Abstract

In America, local literature, which is a type of writing, was popular in the late 19th century. And it was developed further more after the American Civil War. It is a kind of literature that describes the local legend and real life. Mark Twain is a famous local literature writer of America. His representative work The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn tells a story about the adventures of the hero Huckleberry Finn and the slave Jim on the Mississippi River, which expresses the development of Huck’s morality. While In China, from the 20th century, local literature is a very important genre of the Chinese literature. The author concerns about the rural people’s life. Their work shows the local conditions and customs of the village and reflects a kind of pure beauty of human nature. Border Town, the masterpiece of Shen Congwen, is a representative work of Chinese local literature. The writer draws a beautiful landscape of western Hunan Province and describes a heart-broken love story between Cuicui and Nuosong, and expresses the pure beauty of human nature.
This paper chooses “beauty of human nature” as the entry point, compares the differences of beauty of human nature in Sino-US local literature and analyzes their cultural differences. This paper consists of four parts. It firstly deals with a brief introduction of beauty of human nature. Then, chapter two introduces Chinese local literature and its representative work. In chapter three, it introduces American local literature and the representative work. Finally, it compares and analyzes the cultural differences of beauty of human nature in Sino-US local literature and its reasons.

Key words: beauty of human nature; local literature; cultural differences; The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn; Border Town.

摘  要

在美国，乡土文学是一种写作类型，盛行于19世纪晚期，并在美国内战后得到了进一步的发展。美国乡土文学旨在描写当地的传说和现实生活。马克•吐温是美国著名的乡土文学作家，其代表作《哈克贝利•费恩历险记》讲述了主人公哈克贝利•费恩与黑奴吉姆在密西西比河上历险的故事，展示了哈克的道德发展。而在中国，从20世纪开始，乡土文学就是中国文学的一支重要流派。作者关注居住在乡村的人们的生活，他们的作品展示了乡村的风土人情，反映了一种淳朴的人性美。沈从文的代表作《边城》是中国乡土文学的代表作品。作者描绘了一幅秀丽的湘西风景，描写了翠翠与傩送之间痛心的爱情故事，并表达了淳朴的人性美。
本文以“人性美”为切入点，对比中美乡土文学中人性美的差异，并从中分析其文化差异。本文分四个部分，首先简要介绍人性美，接着第二部分介绍中国的乡土文学及代表作，第三部分介绍美国的乡土文学及代表作，最后对比分析中美乡土文学中人性美的文化差异及其原因。

关键词: 人性美；乡土文学；文化差异；《哈克贝利•费恩历险记》；《边城》