高級英語 Advanced English(張漢熙) 第二冊 10.The Sad Young Men

The Sad Young Men

Rod W. Horton and Herbert W. Edwards

1 No aspect of life in the Twenties has been more commented upon and sensationally romanticized than the so-called Revolt of the Younger Generation. The slightest mention of the decade brings nostalgic recollections to the middle-aged and curious questionings by the young: memories of the deliciously illicit thrill of the first visit to a speakeasy, of the brave denunciation of Puritan morality, and of the fashionable experimentations in amour in the parked sedan on a country road; questions about the naughty, jazzy parties, the flask-toting "sheik," and the moral and stylistic vagaries of the "flapper" and the "drug-store cowboy." "Were young people really so wild?" present-day students ask their parents and teachers. "Was there really a Younger Generation problem?" The answers to such inquiries must of necessity be "yes" and "no"--"Yes" because the business of growing up is always accompanied by a Younger Generation Problem; "no" because what seemed so wild, irresponsible, and immoral in social behavior at the time can now be seen in perspective as being something considerably less sensational than the degenerauon of our jazzmad youth.

2 Actually, the revolt of the young people was a logical outcome of conditions in the age: First of all, it must be remembered that the rebellion was not confined to the Unit- ed States, but affected the entire Western world as a result of the aftermath of the first serious war in a century. Second, in the United States it was reluctantly realized by some- subconsciously if not openly -- that our country was no longer isolated in either politics or tradition and that we had reached an international stature that would forever prevent us from retreating behind the artificial walls of a provincial morality or the geographical protection of our two bordering oceans.

3 The rejection of Victorian gentility was, in any case, inevitable. The booming of American industry, with its gigantic, roaring factories, its corporate impersonality, and its largescale aggressiveness, no longer left any room for the code of polite behavior and well-bred morality fashioned in a quieter and less competitive age. War or no war, as the generations passed, it became increasingly difficult for our young people to accept standards of behavior that bore no relationship to the bustling business medium in which they were expected to battle for success. The war acted merely as a catalytic agent in this breakdown of the Victorian social structure, and by precipitating our young people into a pattern of mass murder it released their inhibited violent energies which, after the shooting was over, were turned in both Europe and America to the destruction of an obsolescent nineteenth-century society.

4 Thus in a changing world youth was faced with the challenge of bringing our mores up to date. But at the same time it was tempted, in America at least, to escape its responsibilities and retreat behind an air of naughty alcoholic sophistication and a pose of Bohemian immorality. The faddishness , the wild spending of money on transitory pleasures and momentary novelties , the hectic air of gaiety, the experimentation in sensation -- sex, drugs, alcohol, perversions -- were all part of the pattern of escape, an escape made possible by a general prosperity and a post-war fatigue with politics, economic restrictions, and international responsibilities. Prohibition afforded the young the additional opportunity of making their pleasures illicit , and the much-publicized orgies and defiant manifestoes of the intellectuals crowding into Greenwich Village gave them a pattern and a philosophic defense for their escapism. And like most escapist sprees, this one lasted until the money ran out, until the crash of the world economic structure at the end of the decade called the party to a halt and forced the revelers to sober up and face the problems of the new age.

5 The rebellion started with World War I. The prolonged stalemate of 1915 -- 1916, the increasing insolence of Germany toward the United States, and our official reluctance to declare our status as a belligerent were intolerable to many of our idealistic citizens, and with typical American adventurousness enhanced somewhat by the strenuous　jingoism of Theodore Roosevelt, our young men began to enlist under foreign flags. In the words of Joe Williams, in John Dos Passos' U. S. A., they "wanted to get into the fun before the whole thing turned belly up." For military service, in 1916-- 1917, was still a romantic occupation. The young men of college age in 1917 knew nothing of modern warfare. The strife of 1861 --1865 had popularly become, in motion picture and story, a magnolia-scented soap opera, while the one hundred-days' fracas with Spain in 1898 had dissolved into a one-sided victory at Manila and a cinematic charge up San Juan Hill. Furthermore, there were enough high school assembly orators proclaiming the character-forming force of the strenuous life to convince more than enough otherwise sensible boys that service in the European conflict would be of great personal value, in addition to being idealistic and exciting. Accordingly, they began to join the various armies in increasing numbers, the "intellectuals" in the ambulance corps, others in the infantry, merchant marine, or wherever else they could find a place. Those who were reluctant to serve in a foreign army talked excitedly about Preparedness, occasionally considered joining the National Guard, and rushed to enlist when we finally did enter the conflict. So tremendous was the storming of recruitment centers that harassed sergeants actually pleaded with volunteers to "go home and wait for the draft," but since no self-respecting person wanted to suffer the disgrace of being drafted, the enlistment craze continued unabated.

