英国文学史-名词解释
英国文学-名词解释-
英国文学-名词解释-学习好资料欢迎下载1.epic 史诗:a long narrative poem, grand in style, about heroes and heroic deeds, embodying heroicideals of a nation or race in the making. Beowulf is the English national epic that was passed from mouth to mouth and written down by many unknown hands.2.Conceit:a kind of metaphor that makes a comparison between two startlingly different things. Aconceit usually provides the framework for an entire poem. An especially unusual and intellectual kind of conceit is the metaphysical conceit, used by certain 17th-century poets, such as John Donne..3.Epiphany(顿悟）: a sudden revelation of truth about life inspired by a seemingly trivial incident4.Metaphysical poetry:玄学诗派the poetry of John Donne and other 17th-century poets who wrotein a similar style. It is characterized by verbal wit and excess, ingenious structure, irregular meter, colloquial language, elaborate imagery, and a drawing together of dissimilar ideas .5.Stream of consciousness意识流: a kind of writing technique in which a character's perceptions, thoughts, andmemories are presented in an apparently random form, without regard for logical sequence, chronology, or syntax.Often such writing makes no distinction between various levels of reality--such as dreams, memories, imaginative thoughts or real sensory perception.6.heroic couplet 英雄双韵体two successive lines of rhymed poetry in iambic pentameter.Geoffrey Chaucer’s masterpiece The Canterbury Tale was written in heroic couplet.7.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.8.sonnet 十四行诗a fixed form consisting of fourteen lines of 5-foot iambic verse. It first flourished in Italy in the 14thcentury. William Shakespeare was a great English sonnet writer famous for his 154 sonnets.9.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.10.image 意象a concrete representation of an object or sensory experience. Typically, such a representation helpsevoke 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 kinaesth etic. The rose in Robert Burns’ poem “A Red, Red Rose” is a beautiful image.11.“Dramatic monologue”戏剧独白that is a lyric poem which reveals “ a soul in action” through the conversation of one character in a dramatic situation. T he character is speaking to an identifiable but silent listener at a dramatic monent in the speaker’s life.12.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 Shakespeare’s play Hamlet is written in blank verse.13.Sonnet is a verse form of fourteen lines, in English characteristically in iambic pentameter and most often in one of the two rhyme schemes: the Italian(or Petrarchan) or Shakespearean14.essay 散文a composition, usually in prose, which may be of only a few hundred words or of book length andwhich 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.15.English Romanticism 英国浪漫主义a literary movement that aimed at free expres sion of the writer’s ideas and feelings and flourished in学习好资料欢迎下载the early 19th century England. A great representative of this movement is Percy Bysshe Shelley, the author of “Ode to the West Wind”.16.Naturalism自然主义: A literary movement seeking to depict life as accurately as possible, without artificial distortions of emotion, idealism, and literary convention. The school of thought is a product of post-Darwinian biology in the nineteenth century.17.Sentimentalism感伤主义：It is a literal movement in the middle of the 18th century in England which concentrateson the distressed of the poor unfortunate and virtuous people and demonstrates that effusive emotion was evidence of kindness and goodness.18.Bildungsroman: a novel that traces the initiation, development, and education of a young person. Examples are Dickens’s David Copperfield and James Joyce’s Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man./doc/b03339706.html,ke poets 湖畔诗人the three romantic poets who lived in the Lake District of England and wrote poems about nature.William Wordsworth was the most famous of the lake poets; he wrote many great nature poems, including “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”.20.poet laureate 桂冠诗人A poet honored for his artistic achievement or selected as mostrepresentative 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 sovereign’s birthday and in celebration of state occasions of importance. William Wordsworth became poet laureate in 1843. 21.Realism现实主义: An elastic and ambiguous term with two meanings. (1) First, it refers generally to any artistic orliterary portrayal of life in a faithful, accurate manner, unclouded by false ideals, literary conventions, or misplaced aesthetic glorification and beautification of the world. It is a theory or tendency in writing to depict events in human life in a matter-of-fact, straightforward manner.22.Allegory is a tale in verse or prose in which characters, actions, or settings represent abstract ideas ormoral qualities. Thus, an allegory is a story with two meaning,a literal meaning and a symbolic meaning.23.Byronic hero is a character-type found in Byron’s narrative Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. He is aboldly defiant but bitterly self-tormenting outcast, proudly contemptuous of social norms but suffering for some unnamed sin. Emily Bronte’s Heath cliff is a late r example.24.启蒙运动:The 18th century marked the beginning of an intellectual movement in Europe, known as theEnlightenment, which was, on the whole, an expression of struggle of the bourgeoisie against feudalism. The enlighteners fought against class inequality, stagnation, prejudices and other survivals of feudalism. They attempt to place all branches of science at the service of mankind by connecting them with the actual needs and requirements of people.25.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 Shakespeare’s Hamlet is considered the summit of this renaissance.。
英国文学史名词解释
英国文学史名词解释1. Ballad(民谣)A ballad originally is a song intended as an accompaniment to a dance or a popular song. In the relatively recent sense, now most widely used, a ballad is a single, spirited poem in short stanzas, in which some popular story is graphically narrated. The ingredients of ballads usually include a refrain, stock descriptive phrases, and simple, terse dialogue.2. Alliteration(头韵)It refers to a repeated initial consonant to successive words and it is the most striking feature in its poetic form. In alliterative verse, certain accented words in a line begin with the same consonant sound. There are generally 4 accents in a line, three of which show alliteration, and it is the initial sound of the third accented syllable that normally determiners the alliteration. In old English verse, alliteration is not an unusual or expressive phenomenon but a regular recurring structural feature of the verse.3. Sonnet (十四行诗)It is a poem of 14 lines (of 11 syllables in Italian and 10 in English), typically in rhymed iambic pentameter. Sonnets characteristically express a single theme or idea.The sonnet was introduced to England by Sir T. Wyatt and developed Henry Howard (Earl of Surrey) and was thereafter widely used notably in the sonnet sequences of Shakespeare, Sidney, and Spenser. 4. Tragedy(悲剧)The word is applied broadly to dramatic works in which events move to a fatal or disastrous conclusion. It is concerned with the harshness and apparent injustice of life. Often the herofalls from power and his eventual death leads to the downfall of others. The tragic action arouses feelings of awe in the audience.5. Lyric(抒情诗)As a genre, it was the tradition of popular song flourishing in all the medieval literatures of Western Europe. In England lyric poems flourished in the Middle English period, and in the 16th century, heyday of humanism. This tradition was enriched by the direct imitation of ancient models. During the next 200 years the links between poetry and music was gradually broken, and the term “lyric” came to be applied to short poems expressive of a poet’s thoughts or feelings.6. Epic(史诗)It is a poem that celebrates in the form of a continuous narrative the achievements of one or more heroic personages of history or tradition. Among the great epics of the world may be mentioned the Iliad, Odyssey, Aeneid, and Paradise Lost.7. Renaissance(文艺复兴)The word “renaissance” means rebirth or revival. It is commonly applied to the movement or period of great flowering of art, architecture, politics, and the study of literature, usually seen as the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Modern worn world. It came about under the influence of Greek and Roman models. It began in Italy in the late 14th century, reached the highest development in the early 16th century, and spread to the rest of Europe in the 15th century and afterwards. Its emphasis was humanist: that is , on regarding the human figure and reason without a necessary relating of it to the superhuman.8. Enlightenment(启蒙运动)Enlightenment also called the neoclassic movement. It refersto the philosophical and artistic movement growing out of the Renaissance and continuing until the 19th century. The term is generally used to describe the philosophical, scientific, and rational spirit, the freedom from superstition, the skepticism and faith in religious tolerance of much of 18th-century Europe. Te Enlightenment writers would use satire to ridicule the illogical errors in government, social custom, and religious belief. This period’s poetry in England was typified by Alexander Pope, John Dryden and others.9. Classicism(古典主义)The term, when applied generally, means clearness, elegance, symmetry, and repose (清新、优雅、对称与和谐) 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 other etc. Classicism is usually contrasted with romanticism.10. Romanticism or Romantic Movement(浪漫主义)The term refers to the literary and artistic movements of the late 18th and early 19th century. Romanticism rejected the 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 powerful 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 setting and they show an obsessive concern with “innocent” c haracters----children, young lovers, and animals. The major Romantic poets included Blake, Wordsworth, Keats,Shelley, and Byron.11. Genre (样式):A type of category of literature marked by certain shared features or customs. The three broadest categories of genre include poetry, drama, and fiction. These general genres are often subdivided into more specific genres and subgenres. For example, the poetry can be sub-classified as epic, elegy, lyric and pastoral etc.12. 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 eash 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 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 reali sm.。
