英美文学名词解释+.doc

1theLostGenerationIn general, the post-World War I generation, but specifically a group of U.S. writers who came of age during the war and established their literary reputations in the 1920s. The term stems from a remark made by Gertrude Stein to Ernest Hemingway, “You are all a lost generation.” Hemingway used it as an epigraph to The Sun Also Rises (1926). The generation was “lost” in the sense that its inherited values were no longer relevant in the postwar world. They were never a literary school. In the 1930s, as these writers turned in different directions, their works lost the distinctive stamp of the postwar period.The Lost Generation: is a term used to describe a group of American intellectuals知识分子, poets, artists and writers fled to France in the post WW1 years to reject the values of American materialism唯物主义 and to seek the bohemian(放浪者)(a person with artistic or literary interests who disregards conventional standards of behavior) lifestyle in Pairs. Full of youthful idealism, these individuals sought the meaning of life, drank excessively, had love affairs and created some of the finest American literature to date. Refers to the disillusioned使不再抱幻想 intellectuals and aesthetes审美家 of the years following WW1, who rebelled against former ideals and values but could replace them only by despair or a cynical愤世嫉俗的 hedonism(快乐主义). The main representatives 代表人of Lost Generation include F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway and so on. 2SonnetA sonnet is a poetic form which originated in Italy.By the thirteenth century it signified a poem of fourteen lines that follows a strict rhyme scheme and specific structure. Conventions associated with the sonnet have evolved over its history. Writers of sonnets are sometimes called sonneteers. One of the best-known sonnet writers is William Shakespeare, who wrote 154 of them (not including those that appear in his plays). Original Italian Sonnets are rhymed poems consisting of fourteen lines, the first eight making up the octet and the last six lines being the sestet. The Shakespearean Sonnet (which differs slightly from the Italian (or Petrarchian) Sonnet and the Spenserian Sonnet) end with a rhymed couplet and follows the rhyme scheme abab cdcd efef gg. Thus, the octet/sestet structure can be alternatively divided into three quatrains (sets of four lines) with alternating rhymes concluding in a rhymed coupletTraditionally, English poets employ iambic pentameter when writing sonnets, but not all English sonnets have the same metrical structure.3 ByronicHero:ByronicheroisaproudandmysteriousrebelfigureofnobleorigininByronspoems.Withimmensesuperiorityinhispassionsandpowers,theByronicherowouldcarryonhisshoulderstheburdenofrightingallthewrongsinanevilsociety,andwouldfightsingle-handedlyagainstanykindoftyrannicalruleseitheringovernment,inreligionorinmoralprincipleswithunconquerablewillandinexhaustibleenergies.Theconflictisusuallyoneofrebelliousindividualsagainstoutwornsocialsystemsandconvention.SuchaheroappearsfirstinChildeHaroldspilgrimageandthenfurtherdevelopedinlaterworkssuchasManfredandDonJuan.The Byronic hero typically exhibits the following characteristics: high level of intelligence and perception ，cunning and able to adapt ，sophisticated and educated self-critical and introspective ，mysterious and charismatic ，struggling with integrity ，social and sexual dominance ，emotional conflicts, bipolar tendencies, or moodiness，a distaste for social institutions and norms ，being an exile, an outcast, or an outlaw ，cynicism ，arrogance ，self-destructive behavior and so on.1) Having great talent; 2) Exhibiting great passion; 3) Having a distaste for society and social institutions; 4) Expressing a lack of respect for rank and privilege; 5) Thwarted in love by social constraint or death; 6) Rebelling; 7) Suffering exile; 8) Hiding an unsavory past; 9) Ultimately acting in a self-destructive manner.4The Jazz AgeAfter WWI, people found that the war which cost millions of lives failed to provide an abiding solutions to the worlds problems, that the war was just the traps of political leaders. Such a disillusionment about the value of war, accompanied by the booming of American economy drove people to cynical hedonism, as well as the growth of individualism. People experiment with new amusements. They restlessly pursued stimulus and pleasures, wallowed in heavy drinking, fast driving and casual sex. By these, they hoped to seek relief from serious problems. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is often described as the epitome of the Jazz Age in American literature.5TranscendentalismAs a philosophical and literary movement, American Transcendentalism the emergence of the Transcendentalists as an identifiable movement took place during the late 1820s and 1830s (flourished in New England from 1830s to the Civil War.), but the roots of their religious philosophy extended much farther back into American religious history. Transcendentalism and evangelical Protestantism followed separate evolutionary branches from American Puritanism, taking as their common ancestor the Calvinism of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. They spoke for cultural rejuvenation and against the materialism of American spirit, or the Oversoul, as the most important thing in the Universe.They believe people could learn things both from the outside world by means of the 5 senses and from the inner world by intuition.It placed spirit first and matter second; It took nature as symbolic of spirit or God. It emphasized the significance of the individual ;Religion was an emotional communication between an individual soul and the universal oversoul. transcend ere: to rise above, to pass beyond the limits .Major writers and Literary Works Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) Self-RelianceHenry David Thoreau (1817-1862) Walden6 Free