6 Naturally, the spirit of carnival and the enthusiasm for high military adventure were soon dissipated once the eager young men had received a good taste of twentieth- century warfare. To their lasting glory, they fought with distinction, but it was a much altered group of soldiers who returned from the battlefields in 1919. Especially was this true of the college contingent, whose idealism had led them to enlist early and who had generally seen a considerable amount of action. To them, it was bitter to return to a home town virtually untouched by the conflict, where citizens still talked with the naive Fourth-of-duly bombast they themselves had been guilty of two or three years earlier. It was even more bitter to find that their old jobs had been taken by the stay-at-homes, that business was suffering a recession that prevented the opening up of new jobs, and that veterans were considered problem children and less desirable than non-veterans for whatever business opportunities that did exist. Their very homes were often uncomfortable to them; they had outgrown town and families and had developed a sudden bewildering world-weariness which neither they nor their relatives could understand. Their energies had been whipped up and their naivete destroyed by the war and now, in sleepy Gopher Prairies all over the country, they were being asked to curb those energies and resume the pose of self-deceiving Victorian innocence that they now felt to be as outmoded as the notion that their fighting had "made the world safe for democracy." And, as if home town conditions were not enough, the returning veteran also had to face the sodden, Napoleonic cynicism of Versailles, the hypocritical do-goodism of Prohibition, and the smug patriotism of the war profiteers. Something in the tension-ridden youth of America had to "give" and, after a short period of bitter resentment, it "gave" in the form of a complete overthrow of genteel standards of behavior.

7 Greenwich Village set the pattern. Since the Seven-ties a dwelling place for artists and writers who settled there because living was cheap, the village had long enjoyed a dubious reputation for Bohemianism and eccentricity. It had also harbored enough major writers, especially in the decade before World War I, to support its claim to being the intellectual center of the nation. After the war, it was only natural that hopeful young writers, their minds and pens inflamed against war, Babbittry, and "Puritanical" gentility , ,should flock to the traditional artistic center (where living was still cheap in 1919) to pour out their new-found creative strength, to tear down the old world, to flout the morality of their grandfathers, and to give all to art, love, and sensation.

8 Soon they found their imitators among the non-intellectuals. As it became more and more fashionable throughout the country for young persons to defy the law and the conventions and to add their own little matchsticks to the conflagration of "flaming youth", it was Greenwich Village that fanned the flames. "Bohemian" living became a fad. Each town had its "fast" set which prided itself on its unconventionality , although in reality this self-conscious unconventionality was rapidly becoming a standard feature of the country club class -- and its less affluent imitators --throughout the nation. Before long the movement had be-come officially recognized by the pulpit (which denounced it), by the movies and magazines (which made it attractively naughty while pretending to denounce it), and by advertising (which obliquely encouraged it by 'selling everything from cigarettes to automobiles with the implied promise that their owners would be rendered sexually irresistible). Younger brothers and sisters of the war generation, who had been playing with marbles and dolls during the battles of Belleau Wood and Chateau-Thierry, and who had suffered no real disillusionment or sense of loss, now began to imitate the manners of their elders and play with the toys of vulgar rebellion. Their parents were shocked, but before long they found themselves and their friends adopting the new gaiety. By the middle of the decade, the "wild party" had become as commonplace a factor in American life as the flapper, the Model T, or the Dutch Colonial home in Floral Heights.

9 Meanwhile, the true intellectuals were far from flattered. What they had wanted was an America more sensitive to art and culture, less avid for material gain, and less susceptible to standardization. Instead, their ideas had been generally, ignored, , while their behavior had contributed to that standardization by furnishing a pattern of Bohemianism that had become as conventionalized as a Rotary luncheon. As a result, their dissatisfaction with their native country, already acute upon their return from the war, now became even more intolerable. Flaming diatribes poured from their pens denouncing the materialism and what they considered to be the cultural boobery of our society. An important book rather grandiosely entitled Civilization in the United States, w, ritt, en by, "th, irty intellectuals" under the editorship of J. Harold Stearns, was the rallying point of sensitive persons disgusted with America. The burden of the volume was that the best minds in the country were being ignored, that art was unappreciated, and that big business had corrupted everything. Journalism was a mere adjunct to moneymaking, politics were corrupt and filled with incompetents and crooks, and American family life so devoted to making money and keeping up with the Joneses that it had become joyless, patterned, hypocritical, and sexually inadequate. These defects would disappear if only creative art were allowed to show the way to better things, but since the country was blind and deaf to everything save the glint and ring of the dollar, there was little remedy for the sensitive mind but to emigrate to Europe where "they do things better." By the time Civilization in the United States was published (1921), most of its contributors had taken their own advice and were Wing abroad, and many more of the artistic and would-be artistic had followed suit.