英国文学史名词解释
英国文学史名词解释1、Romanticism:浪漫主义An artistic and intellectual movement originating in Europe in the late 18th century and characterized by a heightened interest in nature, emphasis on the individual's expression of emotion and imagination, departure from the attitudes and forms of classicism.English literary romanticism is from the publication of Wordsworth and Coleridge’s Lyrical Ballads in 1798 to the death of Sir Walter Scott in 1832.2、Byronic hero: 拜伦式英雄an idealized but flawed character exemplified in the life and writings of Byron:＊an exile流亡者, an outcast流浪者or an outlaw 歹徒＊being cynical愤世嫉俗的, rebellious反抗的, lonely＊against government, religion or moral values singly逐一地＊being passionate热情的, energetic积极的, talented多才的3、ottava rima ：Italian stanza form established by Boccaccio,An eight-line stanza of poetry in iambic pentameter (a five-foot line in which each foot consists of an unaccented syllable followed by an accented syllable), following the abababcc rhyme scheme.4、Critical realism:批判现实主义English critical realism of the 19th century flourished in the forties and in the early fifties. The critical realists described with much vividness and artistic skill the chief traits of the English society and criticized the capitalist system from a democratic viewpoint. The representative realists of the time were Charles Dickens, William Thackeray, the Bronte sisters, Mrs. Gaskell, etc.The critical realists not only gave a satirical portrayal of the bourgeoisie and all the ruling class, but also showed profound sympathy for the common people.5、Dramatic monologue：戏剧独白a kind of poem in which a single fictional or historical character other than the poet speaks to a silent ‘audience’of one or mor e persons. Such poems reveal not the poet ‘s own thoughts; this distinguishes a dramatic monologue from a lyric，while the implied presence of an auditor distinguishes it from a soliloquy. Major examples of this form in English are Tennyson，Browning and T. S. Eliot.6、Aestheticism：美学主义the doctrine that regards beauty as an end in itself, and attempts to preserve the arts from subordination to moral, didactic, or political purposes. The term is often used synonymously with the Aesthetic Movement, a literary and artistic tendency of the late 19th century which may be understood as a further phase of Romanticism in reaction against vulgar bourgeois values of practical efficiency and morality.7、Naturalism:自然主义A literary movement taking place from the 1880s to 1940s that used detailed realism to suggest that social conditions,heredity遗传and environment had inescapable force in shaping human character.8、Modernism:现代主义A general term applied to the wide range of experimental and avant-garde trends in literature of the early 20th century. It takes the irrational philosophy and the theory ofpsycho-analysis as its theoretical base. It is a reaction against realism. It rejects rationalism which is the theoretical base ofrealism; by advocating a free experimentation on new forms and new techniques in literary creation, it casts away almost all the traditional elements in literature such as story, plot, character, chronological narration etc. , which are essential to realism.9、Imagism:意象派A literary movement started by British and American poets early in the 20th century that advocated the use of short lyrics, free verse, common speech patterns, and clear concrete images. Greatly under the influence of Symbolism, and was initially led by Ezra Pound.10、Stream of Consciousness:意识流One of the modern literary techniques, which is used to depict the mental and emotional reactions of characters to external events, rather than plot, story themselves. It adopts the psycho-analytic approach in literary creation to explore the existence of sub-conscious and un-conscious elements in the mind. And it neglects totally “fetters of grammar, syntax, and logic”。
英国文学史名词解释
英国文学史名词解释英国文学史是西方文学史中重要的一个分支，它以英国作家的作品为研究对象，涵盖了从中世纪到现代的众多文学作品和文学流派。
在这篇文章中，我将解释一些与英国文学史相关的重要名词，帮助读者更好地理解和欣赏英国文学的发展历程。
1. Beowulf (《贝奥武夫》)《贝奥武夫》是一部古老的英国史诗，被认为是英国文学史上最早的重要文学作品之一。
它讲述了贝奥武夫这位英勇的斗士与怪物格列伦德之间的战斗，强调了英雄气概和荣誉观念。
2. Elizabethan Age (伊丽莎白时代)伊丽莎白时代是英国文学史上一段璀璨的时期，时间跨度大约是1558年到1603年，得名于当时的女王伊丽莎白一世。
莎士比亚和培根等众多杰出的文学家在这个时代涌现，他们的作品对英国戏剧和文学产生了深远的影响。
3. Restoration (复辟时期)复辟时期是指英国历史上查理二世复辟王朝（1660年至1688年）期间的文学时期。
在这个时期，英国文学经历了从古典主义到启蒙思想的转变，作家们开始关注社会问题，并使用更加通俗的语言创作。
4. Romanticism (浪漫主义)浪漫主义是18世纪末至19世纪初在英国兴盛的一种文学运动，它强调个人情感和情感共鸣，对自然界、个体感受和非理性有着强烈的兴趣。
威廉·华兹华斯、塞缪尔·柯勒律治和约翰·济慈等浪漫主义诗人的作品在这一时期达到了巅峰。
5. Victorian Era (维多利亚时代)维多利亚时代是19世纪英国的一个时期，得名于维多利亚女王。
这个时期的文学作品反映了当时社会的道德伦理观念和社会问题，女性权益和道德拯救等主题常常被探索和讨论。
查尔斯·狄更斯、艾米丽·勃朗特和托马斯·哈代是这个时期最著名的文学家之一。
6. Modernism (现代主义)现代主义是20世纪初在英国兴起的一种文学运动，它反对传统形式和传统价值观，并试图通过新颖的写作风格和形式来呈现当时复杂多变的现实。
英国文学名词解释大全(整理版)
1.Epic(史诗)（appeared in the Anglo-Saxon Period ）It is a narrative of heroic action, often with a principal hero, usually mythical in its content, grand in its style, offering inspiration and ennoblement within a particular culture or national tradition.A long narrative poem telling about the deeds of great hero and reflecting the values of the society from which it originated.Epic is an extended narrative poem in elevated or dignified language, like Homer’s Iliad & Odyssey. It usually celebrates the feats of one or more legendary or traditional heroes. The action is simple, but full of magnificence.Today, some long narrative works, like novels that reveal an age & its people, are also called epic.E.g. Beowulf （the pagan（异教徒），secular(非宗教的) poetry）Iliad 《伊利亚特》，Odyssey《奥德赛》Paradise Lost 《失乐园》，The Divine Comedy《神曲》2.Romance （传奇）(Anglo-Norman feudal England)•Romance is any imaginative literature that is set in an idealized world and that deals with heroic adventures and battles between good characters and villains or monsters.•Originally, the term referred to a medieval (中世纪) tale dealing with the love and adventures of kings, queens, knights, and ladies, and including supernatural happenings.Form:long composition, in verse, in proseContent:description of life and adventures of a noble heroCharacter:a knight, a man of noble birth, skilled in the use of weapons; often described as riding forth to seek adventures, taking part in tournaments(骑士比武), or fighting for his lord in battles; devoted to the church and the king•Romance lacks general resemblance to truth or reality.•It exaggerates the vices of human nature and idealizes the virtues.•It contains perilous (dangerous) adventures more or less remote from ordinary life.•It lays emphasis on supreme devotion to a fair lady.①The Romance Cycles/Groups/DivisionsThree Groups●matters of Britain Adventures of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table （亚瑟王和他的圆桌骑士）●matters of France Emperor Charlemagne and his peers●matters of Rome Alexander the Great and the attacks of TroyLe Morte D’Arthur （亚瑟王之死）②Class Nature (阶级性) of the RomanceLoyalty to king and lord was the theme of the romances, as loyalty was the corner-stone（the most important part 基石）of feudal morality.The romances were composed not for the common but for the noble, of the noble, and by the poets patronized （supported 庇护,保护）by the noble.3. Alliteration（押头韵）: a repeated initial(开头的) consonant(协调,一致) to successive(连续的) words.e.g. 1.To his kin the kindest, keenest for praise.2.Sing a song of southern singer4. Understatement（低调陈述）（for ironical humor）not troublesome: very welcomeneed not praise: a right to condemn5. Chronicle《编年史》（a monument of Old English prose）6. Ballads （民谣）（The most important department of English folk literature ）①Definition:A ballad is a narrative poem that tells a story, and is usually meant to be 命中注定sung or recited 背诵in musical form.An important stream of the Medieval folk literature②Features of English Ballads1. The ballads are in various English and Scottish dialects.2. They were created collectively and revised when handed down from mouth to mouth.3. They are mainly the literature of the peasants, and give an outlook of the English common people in feudal society.③Stylistic （风格上）Features of the Ballads1. Composed in couplets （相连并押韵的两行诗,对句）or in quatrains （四行诗）known as the ballad stanza （民谣诗节）, rhyming abab or abcb, with the first and third lines carrying 4 accented syllables （重读音节）and the second and fourth carrying 3.2. Simple, plain language or dialect （方言，土语）of the common people with colloquial （口语的，会话的）, vivid and, sometimes, idiomatic （符合当地语言习惯的）expressions3. Telling a good story with a vivid presentation around the central plot.4. Using a high proportion of dialogue with a romantic or tragic dimension （方面）to achieve dramatic effect.④Subjects of English Ballads1. struggle of young lovers2. conflict between love and wealth3. cruelty of jealousy4. criticism of the civil war5. matters of class struggle7. Heroic couplet （英雄双韵体）（introduced by Geoffrey Chaucer）Definition:the rhymed couplet 押韵的对句of iambic pentameter抑扬格五音步; a verse form in epic poetry, with lines of ten syllables 音节and five stresses, in rhyming pairs.英雄诗体/英雄双韵体：用于史诗或叙事诗，每行十个音节，五个音部，每两行押韵。
英国文学史及选读 名词解释
Renaissance: Renaissance or the birth of letters is an intellectual movement. Its two features are a thirsting curiosity for the classical literature and the keen interest in the activities of humanity. Humanism is the key-note of the Renaissance.
Part One
①Beowulf: The national heroic epic of the English people. It has over 3,000 lines. It describes the battles between the two monsters and Beowulf, who won the battle finally and dead for the fatal wound. The poem ends with the funeral of the hero. The most striking feature in its poetical form is the use if alliteration. Other features of it are the use of metaphors(暗喻) and of understatements(含蓄).
Edmund Spenser埃德蒙?斯宾塞(莎翁之前最杰出的英国诗人)：The poet’s poet of the period was ES who was buried beside Chaucer in Westminster Abbey. ES has held his position as a model of poetical art among the Renaissance English poets, and his influence can be traced in the works of Milton, Shelley, and Keats. ES is the first master to make that language the natural music of his poetic effusions(感情的流露). His sonnets in Amoretti, together with Sidney’s Astrophel and Stella and Shakespeare’s sonnets ,are the most famous sonnet sequences of the Elizabeth Age.