verseFreeverse:freeverseispoetrythathasanirregularrhythmandlinelength,andthatattemptsavoidanypredeterminedversestructure;instead,itusesthecadeneesofnaturalspeech.Whileitalternatesstressedandunstressedsyllablesasstricterverseformsdo,freeversedoessoinalooserway.Whitemanspoetryisanexampleoffreeverseatitsmostimpressive,forexampleSongofMyself.IthassincebeenusedEzraPound,T.S.EliotandothermajorAmericanpoetsofthe20thcentury.WaltWhitemansLeavesofGrassis,perhaps,themostnotableexample.7 CriticalRealism(批判现实主义)Criticalrealismisoneoftheliterarygenresthatflourishedmainlyinthe19thcentury.Itrevealsthecorruptinginfluenceoftheruleofcashuponhumannature.Hereliestheessentiallydemocraticandhumanisticcharacterofcriticalrealism.TheEnglishcriticalrealistsofthe19thcenturynotonlygaveasatiricalportrayalofthebourgeoisieandalltherulingclasses,butalsoshowedprofoundsympathyforthecommonpeople.Intheirbestworks,theyusedhumorandsatiretocontrastthegreedandhypocrisyoftheupperclasseswiththehonestyandgood-heartednessoftheobscure“simplepeople”ofthelowerclasses.Humorousscenessetofftheactionsofthepositivecharacters,andthehumorisoftentingedwithalyricismwhichservestostressthefinequalitiesofsuchcharacters.Atthesametime,bittersatireandgrotesqueisusedtoexposetheseamysideofthebourgeoissociety.Thecriticalrealists,however,didnotfindawaytoeradicatethesocialevilstheyknewsowell.Theydidnotrealizethenecessityofchanging thebourgeoissocietythroughconscioushumaneffort.Theirworksdonotpointtowardrevolutionbutratherevolutionorreformism.Theyoftenstartwithapowerfulexposureoftheuglinessofthebourgeoisworldintheirworks,buttheirnovelsusuallyhavehappyendingsoranimpotentcompromiseattheend.8 Renaissance The word “Renaissance” means “rebirth”, it meant the reintroduction into western Europe of the full cultural heritage of Greece and Rome.2the essence of the Renaissance is Humanism. Attitudes and feelings which had been characteristic of the 14th and 15th centuries persisted well down into the era of Humanism and reformation.3 the real mainstream of the English Renaissance is the Elizabethan drama with William Shakespeare being the leading dramatist.aculturalandartisticmovementinEnglandfromtheearly16thcenturytotheearly17thcentury.TheRenaissancemarksatransitionfromthemedievaltothemodernworld.TheRenaissanceisahistoricalperiodinwhichtheEuropeanhumanistthinkersandscholarsmadeattempts:(1)togetridofthoseoldfeudalistideasinmedievalEurope,(2)tointroducenewideasthatexpressedtheinterestsoftherisingbourgeoisie,(3)torecoverthepurityoftheearlychurchfromthecorruptionoftheRomanCatholicChurch.V诗歌整理In part one,the poet faced with two roads in the autumnal wood and feel puzzled over which one to choose. Here, I think the fork represented a turning point in the poets life. He moved to London to pursue his dream of poet. In part two, the poet stepped on the other road. From his choice for the less trodden road, it could be concluded that he did not like to follow the steps of other people, he wanted his own life choired by himself. And also the poet was prompted by his dream. In part three,the poet decided to choose the less traveled one, but he was aware that he could never have a chance to return to the first road. the poet continued to cogitate upon the differences between the two roads. In part four, he articulated why he chose the less traveled road, for he expected his life to be unusual and different. But there was no way to foretell the consequences of his choice. we may find that the poet imagined that one day he would begin his story with a sigh and tell people that his life is changed by a decision. All the differences are determined long long ago by a choice. All in all, this poem clearly explained Frosts belief that it is the road that one chooses that makes him the man who he is. It is always difficult to make a decision because it is impossible not to wonder about the opportunity cost, what will be missed out on. It is impossible to travel down every path. The road that will be chosen leads to the unknown, as does any choice in life. Anyway,everyone is a traveler, choosing the roads to follow on the map of their continuous journey, life.哈代整理ThomasHardyisuniqueasanovelistinthehistoryofEnglishliterature.Hefocusesonthepoorsfateandanimadvertstheworld,revealstheevilofsociety. his works reflect the conflicts between character and environment, his works provide readers with the vivid pictures of the 19th century. Hisnovelsarefulloffatalism.Inhismasterpiece,TessoftheDUrbervilles,thedescriptionofTessinTesssfateisevenmoreconspicuous.Manypeople,calledfatalists,believeinthisandthattheyhavenopowerindeterminingtheirfuture,noonecanescapefromthedeterminedfate,nomatterwhatonecandoisjusttofollowit.InTessoftheDUrbervilles,Tesshasnocontrolofherowndestiny,tryasshemay,sheisstillaslaveoffate.Throughoutthebleaknovel,wecaneasilyfeltthatTessstragedyiscontrolledbythefate.Tessisthevictimofthefate,atfirstshewasrapedbyAlec,thenshewasdumpedbyAngel,atlastshekilledAlecandwassentenced.(Whenshefacedthesufferings,shehadnopowertofightagainst.“Inthenovel,thewordfateandgodareappearmanytime,onthesurface,itseemslikeamysteriouspowercontroleverything,infact,throughtherealrecordofthesociety,HardyrevealsthetragichistoryofEnglishcountrysideatthattime,justashardysaid,fateisdeterminedbyoneseconomystatusandclassstatus.” )Although he sympathized with Tesss encounter, and he also know that the tragedy is brought by capitalism, but he himself lives in capitalism society, he cant find a valid solution, and in his thought there are a legacy of feudal patriarchal thoughts, all of these make him thinks despite the tragedy of Tess is sympathetic, but this is Gods arrangement and an inevitable result. But this cant damage Tess of the dUrbervilles in the status of world literature, in fact, it is Tesss tragedy fate that attracts readers from generation to generation, making them explore the real reason of her tragedy.StoppingbyWoodsonaSnowyEveningThispoemiswrittenbytheAmericanpoetRobertFrostwhoseworksaremostlyconcernedwithnature.Inthispoem,hedescribesalittleincidenthappeninginasnowyevening.Asatraveler,thepoe