英国文学选读名词解释

精品文库1. epic 史诗 An epic is a long oral narrative poem that operates on a grand scale and deals with legendary or historical events of national or universal significance .Most epics deal with the exploits of a single individual and also interlace the main narrative with myths, legends, folk tales and past events; there is a composite effect, the entire culture of a country cohering in the overall experience of the poem . Epic poems are not merely entertaining stories of legendary or historical heroes; they summarize and express the nature or ideals of an entire nation at a significant or crucial period of its history.2. caesura 停顿a break or pause in a line of poetry, dictated by the natural rhythm of the language and sometimes enforced by punctuation. In Old English verse, such as Beowulf, the caesura was used rather monotonously to indicate the half line.3. alliteration 头韵the repetition of the same sound or sounds at the beginning of two or more words that are close to each other. It is a feature of Beowulf and other Old English poems.4. alliterative verse 头韵诗poetry written in alliteration. Nearly all Old English verse, including Beowulf, is heavily alliterative, and the pattern is fairly standard with either two or three stressed syllables in each line alliterating.5. kenning 隐喻语a metaphor usually composed of two words and used for description and association. Beowulf is full of kennings, such as “helmet bearer” for “warrior” and “swan road” for “sea”.6. protagonist 主角the principal character of a drama or fiction. Hamlet is the protagonist of William Shakespeares drama Hamlet.7. antagonist 反角In drama or fiction the antagonist opposes the hero or protagonist. In Hamlet Claudius is antagonist to Hamlet.8. romance 传奇a type of literature that was popular in the Middle Ages, usually containing adventures and reflecting the spirit of chivalry. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was a great verse romance, but its author remains unknown.9. bob and wheel诗节末尾的短行与叠唱a rhyming section of five lines that concludes a stanza in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The “bob” is a very short line, sometimes of only two syllables, followed by the “wheel”, longer lines with three stresses and internal thyme.10. poets corner 诗人角a part of Westminster Abbey, London, which contains the tombs or monuments of some famous English poets, such as Geoffrey Chaucer and John Milton.11. heroic couplet 英雄双韵体Two successive lines of rhymed poetry in iambic pentameter. Geoffrey Chaucers masterpiece The Canterbury Tale was written in heroic couplet. Named from its use by Dryden and others in the heroic drama of the late 17th century, the heroic couplet had been established much earlier by Chaucer as a major English verse-form for narrative and other kinds of non-dramatic portry: it dominated English poetry of the 18th century, notably in the couplets of Pope, before declining in importance in the early 19th century.12. ballad meter 民谣体traditionally a four-line stanza containing alternating four-stress and three-stress lines, usually with a refrain and the rhyme scheme of abcb. Robert Burns “A Red, Red Rose” is a great love ballad.13. refrain 叠句，副歌a phrase, line or lines repeated at intervals during a poem and especially at the end of a stanza. It is very often found in English ballads, such as Robert Burns “A Red, Red Rose”.14. English Renaissance 英国文艺复兴the literary flowering of England in the late 16th century and early 17th century, with humanism as its keynote. William Shakespeares Hamlet is considered the summit of this renaissance. Renaissance(文艺复兴) The word “renaissance” means rebirth or revival. It is commonly applied to the movement or period in western civilization , which marks the transition from the medieval to the modern world . It sprang up first in Italy in the 14th century and gradually spread all over Europe, the date differing for different countries. The Renaissance indicates a revival of classical (Greek and Roman) arts and sciences after the dark ages of medieval obscurantism. The study and propagation of classical learning and art was carried on by the progressive thinkers of the humanists. They held their chief interest not in ecclesiastical knowledge, but in man, his environment and doings and his brave fight for the emancipation of man from the tyranny of the church and religious dogmas. Because in the ancient Greek and Roman mythology were found the ideas of universal love, respect to human beings and approval of mans power, ability and knowledge. And at the same time worldly enjoyment on the earth was affirmed. In short, man became the center of the world instead of God as upheld in the Middle Ages. The Renaissance Movement is a great revolution carried out in the fourteenth to the mid-seventeenth century Europe. It broke the chain and bondage of feudal and theological ties and brought human wisdom and capacity into full play.15. Elizabethan literature 伊丽莎白时代的文学literature written in the Elizabethan Age (1558-1603). William Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet was a masterpiece of this period.16. sonnet 十四行诗a fixed form consisting of fourteen lines of 5-foot iambic verse. It first flourished in Italy in the 14th century. William Shakespeare was a great English sonnet writer famous for his 154 sonnets.17. iambic pentameter 五步抑扬格the basic line in English verse, with five feet in a line, usually an unaccented syllable followed by an accented syllable. It was probably introduced by Geoffrey Chaucer and certainly established by him in The Canterbury Tales.18. meter 格律the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in verse. In English verse a line may have a fixed number of syllables and yet have a varying number of stresses; the commonest meter is iambic. William Shakespeares sonnets are written in iambic.19. foot 音步a group of syllables forming a metrical unit. We measure feet in terms