22. Значение творчества м.Твена для развития американской литературы.

Samuel Longhorne Clemens (1835-1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, has been called “the father of American literature. ” In his day he was America’s most famous literary icon. A humorist, satirist, lecturer and novelist, Twain combined narrative wit and a strong sense of irony to create distinctive masterpieces based on American culture and language. His works drew upon his extensive travels and show a remarkable depth of human character and perception of individual experience. Twain’s writing provides a unique reflection of the American way of life in the latter part of the nineteenth century.

American author Mark Twain was called the "Father of American Literature" by William Faulkner and it was a title well deserved. With classic tales like The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain set the standard for childhood adventure.

Mark Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens on November 30, 1835 in Florida, Missouri. While he was the sixth of seven children, he was one of only four to survive childhood. The family moved to Hannibal, Missouri when Twain was four years old. The town sat on the banks of the Mississippi River, which would play a major part in many of Twain's tales. Slavery was still legal in Missouri at this time as well and it too would be a theme Twain explored in his writing.

After a trip down the Mississippi, Twain was inspired to become a steamboat pilot, a very rewarding occupation in that day. He earned his license in 1859 and convinced his brother Henry to work with him. Unfortunately, Henry was killed in a steamboat explosion. Twain carried the guilt of his brother's death with him throughout his life. Twain continued on as a steamboat pilot until the Civil War broke out in 1861 and traffic on the Mississippi dwindled. He traveled westward in a stagecoach with his brother Orion, briefly working as a miner, before ending up in San Francisco. It was in San Francisco where Twain would begin working as a journalist. The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County was published in the New York Saturday Press in 1865, bringing Twain national attention.

In 1870, Twain married his wife, Olivia, who exposed him to new ideas including abolition, women's rights and social equality. Although a southerner by birth, Twain would spend the next 17 years in Connecticut, writing some of his most popular works. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer may have been written in Connecticut, but the setting of the novel was pure Missouri, as was Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Life on the Mississippi. He would use the character Tom Sawyer not only in the original novel and in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, but also in Tom Sawyer Abroad and Tom Sawyer, Detective. The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson was about a young lawyer in a fictional Missouri town.

Not all of Twain's writings were centered on southern life. He wrote The Prince and the Pauper about a pauper in the Offal Court in London and was his first attempt at historical fiction. His 1880 novel, A Tramp Abroad, described his second trip to Europe. Twain's 1889 novel, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, tells the story of Hank Morgan, a Connecticut Yankee who finds himself magically transported back to the time of King Arthur.

Twain was quite the celebrity during his lifetime.

Трудно недооценить значение произведений Марка Твена для развития американской литературы в прошедшем столетии. Присущий писателю гигантский талант юмориста-психолога и юмориста-поэта помог ему создать произведение необычайно большого эстетического значения. Самым большим вкладом Твена в американскую и мировую литературу считается роман «Приключения Гекльберри Финна». Именно с появлением этого романа критический реализм в американской литературе достиг своего расцвета. Многие считают это вообще лучшим литературным произведением, когда-либо созданным в США. Марк Твен является вместе с Уитменом - основоположником реалистического направления в литературе США девятнадцатого столетия. Но в романе о Геке он выступает не только как противник романтизма в американской литературе, но и как писатель, в творчестве которого реализм и романтические тенденции переплетаются, слиты в одно целое.

Значение образа Гека, одного из величайших образов, когда-либо созданных американскими писателями, столь огромно, что Хемингуэй имел полное основание отметить уникальную ценность книги о Гекльберри Финне, сказав, что современная литература США "вышла из одной книги Марка Твена, которая называется "Гекльберри Финн" Также очень популярны «Приключения Тома Сойера», «Янки из Коннектикута при дворе короля Артура» и сборник документальных очерков «Жизнь на Миссисипи».