Malamud의 삶과 예술의 등식화

Abstract

This dissertation aims to discuss equalization of life and art through Malamud several short stories and novels. That is life itself is viewed existentially or humanistically and art is seen through the life of artists. As a result, I will focus on how the characters of Malamud's works lead a meaningful life in this world. In Malamud's early stories and novels characters are really existential persons in self-definition. For instance, Frank in The Assistant, Rosenfeld in “Benefit Performance”, Wally Mullane in “The Place Is Different Now,” and Roy Hobbs in The Natural are presentations of Camus' irrational men who pursue the real self in an absurd world. One property of his works is that he showed current trends through his Jewish background and symbols. His famous controversial statement, “All men are Jews,” means that by bestowing the name Jew on all mankind, he locates in the Jewish character specific elements that define all people. His primary concern is how to invent a human being. Whether he is Jewish or not is unimportant. Malamud depicts the ultimate absurdity and meaninglessness of history and existence. In general, postwar American fiction presented in detail the spectacle of the impending loss of self and depicted the resulting struggles and confusion. Internal conflict, a keen sense of failure and suffering, loss of orientation, self-alienation, and finally, loss of self are elements often noted in the fiction of this period. His writing places him in the mainstream of American fiction. Malamud has experimented in a great variety of styles and modes and he is among the leading American writers of his time. Influenced by the early twentieth century modernist writers, Malamud decided to write novels using the mythic organization he inherited from Dostoevsky, Kafka, James Joyce, Sartre, Camus, as well as Eliot, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and Faulkner to further demonstrate America's spiritual vacuity. Malamud valued the self-consciousness of their writing. The value system within the American tradition has usually stressed the individual self over religious or humanistic concerns, as does Malamud's writing. The Malamud hero is a saint who could transcend the awful limitation of suffering, constantly subdue his or her ego, be forever willing to make sacrifices and preserve nature which amounts to pure goodness. Malamud's respect for art is boundless, and he makes enormous claims for its value. Its purpose, he says, is to keep civilization from destroying itself. As for him, the longer Malamud wrote the more important art became. Malamud saw artists as humanists, lighthouses of truth and beauty who perpetuate life's highest virtues such as love and compassion. Almost half of his stories directly examine artists, while the rest are deeply concerned with the business of life. Life and art have always been inextricably intertwined in Malamud's fiction. Like most kinds of critical analysis, life and art is not separable but ultimately synthetic. In conclusion, art tends toward morality. It values life, celebrates life and provides the measure by which to lead our own lives. For Malamud, art in life takes precedence over success in art. It is more important to live life humanely than the creation of art. When Malamud wrote about art his focus was first and foremost on his artists as human beings. He emphasized the responsibilities of discovering the varieties of truth through their art for artists to accomplish this aim without ever causing others to suffer.