考研英美文学名词解释

1、英美文学名词解释Terms in English and American Literature1. Aestheticism/the Aestheticism Movement ( 唯美主义 )A European phenomenon during the middle of the 19th century that had its chief headquarters inFrance. This movement was introduced to late VictorianEngland mainly WalterPater as areaction against the ma

2、terialism and commercialismof an industrialized society. Itwas also areaction against the Victorian convention of art for moralitys sake, or art for moneys sake. Themajor tenets of this movement include the belief in the autonomy of a work of art, the emphasis on craft and artistry-the theory of “ar

3、t for art s sake”. The most outstanding Victorian representatives of this movement included Oscar Wilde.2. Allegory （寓言）A tale in verse or prose in which characters, actions, or settings represent abstract ideas or moral qualities. An allegory is a story with two meanings, a literal meaning and a sy

4、mbolic meaning.寓言： 用诗歌或散文讲的故事， 在这个故事中人物、 事件或背景往往代表抽象的概念或道德品质。所有的寓言都是一个具有双重意义、文学内涵或象征意义的故事。3. Alliteration ( 头韵 )It is the repetition of the same initial consonant sound within a line or a group of words in poetry. In Old English alliterative meter, alliteration is the principal organizing device of

5、the verse line, such as in Beowulf .头韵：在一组词的开头或重读音节中对相同辅音或不同元音的重复。4. Allusion: A reference to a person, a place, an event, or a literary work that a writer expects the reader to recognize and respond to. An allusion may be drawn from history, geography, literature,or religion.典故：文学作品中作家希望读者能够认识或做出反应

6、的一个人物、地点、事件或文学作品。典故或来自历史、地理、文学或宗教。5. American Naturalism ( 美国自然主义)The American naturalism accepted the more negative interpretation of Darwin s evolutionary theory and used it to account for the behavior of those characters in literary works who were regarded as more or less complex combinations of

7、inherited attributes, their habits were conditioned by social and economic forces. American naturalism was evolved from realism when the author s tone in writing became less serious and less sympathetic but more ironic and more pessimistic. It was no more than a gloomy philosophical approach to real

8、ity, or to human existence. Dreiser was a leading figure of this school.6. American Puritanism ( 美国清教主义)Puritanism is the practices and beliefs of the Puritans. The American puritans, like their English brothers, are idealists. They accepted the doctrine of predestination, original sin and total dep

9、ravity, and limited atonement through a special infusion of grace form God. But due to the grim struggle for living in the new continent, they become more and more practical. American puritanism is so much a part of the national atmosphere rather that a set of tenets.美国清教主义：他们相信宿命论、原罪说、全体堕落和有限的赎罪。7.

10、 American Realism ( 美国现实主义)In American literature, the Civil War brought the Romantic Period to an end. The Age of Realism came into existence. George Eliot introduce realism into England, and William Dean Howellsintroduced it into the United States. It came as a reaction against the lie of romantic

11、ism andsentimentalism. Realism turned from an emphasis on the strange toward a faithful rendering of theordinary, a slice of life as it is really lived. It has been chiefly concerned with the commonplacesof everyday life among the middle and lower classes, and it offers an objectiverather thananidea

12、listic view of human nature and human experience. Realistic literature findsthe drama andtension beneath the surface of ordinary life. Later, many writers, notably Henry James, turned topsychological realism that closely examined the complex workings of the mind.美国现实主义： 在美国文学史上， 内战宣告了浪漫主义的终结和现实主义的开始

13、。现实主义反对浪漫主义和感伤主义的谎言，它从一个陌生的世界转向了普通人的真实生活的描写。它所关心的是普通的下层劳动人民而非理想中的人类本性和现实经历。8. American Romanticism ( 美国浪漫主义 )The Romantic Period covers the first half of the 19th century. A rising America with its ideals ofdemocracy and equality, the booming economy,the flourishingpublications,and a varietyofforeig

14、n influences made its literaryexpansion possible and inevitable. Romanticsshared somecharacteristics:moral enthusiasm,individualityand intuitiveperception.Irvingplayedanimportant role in inspiring American romanticism with his masterpiecesRip Van Winkleand TheLegend of Sleepy Hollow . Americanromant

