西方文学讲义

What is literature Literature is broadly defined as any written or spoken material but the term most often refers to creative works which are of artistic value General introduction of English literature 1 Old English Literature 449 1066 The Song of Beowulf 2 Medieval English Literature 1066 15th century Geoffrey Chaucer 1340 1400 3 Renaissance English literature late 15th century early 17th century William Shakespeare 4 English Literature of the Revolution and Restoration Period 1640 1688 John Milton John Bunyan 5 18th century English literature the age of Enlightenment Daniel Defoe Jonathan Swift and Henry Fielding William Blake Robert Burns 6 Romantic English Literature 1798 1832 William Wordsworth Samuel Taylor Coleridge George Gordon Byron Percy Bysshe Shelley and John Keats Charles Lamb 7 Critical Realistic Literature in the 19th Century Charles Dickens W M Thackeray Jane Austen Bronte sisters Mrs Gaskell George Eliot etc 8 20th Century English Literature Hardy Galsworthy Bernard Shaw 1 Realistic writing 2 Modernism 3 English literature since 1945 The Anglo Saxon Period 449 1066 Targets 1 了解古英语时期文学的历史背景 文学特征 主要作家和作品 2 掌握古英语诗歌的特点 3 史诗 贝武奥甫 及写作特点 ROMAN CONQUEST In 55 B C Britain was invaded by Julius Caesar the Roman Conqueror But as soon as the Romans landed on shore of the island the Britons fought like lions And with the comings and goings of many Roman generals within the time of the century Britain was not completely subjugated to the Roman Empire until 78 A D With the Roman Conquest the Roman mode of life came across to Britain also The Roman occupation lasted for about 400 year It was also during the Roman rule that Christianity was introduced to Britain After the fall of the Roman Empire 410 A D the aboriginal Celtic population was conquered by the Teutonic Tribes of Angles Saxons and Jutes who named the central part of Albion Anglia or England Their dialects gradually grew into a single language called Anglo Saxon or Old English Before the Anglo Saxons settled in Britain they lived in tribal society Each group of families united by kinship fixed its home in a separate village and after that the Anglo Saxon period witnessed a transition from tribal society to feudal society Literature characteristics The literature of this period is divided into pagan literature and Christian literature The former represent poetry and in form of oral sagas The later represents the writings developed under teaching of the monks The poetry was copied by the monks and has the religious coloring and most of works can not find its scribe Four main writers Caedmon the father of English song is the first known religious poet of England He wrote a poetic Paraphrase of the bible Cynewulf produced the didactic poem The Christ Venerable Bede a monk who wrote in Latin and whose work The Ecclesiastical History of the English People earned for him the title of Father of English History Alfred the Great 848 901 wrote The Anglo Saxon Chronicles This book records the main happenings of the Anglo Saxon period It is the best monument of the Old English prose The Song of Beowulf Representative achievement of Anglo Saxon period The Song of Beowulf is England s national epic It was written by an unknown scribe at the beginning of the 10th century and was discovered in 1705 It reflects events which took place approximately at the beginning of the 6th century Its chief significance lies in the vivid portrayal of a great national hero who is brave courageous selfless and ever helpful to his people and his kinsfolk The epic consists of 3182 lines and is to be divided into two parts Writing Features of the Poem 1 It is not a Christian but a pagan poem The whole poem presents us an all round picture of the tribal society and Christian culture incorporating myth legend folk tale and history which of national significance 2 The use of the strong stress and the predominance of consonants are very notable in this poem Each line is divided into two halves and each half has two heavy stresses 3 The use of the alliteration is another notable feature Three stresses of the whole line are made even more emphatic by the use of alliteration 4 A lot of metaphor and understatement are used in the poem For example the sea is called the whale road or the swan road the soldiers are called shield men the chieftains are called the treasure keepers human body is referred to as the bone house God is called wonder wielder Monster is referred to as soul destroyer Literary