John Steinbeck's Novelistic Pursuit of Poetics - Collection of Ph.D. Dissertations on Social Sciences in China

Author: Tian Junwu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-04-01
Features: This book explores the overall characteristics of the author's novel poetics through an investigation of their diverse philosophical views, literary context, rich literary heritage, and unwavering experimental spirit. Chapter 1 discusses the author's diverse and even contradictory worldview and its influence on the pursuit of novel poetics. Chapter 2 analyzes the cultural context of the author's novel poetics, including the literary era they were in, literary learning during their youth, a fascination with Broadway and Hollywood, and the concept of novel experimentation. Chapters 3, 4, 5, and 6 specifically examine the author's pursuit of novel poetics, such as the themes of the sublime and the grand, the fusion of realism, myth, fable, and symbolism, the narrative structure that coexists with three perspectives—the omniscient, theatricalized, and cinematic—along with the poeticization of language. This paper argues that Steinbeck's novel poetics possesses its own uniqueness and stands the test of time and interpretation across generations, thus allowing the author to be ranked among the masters of American modernist fiction.