英国文学史-名词解释
名词解释1．Romance: a long composition, in verse or in prose, describing the life and adventures of a noble hero, especially for the knight. The most popular theme employed was the legend of King Arthur and the round table knight.2．Renaissance: a revival or rebirth of the artistic and scientific revival which originated in Italy in the 14th century and gradually spread all over Europe. It has two features: a thirsting curiosity for the classical literature and keen interest in activities of humanity.3．Sonnet: 14-line lyric poem, usually written in rhymed iambic pentameter. 4．Enlightenment: a revival of interest in the old classical works, logic, order, restrained emotion and accuracy.5．Neoclassicism: the Enlightenment brought about a revival of interest in Greek and Roman works. This tendency is known as Neoclassicism.6．Romanticism: imagination, emotion and freedom are certainly the focal points of romanticism. The particular characteristics of the literature of romanticism include: subjectivity and an emphasis on individualism; freedom from rules; solitary life rather then life in society; the beliefs that imagination is superior to reason; and love of and worship of nature.7．Byronic Heroes: a variant of the Romantic heroes as a type of character( enthusiasm, persistence, pursuing freedom), named after the English Romantic Poet Gordon Byron. 8．Realism: seeks to portray familiar characters, situations, and settings in a realistic manner. This is done primarily by using an objective narrative point of view and through the buildup of accurate detail.9．Aestheticism: an art movement supporting the emphasis of aesthetic values more than socio-political themes for literature, fine art, music and other arts.10．Stream-of-Consciousness: it is a literary technique that presents the thoughts and feelings of a character as they occur without any clarification by the author. It is a narrative mode. 11．Epic: a long narrative poem telling about the deeds of a great hero and reflecting the values of the society from which it originated.一、The Anglo-Saxon period (449-1066)1、这个时期的文学作品分类：pagan(异教徒) Christian(基督徒)2、代表作：The Song of Beowulf 《贝奥武甫》( national epic 民族史诗) 采用了隐喻手法3、Alliteration 押头韵（写作手法）例子：of man was the mildest and most beloved,To his kin the kindest, keenest for praise.二、The Anglo-Norman period (1066-1350)Canto 诗章1、romance 传奇文学2、代表作：Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (高文爵士和绿衣骑士) 是一首押头韵的长诗三、Geoffrey Chaucer (1340-1400) 杰弗里.乔叟时期1、the father of English poetry 英国诗歌之父2、heroic couplet 英雄双韵体：a verse unit consisting of two rhymed(押韵) lines in iambic pentameter(五步抑扬格)3、代表作：the Canterbury Tales 坎特伯雷的故事(英国文学史的开端)大致内容：the pilgrims are people from various parts of England, representatives of various walks of life and social groups.朝圣者都是来自英国的各地的人,代表着社会的各个不同阶层和社会团体小说特点：each of the narrators tells his tale in a peculiar manner, thus revealing his own views and character.这些叙述者以自己特色的方式讲述自己的故事，无形中表明了各自的观点，展示了各自的性格。
英国文学史名词解释
1 Epic :I t’s a long narrative poem celebrating the great deeds of one or more legendary heroes, majestic in theme and style.It deals with legendary or historical events of national or universal significance. The hero, usually protected by or even descended from Gods, performs superhuman exploits in battle or in marvelous voyages, often saving or founding a nation.Example of epics: Homer’s Epics: Odyssey2 Romances it is another type of narrative poem ,in which adventure is a central action feature .the plots of romance tend to be complex ,with surprising and even magical actions common .the chief characters are human beings ,though they often confront monsters ,dragons and disguised animals in a world ,does not adhere consistently to the laws of nature ,as we know them .romance in short deads with the .3 sonnet A sonnet is a lyric with 14 lines, usually in iambic pentameter, restricted toa definite rhyme scheme. The italian or petrarchan sonnet is divided cleaner into actave and sestet ,with respective rhyming abba ,abba and cdc dcd. The shakespeare sonnet consists of tree quatrians followed by a couple :abab cdcd efef gg4 heroic couplet A rhymed pair of iambic pentameter lines, and it was established early by Chaucer, later John Dryden and Alexander Pope employed this form with great effect5 Ballad It is a folk song or orally transmitted poem telling in a direct way and dramatic manner some popular stories usually in local history or legend.The story is told simply, impersonally, and often with vivid dialogues. It is often composed in quatrains with alternating 4-stress and 3-stress lines, and the 2nd & the 4th lines rhymed.6 Renaissance it is the rebirth of artistic ,literary and academic interest and creating that marks the transition from medieval Europe to the modern world.it was “the greatest progressive revolution that mankind has so far experienced, a time which called for giants and produced giants --- giants in power of thought, passion, and character, in universality and learning7 T ragedy then, is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude; … in the form of action, not of narration; through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation of these emotions8 Essay It is a short written composition that discusses a subject or proposes an argument without claiming to be a complete or thorough exposition. As a minor literary form, the essay is often flexible in style and differs from formal academic dissertation.9 Metaphysical poem he name is given to a diverse group of 17th century English poets whose works are notable for its ingenious use of intellectual & theological concepts in surprising conceits, strange paradoxes, and far-fetched imagery, with John Donne as the founder of the school of poetry10Allegory, is a story or visual image with a second distinct meaning partially hidden behind its literal or visual meaning, with abstract qualities given to human shape11 Enlightenment a general term applied to the movement of intellectual liberation that developed in Western Europe from the late 17th c12Sentimental novels Inspired by Pamela, the sentimental novels exhibit the close connections between virtue and sensibility in repeatedly tearful scenes, and often put sentiment high above reason, and turn to the countryside for materials13Gothic novel a story of terror and suspense, usually set in a gloomy old castle or monastery. tales of macabre, fantastic and supernatural happenings, set in haunted castles, graveyards, ruins and wild landscapes and often with a weak or innocent heroine going through some horribleexperiences.14Romanticism An artistic and intellectual movement originating in Europe in the late 18th century and characterized by a heightened interest in nature, emphasis on the individual's expression of emotion and imagination, departure from the attitudes and forms of classicism.15An ode i s a lyric poem of some length, dealing with a lofty theme in a dignified manner and originally intended to be sung.Ode is a dignified and elaborately structured lyric poem of some length, praising and glorifying an individual, commemorating an event, or describing nature.16realism It is the telling of a story in a manner that is faithful to the reader’s experience of real life, limiting events in the plot to things that might actually happen and characters to people who might actually exist. In short, it is true depiction of life as it really is17Critical realism It is a term applied to the realistic fiction in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.18 Blank verse: unrhymed verse lines of iambic pentameter.19 irony: the use of words to express sth other than or opposite of the literary meaning, and also a humourous or sardonic literary style or form characterised by irony.20 Stanza: a division of a poem consisting of a series of lines arranged together in a recurring pattern of meter and rhyme.21 Humanism Humanism is a literary and philosophical view emphasizing humankind as its center concerns. Humanism originated in the Renaissance, the term has been used many ways, but always suggests humanity as the central concern, with the natural world (science) and the spiritual world (religion) valued for their relation t22legend As a song or a narrative handed down from the past, it differs from the myth on the basis of the elements of historical truth it contains。
英国文学史名词解释
名词解释Old English: the language of Anglo and Saxon people during 5and 11th centuryEpic: A long narrative poem celebrating the great deeds of one or more legendary heroes. In a grand ceremonious style .The hero, usually protected by or even descended from gods, performs superhuman exploits in battle or in marvelous voyages, often saving or founding a nation.Romance:the most popular literary form in the Middle Ages in Europe; A tale (in verse or prose) that deals with knightly adventures or other heroic deeds or supernatural or amorous subjects, and usually emphasizes the chivalric love.Ballad:A folk song or orally transmitted poem telling in a direct and dramatic manner some popular story usually derived form a tragic incident in local history or legend.Ballad are normally composed in quatrains with alternating four-stress and three- stress lines ,the second and fourth lines rhyming.Couplet(双行体)a pair of rhyming verse lines of the same length. Chauser established the use of couplet in his Canterbury Tales, using rhymed iambic pentameters later known as heroic coupletThe Renaissance refers to the period between the 14th and 17th centuries.The rebirth of literature, art, and learning that progressively transformed European culture from the mid-14th century in Italy to the mid-17th century in England, strongly influenced by the rediscovery of classical Greek and Latin literature. The Renaissance is commonly held to mark the close of the middle Ages, and the beginning of the modern western world. The term normally refer to the combined intellectual and artistic transformation of the 15th 16th centuries, including the emergency of humanism, protestant individualism, Copernican astronomy, and the discovery of AmericaHumanism:it stands for devotion to human values represent in classical literature.it is the keynote or the dominate ideology during the Renaissance Sonnet：A lyric of fourteen lines usually in iambic pentameter. 