10 It was in their defiant, but generally short-lived, European expatriation that our leading writers of the Twenties learned to think of themselves, in the words of Gertrude Stein, as the "lost generation". In no sense a movement in itself, the "lost generation" attitude nevertheless acted as a common denominator of the writing of the times. The war and the cynical power politics of Versailles had convinced these young men and women that spirituality was dead; they felt as stunned as John Andrews, the defeated aesthete In Dos Passos' Three Soldiers, as rootless as Hemingway's wandering alcoholics in The Sun Also Rises. Besides Stein, Dos Passos, and Hemingway, there were Lewis Mumford, Ezra Pound, Sherwood Anderson, Matthew Josephson, d. Harold Stearns, T. S. Eliot, E. E. Cumminss, Malcolm Cowley, and many other novelists, dramatists, poets, and critics who tried to find their souls in the Antibes and on the Left Bank, who directed sad and bitter blasts at their native land and who, almost to a man, drifted back within a few years out of sheer homesickness, to take up residence on coastal islands and in New England farmhouses and to produce works ripened by the tempering of an older, more sophisticated society.

11 For actually the "lost generation" was never lost. It was shocked, uprooted for a time, bitter, critical, rebellious, iconoclastic, experimental, often absurd, more often misdirected- but never "lost." A decade that produced, in addition to the writers listed above, such fisures as Eugene O'Neill, Edna St. Vincent Millay, F. Scott Fitzserald, William Faulkner, Sinclair Lewis, Stephen Vincent Benét, Hart Crane, Thomas Wolfe, and innumerableothers could never be written off as sterile ,even by itself in a moment of self-pity. The intellectuals of the Twenties, the "sad young men," as F. Scot Fitzserald called them, cursed their luck but didn't die; escaped but voluntarily returned; flayed the Babbitts but loved their country, and in so doing gave the nation the Iiveliest, freshest, most stimulating writing in its literary experience.

(from Rhetoric and Literature by P. Joseph Canavan)

第十課悲哀的青年一代

羅德w霍頓，赫伯特w愛德華茲

二十年代社會生活的各個方面中，被人們評論得最多、渲染得最厲害的，莫過于青年一代的叛逆之行了。只要有只言片語提到那個時期，就會勾起中年人懷舊的回憶和青年人好奇的提問。中年人會回憶起第一次光顧非法酒店時的那種既高興又不安的違法犯罪的刺激感，回憶起對清教徒式的道德規(guī)范的勇猛抨擊，回憶起停在鄉(xiāng)間小路上的小轎車?yán)镱嶜[倒鳳的時髦愛情試驗方式;青年人則會問起有關(guān)那時的一些縱情狂歡的爵士舞會，問起那成天背著酒葫蘆、勾引得女人團(tuán)團(tuán)轉(zhuǎn)的"美男子"，問起那些"時髦少女"和"閑蕩牛仔"的奇裝異服和古怪行為等等的情況。"那時的青年果真這樣狂放不羈嗎?"今天的青年學(xué)生們不禁好奇地向他們的師長問起這樣的問題。"那時真的有過青年一代的問題嗎?"對這類問題的回答必然只能是既"對"又"不對"--說"對，，是因為人的成長過程中一貫就存在著所謂青年一代的問題;說"不對"是因為在當(dāng)時的社會看來似乎是那么狂野。那么不負(fù)責(zé)任，那么不講道德的行為，若是用今天的正確眼光去看的話，卻遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)沒有今天的一些迷戀爵士樂的狂蕩青年的墮落行為那么聳人聽聞。

實際上，青年一代的叛逆行為是當(dāng)時的時代條件的必然結(jié)果。首先，值得記住的是，這種叛逆行為并不局限于美國，而是作為百年之中第一次慘烈的戰(zhàn)爭的后遺癥影響到整個西方世界。其次，在美國，有一些人已經(jīng)很不情愿地認(rèn)識到--如果不是明明白白地認(rèn)識到，至少是下意識地認(rèn)識到--無論在政治方面還是在傳統(tǒng)方面，我們的國家已不再是與世隔絕的了;我們所取得的國際地位使我們永遠(yuǎn)也不能再退縮到狹隘道德規(guī)范的人造圍墻之后，或是躲在相鄰的兩大洋的地理保護(hù)之中了。

在當(dāng)時的美國，摒棄維多利亞式的溫文爾雅無論如何都已經(jīng)是無可避免的了。美國工業(yè)的飛速發(fā)展及其所帶來的龐大的、機器轟鳴的工廠的出現(xiàn)，社會化大生產(chǎn)的非人格性，以及爭強好勝意識的空前高漲，使得在較為平靜而少競爭的年代里所形成的溫文爾雅的禮貌行為和謙謙忍讓的道德風(fēng)范完全沒有半點棲身之地。不論是否發(fā)生戰(zhàn)爭，隨著時代的變化.要我們的年輕一代接受與他們必須在其中拼搏求勝的這個喧囂的商業(yè)化社會格格不入的行為準(zhǔn)則已經(jīng)變得越來越難了。戰(zhàn)爭只不過起了一種催化劑的作用，加速了維多利亞式社會結(jié)構(gòu)的崩潰。戰(zhàn)爭把年輕一代一下子推向一種大規(guī)模的屠殺戰(zhàn)場，從而使他們體內(nèi)潛藏的壓抑已久的狂暴力量得以釋放出來，待到戰(zhàn)爭一結(jié)束，這些被釋放出來的狂暴力量便在歐洲和美國掉轉(zhuǎn)矛頭，去摧毀那日漸衰朽的十九世紀(jì)的社會了。

