完整版英國文學(xué)史名詞解釋

1、1. Anglo-Saxon English or Old English 盎格魯-撒克遜英語或舊英語：The Anglo-Saxon (Old English) period roughly dates from the coming of the Angles, Saxons and Jutes to England (about 450 A.D.) to about 1100.Old English contains some fifty or sixty thousand words, which were chiefly Anglo -Saxon with a small mixtu

2、re of early Scandinavian words, and borrowed a considerable number of Latin words.2. Epic 敘事詩; 史詩;： long narrative poems that record the adventures or heroic deeds of a hero in vast landscapes. The style of epic is grand and elevated. e.g. Homer sIliad and Odyssey; Dante Dsivine Comedy; Beowulf and

3、John Milton s Paradise Lost3. Alliteration: refers to a repeated initial consonant to successive words and it is the most striking feature in its poetic form. In alliterative verse, certain accent words in a line begin with the same consonant sound. There are generally 4 accents in a line, three of

4、which show alliteration. It is a regular recurring structural feature of the Old English verse.4. Metaphor 隱喻: A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two things that are basically dissimilar.A metaphor does not use a connective word such as“l(fā)ike ”, “as”, or resembles in making the compar

5、isonmetaphors are implied, or suggested.5. Understatement 保守的陳述 : it is the opposite of hyperbole or overstatement. It achieves its effect of emphasizing a fact by a weaker statement, or by deliberately understating it. This quality is often regarded as a permanent characteristic of the English.6. R

6、oma nee愛情小說 : was the prevailing form of literature in the Middle Ages. The romance was the upper-class literary form. It was a long composition, sometimes in verse, sometimes in prose, describing the lifeand adve ntures of a no ble hero. The esse ntial features are: It lacks gen eral resembla nee t

7、o truth or reality. It exaggerates the vices of huma n n ature and idealizes the virtues. It contains p erilous adve ntures more or less remote from ordinary life. It lays emp hasis on sup reme devoti on to a fair lady. The cen tral character of the romance is the knight, a man of noble birth skille

8、d in the use of weapons. He is commonly described as riding forth to seek adventures, taking part in tournaments, or fighting for his lord in battle. He is devoted to the church and the king.7. Ballad 民謠: it is a story told in song, usually in 4 -line stanzas, with the second and fourth lines rhymed

9、. The subjects of ballads are various in kind, as the struggle of young lovers against their feudal -minded families, the conflict between love and wealth, the cruelty of jealousy, the criticism of the civil war, and the matters of class struggle. e.g. The Robin Hood Ballads8. Allegory 寓言: it is a f

10、igurative narrative or description, conveying a veiled moral meaning. This fictionalliterary narrative acts as an extended metaphor in which persons, abstract ideas or events represent not only themselves on the literal level, but also stand for something else on the symbolic level. An allegory read

11、ing usually involves moral or spiritual concepts that may be more significant than the actual, literal events described in a narrative. e.g. John Bunyans Pilgrim s Progress9. Heroic coup let (兩行相互押韻、每行分五音節(jié)的)英雄偶句詩：it is a pair of rhymed lines of iambicpentameter. The form was introduced into English

12、by Chaucer, and widely used subsequently, reaching a height of popularity in the works ofDryden and Pope.1. Renaissanee文藝復(fù)興:in European history, refers to the period between 14th century to 17th century. Itfirst started in Italy.“Renaissance ” means “revival ”, the revival of interest in Ancient Gre

13、ek and Roman cgetting rid of conservatism in feudalistic Europe and introducing new ideas that express the interests of the rising bourgeoisie, to lift the restrictions in all areas placed by the Roman church authorities.2. Humanism 人道主義，人本主義，人文主義 ；人文學(xué);：is the key-note of the Renaissanee. Humanism r

14、eflected the new outlook of the rising bourgeois class, which saw the world opening before it. According to the humanists, both man and world are hindered only by external checks from infinite improvement. Man could mould the world according to his desires, and attain happiness by removing all exter

15、nal checks by the exercise of reason.3. Utopia: Book One: 1) 烏托邦(理想中美好的社會) ; A picture of contemporary England: The poverty among the poor; The greed and luxury among the rich; The eagerness for war of the rulers; The suffering of the peasants for the enclosure movement. 2) An exposure of the evil r