1. Shakespearean sonnet: Also called English sonnet or Elizabethan Sonnet. It is structured of 3 quatrains and a final couplet with the rhyme scheme: abab cdcd efef gg2. Petrarchan Sonnet: Also called Italian sonnet. It contains an octave with the rhyme pattern abba abba and a sestet of various rhyme Patterns such as cdecde or cdcdcd.3. Spenserian sonnet: comprising 3 quatrains and a couplet in iambic pentameter with the rhyme scheme abab bcbc cdcd eeOde is a dignified and elaborately structured lyric poem of some length, praising and glorifying an individual, commemorating an event or describing nature intellectually rather than emotionally.Elegy Formal lyric poem lamenting the death of a friend or a public figure, or reflecting seriously on a solemn subject.Pastoral: a highly conventional mode of writing that celebrates the innocent life of shepherds or shepherdesses in poems, plays, and prose romance. Tragedies were concerned with the harshness and apparent injustice of life. They involved the trials and eventful death of a hero who was an important person and whose death led to the downfall of others.a. the central characters are always people of importance, like kings, queens, prince, general, nobles.b. a tragic hero often a flawed good man; often the hero’s fall from happiness was due to a weakness in his character, by some great error in his part.c. supernatural beings are often involved in the conflict of human beings, like gods, spirits, witches, ghosts.d. sadness is mixed with horror, murder, treachery, and blood-shedding.Catharsis or Cathartic effect of tragedies: Tragedies give an outlet for such emotions as greed, hatred, lust, fear and pity. The audience feel relieved or purged when they leave the theatre.Comedy deals with ordinary people in everyday situations, it deals with ordinary people in a humble style, usually beginning with misfortune and ending with joy. The purpose of comedy is chiefly to entertain people, but some have moral and corrective purposes, to ridicule and satirize human weaknesses.Comedy of humor according to the comedy of humor, each of characters in the play has some dominating passion or peculiar quality such as jealousy,greedy and comedy of humor mainly satires these humours demonstrated the characters in the play. Ben Jonson has been chefly known for his comedy of humors Soliloquy is the act of talking to oneself, whether silently or aloud. In drama it denotes the convention by which a character, alone on the stage, utters his or her thoughts aloud. Playwrights have used this device as a convenient way to convey information about a charact er’s motives and state of mind, or for purpose of exposition, and sometimes in order to guide the judgments and responses of the audience.Allegory: is a fictional narrative or artistic expression that conveys a symbolic meaning parallel to but distinct from and more important than the literary meaning.Dramatic irony involves the reader (or audience) knowing something about what's happening in the plot, about which the character(s) have no knowledge. Dramatic irony can be used in comedies and tragedies, and it works to engage the reader, as one is drawn into what is happening. The audience may sympathize with the character, who does not know the true situation. Or, the reader may see the character as blind or ignorant (as with Oedipus). The clues may be rather obvious, but the character may be unwilling to recognize the truth.The term“metaphysical”indicates a common poetic style, use of figurative language, and way of organizing the meditative process or the poetic argument.This term is now applied to a group of 17th century poets who, whether or not directly influenced by Done, employ similar poetic procedures and imagery, both in secular poetry( Cleveland, Marvell, Cowley) and in religious poetry(Herbert, Vaughan, Crashaw, and Traherne). The term was coined by John Dryden (1693): "He affects the metaphysicsMetaphysical ConceitIn general, the metaphysical conceit will use some sort of shocking or unusual comparison as the basis for the metaphor. When it works, a metaphysical conceit has a startling appropriateness that makes us look at something in an entirely new way. Draws upon a wide range of knowledge, mainly using highly intellectual analogies; its comparisons are elaborately rationalizedHeroic drama:A kind of tragedy or tragicomedy that came into vogue with the Restoration of the English monarchy in 1660. Influenced by French classical tragedy and its dramatic unities (time, place, action), it aimed at epic (heroic) grandeur, usually by means of bombast, exotic settings and lavish scenery. The noble hero would typically be caught in a conflict between love and patriotic duty, leading to emotional scenes presented in a manner close to opera. The leading English exponent of heroic drama was John Dryden: hid the conquest of Granada (1670-1) and Aureng-Zebe (1675) were both written in heroic couplets.the Enlightenment movementA general term applied to the movement of the intellectual liberation that developed in Western Europe from the late 17th century to the late 18th century( the age of reason)。
英国文学名词解释大全(整理版)
名词解释1.Epic(史诗)（appeared in the the Anglo-Saxon Period ）It is a narrative of heroic action, often with a principal hero, usually mythical in its content, grand in its style, offering inspiration and ennoblement within a particular culture or national tradition.A long narrative poem telling about the deeds of great hero and reflecting the values of the society from which it originated.Epic is an extended narrative poem in elevated or dignified language, like Homer’s Iliad & Odyssey. It usually celebrates the feats of one or more legendary or traditional heroes. The action is simple, but full of magnificence.Today, some long narrative works, like novels that reveal an age & its people, are also called epic.E.g. Beowulf （the pagan（异教徒），secular(非宗教的) poetry）Iliad 《伊利亚特》，Odyssey《奥德赛》Paradise Lost 《失乐园》，The Divine Comedy《神曲》2.Romance （传奇）(Anglo-Norman feudal England)•Romance is any imaginative literature that is set in an idealized world and that deals with heroic adventures and battles between good characters and villains or monsters.•Originally, the term referred to a medieval (中世纪) tale dealing with the love and adventures of kings, queens, knights, and ladies, and including supernatural happenings.Form:long composition, in verse, in proseContent:description of life and adventures of a noble heroCharacter:a knight, a man of noble birth, skilled in the use of weapons; often described as riding forth to seek adventures, taking part in tournaments(骑士比武), or fighting for his lord in battles; devoted to the church and the king •Romance lacks general resemblance to truth or reality.•It exaggerates the vices of human nature and idealizes the virtues.•It contains perilous (dangerous) adventures more or less remote from ordinary life.•It lays emphasis on supreme devotion to a fair lady.①The Romance Cycles/Groups/DivisionsThree Groups●matters of Britain Adventures of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table （亚瑟王和他的圆桌骑士）●matters of France Emperor Charlemagne and his peers●matters of Rome Alexander the Great and the attacks of TroyLe Morte D’Arthur （亚瑟王之死）②Class Nature (阶级性) of the RomanceLoyalty to king and lord was the theme of the romances, as loyalty was the corner-stone（the most important part基石）of feudal morality.The romances were composed not for the common but for the noble, of the noble, and by the poets patronized （supported 庇护,保护）by the noble.3. Alliteration（押头韵）: a repeated initial(开头的) consonant(协调,一致) to successive(连续的) words.e.g. 1.To his kin the kindest, keenest for praise.2.Sing a song of southern singer4. Understatement（低调陈述）（for ironical humor）not troublesome: very welcomeneed not praise: a right to condemn5. Chronicle《编年史》（a monument of Old English prose）6. Ballads （民谣）（The most important department of English folk literature ）①Definition:A ballad is a narrative poem that tells a story, and is usually meant to be sung or recited in musical form.An important stream of the Medieval folk literature②Features of English Ballads1. The ballads are in various English and Scottish dialects.2. They were created collectively and revised when handed down from mouth to mouth.3. They are mainly the literature of the peasants, and give an outlook of the English common people in feudal society.③Stylistic （风格上）Features of the Ballads1. Composed in couplets （相连并押韵的两行诗,对句）or in quatrains （四行诗）known as the ballad stanza （民谣诗节）, rhyming abab or abcb, with the first and third lines carrying 4 accented syllables （重读音节）and the second and fourth carrying 3.2. Simple, plain language or dialect （方言，土语）of the common people with colloquial （口语的，会话的）, vivid and, sometimes, idiomatic （符合当地语言习惯的）expressions3. Telling a good story with a vivid presentation around the central plot.4. Using a high proportion of dialogue with a romantic or tragic dimension （方面）to achieve dramatic effect.④Subjects of English Ballads1. struggle of young lovers2. conflict between love and wealth3. cruelty of jealousy4. criticism of the civil war5. matters of class struggle7. Heroic couplet （英雄双韵体）（introduced by Geoffrey Chaucer）Definition:the rhymed couplet of iambic pentameter; a verse form in epic poetry, with lines of ten syllables and five stresses, in rhyming pairs.英雄诗体/英雄双韵体：用于史诗或叙事诗，每行十个音节，五个音部，每两行押韵。
英国文学简史名词解释
1，什么叫文艺复兴The Renaissance (“rebirth” in French) was a cultural and intellectural movement that spanned roughly the 14th through the 17 century, beginning in Italy and later spreading to the rest of Europe 2，Renaissance is considered as the great flowering of art, architecture, politics, and the study of literature, and is also usually seen as the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the modern world.2，什么叫玄学派诗歌the Metaphysical school of poetryI. Definition: A school of highly intellectual（智力的）poetryTime: the early 17th centuryMajor features: mysticism in content and fantasticality in form; peculiar conceit（奇思妙想）, unique way of reasoning and comparisonMain themes: life, death, love, religion, universeRepresentatives: John Donne, Andrew Marvell and George HerbertSignificance: greatly influenced the modernists of the 20th centuryII. Metaphysical conceits悬想比喻，奇喻，别出心裁的比喻Conceit: an elaborate metaphor that offers a surprising or unexpected comparison between two seemingly highly dissimilar things. This can involve original images or familiar images used in an unfamiliar way.Literature in This Age: The 18th century marked the beginning of an intellectual movement throughout in Europe known as Enlightenment. It was a progressive intellectual movement throughout Western Europe in the 18th century and Russia in the 19th Century.In late 17th and early 18th century England, there was a change of taste, which was part of a general movement in Europe, seen perhaps most impressive in 17th century France. The dominant literary theory of this period was “Neoclassicism”.Literary Genre文学流派Generally speaking, literature of the 18th century was very complex. We may classify it under three general heads: the reign of classicism, the pre-romantic poetry, and the beginning of modern novel.3，什么是启蒙运动Enlightenment (1) a progressive intellectual movement(2) flourished in France and swept through the whole Western Europe(3) aims at enlightening the whole world with the light of modern philosophical and artistic ideas; celebrated reason (4) called for a reference to order, reason and rules4，什么是前浪漫主义Pre-RomanticismWhen did Pre-romanticism appear? in the latter half of the 18th centuryWhat are the major features of Pre-romanticism?1)Romantic Revival;2)Strong protest against the bondage ofClassicism; 3)Claims of passion and emotion;4)Renewed interests in medievalliterature.Who are the representatives? William Blake and Robert BurnsWhat’s the significance?marked the decline of classicismPaved the way for the coming of romanticism in England5，什么叫Byron hero: Byronic hero was created by Byron in the Romantic period of the English literature. Such a hero is a proud, rebellious figure of noble origin. Passionate and powerful, he is to right all the wrongs in a corrupt society, and he would fight single-handedly against all the misdoings. These heroes rise against tyranny and injustice, but they are merely lone fighters striving for personal freedom and some individualistic ends.1. epic 史诗a long narrative poem, grand in style, about heroes and heroic deeds, embodying heroic ideals of a nation or race in the making. Beowulf is the English national epic that was passed from mouth to mouth and written down by many unknown hands.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‖.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.11. heroic couplet 英雄双韵体two successive lines of rhymed poetry in iambic pentameter. Geoffrey Chaucer’s masterpiece The Canterbury Tale was written in heroic couplet.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.