(完整版)考研英美文學(xué)名詞解釋

1、英美文學(xué)名詞解釋 Terms in English and American Literature1. Aestheticism/the Aestheticism Movement （ 唯美主義 ）A European phenomenon during the middle of the 19 th century that had its chief headquarters in France. This movement was introduced to late Victorian England mainly Walter Pater as a reaction against

2、the materialism and commercialism of an industrialized society. It was also a reaction against the Victorian convention of art for morality 's sake, or art for money 's sake. The major tenets of this movement include the belief in the autonomy of a work of art, the emphasis on craft and arti

3、stry-the theory of “art 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,

4、 a literal meaning and a symbolic meaning. 寓言： 用詩(shī)歌或散文講的故事， 在這個(gè)故事中人物、 事件或背景往往代表抽象的概念或道德 品質(zhì)。所有的寓言都是一個(gè)具有雙重意義、文學(xué)內(nèi)涵或象征意義的故事。3. Alliteration （ 頭韻 ）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 pr

5、incipal organizing device of the verse line, such as in Beowulf .頭韻：在一組詞的開(kāi)頭或重讀音節(jié)中對(duì)相同輔音或不同元音的重復(fù)。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 re

6、ligion. 典故：文學(xué)作品中作家希望讀者能夠認(rèn)識(shí)或做出反應(yīng)的一個(gè)人物、地點(diǎn)、事件或文學(xué)作品。 典故或來(lái)自歷史、地理、文學(xué)或宗教。5. American Naturalism （ 美國(guó)自然主義 ）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

7、 more or less complex combinations of 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 t

8、han a gloomy philosophical approach to reality, or to human existence. Dreiser was a leading figure of this school.6. American Puritanism （ 美國(guó)清教主義 ）Puritanism is the practices and beliefs of the Puritans. The American puritans, like their English brothers, are idealists. They accepted the doctrine o

9、f predestination, original sin and total depravity, 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 se

10、t of tenets.美國(guó)清教主義：他們相信宿命論、原罪說(shuō)、全體墮落和有限的贖罪。7. American Realism （ 美國(guó)現(xiàn)實(shí)主義 ）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 Howells introduced it into the United States. It

11、came as a reaction against the lie of romanticism and sentimentalism. Realism turned from an emphasis on the strange toward a faithful rendering of the ordinary, a slice of life as it is really lived. It has been chiefly concerned with the commonplaces of everyday life among the middle and lower cla

12、sses, and it offers an objective rather than an idealistic view of human nature and human experience. Realistic literature finds the drama and tension beneath the surface of ordinary life. Later, many writers, notably Henry James, turned to psychological realism that closely examined the complex wor

13、kings of the mind.美國(guó)現(xiàn)實(shí)主義： 在美國(guó)文學(xué)史上， 內(nèi)戰(zhàn)宣告了浪漫主義的終結(jié)和現(xiàn)實(shí)主義的開(kāi)始。 現(xiàn)實(shí)主義 反對(duì)浪漫主義和感傷主義的謊言， 它從一個(gè)陌生的世界轉(zhuǎn)向了普通人的真實(shí)生活的描寫(xiě)。 它 所關(guān)心的是普通的下層勞動(dòng)人民而非理想中的人類本性和現(xiàn)實(shí)經(jīng)歷。8. American Romanticism （ 美國(guó)浪漫主義 ）The Romantic Period covers the first half of the 19th century. A rising America with its ideals of democracy and equality, the boom

14、ing economy, the flourishing publications, and a variety of foreign influences made its literary expansion possible and inevitable. Romantics shared some characteristics: moral enthusiasm, individuality and intuitive perception. Irving played an important role in inspiring American romanticism with

15、his masterpiecesRip Van Winkle and TheLegend of Sleepy Hollow . American romanticism culminated around the 1840s, which can be called “Transcendentalism or American Renaissance ”.One of the major figure in this period was Emerson. His Nature had been called “the manifesto of American Transcendentali

