Prof.dr.

Rodica Mihaila
CURS 2
AN 3
2011
Alternatives to naturalism: Aestheticism
(Fitzgerald and Nabokov)
Two instances of Aestheticism: Fitzgerald, Nabokov
Three instances of Modernism: emingwa!, Faulkner, "os #assos$
Scott Fitzgerald (189!19"0#
%&%'&()*A#+ AN" %&()*A#&,A' "ATA:
- born in -t$ #aul Minnesota , in a famil! .sociall! /rominent and genteell! /oor0
(Mid$e%t& 'a%toral (al)e%. See Nic* i+ ,,#
- with hel/ from relatives went to #rinceton ( social successes , academic failure)
- in 1213 in his senior !ear . left college to serve in 4orld 4ar & 0 sent for militar!
training in Alabama and fell in love with 5elda -a!re0 (i+ the 30% a %erie% of -e+tal
.rea*do$+%. See /e+der i% the Night#
- 1212 . discharged from the arm! , advertising 6obs0
- in the earl! 1278s , F$ 9 the embodiment and the chronicler of the :azz Age :
handsome , wild , uninhibited , successful 0 he went to the best /arties , knew the
best /eo/le , drank the best wines , lived as though mone! would never sto/$
- is life . the fulfillment of the American dream of success and in a nightmare of
s;uandered talent and des/air$
- 1920!hi% fir%t +o(el 0/hi% Side of Paradi%e0 , after a week . F$ and 5elda were
married
. the new generation of the :azz Age
. a /ortra!al of the casual dissi/ation of scandalous !oung /eo/le
( he and 5elda lived u/ to it : e<travagant life .st!le : swam in /ublic fountains in New
+ork , drove to /arties on the hoods of ta<is , dance on dining tables 0 therefore life
became a cocktail /art!
- 1922 ! the 2
+d
+o(el 0 /he 1ea)tif)l a+d the 2a-+ed 0 . a lesser novel
- %hort %torie% 3 /he /ale% of the 4azz Age
- 1925 ! /he ,reat ,at%.6 . com/leted , critical success and commercial
disa//ointment
. the finest novel . life related to the American dream0
- 127= . 1273 . he wrote little 0 a time of 1888 /arties and no work0
- 1273 . he went to oll!wood for screen writing( it sustained him for the rest of his
life0
- 1272 . the stock market crash . "e/ression
- 12>8s . 5elda suffers a series of mental breakdowns ( sanatoriums)
. F $ engaged in /eriodical drinking bouts ( alcoholism) 0 failure in
writing , 0 his own illness0
- 193" ! /e+der 7% the Night ! a /recise indictment of the irres/onsible social values
of the >8s 0 /s!chological and s/iritual malaise of man?s life
1
.!et . accused of ignoring the "e/ression to write a frivolous novel about
neurotic e</atriates 0
- 12@8 . F$ died of heart attack
- )+fi+i%hed +o(el /he 8a%t /6coo+ . after 12@8 . considered a ma6or work
.like Franklin, 4hitman and emingwa! he 9 self.m!thologizer, his /ersonal life
9 a legend (his life is /rimar! material for his art, 5elda), he9a culture hero
.dualities in him: his dual role: as re/resentative and critic of the :azz Age0 his
fascination with wealth but also his horror at the dehumanization that affects its
/ossessors0 his romantic idealization of se<ual love and his sus/icion of its self.
destructiveness
'ionel Trilling: his success lies less in his narrative /ower than in the delicate and
elegant Avoice of his /roseB which rarel! loses its iron! in his involvement and never
sacrifices its s!m/ath! in his detachment$
.focus on st!le, the aestheticChis novels 9 the o//osite /ole to the scientific,
material, economic novel of "reiser
- Main concern 3 relation bet$ romanticism (imaginationDwonder) and American values
Fisher:..+eats: A4e were the last romanticsB (a//lies to F$Es novels in the 78s and >8s)
- old fashioned celebration of romantic wonder, elegance and beaut! and st!leCthe
new idea of a commercial societ! in which is staged the old drama of beaut!
