《人间天堂》中的消费主义 Consumerism in This Side of Paradise开题报告

1. 研究目的与意义（文献综述）

this side of paradise is the debut work written byf. scott fitzgerald in the so-called jazz age when consumerism prevails. as aresult, this novel more or less embodies such social phenomenon. with a closetextual reading, this essay tries to reveal how consumerism affects people’slife with regard to their life style and values, particularly their attitudetoward marriage.

lu feng, a philosophyprofessor in tsinghua university, points out that consumerism will encourageindividuals to reconsider the consumption not only as a necessary part of dailylife, but also as the essential meaning of their life. and the significance oflife lies in consumption, which is a fundamental way towards “spiritualsatisfaction”. he also observes that modern people, to a large extent, consumegoods not to satisfy their “naturally physiological needs”, but to show theirsocial status. as we can see, due to the improvement of living condition, moreand more chinese people are pursuing the “face consumption”, which goes astrayfrom traditional social values—frugality. by closely reading this book, we canpossibly reflect on our own life style and values.

this side of paradise has enjoyed greatpopularity ever since it was published. and it has been reviewed by people fromdifferent perspectives. with regard to its writing techniques. ji fan commentsthat its language expression is concrete and accurate, and it uses manyrhetorical devices, like comparison and exaggeration, to portray thecharacteristics of the protagonist. keshmiri, fahimeh and mahdikhani minaattribute fitzgerald’s popularity brought by this side of paradise to his material and themes rather than his technicalinnovation. they deem his techniques and writing style to be traditional, becausehis vision of the world is at least in part drawn from pre-world war iassumption. li zhen notices the awakening of the women’s consciousness, and shethinks that women are on the way to fight for their own rights and begin toshow their self-consciousness. xu xiaofei adopts freudian psychoanalyticapproach to interpret inner psychological world, including his oedipus complex,ego defense mechanisms, and then looks into the reasons for his behaviors. wangdongmei and zhang chunyan explore the connection between amory, theprotagonist, and fitzgerald with regard to their life experience as well asmentality.

2. 研究的基本内容与方案

This essay will include four parts. Inthe first part, it will give a brief introduction to the life experience ofFitzgerald, the social background of so-called “Jazz Age”, as well as the maincontents of This Side of Paradise. The second part will present not onlyliterary review about this novel but also the essence of consumerism, layingtheoretical foundation for the following analysis. Based on intensiveexamination of the novel, the third part will trace the reflection ofconsumerism in the novel. Considering the current social environment in China,the last part will draw a natural conclusion: although it is justifiable forhuman beings to pursue a comfortable life, we should try to avoidoverconsumption as well as conspicuous consumption, and take into account thesustainable existence of human beings.

3. 研究计划与安排

before20th january: settlement of the title

before 20thmarch: submission of the outline

before25th april: submission of the first draft

4. 参考文献（12篇以上）

[1] fitzgerald, f. s. this sideof paradise [m]. new york: signet classics, 2006.

[2] keshmiri, f. mahdikhani, m. f. scott fitzgerald's unique literary and writing style [j].english language and literature studies, 2015, 5(2): 78-86.

[3] liu, l. failure of americandream in fitzgerald’s novels from the perspective of consumer culture [d].wuhan: central china normal university, 2006.