這樣一來，在一個千變?nèi)f化的世界中，青年一代便面臨著使我們的道德習(xí)慣與時代合拍這一挑戰(zhàn)。而與此同時，青年人。--至少美國的青年人--又表現(xiàn)出這樣一種傾向：他們試圖逃避自己的責(zé)任。沉溺于一種老于世故、以酒自娛的生活作風(fēng)之中，裝出一副波希米亞式的放蕩不羈的樣子。追求時尚，為了短暫的快樂和一時的新奇而大肆揮霍，縱情地狂歡，尋求各種各樣的感官刺激--性行為，吸毒，酗酒以及各種各樣的墮落行為--這些都是他們逃避責(zé)任的表現(xiàn)形式，是一種由社會的普遍繁榮及戰(zhàn)后人們對于政治、經(jīng)濟(jì)限制和國際義務(wù)所產(chǎn)生的厭煩情緒所造成的逃避方式。禁酒法令使青年人有了更多的機會尋求違禁取樂的刺激。文人墨客紛紛涌人格林威治村，他們那些被大肆渲染的放縱行為和挑戰(zhàn)性言論也為青年人的逃避主義提供了一種表現(xiàn)形式和一套哲學(xué)辯護(hù)辭。這種逃避主義者的縱情狂歡，像大多數(shù)逃避主義者的縱情狂歡一樣，一直要持續(xù)到狂歡者囊空如洗為止。到二十年代末世界經(jīng)濟(jì)結(jié)構(gòu)總崩潰之時，這種狂歡宴會便告停歇，那些尋歡作樂者也只得從酣醉中清醒過來，去面對新時代的各種難題了。

青年人的叛逆行為是隨著第一次世界大戰(zhàn)而開始的。1915-1916年間那曠日持久的僵持局面。德國對美國所表現(xiàn)出的越來越傲慢無禮的態(tài)度，以及我國政府遲遲不愿宣布參戰(zhàn)的作法，都使我們理想主義的公民覺得無法忍受。我們的青年，本身已懷著典型的美國式冒險精神，又多少受到西奧多·羅斯福的狂熱沙文主義思想的慫恿，于是便開始在外國旗幟下入伍參戰(zhàn)。用約翰·多斯·帕索斯的《美利堅合眾國》中的人物喬·威廉斯的話說，他們"是想趁著戰(zhàn)爭還沒結(jié)束就參加到這場游戲中去"。因為在1916-1917年間，入伍當(dāng)兵還是一種富于浪漫色彩的職業(yè)。在1917年正處于上大學(xué)年齡的年輕人對于現(xiàn)代戰(zhàn)爭還一無所知。1861-1865年間的那場戰(zhàn)爭早已通俗地在電影和小說中成了一部散發(fā)出木蘭花香的連續(xù)劇。而1898年同西班牙之間的百日戰(zhàn)爭在影劇故事中總是被描寫成美軍在馬尼拉大獲全勝或是沖上圣胡安山頂?shù)碾娪扮R頭式場面。此外，更有許多演說家們在中學(xué)生集會上大肆渲染戰(zhàn)場上的緊張生活在培養(yǎng)性格方面的力量，使得那些本來還算有頭腦的年輕小伙子們都信以為真，以為到歐洲戰(zhàn)場上去服役不僅是一件令人興奮的理想化的美事，而且具有巨大的人生價值。因此，越來越多的年輕人便開始加入各兵種，"知識分子型的人"加入救護(hù)兵團(tuán).其余的人則分別加入步兵部隊、商船隊.或到其他任何有其用武之地的單位去服役。那些不愿到外國軍隊里去服役的人則慷慨陳辭，表示自己隨時"待命出征";間或也有考慮參加國民自衛(wèi)隊的，待到我國最終決定參戰(zhàn)時.他們便踴躍地報名參軍。各征兵站的報名者都是人如潮涌，弄得主管征兵事務(wù)的軍曹們焦頭爛額，實在無法應(yīng)付，以至于懇求志愿報名者"且先歸家，靜待征召".然而，有自尊心的人誰也不愿蒙受"被征召入伍"的恥辱，因此，青年人的參軍熱潮持久不衰。

