of the age and works of art, which is the a harbinger of deconstruction or post-modern criticism. But there are drawbacks in Miller's consciousness criticism:considering literary criticism as the ontology criticism, the neglect of literary form and biography criticism and historical criticism.Section IV inquires into Dickens criticism by James M. Brown. Brown places Dickens in the literary market from economic perspective to provide insight into realism of Dickens, and reveals the contradiction between Dickens as a social critic and as a successful and popular novelist, thinking that the fundamental reason for Dickens's success exists in his catering to the middle-class reading public who dominate the literary taste.Section V is the reflections on Raymond Williams'Dickens criticism. Williams, a cultural critic, conducts Dickens studies mainly from the urban theme. He thought that Dickens's urban novels capture the fleeting landscape in the wave of industrialization and urbanization, and the perplexity and confusion arising from it. Dickens created "literary London", and the image of Flaneur created by Dickens is provided with modern elements. But Williams did not surpass narrow-minded nationalism.Section VI is the reflections on Edward Said's postcolonial criticism. Said thinks that Dickens's novels express the spirit of cultural imperialism and is intertwined with the complex relationship of complicity with imperialism. Although Said's post-colonial criticism deconstructs cultural colonialism and cultural hegemony, but is still not separated from the culture of elitism and Eurocentrism.Section â…¦ probes into and reflects on the moral criticism tradition of the western Dickens studies. There are two contexts in moral criticism of the western Dickens studies. One context is to study the moral connotations of the Dickens world from the dualism of good and evil along the tradition of moral idealism of Plato, and another context is the pan-moralism critical tradition associated with the life. Dickens strictly followed the Victorian code of ethics in the creation of his works, satisfied the aesthetic ideals of middle-class, reflected the spirit of optimism that the good always overcome the evil. Dickens sought to reflect the elegance and dignity and tried to avoid the sexual description.Conclusion summarizes this dissertation.(1) The reasons for prosperity of Dickens industry are analyzed on the basis of systematic carding and examining Anglo-American Dickens study, that is, institutionalization of Dickens study and open, contending and diverse academic and theoretical exploration. The Western study of Dickens is always conducted at the academic and theoretical level, and the value and significance of Dickens are revealed in many respects owing to the independent and free spirit of scholarship and open and contending scholastic attitudes, and independent value and artistic charm of literature are highlighted so that the situation of multi-confrontation is established in heterogossia.(2) The value orientation towards the social and political demands of Chinese Dickens study is explored from comparative perspective through relating it to the present situation of Chinese study of Dickens for a century, leading to the single voice of Chinese study of Dickens for a century so that Dickens is merely regarded as a realist.(3) The significance of Dickens's criticism history is probed into from comparative perspective, that is, our own flaws and shortcomings can be seen clearly through taking the Anglo-American study of Dickens as a reference and frame of reference, which helps us to further reflect on and properly handle the relationship between the scholastic exploration and social and political demands.(4) This dissertation also proposes the methods of promoting Chinese Dickens studies:Firstly, we should evaluate works of art from our own unique experience so as to express our own views and go far away from the tendency of prattling about theories and underestimating the text. Secondly, we should commit to achieve mastery of the humanities through linking up China with West, the ancient with the modern in complementary two-way dialogue and exchange between China and West.