15、icismculminated around the 1840s, whichcan becalled “Transcendentalism or American Renaissance ”. One of the major figure in this period wasEmerson. HisNature had been called “the manifesto of AmericanTranscendentalism”. In thepoetry aspect, Whitman and Dickson were two major American poets in this

16、period. In the novelaspect, Hawthorne and Melville belonged to another type of romanticism. They placed increasingvalue on the free expression on emotion and the psychic states oftheir characters. The NewEngland poets, such as Longfellow and Bryant formed a different school from Whitman, Dickson, Th

17、oreau and Poe.9. Angry Young Men ( 愤怒的青年 )The Angry Young Men is a journalistic catchphrase applied to a number of British playwrights and novelists from the mid-1950s. Their works mainly express the bitterness of the lower classes towards the established sociopolitical system and towards the medioc

18、rity and hypocrisy of the middle and upper classes. The playwright John Osborne was the archetypal example of these angry young men with his signature play Look Back in Anger in 1956.10. Antagonist ( 反面人物 ):A person or force opposing the protagonist in a narrative; a rival of the hero or heroine.反面人

19、物：一个故事中和主人公相对立的人物或一种力量，是男女主人公的对手。11. American Transcendentalism ( 美国超验主义)American Transcendentalism is more than an attitude of transcendentalists. To “transcend” something is to rise above it, to pass beyond its limits. The transcendentalists speak for cultural rejuvenation and against the material

20、ism of American society. The major features of American Transcendentalism are: 1. Transcendentalists place emphasis on spirit, or the Oversoul, as the most important thing in the Universe. 2. They stress the importance of the individual. To them, the individual was the most important element of soci

21、ety. 3. They offer a fresh perception of nature as symbolic of the Spirit or God. Nature was, to them, alive, filled with God s overwhelming presence.12. Aphorism ( 警句 )A concise, pointed statement expressing a wise or clever observation about life.警句：蕴含关于人生真理的明智的看法的精练的语句。13. Aside ( 旁白 )In drama, l

22、ines spoken by a character in an undertone or directly to the audience and. An aside is supposedly not heard by other actors on stage.14. Assonance (类韵 )The repetition of similar vowel sounds, especially in poetry. Assonance is often employed to please the ear or emphasize certain sounds.类韵：在诗歌中相同或相

23、似元音的重复， 它的目的主要是用来使句子悦耳动听或用来强调某个音。15. Autobiography ( 自传 )The literary form of autobiography is a person s account of his or her own life. An autobiography is generally written in narrative form and includes some introspection, such as The Autobiography written by Benjamin Franklin.自传：一个人对他或她自己生活的描述，

24、自传是一种叙述性的文体，多包含回忆性的描写。16. Ballad ( 民谣 )It is a relatively short narrative poem, written to be sung, with a simple and dramatic action. The ballads tell of love, death, the supernatural, or a combination of these. Two characteristics of the ballad are incremental repetition and the ballad stanza. Inc

25、remental repetition repeats one or more lines with small but significant variations that advance the action. The ballad stanza has four line; commonly, the first and third lines contain four feet or accents, the second and fourth lines contain three feet. Ballad often open abruptly, present brief de

26、scriptions and use concise dialogues.The folk ballad is usually anonymous and the presentation is impersonal. The literary ballad deliberately imitates the form and spirit of a folk ballad. The Romantic poets were attracted to this form, as Longfellow with The Wreck of the Hesperus, Coleridge with T

27、he Rime of the Ancient Marine, which is longer and more elaborate than the folk ballad.17. Ballad Stanza (民谣诗节 )A type of four-line stanza, the first and the third lines have four stressed words or syllables; the second and fourth lines have three stresses.18. Beat Generation ( 垮掉的一代 )The Beat Gener

28、ation refers to a loosely-knit group of poets and novelists, writing in the secondhalf of thee 1950s and early 1960s. They shared a set of social attitudes- anti-establishment, anti-political, anti-intellectual, oppose to the prevailing cultural, literary, and moral values, and were in favor of unfe

29、ttered self-realization and self-expression. Representatives of the group were Allen Ginsberg with his long poem Howl and Jack Kerouac with his On the Road.19. Bildungsroman ( 成长小说 )Bildungsroman defines a genre of the novel which focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from