一旦這些滿腔熱血的年輕人飽嘗了二十世紀(jì)戰(zhàn)爭的滋味以后，那種縱情狂歡的興致和要從事轟轟烈烈的軍事冒險的熱情自然很快就煙消云散了。他們可以永遠(yuǎn)感到光榮，因為他們在戰(zhàn)場上表現(xiàn)得很出色，但是1919年從戰(zhàn)場上回來的卻是一批已經(jīng)發(fā)生了很大變化的士兵。大學(xué)兵團(tuán)的士兵們更是如此。他們在理想主義的感召下很早就到軍中服役，可渭是屢經(jīng)沙場。對他們來說，回到幾乎沒有受到戰(zhàn)爭的任何影響的故鄉(xiāng)是一件痛苦的事，因為在那里，人們?nèi)栽谙駪c祝獨立日時那樣天真地大唱愛國的高調(diào)，而這是他們自己兩三年前也曾犯過的錯誤。更令他們痛苦的是，他們發(fā)現(xiàn)自己原來的工作已被留在家里的人奪占了。而當(dāng)時又正值經(jīng)濟(jì)蕭條時期，新的工作無法找到，現(xiàn)有的工作機會本就為數(shù)不多，而且人們又寧愿聘用非退伍軍人，而把退伍軍人看作難對付的孩子，不愿聘用。就連他們自己的家對他們來說也常常是不舒服的;他們再也不能適應(yīng)家鄉(xiāng)和家庭了，并且萌生出一種突如其來的、迷惘的厭世之感。這種感覺不論是他們自己還是他們的親友都不能理解。戰(zhàn)爭激起了他們的勁頭，打掉了他們的天真幼稚。而現(xiàn)在，在遍布全國的沉睡的、落后的地方，到處都要求他們抑制他們的勁頭，并恢復(fù)那種自欺欺人的、維多利亞式的天真無邪的態(tài)度。但是他們現(xiàn)在覺得這種態(tài)度同那種說什么他們的戰(zhàn)斗已"使民主在這個世界有了保障"的論調(diào)一樣，都是陳舊過時的。再者，似乎家鄉(xiāng)的情況還不夠受的，退伍軍人還得面對凡爾賽和約那種愚蠢的、拿破侖式的犬儒主義、禁酒法令那種虛偽的行善主義，以及那些發(fā)了戰(zhàn)爭財?shù)娜藗兊难笱笞缘玫膼蹏髁x。那些氣鼓鼓的美國青年的不滿遲早要爆發(fā)出來。在經(jīng)過一段短暫的強烈的怨忿之后，它終于以一種徹底推翻溫文爾雅的行為規(guī)范的形式而爆發(fā)出來了。

格林威治村為他們樹立了榜樣。自七十年代因其生活消費低廉而成為藝術(shù)家和作家聚居地以來，格林威治村在很長時間里一直享有波希米亞式生活和怪僻行為的說不清是好還是壞的名聲。過去，尤其是在第一次世界大戰(zhàn)之前的十年中，這地方還曾棲居過許多大作家，因而使它成了名副其實的全美國文人雅士中心。戰(zhàn)后，那些腦子里和筆桿子里都充滿著對戰(zhàn)爭、市儈氣和"清教徒式的"道德修養(yǎng)的仇恨的怒火的年輕有為的作家們便自然而然地云集到這個傳統(tǒng)的藝術(shù)中心(那兒的生活消費在1919年仍很低廉)，去傾瀉他們那新近獲得的創(chuàng)造力，去摧毀舊世界，嘲弄前輩們所信守的道德規(guī)范，把自己的一切獻(xiàn)給藝術(shù)、愛情和感官享受。

很快，知識分子階層以外的人便也開始仿效他們了。在全國各地，青年人蔑視法律和一切傳統(tǒng)習(xí)慣，為"燃燒著的青年"的大火添柴加油越來越成為時髦之舉，而煽起這場大火的正是格林威治村。"波希米亞"生活方式已成為人們追求的時尚，每個城鎮(zhèn)都有一群"生活放蕩者"，他們?yōu)樽约旱姆磦鹘y(tǒng)行為感到自豪。可實際上，這種有意識的反傳統(tǒng)行為正迅速在全國范圍內(nèi)成為鄉(xiāng)村俱樂部的富人們以及一些不那么富有的效仿者所共有的一個基本特征。沒過多久，這場運動便得到了教會、電影雜志以及廣告商們的正式承認(rèn)：教會方面是通過譴責(zé)的方式對它予以承認(rèn);電影雜志則是一方面假意對它進(jìn)行譴責(zé)，一方面又將它描寫得放蕩胡鬧而又引人人勝;廣告商們更是間接地對這場運動起了推波助瀾的作用，因為他們不論是推銷香煙還是推銷汽車一類的商品時都在暗示說，這種商品將使買主具有不可抗拒的性感。在貝洛森林戰(zhàn)役和蒂耶里堡戰(zhàn)役正在進(jìn)行之時，參戰(zhàn)青年的小弟弟小妹妹們還在家里玩著彈子游戲和洋娃娃，他們并沒有體驗到真正的幻想破滅或失落感，可現(xiàn)在競也學(xué)起兄長們的樣子，玩起群眾性的反傳統(tǒng)游戲來了。他們的父母先是大吃一驚，繼而便發(fā)現(xiàn)自己以及自己的朋友們也都正在接受這種時興的快樂的生活方式了。及至二十年代中期，這種"放蕩的狂歡會"便像摩登少女、T型汽車或弗拉洛花園的荷蘭式房屋一樣，成為美國生活中司空見慣的事物了。