terms Epic It is originally an oral narrative poem majestic both in theme and style Epics deal with legendary or historical events of national or universal significance involving action of broad sweep and grandeur E g Iliad 伊利亚特 Odyssey 奥德赛 Paradise Lost 失乐园 The Divine Comedy 神曲 Alliteration A figure of speech in which consonant especially at the beginning of words or stressed syllables are repeated E g Kindest to kinsmen and keenest for fame Understatements 含蓄陈述 It is the opposite of hyperbole or overstatement It achieves its effect of emphasizing a fact by deliberately 故意地 understating it impressing the listener or the reader more by what is merely implied or left unsaid than by bare statement Medieval period 1066 ca 1485 I Historical Background 1 The Norman Conquest In 1066 at the battle of Hastings William the energetic Duke of Normandy defeated the Anglo Saxons and became the King of England 2 The Consequence of the Conquest a Politically a feudal system and a centralized government were established in England Most of the land was in the hand of church and upper class Peasants lived little better than slaves To make things worse a disease called Black Death swept over the country and a third of the population perished In 1381 the famous Rising broke out in England b Religiously the Rome backed Catholic Church had a much stronger control over the country c Great changes took place in languages the Norman lords spoke French common English spoke old English Latin became the principal tongue of church affairs and was used by the clergymen and scholars As a result many terms employed by the Normans were adopted into English language d Normans brought to England their own literature and civilization Medieval English Literature 1 A brief survey a The period from 1066 up to the mid 14th century is almost a barren period in literary creation In the second half of the 14th century English literature starts to flourish In comparison with Old English literature Middle English literature is uttered by more voices deals with a wider range of subjects and is in a greater diversity of styles tones and genres b Romance is the most prevailing kind of literature Popular ballad occupies an important position c The Middle English literature reflects the principles of the medieval Christian doctrine and emphasizes the humanity of Christ and the imagery of human passion 2 Medieval Romance 1 The definition of Romance The romance generally concerns knights and involves a large amount of fighting as well as a number of miscellaneous adventures it makes liberal use of the improbable often supernatural and includes romantic love 2 Romance Cycles Romances fall into three cycles 1 matters of Britain adventures of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table 2 Matters of France Emperor Charlemagne and his peers 3 matters of Rome Alexander the Great and so forth 3 The features of Romance 了解内容了解内容 A The romance was a long composition sometimes in verse sometimes in prose describing the life and adventures of a noble hero B Hero usually the knight a man of noble birth skilled in the use of weapons who sets out on a journey to accomplish some goal to protect the church and the king to attack infidelity to rescue a maiden to meet a challenge or to obey a knightly command C The structure is loose and episodic the language and style are simple and straightforward D It was written for the noble class so it had nothing to do with the common people E It exaggerates the vices of human nature and idealizes the virtues F It contains perilous adventures more or less remote from ordinary life even describes supernatural things 4 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight It is a verse romance of 2530 lines derived from Celtic legend A Story Sir Gawain and the Green Knight B Analysis 1 alliterative verse 2 an account of a typical chivalric adventure motifs 3 concerned with the rights and wrongs of conduct 4 Its theme is a series of tests on faith courage purity and human weakness for self preservation 5 Structure contains a prologue an epilogue and its main body 6 the unknown author tries to make his romance the vehicle of a wise morality in which the humorously grotesque merges with the morally serious 3 Popular Ballads 1 Introduction Popular ballads are originally dance songs in verse form usually in 4 line stanzas with the second and fourth lines rhymed They are mainly literature of peasants created collectively by people and constantly