英美文学选读第一单元

Style



The variety of Chaucer's tales shows the breadth of his skill and his familiarity with countless rhetorical forms and linguistic styles. Chaucer moves freely between all of these styles, showing favouritism to none. He not only considers the readers of his work as an audience, but the other pilgrims within the story as well, creating a multi-layered rhetorical puzzle of ambiguities. Chaucer's work thus far surpasses the ability of any single medieval theory to uncover.
Geoffrey Chaucer


Among his many works, which include The Book of The Duchess, The House of Fame, The Legend of Good Women and Troilus and Criseyde, he is best known today for The Canterbury Tales. Chaucer is a crucial figure in developing the legitimacy of the vernacular, Middle English, at a time when the dominant literary languages in England were French and Latin.
人物影响



乔叟不仅创作出了饮誉世界的作品，而且还开 创了传统。 他的实验和探索开辟了英国文学的新时代，特 别是为伊丽莎白时代英语文学的全面繁荣奠定 了基础，莎士比亚等后来者是乔叟时代的探索 与创新的最大受益者。 所以乔叟的成就首先是作为传统的开创者、奠 基者的成就。在同时代的主要英国文学家中， 乔叟受外来影响无疑最为广泛，但从英国文学 发展史的角度来看，他又最具有“英国性”， 被尊为“英国诗歌之父”。
文学特点


由于印刷术尚未问世，书籍还很少，乔叟经常 通过口头形式来接触掌握古代文学。他从其他 作家的作品取己所需，以卓绝的叙述技巧进行 再创作，使其成为不朽的篇章。 他最大的特点便是幽默，乔叟的幽默生动活泼， 或恬淡尔雅，或粗犷浓郁。
人物影响



他的作品对现代英语的形成做出了巨大 贡献。 他的作品在英国诗坛上一直称雄到莎士 比亚时代。 乔叟是第一个突出地运用独白来塑造人 物的作家，这种手法的绝妙之处在于不 是由人物直接说出自己是什么样的人， 而是让他在独白中往往不知不觉地把自 己的本质、性格戏剧性地暴露出来。

A tabard is a short coat common for men during the Middle Ages. Generally used while outdoors, the coat was either sleeveless or had short sleeves or shoulder pieces.
Structure



The structure of the Tales is largely linear, with one story following another, it is also much more than that. In the General Prologue, Chaucer describes, not the tales to be told, but the people who will tell them, making it clear that structure will depend on the characters rather than a general theme or moral. General themes and points of view arise as tales are told which are responded to by other characters in their own tales, sometimes after a long lapse in which the theme has not been addressed.
Literature Is True.
ຫໍສະໝຸດ Baidu


First of all, literature is true to the facts of real life. Then, literature is true because of the indirectly stated ideas that the authors present in literary works. Finally, what we readers usually encounter in literary works are the typical characters and probable actions.
Major Literary Schools


Classicism and neoclassicism Romanticism Realism Naturalism Modernism Postmodernism
Geoffrey Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer, known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was the first poet to be buried in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey.

The knight is a respectable, honoured and noble man. He is also honest, brave and modest.
What Is Literature?
Types of Literature



Literature may be classified into four categories: 1. Prose fiction 2. Poetry 3. Drama 4. Nonfiction
Types of Literature
Exercises

At the beginning of the tales, we can easily find out the tales happened in the early spring. The scenery was full of power and hope. It is the symbol of humanity’s recovery. Perhaps the tales following describe a lively and lovely atmosphere.
Features



Roughly speaking, the essential qualities of literature are characterized by four features: Literature is language. Literature is fictional. Literature is true. Literature is aesthetic.
Types of Literature

The main purpose of nonfiction is to present truths and make logical conclusions about the factual world of history, science, and current events.
Influence in Literature

His meter would later develop into the heroic meter of the 15th and 16th centuries and is an ancestor of iambic pentameter.
Tabard
Why Do We Read Literature?

To acquire knowledge and wisdom To consolidate language competence To read for pleasure To improve understanding about life To cultivate capacity of artistic appreciation
人物影响



乔叟不仅创造了戏剧性独白，而且为英国文学 引进了许多其它文学体裁。 《坎特伯雷故事》堪称文学体裁的宝库。虽然 乔叟的故事集里只有21个完整的故事和另外一 些未完成的片段，它们却包括了当时欧洲的大 多数文学体裁，如骑士故事、市井故事、悲剧 故事、喜剧故事、传奇、圣徒传、历史传说、 宗教奇迹故事、动物寓言、宗教寓意故事、布 道词等等。 乔叟把悲剧故事体裁引入英国文学尤其具有特 殊意义。
文学特点




乔叟本人作为诗人来讲，他写作的大多数作品，特别是梦幻诗， 都取材于他的阅读，而非来源于生活。 “权威”而非“经验”或现实是他的写作来源。这也是符合中世 纪的文学传统的。 中世纪的主流文学，无论是宗教文学还是宫廷文学，实质上都是 远离现实生活，沉淀于人们头脑中的，并通过“权威”而为人们 所认可的世界里。 中世纪人生活艰难，战争、疾病、天灾、人祸无不威胁着他们的 日常生活，他们要么寄望于宗教，要么沉迷于理想化、程式化的 宫廷爱情和骑士精神，要么幻想一个遥远而美好的古典“黄金时 代”。 中世纪典型的文类如梦幻和寓意，都集中地反映了中世纪人游离 于现实之外的心理倾向，也确实能够让诗人摆脱现实生活的范围， 而自由地徜徉于一个由“权威”构建的虚幻的世界。 乔叟的主要作品对梦幻和书籍的倚重证明了他作为一个中世纪作 家的时代特性。


The essence of prose fiction is narration. Poetry strives towards brevity. Poetry expresses the most powerful and deeply felt experiences of human beings. Drama is designed for stage or film presentation by actors for the benefit and delight of the audience. The essence of drama is the development of character and situation through speech and action.
The Canterbury Tales

The Canterbury Tales is a collection of

stories built around a frame narrative, a common and already long established genre of its period. Chaucer's Tales differs from most other story "collections" in this genre chiefly in its intense variation.