其時，真正的知識分子對此現(xiàn)象遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)談不上滿意。他們原本所希望的是使美國成為一個對藝術(shù)和文化更為敏感，對物質(zhì)利益不那么貪求，對標(biāo)準(zhǔn)化觀念不那么輕易接受的國家。然而，他們的這種思想完全沒有受到人們注意，而他們的行為卻由于提供了一種已變得如同"扶輪國際午餐會"一樣常規(guī)化的"波希米亞式"的生活模式，反倒助長了這種標(biāo)準(zhǔn)化觀念。結(jié)果，他們從戰(zhàn)場上歸來時本已十分強烈地對自己國家不滿的情緒，現(xiàn)在就變得更加忍無可忍了。于是，他們的筆尖下便噴射出憤怒的火花，猛烈抨擊著美國社會中的唯物質(zhì)主義以及他們所稱的文化市儈習(xí)氣。由"三十位知識分子"合撰、哈羅德·斯特恩斯編輯出版的一部頗為莊重地題名為《美國的文明》的重要著作，匯集的便是一些憎惡美國的敏感人士的抨擊性言論。這部著作的中心主題是：在美國，杰出人才得不到重視，藝術(shù)事業(yè)無人理解，大企業(yè)腐蝕敗壞了整個社會。新聞事業(yè)淪為發(fā)財賺錢的工具，政治腐敗，官場上充斥著庸才和騙子，而美國人的家庭生活也由于人們一心想著掙錢和與鄰里斗富而變得索然無味，刻板單調(diào)，充滿虛情假意。夫妻生活也缺乏魚水之樂。本來只需讓創(chuàng)造性藝術(shù)來指明通向美好生活的道路·以上這些缺憾就會自動消失的?？墒牵绹e國上下除了亮晶晶響當(dāng)當(dāng)?shù)拿澜鹬?，對其他的一切都視而不?充耳不聞。因此，對那些敏感的才俊之士來說，唯一的出路便只有移居歐洲，"那兒的情形要好一些"?！睹绹奈拿鳌氛匠霭?1921)之時該書的撰稿人大多數(shù)已經(jīng)接受自己的忠告寄居在國外了，還有許多別的藝術(shù)家和預(yù)備藝術(shù)家也紛紛步其后塵。

正是在他們那抗?fàn)幮缘?，而總的說來又是短暫的僑居歐洲期間，二十年代我國的那些主要作家開始認(rèn)識到自己一一用格特魯?shù)?斯坦的話說一一就是所謂"迷惘的一代"。"迷惘的一代"本身雖不是一場什么文學(xué)運動，但那些"迷惘的一代"的作家的態(tài)度卻是那個時代文學(xué)作品的共同特征。戰(zhàn)爭以及凡爾賽和約所表現(xiàn)出的犬儒主義的強權(quán)政治使這些青年男女們確信·精神世界已經(jīng)不復(fù)存在了。他們就像多斯·帕索斯的《三個士兵》中的那個受挫的唯美主義者約翰·安德魯斯一樣感到茫然不知所措，又像海明威《太陽照樣升起》中的流浪醉漢一樣感到漂泊無依。除斯坦、多斯.帕索斯和海明威外，還有劉易斯·芒福德、埃茲拉·龐德、舍伍德.安德森、馬修·約瑟夫森、J哈羅德斯特恩斯、TS'艾略特、E.E.卡明斯、馬爾科姆考利，以及其他許多小說家、戲劇家、詩人和評論家，都曾在法國的昂蒂布和塞納河左岸地區(qū)探索過自己的靈魂，都懷著滿腔孤憤對自己的祖國進(jìn)行過猛烈辛辣的抨擊·而目.在幾年之后，純粹出于思鄉(xiāng)情切，幾乎無一例外地又都漂洋過海，回到祖國，定居于沿海小島上和新英格蘭地區(qū)的農(nóng)莊上，來創(chuàng)作他們由于在一個更古老、更復(fù)雜的社會里經(jīng)受磨煉而變得成熟了的作品。

實際上，所謂"迷惘的一代"根本不曾迷惘過。在一段時間里，他們曾有過驚愕、孤獨無依的感覺，因而變得痛苦、尖刻，以致于反社會、反權(quán)威、好標(biāo)新立異，其行為往往有些荒唐，更常常近于胡鬧--但卻從來"迷恫過"除上述那些作家外二十年代還產(chǎn)生出了諸如尤金·奧尼爾、埃德娜·St.文森特。米萊、F.司各特.菲沃杰拉德、威廉?？思{、辛苑萊劉易斯、斯蒂分'文森特·貝尼特、哈特·克萊恩、托馬斯·沃爾夫等以及一大批其他人才。因此，即便這十年充滿怨艾自憐之聲，也絕不能將其看作是荒蕪的年代而一筆抹煞。二十年代的知識分子，也就是F司各特菲茨杰拉德所稱的"悲哀的青年一代"，詛咒過自己的命運，但并沒有消亡;他們曾試圖逃避現(xiàn)實，但又自動回到現(xiàn)實中來;他們痛責(zé)美國社會的市儈，但對自己的祖國卻又充滿熱愛。正是在這樣的過程中，他們創(chuàng)作出了美國文學(xué)史上最富有生氣、最令人耳目一新、最激動人心的文學(xué)作品。