16、sm ”. In the poetry aspect, Whitman and Dickson were two major American poets in this period. In the novel aspect, Hawthorne and Melville belonged to another type of romanticism. They placed increasing value on the free expression on emotion and the psychic states of their characters. The New Englan

17、d poets, such as Longfellow and Bryant formed a different school from Whitman, Dickson, Thoreau and Poe.9. Angry Young Men （ 憤怒的青年 ）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

18、 of the lower classes towards the established sociopolitical system and towards the mediocrity 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 p

19、erson or force opposing the protagonist in a narrative; a rival of the hero or heroine. 反面人物：一個(gè)故事中和主人公相對(duì)立的人物或一種力量，是男女主人公的對(duì)手。11. American Transcendentalism （ 美國(guó)超驗(yàn)主義 ）American Transcendentalism is more than an attitude of transcendentalists. To “transcend” something is to rise above it, to pass beyond

20、 its limits. The transcendentalists speak for cultural rejuvenation and against the materialism 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

21、importance of the individual. To them, the individual was the most important element of society. 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 expre

22、ssing a wise or clever observation about life. 警句：蘊(yùn)含關(guān)于人生真理的明智的看法的精練的語(yǔ)句。13. Aside （旁白 ）In drama, lines 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 （類韻 ）The repetition of similar vowel sounds, especially

23、 in poetry. Assonance is often employed to please the ear or emphasize certain sounds.類韻：在詩(shī)歌中相同或相似元音的重復(fù)， 它的目的主要是用來(lái)使句子悅耳動(dòng)聽(tīng)或用來(lái)強(qiáng)調(diào)某 個(gè)音。15. Autobiography （ 自傳 ）The literary form of autobiography is a person ' s account of his or her own life. An autobiography is generally written in narrative form an

24、d includes some introspection, such as The Autobiography written by Benjamin Franklin. 自傳：一個(gè)人對(duì)他或她自己生活的描述，自傳是一種敘述性的文體，多包含回憶性的描寫(xiě)。16. Ballad （ 民謠 ）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 comb

25、ination of these. Two characteristics of the ballad are incremental repetition and the ballad stanza. Incremental 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

26、 or accents, the second and fourth lines contain three feet. Ballad often open abruptly, present brief descriptions 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 R

27、omantic poets were attracted to this form, as Longfellow with The Wreck of the Hesperus, Coleridge with The Rime of the Ancient Marine, which is longer and more elaborate than the folk ballad.17. Ballad Stanza （ 民謠詩(shī)節(jié) ）A type of four-line stanza, the first and the third lines have four stressed words

28、 or syllables; the second and fourth lines have three stresses.18. Beat Generation （ 垮掉的一代 ）The Beat Generation refers to a loosely-knit group of poets and novelists, writing in the second half of thee 1950s and early 1960s. They shared a set of social attitudes- anti-establishment, anti-political,

29、anti-intellectual, oppose to the prevailing cultural, literary, and moral values, and were in favor of unfettered 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 （ 成長(zhǎng)小說(shuō) ）Bildungsrom

30、an defines a genre of the novel which focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from youth to adulthood, and in which characters'change is thus extremely important. In a Bildungsroman, the goal is maturity. Charles Dickens 'David Copperfield is a classical Bildungsroma

31、n.20. Biography （ 傳記 ）A detailed account of a person s life written by another person.傳記：由他人篆寫(xiě)的關(guān)于某人生平的詳細(xì)記錄。21. Black 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 cal

32、led a “tragic farce ”,in which the evets are often simultaneously comic, horrifying, and absurd. Joseph Heller 's Catch-22 can be taken as an example of the employment of this technique.22. Black Mountain Poets （ 黑山派詩(shī)人 ）It is sometimes called projective poets （投射詩(shī)人） , a group of the mid-20th cen

33、tury American avant-garde or postmodern poets centering on Black Mountain College. In the essay Projective Verse, Charles 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 es