transformed into glamour (including also media.fame, being talked about, envied)
- Fe! words : glamour and 4(N"G*$ Ro-a+tic 9o+der . . the illusion of /erennial
!outh , grace and ha//iness 0 in The )reat )atsb! . the e<traordinar! gift for ho/e , a
romantic readiness$ (Aan e<traordinar! gift for ho/e, a romantic readinessB)
- the novel of breakdown 9one of the ma6or forms of the modern Am$ novel (erzog,
,atcher)
2i+ Critical Scr)ti+63
- Source of his excellence : abilit! to 6u<ta/ose romantic wonder (/$1H=DH2) with
significant /henomena of Am$civ$ and derive from that 6u<ta/osition a moral criti;ue
of human nature and the corru/tion of the dream in industrial America
- *el$ between romanticism and American values . the stor! of his em/haticall!
romantic and re/resentative life should be read as American histor! conversel! :
American histor! should be read as the tale of the romantic imagination in the I-A
- Basic plot : the histor! of the New 4orld that is the histor! of the human imagination
in the New 4orld (what ha//ened to the dream) J&n MorrisonCunwritten histor! of
slaver! recovered through memor!$ &n F$9a$) idea that his romantic and re/resentative
life should be read as Am$histor!0 b) conversel!, Am$histor! should be read as the
tale of the romantic imagination in the I-
- Two predominant patterns : 1$The Kuest and 7$the seduction
1$ the ;uest 9the search for romantic wonder in terms /ro/osed b!
contem/$ America (the Am$ "ream, the /ursuit of ha//iness)
9a flight from realit!, normalit!, time, fate, death, all limits
two goals of the ;uest: a$) the search for eternal !outh and beaut! (the essence of
romantic wonder resides in the illusion of /erennial !outh, grace and ha//iness
7
surrounding the leisure class of which F$ wroteCsee the obsessive !outh.worshi/ of Am$
#o/$ ,ulture (/1=>D=3: !outh, glamour, mone!)
b) the search for wealth (mone!), /ersonal material success
*elation between a and b9the ;uest for romantic wonder and its inevitable failure
7) The seduction& re're%e+t% ca/itulation to the corru/ting terms /ro/osed b!
contem/$America$
-The hero9 inner forces com/el him towards the /ersonal realization of romantic
wonder, but destro!ed b! the materials which the Am$e</erience offers as ob6ects and
criteria of /assion
,reat ,at%.6 (1925#
- mature realization of his vision
Gliot: Athe first ste/ the Am$ novel has taken since enr! :amesB
Main concern: the corru/tion of the dream in industrial AM ( "ramatization Midwest.
Gast coast values 9 /astoralDindustrial (Nick ,arrawa! comes from the Midwest , sells
books in New +ork , has his own set of values 9 naLve ,honest, carrier of moral values in
the rural Midwest)
. )atsb! as a /oor lieutenant fell in love with "ais!
- "ais! ( Nick?s cousin) M Tom %uchanan 9 brutal man of wealth
- M!rtle 4ilson ( garage man?s wife) 9 Tom?s mistress 0 hit b! "ais! who was driving
:a!?s car
- Tom tells )eorge 4ilson that )atsb! killed his wife$ 4ilson shot )atsb! and then
himself$
- Near the end :a!?s father shows Nick a book on a fl!leaf on which :a! had written a
schedule of self.im/rovement . alludes to Franklin?s NAutobiogra/h!N . cam/aign for
moral /erfection ( e<$ The stud! of elocution , /oise and how to attain it)$
)atsb!9 the man of imagination in industrial America ( like "ick "iver in NTender &s the
NightN )0
.his ca/acit! of wonder, illusion, sentimental idealization 9a gift (2HD181)
. his wonder on "ais! 0 she becomes for )atsb! the iconic manifestation of
his dubious vision of beaut!
9the /roduct and manifestation of the Am$ dream
9the instrument b! which F$ /oints to its self.contained /ossibilities of destruction
(his mansion and fabulous entertainment are financed b! bootlegging and other criminal
activities) Jsee allusion to FranklinEs /rotestant ethic (:imm! )atzEs fabrication of :a!
