18. the Age of Realism（现实主义时期）
1）Realism was a reaction against Romanticism and paved the way to Modernism； 2）。During this period a new generation of writers， dissatisfied with the Romantic ideas in the older generation， came up with a new inspiration. This new attitude was characterized by a great interest in the realities of life. It aimed at the interpretation of the realities of any aspect of life， free from subjective prejudice， idealism， or romantic color. Instead of thinking about the mysteries of life and death and heroic individualism， people‘s attention was now directed to the interesting features of everyday existence， to what was brutal or sordid， and to the open portrayal of class struggle；3） so writers began to describe the integrity of human characters reacting under various circumstances and picture the pioneers of the far west， the new immigrants and the struggles of the working class； 4） Mark Twain Howells and Henry James are three leading figures of the American Realism.
19.American Naturalism（美国自然主义文学）
The American naturalists accepted the more negative interpretation of Darwin‘s evolutionary theory and used it to accout for the behavior of those characters in literary works who were regarded as more or less complex combinations of inherited attributes， their habits conditioned by social and economic forces.2） naturalism is evolved from realism when the author’s tone in writing becomes less serious and less sympathetic but more ironic and more pessimistic. It is no more than a gloomy philosophical approach to reality， or to human existence.3>Dreiser is a leading figure of his school.
20.Naturalism（自然主义）
Naturalism is a literary movement related to and sometimes described as an extreme form of realism but which may be more appropriately considered as a parallel to philosophic Naturalism. 2） as a more deliberate kind of realism Naturalism usually involves a view of human beings as passive victims of natural forces and social environment. In Naturalism a more documentary-like approach is in evidence， with a great stress on how environment and heredity shape people. 3） As a literary movement， Naturalism was initiated in France. 4） Naturalist fiction aspired to a sociological objectivity， offering detailed and fully researched investigations into unexplored concerns of modern society.
21.Local Colorism（乡土文学）
Generally speaking， the writings of local colorists are concerned with the life of a small， well-defined region or province. The characteristic setting is the isolated small town.
2）Local colorists were consciously nostalgic historians of a vanishing way of life， recorders of a present that faded before their eyes. Yet for all their sentimentality， they dedicated themselves to minutely accurate descriptions of the life of their regions， they worked from personal experience to record the facts of a local environment and suggested that the native life was shaped by the curious conditions of the local.
3）major local colorists is Mark Twain.
22.Imagism（意象主义）
Imagism came into being in Britain and U.S around 1910 as a reaction to the traditional English poetry to express the sense of fragmentation and dislocation.
2>the imagists， with Ezra Pound leading the way， hold that the most effective means to express these momentary impressions is through the use of one dominant image.
3>imagism is characterized by the following three poetic principles：
A.direct treatment of subject matter；
B.economy of expression；
C.as regards rhythm， to compose in the sequence of the musical phrase， not in the sequence of metronome.
4>pound‘s In a Station of the Metro is a well-known imagist poem.
23.The Lost Generation（迷惘的一代）
The lost generation is a term first used by Stein to describe the post-war I generation of American writers： men and women haunted by a sense of betrayal and emptiness brought about by the destructiveness of the war.
2>full of youthful idealism， these individuals sought the meaning of life， drank excessively， had love affairs and created some of the finest American literature to date.
3>the three best-known representatives of lost generation are F. Scott Fitzgerald， Hemingway and John dos Passos.