16、eality of his time, the rich men sconspiracy against the poor. Book Two: 1) More provided us a sketch of an ideal commonwealth where property was held in common and there was no poverty. 2) More showed a principle, “ From everyone according to his capacities, t everyone according to his needs ”3.) M

17、ore solved the problem of the separation of town and country by co-operation between them. 4) More emphasized the importance of labor for every member of the Utopian society. And the Utopians spent their spare time in study of literature, art and science.4. Sonnet 十四行詩 ; 短詩; 商籟體 ;: it is a poem of 1

18、4 lines, typically in rhymed iambic pentameter. The sonnet was introduced to England by Sir T. Wyatt and developed by Henry Howard and was thereafter widely used notably in the sonnet sequences of Shakespeare, Sidney, and Spenser.5. Spen seria n Sta nza (英國詩人)斯賓塞詩體 ；:this sta nza is inven ted by Edm

19、u nd Spen ser, in which he wrote The Faerie Queene. It consists of eight five -foot iambic lines, followed by an iambic line of six feet, rhyming ababbcbcc.6. The Miracle Play 奇跡劇 : Miracle plays are simply plays based on Bible popular in England from the 13th to the late 16th century, covering from

20、 Creation to the Last Judgment. They were first performed in the churches in the Middle Ages, but later forbidden inside the church. So they went to the market place. People enjoyed them very much. Miracle plays, together with other kinds of early plays, keep alive the English Dramatic tradition, an

21、d pave the way for the flouring of drama in the English Renaissance period.7. The Morality Play道德劇 : is a kind of medieval and early Renaissance drama that presents the conflict between the good and evil through allegorical characters. The characters tend to be personified abstractions of vices and

22、virtues, which can be named as Mercy, Conscience, Shame and Lust. Unlike a mystery or a miracle play, a morality play does not necessarily use Biblical or strictly religious material because it takes place internally and psychologically in every human being. The protagonist often has a name that rep

23、resents this universality, such as“ Everyman ”, “ Mankind ”, “Soul”, or“Adam” etc. Prevailing in the Middle Ages, Morality Plays contribute toflowering of English drama in the Renaissance England.8. The Interlude: a short performance slipped into a play to enliven the audience after a solemn scene.9

24、. Comedy 喜劇 ;: is a light form of drama that aims primarily to amuse and that ends happily. Since it strives to provoke smile and laughter, both wit and humor are utilized. In general, the comic effect arises from recognition of some incongruity of speech, action, or character revelation, withintric

25、ate plot. In Shakespeare cosmedies, the playwright sings of youth, love and ideals of happiness. The heroes and heroines fight against destiny and moldtheir own fate according to their own free will. The general spirit of those comedies is optimism.10. Tragedy 悲劇：the word is applied broadly to drama

26、tic works in which events move to a fatal or disastrous conclusion. It is concerned with the harshness and apparent injustice of life. Often the hero falls from power and his eventual death leads to the downfall of others. The tragic action arouses feelings of awe in the audience.11. Blank verse無韻詩，

27、素體詩(不押韻的五音步詩行)：also called unrhymed poetry, has been thedominant verse form of English drama and narrative poetry since the mid -sixteenth century. In 1540, from Italy, this verse form was brought into English literature by the poet Henry Howard (Earl of Surrey), who first used it inhis translation

28、of The Aeneid.12. Masques (masks) 假面舞會;： are dramatic entertainments involving dances and disguises, in which the spectacular and musical elements predominated over plot and character. They were acted indoors by amateurs, and were designed to include their spectators in the action, sometimes simply

29、by a concluding dance. As they were usually performed at court, many have political overtones. They were perhaps of Italian origin, but assumed a distinctive character in England in the 16th and 17th century.13. Three unities 三一律 : The unities of time, place and action. It required that the events o

30、f a play not exceed a single day (time), be confined to a single location or to several locations within a small area (place), and not have subplots (action). It is term given by Aristotle and strictly adhered in 17th France and then over Europe.1. Elegy 挽歌 ;: The term is used to refer to the subjec

31、t matter of change and loss frequently expressed in the elegiac verse form (usu hexameter and pentameter), esp in complaints about love.2. Meta physical Po ets 挽歌；?met?f?z?kl： were a loose group of British lyric poets of the 17th cen tury, including John Donne, George Herbert, and Andrew Marvell, wh