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 Shakespeare’s Hamlet is considered the summit of this renaissance. 15. Elizabethan literature 伊丽莎白时代的文学literature written in the Elizabethan Age (1558-1603). William Shakespea re’s 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.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.24. verse drama 诗剧drama written in the form of verse. It was most widely used in the Elizabethan Age. William Shakespeare’s 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 Shakespea re’s play Hamlet is written in blank verse.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 flexib le and adaptable of all literary forms. Francis Bacon is a great essayist; his ―Of Studies‖ isa model of good essay.28. English Romanticism 英国浪漫主义a literary movement that aimed at free expression of the writer’s 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‖.Sonnet 18One of the best known of Shakespeare’s sonnets, Sonnet 18 is memorable for the skillful and varied presentatio n of subject matter, in which the poet’s feelings reach a level of rapture unseen in the previous sonnets. The poet here abandons his quest for the youth to have a child, and instead glories in the youth’s beauty.Initially, the poet poses a question—‖Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?‖—and then reflects on it, remarking that the youth’s beauty far surpasses summer’s delights. The imagery is the very essence of simplicity: ―wind‖ and ―buds.‖ In the fourth line, legal terminology—‖summer’s lease‖—is introduced in contrast to the commonplace images in the first three lines. Note also the poet’s use of extremes in the phrases ―more lovely,‖ ―all too short,‖ and ―too hot‖; these phrases emphasize the young man’s beauty.Although lines 9 through 12 are marked by a more expansive tone and deeper feeling, the poet returns to the simplicity of the opening images. As one expects in Shakespeare’s sonnets, the proposition that the poet sets up in the first eight lines—that all nature is subject to imperfection—is now contrasted in these next four lines beginning with ―But.‖ Although beauty naturally declines at some point—‖And every fair from fair sometime declines‖—the youth’s beauty will not; his unchanging appearance is atypical of nature’s steady progression. Even death is impotent against the youth’s beauty. Note the ambiguity in the phrase ―eternal lines‖: Are these ―lines‖ the poet’s ver ses or the youth’s hoped-for children? Or are they simply wrinkles meant to represent the process of aging? Whatever the answer, the poet is jubilant in this sonnet because nothing threatens the young man’s beautiful appearance.Then follows the concludi ng couplet: ―So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, / So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.‖ The poet is describing not what the youth is but what he will be ages hence, as captured in the poet’s eternal verse—or again, in a hoped-for child. Whatever one may feel about the sentiment expressed in the sonnet and especially in these last two lines, one cannot help but notice an abrupt change in the poet’s own estimate of his poetic writing. Following the poet’s disparaging reference to his ―pupil pen‖ and ―barren rhyme‖ in Sonnet 16, it comes as a surprise in Sonnet 18 to find him boasting that his poetry will be eternal.John Keats认为，夜莺的歌声是美妙绝伦的，是不朽的，是永恒的，将世世代代的唱下去。
英国文学史名词解释
名词解释Allegory: a story or description in which the characters and events symbolize some deeper underlying meaning, and serve to spread moral teaching.Alliteration: A poetic device where the first consonant sounds or any vowel sounds in words or syllables are repeated.Allusion: A reference to a familiar literary or historical person or event, used to make an idea more easily understood.Ballad: A short poem that tells a simple story and has a repeated refrain. Ballads were originally intended to be sung. Early ballads, known as folk ballads, were passed down through generations, so their authors are often unknown. Later ballads composed by known authors are called literary ballads.Blank Verse: unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter.Carpe Diem: A Latin term meaning "seize the day." This is a traditional themeof Poetry, especially lyrics. A carpe diem poem advises the reader or the person it addresses to live for today and enjoy the pleasures of the moment.Two celebrated carpe diem poems are Andrew Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress" and Robert Herrick's poem beginning "Gather ye rosebuds while ye may...."Conceit: an unusually far-fetched or elaborate metaphor or simile presenting a surprisingly apt parallel between two apparently dissimilar things or feelings.Connotation: The impression that a word gives beyond its defined meaning.Couplet: Two lines of Poetry with the same rhyme and Meter, often expressing a complete and self-contained thought.Denotation: The definition of a word, apart from the impressions or feelings it creates in the reader.Dramatic MonologueEpic: A long narrative poem about the adventures of a hero of great historic or legendary importance. The setting is vast and the action is often given cosmic significance through the intervention of supernatural forces such as gods, angels, or demons. Epics are typically written in a classical style of grand simplicity with elaborate Metaphors and allusions that enhance the symbolic importance of a hero's adventures.Frame story:a story in which another story is enclosed or embedded as a “tale within a tale”, or which contains several such tales.Foot: The smallest unit of rhythm in a line of Poetry. In English-language poetry, a foot is typically one accented syllable combined with one or two unaccented syllables.There are many different types of feet. When the accent is on the second syllable of a two syllable word (con-tort), the foot is an "iamb"; the reverse accentual pattern (tor-ture) is a "trochee." Other feet that commonly occur in poetry in English are "anapest", two unaccented syllables followed by an accented syllable as in in-ter-cept, and "dactyl", an accented syllable followed by two unaccented syllables as in su-i-cide.Grub Street Writers: Hack writers in the Eighteenth Century England. Many of them lived on Grub Street. They took writing as a profession.Heroic Couplet: A rhyming couplet written in iambic pentameter (a Verse with five iambic feet).Humanism: A philosophy that places faith in the dignity of humankind and rejects the medieval perception of the individual as a weak, fallen creature. "Humanists" typically believe in the perfectibility of human nature and view reason and education as the means to that end.Iambic pentametre: If a line of a poem has five feet, and in each foot there are two syllables, the first being unstressed, the second, stressed, the line is an iambic pentameter line.Irony: In literary criticism, the effect of language in which the intended meaning is the opposite of what is stated.Metaphysical Poetry: The body of poetry produced by a group of seventeenth-century English writers called the "Metaphysical Poets." The group includes John Donne and Andrew Marvell. The Metaphysical Poets made use of everyday speech, intellectual analysis, and unique imagery. They aimed to portray the ordinary conflict s and contradictions of life. Their poem s often took the form of an argument, and many of them emphasize physical and religious love as well as the fleeting nature of life. Elaborate conceit s are typical in metaphysical poetry.Metaphysical Poets: a group of 17th century English poets whose work is notable for its ingenious use of intellectual concepts in surprising conceits, strange paradoxes, and far-fetched imagery.Meter: In literary criticism, the repetition of sound patterns that creates a rhythm in Poetry. The patterns are based on the number of syllables and the presence and absence of accent s. The unit of rhythm in a line is called a Foot. Types of meter are classified according to the number of feet in a line. These are the standard English lines: Monometer, one foot; Dimeter, two feet; Trimeter, three feet; Tetrameter, four feet; Pentameter, five feet; Hexameter, six feet (also called the Alexandrine); Heptameter, seven feet (also called the "Fourteener" when the feet are iambic). The most common English meter is the iambic pentameter, in which each line contains ten syllables, or five iambic feet, which individually are composed of an unstressed syllable followed by an accented syllable.Oedipus Complex: A son's amorous obsession with his mother. The phrase is derived from the story of the ancient Theban hero Oedipus, who unknowingly killed his father and married hismother.Oxymoron: A phrase combining two contradictory terms. Oxymorons may be intentional or unintentional.Paradox: A statement that appears illogical or contradictory at first, but may actually point to an underlying truth.Poetic License: Distortions of fact and literary convention made by a writer — not always a poet — for the sake of the effect gained. Poetic license is closely related to the concept of "artistic freedom."Renaissance: The period in European history that marked the end of the Middle Ages. It began in Italy in the late fourteenth century. In broad terms, it is usually seen as spanning the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries, although it did not reach Great Britain, for example, until the 1480s or so. The Renaissance saw an awakening in almost every sphere of human activity, especially science, philosophy, and the arts. The period is best defined by the emergence of a general philosophy that emphasized the importance of the intellect, the individual, and world affairs. It contrasts strongly with the medieval worldview, characterized by the dominant concerns of faith, the social collective, and spiritual salvation.Rhyme: When used as a noun in literary criticism, this term generally refers to a poem in which words sound identical or very similar and appear in parallel positions in two or more lines. Rhymes are classified into different types according to where they fall in a line or stanza or according to the degree of similarity they exhibit in their spellings and sounds. Some major types of rhyme are "masculine" rhyme, "feminine" rhyme, and "triple" rhyme. In a masculine rhyme, the rhyming sound falls in a single accent ed syllable, as with "heat" and "eat." Feminine rhyme is a rhyme of two syllables, one stressed and one unstressed, as with "merry" and "tarry." Triple rhyme matches the sound of the accented syllable and the two unaccented syllables that follow: "narrative" and "declarative."Romance: is a tale in verse, embodying the life and adventures of knights. Romance was characteristic of the early feudal age, as it reflected the spirit of chivalry, i. e., the quality and ideal of knightly conduct. The content of romance was usually about love, chivalry, and religion. It generally concerns knights and involves a large amount of fighting as well as a number of miscellaneous adventures;Scansion: The analysis or "scanning" of a poem to determine its Meter and often its rhyme scheme. The most common system of scansion uses accent s (slanted lines drawn above syllables) to show stressed syllables, breves (curved lines drawn above syllables) to show unstressed syllables, and vertical lines to separate each Foot.In the first line of John Keats's Endymion,"A thing of beauty is a joy forever:"the word "thing," the first syllable of "beauty," the word "joy," and the second syllable of "forever" are stressed, while the words "A" and "of," the second syllable of "beauty," the