of syllable variation: long and short syllables, stressed and unstressed. The commonest foot in English verse is iamb; the commonest line is five-foot line, called pentameter. William Shakespeares “Sonnet 18” contains fourteen iambic pentameter lines.20. rhyme scheme 押韵格式the pattern of end-thymes in a stanza or poem, generally described by using letters of the alphabet to denote the recurrence of rhyming lines. For example, heroic couplets are “aabbcc” and so on.21. quatrain 四行诗节a stanza of four lines, rhymed or unrhymed. It is the commonest of all stanzaic forms in English poetry. Robert Burns “A Red, Red Rose” has four quatrains.22. image 意象a concrete representation of an object or sensory experience. Typically, such a representation helps evoke the feelings associated with the object or experience itself. Many images are conveyed by figurative language. An image may be visual, olfactory, tactile, auditory, gustatory, abstract and kinaesthetic. The rose in Robert Burns poem “A Red, Red Rose” is a beautiful image.23. poetic license 诗的破格the liberty allowed to the poet to wrest the language according to his needs in the use of figurative speech, archaism, rhyme, strange syntax, etc. An example is the last sentence of “A Red, Red Rose” by Robert Burns “Tho it were ten thousand mile!”24. verse drama 诗剧drama written in the form of verse. It was most widely used in the Elizabethan Age. William Shakespeares dramas are all verse dramas, Hamlet being the most famous.25. blank verse 无韵诗，素体诗unrhymed iambic pentameter, the most widely used of English verse forms and usually used in English dramatic and epic poetry. William Shakespeares play Hamlet is written in blank verse.26. Globe Theatre 环球剧场One of the most famous of all theatres, it was built in 1599, with three stories. The roof was thatched, with the centre open to the sky. Many of William Shakespeares plays were performed in it. It was destroyed by fire in 1613, rebuilt the next year and finally demolished in 1644. Again it was rebuilt in 1997.27. essay 散文a composition, usually in prose, which may be of only a few hundred words or of book length and which discusses, formally or informally, a topic or a variety of topics. It is one of the most flexible and adaptable of all literary forms. Francis Bacon is a great essayist; his “Of Studies” is a model of good essay.28. English Romanticism 英国浪漫主义a literary movement that aimed at free expression of the writers ideas and feelings and flourished in the early 19th century England. A great representative of this movement is Percy Bysshe Shelley, the author of “Ode to the West Wind”.29. lake poets 湖畔诗人areagroupofEnglishpoetswhoalllivedintheLakeDistrictofEnglandattheturnofthenineteenthcentury.TheyareconsideredpartoftheRomanticMovement.ThethreemainfiguresofwhathasbecomeknownastheLakesSchoolareWilliamWordsworth,SamuelTaylorColeridge,andRobertSouthey.30. poet laureate 桂冠诗人A poet honored for his artistic achievement or selected as most representative of his country or era; in England, a court official appointed by the sovereign, whose original duties included the composition of odes in honor of the sovereigns birthday and in celebration of state occasions of importance. William Wordsworth became poet laureate in 1843.31. Humanism(人文主义) Broadly, this term suggests any attitude which tends to exalt the human element or stress the importance of human interests, as opposed to the supernatural , divine elements -or as opposed to the grosser, animal elements.In a more specific sense, humanism suggests a devotion to those studies supposed to promote human culture most effectively-in particular, those dealing with the life,thought, language, and literature of ancient Greece and Rome. It proclaimed that man is the most important noble creature in the world; the goal of life is to enjoy oneself in this present world instead of afterlife. According to the humanists ; both man and world are hindered by external checks from infinite improvement. Man could mould the world according to his desires, and attain happiness by removing all external checks by the exercise of reason. In literary history the most important use of the term is to designate the revival of classical culture which accompanied the Renaissance. 32. Ode(颂歌) Long, often elaborate formal lyric poem of varying line lengths dealing with a subject matter and treating it reverently. It aims at glorifying an individual, commemorating an event, or describing nature intellectually rather than emotionally. Conventionally, many odes are written or dedicated to a specifie subject. For instance,Ode to the West Wind is about the winds that bring change of season in England. Ode to the Nightingale is about the nightingale that lures the poet temporarily away from his great misery. The earliest English odes include the Epithalamion and the Prothalamion,or marriage hymns by poet Edmund Spenser.33. Romanticism(浪漫主义) The term refers to the literary and artistic movements of the late 18th and early 19th century. Romanticism rejected the earlier philosophy of the Enlightenment, which stressed that logic and reason were the best response humans had in the face of cruelty, stupidity, superstition, and barbarism. Instead ,the Romantics asserted that reliance upon emotion and natural passions provided a valid and powerful means of knowing and a reliable guide to ethics and living.The Romantic movement typically asserts the unique nature of the individual, the privileged status of imagination and fancy, the value of spontaneity over “artifice” and “convention”, the human need for emotional outlets, the rejection of civilized corruption, and a desire to return to natural primitivism and escape the spiritual destruction of urban life Their writings are often set in rural, or Gothic settings and they show an obsessive concern with “innocent” characters-children, young lovers, and animals. The major Romantic poets included William Blake, William Wordsworth, John Keats , Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Lord Gordon Byron. 