34、say became the manifesto for the Black Mountain Poets.23. Blank Verse （ 無(wú)韻體詩(shī) ）Verse written in unrhymed iambic pentameter. It is the verse form used in some of the greatest English poetries, including that of William Shakespeare and John Milton. 素體詩(shī)：用五音步抑揚(yáng)格寫(xiě)的無(wú)韻詩(shī)。24. Byronic hero （ 拜倫式英雄 ）Byronic her

35、o refers to a proud, mysterious rebel figure of noble origin. With immense superiority in his passions and powers, he would 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

36、religion, or in moral principles with unconquerable wills and inexhaustible energies.25. Calvinism （ 加爾文主義 ）Calvinism refers to the religious teachings of John Calvin and his followers. Calvin taught that only certain persons, the elect, were chosen by God to be saved, and this can be gotten only be

37、 God's grace. Calvinism forms the basis for the doctrines and practices of the Huguenots, Puritans, Presbyterians, and the Reformed churches.26. Carpe Diem （ 及時(shí)行樂(lè) ）A tradition dating back to classical Greek and Latin poetry and particularly popular among English Cavalier poets. Carpe Diem means

38、literally “seize the day”, that is, “l(fā)ive for today ”.27. Canto （篇 /章）A section or division of a long poem. In English poetry, Alexander Pope's the Rape of the Lockand Byron 's Don Juan are divided into cantos.詩(shī)章：長(zhǎng)詩(shī)的一部分。28. Character （ 角色 ）In appreciating a short story, characters are an ind

39、ispensable element. Characters are the persons presented in a dramatic or narrative work. Forst divides characters into two types: flat character, which is presented without much individualizing detail; and round character, which is complex in temperament and motivation and is represented with subtl

40、e particularity. 人物：在短篇小說(shuō)的欣賞中，人物是必不可少一個(gè)元素。人物是喜劇或小說(shuō)中所描寫(xiě)的人。 福斯特把人物劃分為兩類， 扁平型人物和圓型人物。 扁平型人物往往缺乏個(gè)人化的細(xì)節(jié)描寫(xiě) 而圓型人物則在性格和行為動(dòng)機(jī)上較為復(fù)雜。29. Classicism （ 古典主義 ）A movement or tendency in art, literature, or music that reflects the principles manifested in the art of ancient Greece and Rome. Classicism emphasizes the

41、 traditional and the universal, and places vale on reason clarity, balance, and order. Classicism, with its concern for reason and universal themes, is traditionally opposed to Romanticism, which is concerned with emotions and personal themes.古典主義：一種在文學(xué)，藝術(shù)，音樂(lè)領(lǐng)域體現(xiàn)古代希臘，羅馬風(fēng)格的運(yùn)動(dòng)。30. Climax （ 高潮 ）The poi

42、nt of greatest intensity, interest, or suspense in a narrative.31. Comedy （喜劇 ）In general, a literary work that ends happily with a healthy, 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

43、 compare two highly dissimilar things. Conceit is extensively employed in John Donne 's poetry.33. Confessional poetry （ 自白詩(shī) ）An autobiographical mode of verse that reveals the poet's personal problems with unusual frankness. The term is usually applied to certain poets of the U.S. From the

44、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. Conflict （ 沖突 ）A struggle between two opposing forces or characters in a short story,novel, play, or narrativepoem.沖突：故事，小說(shuō)，戲劇中相對(duì)的力量和人物之間的對(duì)立。35. Consonance （輔

45、音韻 ）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 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 diff

46、erent: litter/letter, green/groan.36. Couplet （ 兩行詩(shī) ）Two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme. A heroic couplet is an iambic pentameter couplet. 對(duì)句：兩個(gè)連續(xù)押韻的詩(shī)行。英雄雙行體的對(duì)句一般都為抑揚(yáng)格五音步。37. Critical Realism （ 批判現(xiàn)實(shí)主義 ）The critical realism of the 19th century flourished in the forties and in the beginning of