revised in the process of being handed down from mouth to mouth There were several kinds of ballads historical legendary fantastical lyrical and humorous 2 Ballads of Robin Hood The most famous cycle of English ballads centers on the stories about a legendary outlaw called Robin Hood Robin Hood is partly a real and partly a legendary figure that lived during the reign of Richard I He was the leader of a band of outlaws and they lived in the deep forest They often attacked the rich waged war against the bishops and archbishops and helped the poor people Therefore Robin Hood and his followers were constantly hunted by the sheriffs Robin Hood ballads show the fighting spirit indomitable courage and revolutionary energy of the English peasantry 3 characteristics A The beginning is often abrupt B There are strong dramatic elements C The story is often told through dialogue and action D The theme is often tragic E The ballad meter is used 4 Middle English Prose Thomas Malory is the only important prose writer in the fifteenth century He wrote an important work called Morte d Arthur Death of Arthur Malory s tale begins with the mysterious birth of Arthur and ends with his equally mysterious death 5 William Langland 1 Introduction William Langland was born in the western midland of the country living from about 1330 to about 1400 In 1362 he began his famous poem Piers the Plowman which had been repeatedly revised and of which three texts have been left to us It was written in the old alliterative verse each line contained three alliterated words two of which were placed in the first half and the third in the second half 2 Piers the Plowman The poem describes a series of wonderful dreams the author dreamed It is written in the form of a dream vision and the author tells the picture of Feudal England under the guise of having dreamed it The poem is also an allegory which uses symbolism to relate truth The poet uses indignant satire in his description of social abuses caused by the corruption prevailing among the ruling classes ecclesiastical and secular The poem is written in alliteration Geoffrey Chaucer Life Geoffrey Chaucer was born in London around 1340 At the age of 17 he served as a page to Elizabeth At the age of 19 he served with the English army in France and married to Philippa was at the age of 26 Between the year of 1372 and 1378 he was sent on embassies to Italy In 1373 he was made Controller of Customs in the Port of London In 1385 he became Justice of the Peace and Knight of the Shire Member of Parliament for the County of Kent In the period of 1389 to 1391 he served as Clerk of the King s Works In 1391 he was appointed Forester of a royal forest in Somerset He died in 1400 and was buried in Westminster Abbey thus founding the Poets Corner II Literary Career 1 The French Period His earliest work is based largely on French models Chaucer s chief works during this time are the Book of the Duchess 悼公爵夫人 an allegorical lament written in 1369 on the death of Blanche wife of John of Gaunt and a partial translation of the Roman de la Rose 玫瑰传奇 2 The Italian Period Chaucer s journey to Italy in 1372 exerted a profound influence on his literary development by immersing him in the works of the great Italian writers such as Dante 但丁 Petrarch 彼特拉克 and Boccaccio 卜迦 丘 The poet s own creativeness shows itself through borrowed themes Works of this period The House of Fame 声誉殿堂 Troilus and Criseyde 特洛勒斯和克里希德 The Parliament of Fouls 百鸟会议 The Legend of Good Women 贞洁妇女传奇 3 The Mature Period Apart from minor and miscellaneous works Chaucer s chief literary interest in the last 14 years of his life was The Canterbury Tales his masterpiece Chaucer had reached full maturity in his literary creation free from any dominant foreign influence The Canterbury Tales 1 The Framework The framework here refers to a narrative which is composed for the purpose of introducing and connecting a series of tales Chaucer s work consists of three parts The General Prologue 24 tales two of which left unfinished and separate prologues to each tale with links comments quarrels etc in between 2 The General Prologue The General Prologue is usually regarded as the greatest portrait gallery in English literature The purpose of the General Prologue is not only to present a vivid collection of character sketches but also tries to reveal the author s intention in bringing together a great variety of people and narrative materials to unite the diversity of the tales by allotting