Earticle

초록

영어

John Steinbeck’s only wartime novelette The Moon Is Down was controversial in that the conquerors and the conquered are neutrally observed even though this work is for the propagandistic properties during the Second World War. In other words, the Nazi invaders are described as Hamlet-like humans—under pressure, capable of cowardice and courage as much as the residents of the occupied town. Nevertheless, readers, notably of the occupied countries, turn out to have loved this work and so the author’s war effort seems to have been effective. As to this, I insist that this work is an excellent material for subjective reader-response criticism because it is too brief and abstract in terms of objectivity. To prove this argument, this essay observes the humanness of the novelette based on the characters’ activities along the plot and then criticizes controversial parts. As a result, the negative reviews are usually emphatic about the objective aspects while the readers, especially of the conquered countries, seem to have received it in a subjective way. Indeed, from the reader-response theories of Hans Robert Jauss and Stanley Fish, The Moon Is Down deserves to function as a propaganda literature well enough to argue that democracy is superior to totalitarianism and wins the war. Lastly, it is added that Steinbeck’s description of the humanness of the enemies should not be underestimated.

목차

I. Introduction
 II. Humane Description in The Moon ls Down 
 III. Reader-Response Interpretation on Humanness
 IV. Conclusion
 Works Cited
 Abstract

키워드

저자

• Geon-Geun Lee [ Chosun Univcrsity ]

참고문헌

발행기관

간행물

표지보기 관심저널 등록

• 간행물명

  미국소설 [마크 트웨인 리뷰]

• 간기

  연3회

• pISSN

  1738-5784

• 수록기간

  1991~2020

• 등재여부

  KCI 등재

• 십진분류

  KDC 843 DDC 813