47、 fifties. The realists first and foremost set themselves the task of criticizing capitalist society from a democratic viewpoint and delineated the crying contradictions of bourgeois reality. But they did not find a way to eradicate social evils. Charles Dickens is the most important critical realist

48、.批判現(xiàn)實(shí)主義： 批判現(xiàn)實(shí)主義在 19 世紀(jì) 40 年代達(dá)到高潮。 批判現(xiàn)實(shí)主義作家們往往把從民 主的角度批評(píng)和揭露資本主義社會(huì)的丑惡視為己任，但他們并沒(méi)有找到治療社會(huì)弊病的良 方。38. Dadaism （ 達(dá)達(dá)主義 ）It refers to a Western European artistic and literary movement （1916-1923） that sought the discovery of authentic reality through the abolition of traditional, cultural and aesthetic forms

49、by a technique of comic derision in wich irrationality, chance and intuition were the guiding principle.39. Darwinism （ 達(dá)爾文主義 ）It is a term that comes from Charles Darwin 's evolutionary theory. Darwinists think that those who survive in the world are the fittest and those who fail to adapt them

50、selves 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 but because they have successfully adapted to the changing environmental conditions and have passed on their survival-making characteristics genet

51、ically. Influenced by Darwinism, some American naturalist writers apply it as an explanation of human nature and social reality.40. Denouement （ 結(jié)局 ）The outcome 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 m

52、ysteries and secrets connected with the plot are explained.41. Determinism （ 宿命論 ）Determinism is the philosophical belief that events are shaped by forces beyond the control of human beings. Determinism, important to the literature at the end of the nineteenth century, assigns control especially to

53、heredity and environment, without seeking their origins further than science can trace. Determinism usually leads to the tragic fate of the characters in novels.42. Didactic literature（ 教誨文學(xué) ）Didactic literature is said to be didactic if it deliberately teaches some moral lessons. The use of literat

54、ure for such teaching is one of uts traditional justifications.Dramatic monologue （ 戲劇獨(dú)白 ）s personalit43. A kind of narrative poem in which one character speaks to one or more listeners whose replies are not given in the poem. The occasion is usually a crucial one in the speaker well as the incident

55、 that is the subject of the poem. Robert Browning 's My Last Duchess is a typical example.戲劇獨(dú)白： 在一種敘事詩(shī)里面， 一個(gè)人物對(duì)其他的人物講話但并沒(méi)有交代他們的回答， 這種 場(chǎng)合往往對(duì)反映說(shuō)話人的性格特征和詩(shī)歌的主題是至關(guān)重要的。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 langu

56、age and structure, and solemn or even melancholy in tone.挽歌： 為某個(gè)死去的人所做的詩(shī)，挽歌往往屬于抒情詩(shī)， 在語(yǔ)言和機(jī)構(gòu)上比較正式，語(yǔ)氣上 比較莊重甚至是哀傷的。45. Enlightenment Movement （ 啟蒙運(yùn)動(dòng) ）Enlightenment is an intellectual movement that originates in Europe and comes to England in the 18th century. It stresses the power of human reason, the i

57、mportance 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 （史詩(shī)）Epic, in poetry, refers to a long work d

58、ealing with the actions of gods and heroes.47. Epiphany（頓悟）A moment of illumination, usually occurs at or near the end of a work. 頓悟：對(duì)現(xiàn)實(shí)真諦的頓悟或洞察，通常出現(xiàn)在作品的結(jié)尾 .48. Epistolary novel （ 書(shū)信體小說(shuō) ）An epistolary novel is a a novel told through the medium of letters written by one or more of the characters. The

59、 usual form is the letter, but diary entries, newspaper clipping and other documents are sometimes used. The epistolatory novel 's reliance on subjective points of view makes it the forerunner of the modern psychological novel.49. Essay （散文 /小品文）A piece of prose writing, usually short, that deals with a subject in a limited way and expresses a particular point or view. An essay may be serious or humorous, tightly organized or