30、 youth to adulthood, and in which characterschange is thus extremely important. In a Bildungsroman, the goal is maturity. Charles Dickens David Copperfield is a classical Bildungsroman.20. Biography ( 传记 )A detailed account of a person s life written by another person.传记：由他人篆写的关于某人生平的详细记录。21. Black

31、comedy/Black humor ( 黑色幽默 )It is mostly employed to describe baleful, naive, or inept characters in a fantastic or nightmarish modern world playing out their roles in what Ionesco called a “tragic farce ”, in which the evets are often simultaneously comic, horrifying, and absurd. Joseph Heller s Cat

32、ch-22 can be taken as an example of the employment of this technique.22. Black Mountain Poets ( 黑山派诗人 )It is sometimes called projective poets （投射诗人） , a group of the mid-20th century American avant-garde or postmodern poets centering on Black Mountain College. In the essay Projective Verse, Charles

33、 Olson calls “for poetry of open field ”composition to replace traditional closed poetic forms with an improvised form that should reflect exactly the content of the poem. This essay became the manifesto for the Black Mountain Poets.23. Blank Verse ( 无韵体诗 )Verse written in unrhymed iambic pentameter

34、. It is the verse form used in some of the greatest English poetries, including that of William Shakespeare and John Milton.素体诗：用五音步抑扬格写的无韵诗。24. Byronic hero ( 拜伦式英雄 )Byronic hero refers to a proud, mysterious rebel figure of noble origin. With immense superiority in his passions and powers, he woul

35、d carry on his shoulders the burden of righting all the wrongs in a corrupt society, and would rise single-handedly against any kind of tyrannical rules either in government, in religion, or in moral principles with unconquerable wills and inexhaustible energies.25. Calvinism ( 加尔文主义 )Calvinism refe

36、rs to the religious teachings of John Calvin and his followers. Calvintaught thatonly certain persons, the elect, were chosen by God to be saved, and this can be gotten only be Gods grace. Calvinism forms the basis for the doctrines and practices of the Huguenots, Puritans, Presbyterians, and the Re

37、formed churches.26. Carpe Diem ( 及时行乐 )A tradition dating back to classical Greek and Latin poetry and particularly popular among English Cavalier poets. Carpe Diem means literally “seize the day”, that is, “live for today ”.27. Canto (篇 /章 )A section or division of a long poem. In English poetry, A

38、lexander Pope s the Rape of the Lock and Byron s Don Juan are divided into cantos.诗章：长诗的一部分。28. Character (角色 )In appreciating a short story, characters are an indispensable element. Characters are the persons presented in a dramatic or narrative work. Forst divides characters into two types: flat c

39、haracter, which is presented without much individualizing detail; and round character, which is complex in temperament and motivation and is represented with subtle particularity.人物：在短篇小说的欣赏中，人物是必不可少一个元素。人物是喜剧或小说中所描写的人。福斯特把人物划分为两类， 扁平型人物和圆型人物。 扁平型人物往往缺乏个人化的细节描写而圆型人物则在性格和行为动机上较为复杂。29. Classicism ( 古典

40、主义 )A movement or tendency in art, literature, or music that reflects the principles manifested in theart of ancient Greece and Rome. Classicism emphasizes the traditional and the universal, and places vale on reason clarity, balance, and order. Classicism, with its concern for reason and universal

41、themes, is traditionally opposed to Romanticism, which is concerned with emotions and personal themes.古典主义：一种在文学，艺术，音乐领域体现古代希腊，罗马风格的运动。30. Climax ( 高潮 )The point of greatest intensity, interest, or suspense in a narrative.31. Comedy ( 喜剧 )In general, a literary work that ends happily with a healthy,

42、 amicable armistice between the protagonist and society.32. Conceit ( 奇想 )Conceit is a far-fetched simile or metaphor, a literary conceit occurs when the speaker compare two highly dissimilar things. Conceit is extensively employed in John Donne s poetry.33. Confessional poetry ( 自白诗 )An autobiograp

43、hical mode of verse that reveals the poets personal problems with unusual frankness. The term is usually applied to certain poets of the U.S. From the late 1950s to the late 1960s, notably Robert Lowell, whose Life Studies and For the Union Dead deal with his divorce and mental breakdown.34. Conflic