(選自《英國人》)

詞匯(Vocabulary)

nostalgic (adj.) : looking for something far away or long ago or for former happy circumstance懷舊的

illicit (adj.) : not allowed by law，custom，rule，etc.：unlawful;prohibited違法的，違禁的，非法的

thrill (n.) : tremor of excitement(一陣)激動

speakeasy (n.) : [slang]a place where alcoholic drinks are sold illegally，esp. such a place in the U.S.during Prohibition[俚](美國禁酒期的)非法的酒店

denunciation (n.) : the act of denouncing控告;指責(zé)，斥責(zé)

amour (n.) : a love affair，esp. of an illicit or secret nature 戀情;(尤指)不正當(dāng)?shù)哪信P(guān)系

sedan (n.) : an enclosed automobile with two or four doors.and two wide seats.front and rear(兩扇或四扇門、雙排座的)轎車

naughty (adj.) : improper，obscene不得體的;猥褻的

jazzy (adj.) : (a party)playing jazz music(舞會)放爵士音樂的

flask-toting (adj.) :always carrying a small flask filled with whisky or other strong liquor身帶烈性酒的

sheik (n.) : (Americanism)a masterful man to whom women are supposed to be irresistably attracted[美國語](能使女子傾心的)美男子

vagary (n.) : an odd，eccentric，or unexpected action or bit of conduct古怪行徑;難以預(yù)測的行為

flapper (n.) : [colloq.](in the 1920's)a young woman considered bold and unconventional in actions and dress [口](在20世紀(jì)20年代被認(rèn)為)舉止與衣著不受傳統(tǒng)拘束的年輕女子，輕佻女郎

perspective (n.) : a specific point of view in understanding or judging things or events，esp. one that shows them in their true relations to one another正確理解或判斷事物相互關(guān)系的能力

jazzmad (adj.) : blindly and foolishly fond of jazz music爵士樂狂

aftermath (n.) : a result or consequence，esp. an unpleasant one結(jié)果，后果(尤指令人不愉快的后果)

provincial (adj.) : narrow，limited like that of rural provinces狹窄的;偏狹的;地方性的

gentility (n.) : he quality of being genteel;now，specifically，excessive or affected refinement and elegance有教養(yǎng)，斯文，溫文爾雅;(現(xiàn)尤指)假裝文雅，假裝斯文

aggressiveness (n.) : bold and energetic pursuit of one's end，enterprise有進(jìn)取心，進(jìn)取精神

bustle (v.) : hurry busily or with much fuss and bother繁忙，奔忙

medium (n.) : environment環(huán)境

catalytic (adj.) : acting as the stimulus in bringing about or hastening a result起催化作用的;起刺激作用的

precipitate (v.) : throw headlong;cause to happen before expected，needed;bring on猛拋，猛投;突然發(fā)生;促使

obsolescent (adj.) : in the process of becoming obsolete即將過時的;逐漸被廢棄的

mores (n.) : customs，esp. the fixed or traditional customs of a society，often acquiring the force of law習(xí)俗

sophistication (n.) : the state of being artificial，worldly-wise，urbane，etc.老于世故

faddishness (n.) : the following of fads趕時髦，趕時尚

hectic (adj.) : characterized by excitement，rush，confusion，etc.興奮的;忙亂的;混亂的

gaiety (n.) : cheerfulness;the state of being gay高興，快樂

perversion (n.) : a perverting or being perverted;corruption走入邪路;墮落;敗壞

Prohibition (n.) : the forbidding by law of the manufacture，transportation，and sale of alcoholic liquors for beverage purposes;specifically in the U.S.，the period(1920-1933)of prohibition by Federal law(特指美國20~30年代的)禁酒法令

orgy (n.) : any wild riotous licentious merry-making;debauchery縱酒飲樂;狂歡

spree (n.) : a lively，noisy frolic狂歡，縱樂

reveler (n.) : a person who makes merry or is noisily festive狂歡者，狂宴者

sober (v.) : make or become serious，solemn變清醒;變嚴(yán)肅

prolong (v.) : lengthen or extend in time or space延長;拖長;使持久

stalemate (n.) : any unresolved situation in which further action is impossible or useless;deadlock僵持;困境

insolence (n.) : being boldly disrespectful in speech-or behavior;impudence(言行)無禮，魯莽;傲慢

belligerent (adj.) : at war;of war處于交戰(zhàn)狀態(tài)的;戰(zhàn)爭的

adventurousness (n.) : being fond of adventure;willingness to take chances喜歡冒險;大膽

strenuous (adj.) : vigorous，arduous, zealous，etc.奮發(fā)的;使勁的

jingoism (n.) : chauvinism characterized by an aggressive。threatening，warlike foreign policy侵略主義，沙文主義

fracas (n.) : a noisy fight 0r loud quarrel;brawl大聲吵架;打鬧

infantry (n.) : foot soldiers collectively;esp. that branch of an army consisting of soldiers trained and equipped to fight chiefly on foot步兵;(尤指)步兵部隊