)atsb!) Jthe irony: self./erfection schemes led to Asuccess as a bootlegger and a fraud0
FranklinEs moral earnestnessCled to a remorseless o//ortunism, a worshi/ of /ros/erit!
and /leasure- his tragedy: he thinks he can bu! his dream which is to reca't)re the 'a%t
Am. Myths and traditions corrupted (the tradition of success stor! and rags.to.riches
stor!): Am$ "ream, self.made man
.in the final s!mbol of the novel the /ersonal e;uation is /ushed to national even
universal sco/e (1O=DO2)Cthe New 4orld shi//ed off its /leasing and falsif!ing
illusions
- the ironic contrast between the wonder of the New 4orld and what the Americans
have done of it$
>
Why is Fitzgerald a modernist? Or the relation of Aestheticism to modernism
1$.aesthetic discontinuit!Crelation artDlife0
7$..im/otance of "G-&)N:
Structure is compositional rather than se;uential (/lot re/laced b! anecdotes,
flash.backs, integrit! of fragments)
Spacial form..the frame is re/laced b! s!mbolic structure$
Narrative strategy9 F$ 6u<ta/oses a moral and social stor! (action, /lot) and a
surface or manner or wa! of telling the stor! that aestheticizes the events$
. makes of aestheticism a means of transforming the novel Ps!mbolism and aestheticism
blended with realism and naturalism in a +e$ co-'o)+d for-Q
9h6 i% Fitzgerald co+%idered a -oder+i%t:
Fitzgerald as a re/resentative of aestheticism in the Am$ Novel$ ow do we connect
aestheticism with modernismR
.aesthetic discontinuit!Crelation artDlife0 im/otance of "G-&)N: -tructure is
com/ositional rather than se;uential (/lot re/laced b! anecdotes, flash.backs, integrit! of
fragments) -/acial form..the frame is re/laced b! s!mbolic structure$
Narrative strateg!9 F$ 6u<ta/oses a moral and social stor! (action, /lot) and a
surface or manner or wa! of telling the stor! that aestheticizes the events$
. makes of aestheticism a means of transforming the novel Ps!mbolism and
aestheticism blended with realism and naturalism in a +e$ co-'o)+d for-Q
.Ae%thetici%- (97/; Fitzgerald a+d Na.o*o(#: deals with 1$) the Am$ "ream
(F9corru/tion, N9alwa!s an illusion0 and 7) with the contrast imagination.realit!:
Fitz$9)atsb! lost the ca/acit! of wonder0 Nabokov9onl! the Guro/eans imagined the
dream$ There is no dream$
.aestheticism is manifested in different forms: F$ transformed the novel into a visualized
film scri/t: locations, stars, costumes, scene to scene /rogressCintegrit! of fragments
(the glamour of oll!wood J in 1273 he became a scri/t.writer in $)0 N$ aestheticism
linked to language:
'G)ATI*A &NT*G F&T5)G*A'" -& NA%(F(S through 'olita:
.born in 1H2O and 1H22, started /ublishing at about the same time,
.both 6u<ta/ose a moral and social stor! (action, /lot) and a surface or manner or wa! of
telling the stor! that aestheticizes the events$
.both make of aestheticism a means of transforming the novel, but N$ re/resents an e<ilic
identit! and the transition to /ostmodernism, a later moment (died in 1233)
.Ae%thetici%- : with both writers deals with 1$) the Am$ "ream (F9corru/tion, N9alwa!s
an illusion, the contrast bet$ the New and the (ld worlds$ 'olita is a comic m!th, relation
bet$ /lace and the heroine suggests that the dream e<isted onl! in the imagination of the
Guro/eans$ 'olita was no longer a virgin)0 and 7) with the contrast imagination.realit!:
Fitz$9)atsb! lost the ca/acit! of wonder0 Nabokov9onl! the Guro/eans imagined the
dream$ There is no dream$
@
.aestheticism is manifested in different forms: F$ transformed the novel into a
visualized film scri/t: locations, stars, costumes, scene to scene /rogress (the glamour of
oll!wood J in 1273 he became a scri/t.writer in $)0 N$ aestheticism linked to
language: his novel is an alternative for the novel within a culture where film is the
dominant form of stor!.telling and entertainment (the novel is tied to e<treme sub6ectivit!
of memor!)Ca sub6ectivit! never achieved in filmCa camera looks ob6ectivel!, records
/erce/tions
=
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