word"a," and the first and third syllables of "forever" are unstressed. In the second line:"Its loveliness increases; it will never"a pair of vertical lines separate the foot ending with "increases" and the one beginning with "it."Soliloquy: A monologue in a drama used to give the audience information and to develop the speaker's character. It is typically a projection of the speaker's innermost thoughts. Usually delivered while the speaker is alone on stage, a soliloquy is intended to present an illusion of unspoken reflection.Sonnet: A fourteen-line poem, usually composed in iambic pentameter, employing one of several rhyme schemes. There are three major types of sonnets, upon which all other variations of the form are based: the "Petrarchan" or "Italian" sonnet, the "Shakespearean" or "English" sonnet, and the "Spenserian" sonnet. A Petrarchan sonnet consists of an octave rhymed abbaabba and a "sestet" rhymed either cdecde,cdccdc, or cdedce. The octave poses a question or problem, relates a narrative, or puts forth a proposition; the sestet presents a solution to the problem, comments upon the narrative, or applies the proposition put forth in the octave. The Shakespearean sonnet is divided into three quatrains and a couplet rhymed abab cdcd efef gg. The couplet provides an epigrammatic comment on the narrative or problem put forth in the quatrains. The Spenserian sonnet uses three quatrains and a couplet like the Shakespearean, but links their three rhyme schemes in this way: abab bcbc cdcd ee. The Spenserian sonnet develops its theme in two parts like the Petrarchan, its final six lines resolving a problem, analyzing a narrative, or applying a proposition put forth in its first eight lines.Spenserian stanza: a group of eight lines of iambic pentameter followed by a six-stress iambic line, with a rhyme scheme ababbcbcc.Theme: The main point of a work of literature. The term is used interchangeably with thesis.Tragic Flaw: In a tragedy, the quality within the hero or heroine which leads to his or her downfall.Examples of the tragic flaw include Othello's jealousy and Hamlet's indecisiveness, although most great tragedies defy such simple interpretation.Unities: (Also known as Three Unities.) Strict rules of dramatic structure, formulated by Italian and French critics of the Renaissance and based loosely on the principles of drama discussed by Aristotle in his Poetics. Foremost among these rules were the three unities of action, time, and place that compelled a dramatist to: (1) construct a single plot with a beginning, middle, and end that details the causal relationships of action and character; (2) restrict the action to the events of a single day; and (3) limit the scene to a single place or city. The unities were observed faithfully by continental European writers until the Romantic Age, but they were never regularly observed in English drama. Modern dramatists are typically more concerned with a unity of impression or emotional effect than with any of the classical unities.。
英国文学史术语解释
Renaissance: the activity, spirit, or time of the great revival of art, literature, and learning in Europe beginning in the 14th century and extending to the 17th century, marking the transition from the medieval to the modern world. Humanism is the key-note of the Renaissance. Humanism: reflected the new outlook of the rising bourgeois class, which saw the world opening before it.a cultural and artistic movement in England from the early 16th century to the early 17th century.The Renaissance marks a transition from the medieval to the modern world. The Renaissance is a historical period in which the European humanist thinkers and scholars made attempts: (1) to get rid of those old feudalist ideas in medieval Europe, (2) to introduce new ideas that expressed the interests of the rising bourgeoisie, (3) to recover the purity of the early church from the corruption of the Roman Catholic ChurchRomance（名词解释）(1).The basic material of medieval romance is knightly activity and adventure; we might best define medieval romance as a story of adventure--fictitious, frequently marvelous or supernatural--in verse or prose. (2).A long composition describing the life and adventures of a noble hero. The central character was the knight, a man of noble birth skilled in the use of weapons who was very devoted to the king or to the church. (3).One who wanted to be a knight should serve patiently until he was admitted to the knighthood with solemnceremony and the swearing of oaths.Ballad民谣（名词解释）1.A short narrative poem with stanzas of two or four lines and usually a refrain. The story, folklore popular legends. straightforward verse, with graphic simplicity and force. suitable for singing generally written in ballad meter, with the last words of the second and fourth lines rhymingHeroic couplet(名词解释) A heroic couplet is a traditional form for English poetry, commonly used for epic and narrative poetry; it refers to poems constructed from a sequence of rhyming pairs of iambic pentameter lines. Traditional form for English poetry, commonly used for epic and narrative poetry, a sequence of rhyming paris of iambic pentameter.Sonnet（名词解释）The sonnet is a poem in 14 lines with one or the other rhyme schme, a form much in vogue in Renaissance Europe, especially in Italy，France and England. In 1609 appeared Shakespeare’s sonnets. The Sonnets were written over a number of years, probably beginning in the early 1590sBlank verse 无韵诗Spenserian Stanza（名词解释）Stanza form developed by Edmund Spenser and almost certainly influenced by rhyme royal and ottava rima. Spenser's stanza has nine lines and is rhymed a-b-a-b-b-c-b-c-c. The first eight lines of the stanza are in iambic pentameter and the last line iniambic hexameter. He used this form in his epic poem The Faerie Queene. John Keats, a great admirer of Spenser, used this stanza in his poem The Eve of St. Agnes.Classicism（名词解释）1. In the arts, historical tradition or aesthetic attitudes based on the art of Greece and Rome in antiquity. In the context of the tradition, Classicism refers either to the art produced in antiquity or to later art inspired by that of antiquity; Neoclassicism always refers to the art produced later but inspired by antiquity.Sentimentalism（名词解释）The term sentimentalism is used in two senses: (1) An overindulgence in emotion, especially the conscious effort to induce emotion in order to enjoy it. (2) An optimistic overemphasis of the goodness of humanity (sensibility), representing in part a reaction against Calvinism, which regarded human nature as depraved. The novel of sensibility was developed from this 18th century notion, manifested in the Sentimental novel46. Romanticism要对浪漫主义兴起的时间，根源，主要代表作家。
英国文学史名词解释
英国文学史名词解释英国文学史中的许多术语和名词对于读者来说可能比较陌生。
下面是对一些常见的名词进行解释，以便更好地理解英国文学史。
1. Middle English (中古英语) - 中古英语是指从1066年诺曼征服英格兰到1470年左右的英语阶段。
在这个时期，英语受到了来自法语、拉丁语和英语本土方言的影响。
2. Renaissance (文艺复兴) - 文艺复兴是指在15世纪至17世纪期间，意大利文化的重要思想和艺术运动迅速传播到欧洲其他地区。
文艺复兴时期在英国产生了许多杰出的文学作品，包括莎士比亚的戏剧。
3. Elizabethan Era (伊丽莎白时代) - 伊丽莎白时代是指英国女王伊丽莎白一世统治期间（1558年-1603年）。
这一时期是英国文化的黄金时代，也是莎士比亚最为活跃的时期。
4. Restoration (恢复时代) - 恢复时代是指英国历史上从1660年到1688年的时期，这一时期发生了英国内战和英国共和国的覆灭后，君主制恢复的事件。
恢复时期的文学作品反映了政治和社会的变化。
5. Romanticism (浪漫主义) - 浪漫主义是指18世纪末到19世纪初的一种文学和艺术思潮。
浪漫主义强调个人情感和经验，追求自然、自由和幻想等主题。
浪漫主义的代表作家包括拜伦、雪莱和济慈等。
6. Victorian Era (维多利亚时代) - 维多利亚时代是指英国女王维多利亚统治期间，即1837年到1901年的时期。
这一时期的文学作品反映了维多利亚时代的道德和社会观念，代表作家包括狄更斯、勃朗特姐妹和汤姆斯·哈代等。
7. Modernism (现代主义) - 现代主义是指20世纪初出现的一种文学和艺术风格，强调个人和社会对现实世界的体验和认识。
现代主义的作品通常以复杂的叙事结构和主题的多样性而著称。
代表作家包括乔伊斯、伍尔夫和弗兰兹·卡夫卡等。
8. Postmodernism (后现代主义) - 后现代主义是指20世纪后半叶出现的一种文学和艺术趋势，它挑战了现代主义的理论和形式，关注权力、语言和现实的构造。
(完整word版)英国文学名词解释大全(整理版)
名词解释1.Epic(史诗)（appeared in the the Anglo-Saxon Period ）It is a narrative of heroic action, often with a principal hero, usually mythical in its content, grand in its style, offering inspiration and ennoblement within a particular culture or national tradition.A long narrative poem telling about the deeds of great hero and reflecting the values of the society from which it originated.Epic is an extended narrative poem in elevated or dignified language, like Homer’s Iliad & Odyssey. It usually celebrates the feats of one or more legendary or traditional heroes. The action is simple, but full of magnificence.Today, some long narrative works, like novels that reveal an age & its people, are also called epic.E.g. Beowulf （the pagan（异教徒），secular(非宗教的) poetry）Iliad 《伊利亚特》，Odyssey《奥德赛》Paradise Lost 《失乐园》，The Divine Comedy《神曲》2.Romance （传奇）(Anglo-Norman feudal England)•Romance is any imaginative literature that is set in an idealized world and that deals with heroic adventures and battles between good characters and villains or monsters.•Originally, the term referred to a medieval (中世纪) tale dealing with the love and adventures of kings, queens, knights, and ladies, and including supernatural happenings.Form:long composition, in verse, in proseContent:description of life and adventures of a noble heroCharacter:a knight, a man of noble birth, skilled in the use of weapons; often described as riding forth to seek adventures, taking part in tournaments(骑士比武), or fighting for his lord in battles; devoted to the church and the king •Romance lacks general resemblance to truth or reality.•It exaggerates the vices of human nature and idealizes the virtues.•It contains perilous (dangerous) adventures more or less remote from ordinary life.•It lays emphasis on supreme devotion to a fair lady.①The Romance Cycles/Groups/DivisionsThree Groups●matters of Britain Adventures of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table （亚瑟王和他的圆桌骑士）●matters of France Emperor Charlemagne and his peers●matters of Rome Alexander the Great and the attacks of TroyLe Morte D’Arthur （亚瑟王之死）②Class Nature (阶级性) of the RomanceLoyalty to king and lord was the theme of the romances, as loyalty was the corner-stone（the most important part基石）of feudal morality.The romances were composed not for the common but for the noble, of the noble, and by the poets patronized （supported 庇护,保护）by the noble.3. Alliteration（押头韵）: a repeated initial(开头的) consonant(协调,一致) to successive(连续的) words.e.g. 1.To his kin the kindest, keenest for praise.2.Sing a song of southern singer4. Understatement（低调陈述）（for ironical humor）not troublesome: very welcomeneed not praise: a right to condemn5. Chronicle《编年史》（a monument of Old English prose）6. Ballads （民谣）（The most important department of English folk literature ）①Definition:A ballad is a narrative poem that tells a story, and is usually meant to be sung or recited in musical form.An important stream of the Medieval folk literature②Features of English Ballads1. The ballads are in various English and Scottish dialects.2. They were created collectively and revised when handed down from mouth to mouth.3. They are mainly the literature of the peasants, and give an outlook of the English common people in feudal society.③Stylistic （风格上）Features of the Ballads1. Composed in couplets （相连并押韵的两行诗,对句）or in quatrains （四行诗）known as the ballad stanza （民谣诗节）, rhyming abab or abcb, with the first and third lines carrying 4 accented syllables （重读音节）and the second and fourth carrying 3.2. Simple, plain language or dialect （方言，土语）of the common people with colloquial （口语的，会话的）, vivid and, sometimes, idiomatic （符合当地语言习惯的）expressions3. Telling a good story with a vivid presentation around the central plot.4. Using a high proportion of dialogue with a romantic or tragic dimension （方面）to achieve dramatic effect.④Subjects of English Ballads1. struggle of young lovers2. conflict between love and wealth3. cruelty of jealousy4. criticism of the civil war5. matters of class struggle7. Heroic couplet （英雄双韵体）（introduced by Geoffrey Chaucer）Definition:the rhymed couplet of iambic pentameter; a verse form in epic poetry, with lines of ten syllables and five stresses, in rhyming pairs.英雄诗体/英雄双韵体：用于史诗或叙事诗，每行十个音节，五个音部，每两行押韵。