harass (v.) : trouble，worry.or torment，as with cares, debts，repeated questions，etc.使煩惱(或困憂)，折磨

sergeant (n.) : noncommissioned officer of the fifth grade.ranking above a corporal and below a staff sergeant in the U.S.Army and Marine Corps;generally. any of the noncommissioned officers in the U.S.armed forces with sergeant as part of the title of their rank中士;軍士

draft (n.) : the choosing or taking of an individual or individuals from a group for some special purpose，esp. for compulsory military service征兵：挑選

carnival (n.) : a reveling or time of revelry;festivity; merrymaking狂歡，盡情作樂

contingent (n.) : a share, proportion，or quota，as of troops.ships。laborers，delegates，etc.小分隊，分遣部隊

bombast (n.) : talk or writing that sounds grand or important but has little meaning;pompous language詞藻華麗而空洞無物的淡話(或文章);夸大的語言

recession (n.) : a temporary falling off()f business activity during a period when such activity has been generally increasing商業(yè)暫時衰退現(xiàn)象;蕭條

whip up : rouse，excite激起

outmoded (adj.) : no longer in fashion or accepted;obsoletc 舊式的;過時的;廢棄了的

sodden (adj.) : dull or stupefied，as from overindulgence in liquor(因沉迷于酒而變得)遲鈍的，麻木的

dubious (adj.) : rousing suspicion;feeling doubt;skeptical引起懷疑的;感到懷疑的;懷疑的

flout (n.) : be scornful;show contempt;jeer;scoff輕蔑，藐視;嘲弄;侮辱

conflagration (n.) : a big, destructive fire(毀滅性的)大火.大火災(zāi)

fast (adj.) : living in a reckless, wild, dissipated way放湯的，放縱的

pulpit (n.) : preachers collectively教士們

vulgar (adj.) : common to the great mass of people in general：common;popular普通的，一般的;流行的

avid (adj.) : having an intense desire or craving;greedy渴望的，熱望的;貪婪的

susceptible (adj.) : easily affected emotionally;having a sensitive nature of feelings易被感動的;易受影響的;敏感的

diatribe (n.) : a bitter，abusive criticism or denunciation 謾罵;諷刺;誹謗

grandiose (adj.) :having grandeur or magnificence imposing;impressive雄偉的;壯觀的;莊嚴(yán)的;給人深刻印象的

ally (v.) :come bark to normal strength;revive恢復(fù);復(fù)元

burden (n.) : central idea;theme主題;重點，要點

adjunct (n.) :a thing added to something else; a person connected with another as a helper or subordinate associate附屬物，附加物;幫手，助手

incompetent (n.) :a person who is completely incapable無能力者，不能勝任者

expatriate (v.) : withdraw (oneself) from one's nativeland or from allegiance to it(使自己)移居國外，放棄原國籍

denominator (n.) :a shared characteristic共同特性，共性

iconoclastic (adj.) :opposing to the religious use of images or advocating the destruction of such images反對崇拜偶像的

sterile (adj.) : barren;unfruitful貧瘠的，不長莊稼的;無成效的

flay (v.) :criticize or scold mercilessly嚴(yán)厲斥責(zé);怒罵

短語(Expressions)

drugstore cowboy : a young man who hangs around drugstores and other public places trying to impress women在雜貨店和其他公共場所徘徊試圖打動女人的年輕男人

例：You don't see the old drugstore cowboys around this part of town anymore.在這個鎮(zhèn)的這片地方你再也看不到以往那些雜貨店牛仔了。

see sth.in perspective : view or judge things in a way that show their true relations to one another以聯(lián)系的觀點正確地看待或判斷事物

例：We should see these events in perspective.我們應(yīng)該注意這些事件間的本質(zhì)聯(lián)系以正確評價它們。

precipitate sb./sth:into sth. : thrust violently into(a condition)使突然陷入某種狀態(tài)

例：precipitate the country into war使國家突然陷人戰(zhàn)爭

sober up : tfree from drunkenness;become not drunk變清醒

例：Put him t0 bed until he sobers up.送他上床等他清醒過來。

whip up : rouse;excite煽動，激起

例：whip up the mob煽動暴民/whip up enthusiasm激起熱情

keep up with the Joneses : compete with one's neighbors.etc.(in the purchase 0f articles，e.g.clothes，a car，indicating social status)和瓊斯一家人比(在購買物品如衣物、汽車等方面與鄰人等相比以示社會地位)，與他人攀比

FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: cornflowerblue" color=white> common denominator : a commonly shared theme or trait共同點，共同特色

例：All these accidents have a comnlon denominator that they are related with drunk driving.所有這些事故的共同點是它們都與酒后駕車有關(guān)。

write off : drop from consideration看不起，認(rèn)為無價值

例：We'Ve written the project ofr as a nonstarter.我們認(rèn)為這個項目毫無成功的希望，已經(jīng)對它不予以考慮了。