44、t ( 冲突 )A struggle between two opposing forces or characters in a short story, novel, play, or narrative poem.冲突：故事，小说，戏剧中相对的力量和人物之间的对立。35. Consonance (辅音韵 )It refers to the repetition of similar consonant sounds in a group of words. Sometimes the term refers to the repetition of consonant sounds in

45、 the middle or at the end of words. Sometimes the term is used for slant rhyme in which initial and final consonants are the same but the vowels are different: litter/letter, green/groan.36. Couplet ( 两行诗 )Two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme. A heroic couplet is an iambic pentameter couplet.对

46、句：两个连续押韵的诗行。英雄双行体的对句一般都为抑扬格五音步。37. Critical Realism ( 批判现实主义)The critical realism of the 19th century flourished in the forties and in the beginning of fifties. The realists first and foremost set themselves the task of criticizing capitalist society from a democratic viewpoint and delineated the cr

47、ying contradictions of bourgeois reality. But they did not find a way to eradicate social evils. Charles Dickens is the most important critical realist.批判现实主义： 批判现实主义在 19 世纪 40 年代达到高潮。 批判现实主义作家们往往把从民主的角度批评和揭露资本主义社会的丑恶视为己任，但他们并没有找到治疗社会弊病的良方。38. Dadaism ( 达达主义 )It refers to a Western European artistic

48、 and literary movement (1916-1923) that sought the discovery of authentic reality through the abolition of traditional, cultural and aesthetic forms by a technique of comic derision in wich irrationality, chance and intuition were the guiding principle.39. Darwinism ( 达尔文主义 )It is a term that comes

49、from Charles Darwin s evolutionary theory. Darwinists think that those who survive in the world are the fittest and those who fail to adapt themselves to the environment will perish. They believe that man has evolved from the lower forms of life and humans are special not because God created them bu

50、t because they have successfully adapted to the changing environmental conditions and have passed on their survival-making characteristics genetically. Influenced by Darwinism, some American naturalist writers apply it as an explanation of human nature and social reality.40. Denouement (结局 )The outc

51、ome of a plot. The denouement is that part of a play, short story, novel, or narrative poem in which conflicts are resolved or unraveled, and mysteries and secrets connected with the plot are explained.41. Determinism ( 宿命论 )Determinism is the philosophical belief that events are shaped by forces be

52、yond the control of human beings. Determinism, important to the literature at the end of the nineteenth century, assigns control especially to heredity and environment, without seeking their origins further than science can trace. Determinism usually leads to the tragic fate of the characters in nov

53、els.42.Didactic literature( 教诲文学 )Didactic literature is said to be didactic if it deliberately teaches some moral lessons. The use of literature for such teaching is one of uts traditional justifications.Dramatic monologue ( 戏剧独白 )43. A kind of narrative poem in which one character speaks to one or

54、 more listeners whose repliesare not given in the poem. The occasion is usually a crucial one in the speaker s personalit well as the incident that is the subject of the poem. Robert Browning s My Last Duchess is a typical example.戏剧独白： 在一种叙事诗里面，一个人物对其他的人物讲话但并没有交代他们的回答，这种场合往往对反映说话人的性格特征和诗歌的主题是至关重要的。

55、44. Elegy ( 挽歌 )A poem of mourning, usually over the death of an individual. An elegy is a type of lyric poem, usually formal in language and structure, and solemn or even melancholy in tone.挽歌： 为某个死去的人所做的诗，挽歌往往属于抒情诗，在语言和机构上比较正式，语气上比较庄重甚至是哀伤的。45. Enlightenment Movement ( 启蒙运动 )Enlightenment is an in

56、tellectual movement that originates in Europe and comes to England in the 18th century. It stresses the power of human reason, the importance of methods and discoveries instead of God. Its purpose is to enlighten the whole world with he light of modern philosophical and artistic ideas. It celebrates reason or rationality, equality and science. It advocates universal education.46. Epic ( 史诗 )Epic, in poetry, refers to a long work dealing with the actions of gods and heroes.47. Epiphany( 顿悟 )A moment of illumination, usually occurs at or near the end