英国文学史名词解释
英国文学史名词解释Romance: The romance was a long composition, sometimes in verse, sometimes in prose, describing the life and adventures of a noble hero. The medieval romances were tales of chivalry or amorous adventure occurring in King Arthur's court. "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" is an example of a medieval romance.Ballad: It is a story in poetic form, often about tragic love and usually sung. Ballads were passed down from generation to generation by singers. The medieval ballads are ballads of Robin Hood. Coleridge’s "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" is a 19th century English ballad. Heroic couplet: They are poetry composed in iambic pentameter. In this form of poetry, lines consisting of five iambic feet rime together in pairs. The rime scheme :aa bb cc ….. Renaissance: Renaissance marks the transition from the medieval to the modern world. It first started in Italy in the 14th century and gradually spread all over Europe. The word“Renaissance” means rebirth or revival. In essence, it is a historical period in which theEuropean humanist thinkers and scholars made attempts to get rid of those old feudalist ideas in medieval Europe and introduce new ideas that expressed the interests of the risingbourgeoisie, and to lift the restriction in all areas placed by the Roman Catholic Churchauthorities. Two features of renaissance: It is a thirsting curiosity for the classical literature.People learned to admire the Greek and Latin works as models of literary form. It is the keen interest in the activities of humanity.Sonnet: A lyric poem of fourteen lines whose ryhme scheme is fixed. The rhyme scheme in the Italian form as typified in the sonnets of Petrarch is abbaabba cdecde. The Petrarchian sonnet has two divisions: the first is of eight lines (the octave), and the second is of six lines (the sestet). The rhyme scheme of the English, or Shakespearean sonnet is abab cdcd efef gg. The change of rhyme in the English sonnet is coincidental with a change of theme in the poem.The meter is iambic pentameter.Blank verse: A poem written in unrhymed iambic pentameter.Spenserian Stanza: Spenser invented a new verse form for his poem. The verse form has been called "Spenserian Stanza" since his day. Each stanza has nine lines, each of the first eight lines is in iambic pentameter form, and the ninth line is an iambic hexameter line. The rhythm scheme is abab bcbc c.Enlightenment : The Enlightenment was a progressive intellectual movement throughout Western Europe in the 18th century. It was an expression of struggle of the bourgeoisie against feudalism. The enlighteners fought against class inequality, stagnation, prejudices and other survivals of feudalism. They thought the chief means for bettering the society was "enlightenment" or "education" for the people. The English enlighteners were bourgeois democratic thinkers. They set no revolutionary aim before them and what they strove for was to bring it to an end by clearing away the feudal ideas with the bourgeois ideology. Sentimentalism: Sentimentalism appeared in the middle of the 18th century, as a reaction against commercialism and the cold rationalism. Sentimentalists emphasize “the human heart” and show sympathy to the poor. This trend marks the transition form neoclassicism to romanticism in English poetry. Thomas Gray is one of the models. Another sentimentalistpoet is Oliver Goldsmith (The Disserted Village). The most outstanding figure of English sentimentalism is Laurence Sterne.Pre-romanticism: The Romantic Movement was marked by a strong protest against the bondage of Classicism, by a renewed interest in medieval literature. In England, this movement showed itself in the trend of Pre-romanticism in poetry. It was represented by Blake and Robert Burns. They struggled against the neoclassical tradition of poetry. Romanticism : Romanticism was in effect a revolt of the English imagination against the neoclassical reason, which prevailed from the days of Pope to those of Johnson. The Romantic Movement expressed a more or less negative attitude toward the existing social and political conditions that came with industrialization and the growing importance of the bourgeoisie. Romantics saw men essentially as an individual in the solitary state and emphasized the special qualities of each individual's mind. In essence it designates a literary and philosophical theory which tends to see the individual as the very center of all life and all experience. It also places the individual at the center of art, making literature most valuable as an expression of his or her unique feelings and particular attitudes, and valuing its accuracy in portraying the individual's experiences. The romantics extol the faculty of the imagination, write about nature and they get inspiration form nature, turn to the humble people and the common everyday life for subjects andturn to other times and places, where the qualities they valued would be convincingly depicted.Neo-classicism: A revival in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries of classical standards of order, balance and harmony in literature. John Dryden was the first person who started the movement at the end of the 17th century, while Alexander Pope brought it to its culmination. Elegy: it seeks for "lament". It is a poem on death or on a serious loss; characteristically a sustained meditation expressing sorrow and, frequently, an explicit or implied consolation Realism: A term used in literature and art to present life as it really is without sentimentalizing or idealizing it. Realistic writing often depicts the everyday life and speech of ordinary people. This has led, sometimes to an emphasis on sordid details.Allegory: A story illustrating an idea or a moral principle in which objects take on symbolic meanings. In Dante Alighieri's "Divine Comedy," Dante, symbolizing mankind, is taken by Virgil the poet on a journey through Hell, Purgatory and Paradise in order to teach him the nature of sin and its punishments, and the way to salvation.Lake Poets: Wordsworth, Coleridge and Southey have often been mentioned as the "Lake Poets"because they lived in the lake district in the northwestern part of England. The three traversed the same path in politics and in poetry, beginning as radicals and closing as conservatives. Metaphysical Poetry: The poetry of John Donne and other seventeenth-century poets who wrote in a similar style. Metaphysical poetry is characterized by verbal wit and excess, ingenious structure, irregular meter, colloquial language, elaborates imagery, and a drawing together of dissimilar ideas.Humanism: it refers to the main literary trend and is the keynote of English Renaissance.Humanists took interest in human life and human activities and gave expression to the new feeling of admiration for human beauty, human achievement. They think that man has apotential for culture which distinguishes him from lower orders of beings, and which he should strive constantly to fulfill.Mystery play: The Mystery plays of the Middle Ages were based on the bible and were particularly concerned with the stories of man’s creation, Fall and Redemption. They antedate Miracle Plays.Mystery Plays developed out of the Liturgy of the church and in particular out of the Quem Quaeritis trope of Easter Day. The earlier dramatizations were presented on the greater festivals of the church: Christmas, Easter,, Pentecost and Corpus Christi. At first they were in Latin and performed by the clergy in the church. There then came an increasing admixture of the vernacular, and lay folk also performed in them. This gradual secularization of the religions drama was accompanied by a corresponding physical move. The drama moved out of the church through the west door. Thus, what had been sacred drama became, literally, profane. From the church yard to the market place was the next logical step.Iambic Pentameter: A poetic line consisting of five verse feet, which each foot an iamb__ that is, an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one. Iambic pentameter is the most common verse line in English poetry.Lyric: A poem, brief and discontinuous, emphasizes sound and pictorial imagery rather than narrative or dramatic movement.Miracle Play: A popular religious drama of medieval England. Miracle plays were based on stories of the saints or on sacred history.Morality Play: A form of religious allegorical drama dates from 15th century. Moralities differed from mystery plays in that whereas the latter dramatized known episodes from the Bible or from the lives of the saints, the former dramatized the life of man by personifying the forces of good and evil, such as the seven deadly sins and the corresponding virtues or some representative crisis in his life such as his encounter with the fact of death.Neo-classicism: it is a revival in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries of classical standards of order, balance and harmony in literature. John Dryden was the first person who started the movement at the end of the 17th century, while Alexander Pope brought it to its culmination. Byronic hero:is an idealized but flawed character exemplified in the life and writings of Lordlevel of intelligence and perception; cunning and able to adapt; criminal tendencies;sophisticated and educated; self-critical and introspective; mysterious, magnetic and charismatic; struggling with integrity; power of seduction and sexual attraction; social andself-destructive behavior; a good heart in the end.。
（完整）英国文学名词解释大全（整理版）,推荐文档
（完整）英国文学名词解释大全（整理版）,推荐文档名词解释1.Epic(史诗)（appeared in the the Anglo-Saxon Period ）It is a narrative of heroic action, often with a principal hero, usually mythical in its content, grand in its style, offering inspiration and ennoblement within a particular culture or national tradition.A long narrative poem telling about the deeds of great hero and reflecting the values of the society from which it originated.Epic is an extended narrative poem in elevated or dignified language, like Homer’s Iliad & Odyssey. It usually celebrates the feats of one or more legendary or traditional heroes. The action is simple, but full of magnificence.Today, some long narrative works, like novels that reveal an age & its people, are also called epic.E.g. Beowulf （the pagan（异教徒），secular(非宗教的) poetry）Iliad 《伊利亚特》，Odyssey《奥德赛》Paradise Lost 《失乐园》，The Divine Comedy《神曲》2.Romance （传奇）(Anglo-Norman feudal England)Romance is any imaginative literature that is set in an idealized world and that deals with heroic adventures and battles between good characters and villains or monsters.Originally, the term referred to a medieval (中世纪) tale dealing with the love and adventures of kings, queens, knights, and ladies, and including supernatural happenings.Form:long composition, in verse, in proseContent:description of life and adventures of a noble hero Character:a knight, a man of noble birth, skilled in the use of weapons; often described as riding forth to seek adventures,taking part in tournaments(骑士比武), or fighting for his lord in battles; devoted to the church and the king ?Romance lacks general resemblance to truth or reality.It exaggerates the vices of human nature and idealizes the virtues.It contains perilous (dangerous) adventures more or less remote from ordinary life.It lays emphasis on supreme devotion to a fair lady.