32、o shared an interest in metaphysical concerns anda common way of investigating them. Their works were characterized by inventiveness of metaphor (these involved comparisons being known as metaphysical conceits, that is, far -fetched or unusual similes or metaphors), wit, imaginative picturing, compr

33、essions, often cryptic expression and play of paradoxes. Generally, their poetry is characterized by mysticism in content and fantasticality in form.3. Cavalier Poets:騎士詩人:a group of supporters of Charles I in the Bourgeois Revolution consists of John Suckling, Thomas Carew and Robert Herrick. These

34、 poets were not a formal group, but all were influenced by Ben Jonson and like him paid little attention to the sonnet； their lyrics are distinguished by short lines, precise but idiomatic diction, and an urbane and graceful wit.1. The Enlightenment: 啟蒙運動 also called the neoclassic movement. It refe

35、rs to the philosophical andartistic movement growing out of the Renaissance and continuing until the 19th century.The term is generallyused to describe the philosophical, scientific, and rational spirit, the freedom from superstition, the skepticism and faith in religious tolerance of much of 18th c

36、entury Europe. It celebrated reason or rationality, equality and science.It advocated universal education. The Enlightenment writers would use satire to ridicule the illogical errors in government, social custom, and religious belief.2. Classicism古 典主義，古典風(fēng)格;:whe n app lied gen erally, means clear ne

37、ss, elega nee, symmetry, and rep ose produced by attention to traditional forms. More precisely, the term refers to the admiration and imitation of Greek and Roman literature, art and architecture. It stands for certain definite ideas and attitudes including dominance of reason balance and order etc

38、. Classicism is usually contrasted with romanticism.3. Didactic poems 說教詩: poems that are “preachy ” or seek overtly to convince a reader of a particular point of lesson. Medieval homilies and Victorian moral essays are often help up as examples of didactic literature.4. Sentimentalism 感情主義: The ter

39、m is used in two senses. The first is overindulgence in emotion, esp. the conscious effort to induce emotion and the failure to restrain emotion. The second is optimistic overemphasis of the goodness of humanity. Sentimentalism turned to the countryside for its material. Meanwhile, the poetry of the

40、 sentimentalists is marked by a sincere sympathy for the poverty-stricken, expropriated peasants. The representative writers of 18th century sentimentalism include Steele, Sterne and Goldsmith.5. Graveyard School 墓地學(xué)校：Graveyard School refers to a school of poets of the 18th century whose poems are m

41、ostly devoted to a sentimental lamentation or meditation on life. Past and present, with death and graveyard are the usual themes. Thomas Gray is considered to be the leading figure of this school and his Elegy written in a country churchyard is its most representative work. 6. Romantic Revival: in

42、the latter half of the 18th century, a new literary movement arose in Europe, called the Romantic Revival. It was marked by a strong protest against the bondage of Classicism, by a recognition of the claims of passion and emotion, and by a renewed interest in medieval literature. In England, this mo

43、vement showed itself in the trend of Pre -Romanticism in poetry, which was ushered in by Percy, Macpherson and Chatterton, and represented by Blake and Burns.1. Romanticism （Romantic Movement） 浪漫主義（浪漫主義運動） : The term refers to the literary and artistic movements of the late 18th and early 19th centu

44、ry. 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. The Romantics asserted that reliance upon emotion and natural passions provided a valid and pow

45、erful means of knowing and a reliable guide to ethics and living. Its stylistic keynote is intensity, and its watchword is imagination. Their writings are often set in rural or Gothic settings and they show an obsessive concern with“innocent ” characters - children, young lovers, and animals. They p

46、ay more attentithe spiritual and emotional life of man. Nature plays an important role in their works. The major Romantic poets included Blake, Wordsworth, Keats, Shelley, and Byron.2. Lake Poets湖畔（派）詩人：The term is applied to Wordsworth, Coleridge, Southey and sometimes to De Quincey, who lived in the Lake District in the northwest of England and shared a community of literary and socialoutlook in their work. The expression“ Lake School ” seems first to appear in the Edinburgh Review of August 1De Quincey denies the existence of any such“ school ” .3. Byroni