them to a diversity of tellers engaged in a common endeavor to set the tone for the story telling to make clear the plan for the tales to motivate the telling of several of tales and to introduce the pilgrims and the time and occasion of the pilgrimage Ranging in status from a Knight to a humble Plowman the pilgrims are a microcosm of 14th century English society It tells how the poet meets a group of people who are going to St Thomas Beckett s tomb at Canterbury In order to kill time the host of Tabbard Inn suggests that the poet and other 29 pilgrims tell two stories on the way to Canterbury and another two on the way back thus there should have been a total of 120 tales But Chaucer had actually completed only 22 stories with two more existing in fragments 3 The Tales There are all together 24 tales with the Knight s tale at the beginning the Parson s tale at the end and the Clerk s tale and others stretching in between These tales represent nearly every variety of medieval stories at its best which can be divided into different groups such as Romance Fabliau 讽刺性寓言诗 Saints Legends 到的冲高的人的传奇 Homilies 说教 Moralities Devotions and Marriage 坎特伯雷故事集坎特伯雷故事集 武士的故事武士的故事 磨坊主的故事磨坊主的故事 管家的故事管家的故事 医生的故事医生的故事 厨师的故事厨师的故事 律师的故事律师的故事 巴斯妇的故事巴斯妇的故事 游乞僧的故事游乞僧的故事 法庭差役的故事法庭差役的故事 学者的故事学者的故事 商人的故事商人的故事 侍人的故事侍人的故事 自由农的故事自由农的故事 赦罪僧的故事赦罪僧的故事 船手的故事船手的故事 女修道士的故事女修道士的故事 托巴斯先生的故事托巴斯先生的故事 梅利比的故事梅利比的故事 僧士的故事僧士的故事 女尼的教士的故事女尼的教士的故事 第二个女尼的故事第二个女尼的故事 寺僧的乡士的故事寺僧的乡士的故事 伙食经理的故事伙食经理的故事 牧师的故事牧师的故事 4 The significance of The Canterbury Tales A It gives a comprehensive picture of Chaucer s time B The dramatic structure of the poem has been highly commended by critics C Chaucer s humor and irony D Chaucer s contribution 1 Forerunner of Humanism Chaucer affirms men s and women s right to pursue earthly happiness and opposed asceticism avoiding physical pleasures and comforts He praises man s energy intellect quick wit and love of life and he exposes and satirizes the social vices including the corruption of the Church 2 The founder of English Realism Chaucer for the first time in English literature presents to the readers a comprehensive realistic picture of the English society of his time and describes a series of vivid characters from all walks of life in The Canterbury Tales 3 Father of English poetry called by John Dryden Chaucer introduces from France the rhymed stanzas of various types to English poetry to replace the old English alliterative verse He s the first to use the rhymed couplet of iambic pentameter which is to be called the heroic couplet Thus he lays the foundation of the English tonic syllabic verse 4 Master of the English language Chaucer is the first great poet who wrote in the current English His production of so much excellent poetry is an important factor in establishing English as the literary language of the country Chaucer uses London dialect in his writings and he contributes to making it the foundation for modern English speech 5 Selected Reading A Reading 罗经国版 When the sweet showers of April fall and shoot Down through the drought of March to pierce the root The gentle spring rain penetrates the very roots of the plants Bathing every vein in liquid power The water of spring rain moistens every rib of the leaves and endows the plants with its power From which there springs the engendering of the flower With the power of the water flowers begin to blossom When also Zephyrus the west wind with his sweet breath Exhales an air in every grove and heath Upon the tender shoots and the young sun His half course in the sign of the Ram has run The sun is young because it has run only half way through the Ram 白羊星座 which is the first sign of the Zodiac 黄道带 共分十二宫 标示太阳 月亮等天体的运行 The sun runs through the sign of the Ram annually from March 21st to April 21st And the small fowls birds are making melody That sleep away the night with open eye So nature pricks them and their heart engages So nature stimulates them and attracts their hearts The people long to go on pilgrimages And palmers pilgrims to foreign countries long to seek the stranger strands shores which they have not visited Of far off saints hallowed in sundry lands honored as holy persons in different places And specially from every shire s end In England down to Canterbury they wend archaic form of go To seek the holy blissful martyr referring to Thomas a Becket quick In giving help to them when they were sick 吴伟仁版 1 As soon as April pierces to the root 2 The drought of March and bathes each bud and