34. Aestheticism( 美学主义) The basic theory of the Aesthetic movement-“art for arts sake”-was set forth by a French poet, Theophile Gautier. The first Englishman who wrote about the theory of aestheticism was Walter Pater, the most important critical writer of the late 19th century. The chief representative of the movement in England was Oscar Wilde,with his Picture of Dorian Gray. Aestheticism places art above life, and holds that life should imitate art, not art imitate life. According to the aesthetes, all artistic creation is absolutely subjective as opposed to objective. Art should be free from any influence of egoism. Only when art is for arts sake,can it be immortal They believed that art should be unconcerned with controversial issues, such as politics and morality, and that it should be restricted to contributing beauty in a highly polished style. This was one of the reactions against the materialism and commercialism of the Victorian industrial era, as well as a reaction against the Victorian convention of art for moralitys sake, or art for moneys sake. 35. Stream of Consciousness(意识流) (psychol organized by William James) individual conscious experience regarded as continuously moving forward in time in an uneven flow. In creative writing the interior monologue makes use of this to reveal character and comment on life.（由威廉詹姆士创立的心理学）个人的内心体验以不平衡的方式不断流动着。创作中，内心独白技巧利用这种意识的流动揭示人物心理，点评生活。 36. Critical Realism (批判现实主义) Critical realism is one of the literary genres that flourished mainly in the 19th century. It reveals the corrupting influence of the rule of cash upon human nature. Here lies the essentially democratic and humanistic character of critical realism. The English critical realists of the 19th century not only gave a satirical portrayal of the bourgeoisie and all the ruling classes, but also showed profound sympathy for the common people. In their best works, they used humor and satire to contrast the greed and hypocrisy of the upper classes with the honesty and good-heartedness of the obscure “simple people” of the lower classes. Humorous scenes set off the actions of the positive characters, and the humor is often tinged with a lyricism which serves to stress the fine qualities of such characters. At the same time,bitter satire and grotesque is used to expose the seamy side of the bourgeois society. The critical realists, however, did not find a way to eradicate the social evils they knew so well. They did not realize the necessity of changing the bourgeois society through conscious human effort. Their works do not point toward revolution but rather evolution or reformism. They often start with a powerful exposure of the ugliness of the bourgeois world in their works, but their novels usually have happy endings or an impotent compromise at the end. Here are the strength and weakness of critical realism. 37. Gothic(哥特式) As a word Gothic on the one hand means “of or in a style of building common in Western Europe between the 12th century and 16th centuries,with pointed arches,tall pillars, and tall thin pointed windows often with colored glass in them”and on the other hand it means “of or like a style of writing popular in the late 18th century which produced stories set in lonely frightening places ”. It is now generally applied to literature dealing with the strange, mysterious, and supernatural designed to invoke suspense and terror in the readers. Gothic literature invariably exploits ghosts and monsters and settings such as castles, dungeons, and graveyards, which imparts a suitably sinister and terrifying atmosphere. The term “Gothic ” derived from the frequent setting of the tales in the ruined, moss-covered castles of the Middle Ages, but it has been extended to any novel which exploits the possibilities in a kind of frightening and mysterious situation in which the central story centers upon a beautiful maiden persecuted by an obsessed and haggard villain. The Gothic novels have opened up to later fictions the dark, irrational side of human naturethe savage egoism, the perverse impulses, and the nightmarish terror that lie beneath the controlled and ordered surface of the conscious mind. Gothic novels have exerted significant influence on the literature of later generations and on every European literature. The Gothic novels have exerted great effect on the American literature,Hawthorn and Allen Poe in particular. Furthermore, they also influenced the surrealism literature movement in the 20th century. 38. Byronic belonging to or derived from Lord Byron(1788-1824)or his works. The Byronic hero is a character-type found in his celebrated narrative poem Childe Harolds Pilgrimage(1812-18),his verse drama Manfred(1817),and other works:he is a boldly defiant but bitterly self tormenting outcast,proudly contemptuous of social norms but suffering for some unnamed sin. Emily Brontes Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights(1847)is a later example. 39.Comedy of Manners a kind of comedy representing the complex and sophisticated code of behaviour current in fashionable circles of society, where appearances count for more than true moral character. Its plot usually revolves around intrigues of lust and greed,the self-interested cynicism of the characters being masked by decorous pretence. Unlike satire, the comedy of manners tends to reward its cleverly unscrupulous characters rather than punish their immorality. lts humour relies chiefly upon elegant verbal wit and repartee. In England,the comedy of manners flourished as the dominant form of Restoration comedy in the works of Etheredge,Wycherley(notably The Country Wife,1675),and Congreve;it was revived in a more subdued form in the 1770s by Goldsmith and Sheridan,and later by Oscar Wilde. Modern examples of the comedy of manners include Noel Coward