①The Romance Cycles/Groups/DivisionsThree Groups●matters of Britain Adventures of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table （亚瑟王和他的圆桌骑士）●matters of France Emperor Charlemagne and his peers●matters of Rome Alexander the Great and the attacks of TroyLe Morte D’Arthur （亚瑟王之死）②Class Nature (阶级性) of the RomanceLoyalty to king and lord was the theme of the romances, as loyalty was the corner-stone（the most important part基石）of feudal morality.The romances were composed not for the common but for the noble, of the noble, and by the poets patronized （supported 庇护,保护）by the noble.3. Alliteration（押头韵）: a repeated initial(开头的) consonant(协调,一致) to successive(连续的) words.e.g. 1.To his kin the kindest, keenest for praise.2.Sing a song of southern singer4. Understatement（低调陈述）（for ironical humor）not troublesome: very welcomeneed not praise: a right to condemn5. Chronicle《编年史》（a monument of Old English prose）6. Ballads （民谣）（The most important department of English folk literature ）①Definition:A ballad is a narrative poem that tells a story, and is usually meant to be sung or recited in musical form.An important stream of the Medieval folk literature②Features of English Ballads1. The ballads are in various English and Scottish dialects.2. They were created collectively and revised when handed down from mouth to mouth.3. They are mainly the literature of the peasants, and give an outlook of the English common people in feudal society.③Stylistic （风格上）Features of the Ballads1. Composed in couplets （相连并押韵的两行诗,对句）or in quatrains （四行诗）known as the ballad stanza （民谣诗节）, rhyming abab or abcb, with the first and third lines carrying 4 accented syllables （重读音节）and the second and fourth carrying 3.2. Simple, plain language or dialect （方言，土语）of the common people with colloquial （口语的，会话的）, vivid and, sometimes, idiomatic （符合当地语言习惯的）expressions3. Telling a good story with a vivid presentation around the central plot.4. Using a high proportion of dialogue with a romantic or tragic dimension （方面）to achieve dramatic effect.④Subjects of English Ballads1. struggle of young lovers2. conflict between love and wealth3. cruelty of jealousy4. criticism of the civil war5. matters of class struggle7. Heroic couplet （英雄双韵体）（introduced by Geoffrey Chaucer）Definition:the rhymed couplet of iambic pentameter; a verse form in epic poetry, with lines of ten syllables and five stresses, in rhyming pairs.英雄诗体/英雄双韵体：用于史诗或叙事诗，每行十个音节，五个音部，每两行押韵。
英国文学名词解释大全(整理版)
名词解释1.Epic(史诗)（appeared in the the Anglo-Saxon Period ）It is a narrative of heroic action, often with a principal hero, usually mythical in its content, grand in its style, offering inspiration and ennoblement within a particular culture or national tradition.A long narrative poem telling about the deeds of great hero and reflecting the values of the society from which it originated.Epic is an extended narrative poem in elevated or dignified language, like Homer’s Iliad & Odyssey. It usually celebrates the feats of one or more legendary or traditional heroes. The action is simple, but full of magnificence.Today, some long narrative works, like novels that reveal an age & its people, are also called epic.E.g. Beowulf （the pagan（异教徒），secular(非宗教的) poetry）Iliad 《伊利亚特》，Odyssey《奥德赛》Paradise Lost 《失乐园》，The Divine Comedy《神曲》2.Romance （传奇）(Anglo-Norman feudal England)•Romance is any imaginative literature that is set in an idealized world and that deals with heroic adventures and battles between good characters and villains or monsters.•Originally, the term referred to a medieval (中世纪) tale dealing with the love and adventures of kings, queens, knights, and ladies, and including supernatural happenings.Form:long composition, in verse, in proseContent:description of life and adventures of a noble heroCharacter:a knight, a man of noble birth, skilled in the use of weapons; often described as riding forth to seek adventures, taking part in tournaments(骑士比武), or fighting for his lord in battles; devoted to the church and the king •Romance lacks general resemblance to truth or reality.•It exaggerates the vices of human nature and idealizes the virtues.•It contains perilous (dangerous) adventures more or less remote from ordinary life.•It lays emphasis on supreme devotion to a fair lady.①The Romance Cycles/Groups/DivisionsThree Groups●matters of Britain Adventures of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table （亚瑟王和他的圆桌骑士）●matters of France Emperor Charlemagne and his peers●matters of Rome Alexander the Great and the attacks of TroyLe Morte D’Arthur （亚瑟王之死）②Class Nature (阶级性) of the RomanceLoyalty to king and lord was the theme of the romances, as loyalty was the corner-stone（the most important part基石）of feudal morality.The romances were composed not for the common but for the noble, of the noble, and by the poets patronized （supported 庇护,保护）by the noble.3. Alliteration（押头韵）: a repeated initial(开头的) consonant(协调,一致) to successive(连续的) words.e.g. 1.To his kin the kindest, keenest for praise.2.Sing a song of southern singer4. Understatement（低调陈述）（for ironical humor）not troublesome: very welcomeneed not praise: a right to condemn5. Chronicle《编年史》（a monument of Old English prose）6. Ballads （民谣）（The most important department of English folk literature ）①Definition:A ballad is a narrative poem that tells a story, and is usually meant to be sung or recited in musical form.An important stream of the Medieval folk literature②Features of English Ballads1. The ballads are in various English and Scottish dialects.2. They were created collectively and revised when handed down from mouth to mouth.3. They are mainly the literature of the peasants, and give an outlook of the English common people in feudal society.③Stylistic （风格上）Features of the Ballads1. Composed in couplets （相连并押韵的两行诗,对句）or in quatrains （四行诗）known as the ballad stanza （民谣诗节）, rhyming abab or abcb, with the first and third lines carrying 4 accented syllables （重读音节）and the second and fourth carrying 3.2. Simple, plain language or dialect （方言，土语）of the common people with colloquial （口语的，会话的）, vivid and, sometimes, idiomatic （符合当地语言习惯的）expressions3. Telling a good story with a vivid presentation around the central plot.4. Using a high proportion of dialogue with a romantic or tragic dimension （方面）to achieve dramatic effect.④Subjects of English Ballads1. struggle of young lovers2. conflict between love and wealth3. cruelty of jealousy4. criticism of the civil war5. matters of class struggle7. Heroic couplet （英雄双韵体）（introduced by Geoffrey Chaucer）Definition:the rhymed couplet of iambic pentameter; a verse form in epic poetry, with lines of ten syllables and five stresses, in rhyming pairs.英雄诗体/英雄双韵体：用于史诗或叙事诗，每行十个音节，五个音部，每两行押韵。
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名词解释1．Romance: a long composition, in verse or in prose, describing the life and adventures of a noble hero, especially for the knight. The most popular theme employed was the legend of King Arthur and the round table knight.2．Ballad: a story told in song, usually in four-line stanzas, with the second and fourth lines rhymed.3．Heroic Couplet: a couplet consisting of two rhymed lines of iambic pentameter, and written in an elevated style.4．Renaissance: a revival or rebirth of the artistic and scientific revival which originated in Italy in the 14th century and gradually spread all over Europe. It has two features: a thirsting curiosity for the classical literature and keen interest in activities of humanity.5．Sonnet: 14-line lyric poem, usually written in rhymed iambic pentameter.6．Blank verse: poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter.7．Enlightenment: a revival of interest in the old classical works, logic, order, restrained emotion and accuracy.8．Neoclassicism: the Enlightenment brought about a revival of interest in Greek and Roman works. This tendency is known as Neoclassicism.9．Sentimentalism: it was one of the important trends in English literature of the later decades of the 18th century. It concentrated on the free expression of thoughts and emotions, and presented a new view of human nature which prized feeling over thinking, passion over reason. 10．Romanticism: imagination, emotion and freedom are certainly the focal points of romanticism. The particular characteristics of the literature of romanticism include: subjectivity and an emphasis on individualism; freedom from rules; solitary life rather then life in society; the beliefs that imagination is superior to reason; and love of and worship of nature.11．Lake Poets: the English poets who lived in and drew inspiration from the Lake District at the beginning of the 19th century.12．Byronic Heroes: a variant of the Romantic heroes as a type of character( enthusiasm, persistence, pursuing freedom), named after the English Romantic Poet Gordon Byron. 13．Realism: seeks to portray familiar characters, situations, and settings in a realistic manner. This is done primarily by using an objective narrative point of view and through the buildup of accurate detail.14．Aestheticism: an art movement supporting the emphasis of aesthetic values more than socio-political themes for literature, fine art, music and other arts.15．Stream-of-Consciousness: it is a literary technique that presents the thoughts and feelings of a character as they occur without any clarification by the author. It is a narrative mode. 16．Dramatic Monologue: a kind of narrative poem in which one character speaks to one or more listeners whose replies are not given in the poem.17．Iambic Pentameter: a poetic line consisting of five verse feet, with each foot an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable, that is, with each foot an iamb.18．Epic: a long narrative poem telling about the deeds of a great hero and reflecting the values of the society from which it originated.19．Elegy: a poem of mourning, usually over the death of an individual; may also be a lament over the passing of life and beauty or a meditation of the nature of death; a type of lyric poem. 20．Canto: a section of a long poem. The cantos can be a great poem21．Ode: a complex and often lengthy lyric poem, written in a dignified formal style on some lofty or serious subjects. Odes are written for a special occasion, to honor a person or a season or to commemorate an event.22．Song: a short poem with distinct musical qualities, normally written to be set to music. 23．Lyric: a poem, usually a short one, that expresses a speaker's personal thoughts or feelings. The elegy, song and ode are all forms of lyrics.24．Spenserian Stanza: a nine-line stanza made up of 8 lines of iambic pentameter ending with an Alexandrine. Its thyme scheme is ababbcbcc. This stanza was common to travel literature. 25．Metrical Pattern: a lyric poem of five 14-lined stanzas containing four tercets and a closing couplet. The rhyme scheme is aba bcb cdc ded ee.文学史中古时期1.Beowulf《贝奥武甫》: the natural epic of the English people; Denmark story, alliteration, metaphor, understatements2.Sir Gawain and Green Knight《高文爵士和绿衣骑士》3.Geoffrey Chaucer(杰弗里乔叟）：the Father of English Poetry; The Canterbury Tales《埃特伯雷故事集》（24stories)文艺复兴时期1.Thomas More: Utopia《乌托邦》- the communication between more and the traveler which just came back from Utopia.2.Francis Bacon: the first English Essayist; Essays《随笔集》- Of Studies, Of Truth (philosophical and literary works)3.Thus Wyatt: first to introduce the sonnet into English literature.4.Edmund Spenser: Poet's poet; The Fairy Queen《仙后》(to Queen Elizabeth I)5.William Shakespeare:Sonnet 18(Shall I compare thee to a summer's day)四大悲剧：Hamlet (revenge of the Prince HamletKing Lear(年事已高的李尔王意欲把国土分给3个女儿，两个大女儿赢其宠信而瓜分国土，小女儿却因不愿阿谀奉承而一无所得。