英美文学名词解释

Epic:

A long narrative poem telling about the deeds of a great hero and reflecting th e values of the society from which it originated.The style of epic is grand宏伟的and elevated高尚的.

John Milton wrote three great epics: Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained and S amson Agonistes.

Sonnet(十四行诗

A sonnet is a lyric consisting of 14 lines, usually in iambic pentameter restricted to a definition rhyme scheme Renaissance

the activity, spirit, or time of the great revival复活of art, literature, and learning in Europe beginning in the 14th century and extending to the 17th century, marking the transition过渡from the medieval to the modern world.the essence of the Renaissance is Humanism

The Renaissance Period

A period of drama and poetry. The Elizabethan drama is the real mainstream of the English Renaissance.

Humanism人文主义

Humanism is the essence of the Renaissance.

2> it emphasizes the dignity of human beings and the importan ce of the present life. Humanists voiced their beliefs that man w as the center of the universe and man did not only have the rig

ht to enjoy the beauty of the present life, but had the ability to perfect himself and to perform wonders.

lake poets 湖畔诗人

refer to The three romantic poets Wordsworth, Coleridge and Southey who lived in the Lake District in the England

and wrote poems about nature .

English Romanticism (浪漫主义):

1)a movement in literature, philosophy, music and art from late 18th century to early 19th century in Europe.

2)emphasized individual values (个人价值）and aspirations（志向，抱负）above those of society.

4)the characteristics of Romanticism（浪漫主义文学特色）:Passion / emotion ,Individualism 5)Representative writers(代表作家）:Blake, shelley,Byron,Wordsworth

Critical Realism(批判现实主义)

1)The Critical Realism of the 19th century flourished in the forties and in the beginning of fifties.

2)The realists first and foremost最初的set themselves the task of criticizing capitalist society from a democratic viewpoint and delineated描绘the crying contradictions矛盾of bourgeois资产阶级的reality. But they did not find a way to eradicate social

evils.3) Charls Dickens is the most important critical realist.

Gothic novel (哥特式小说):

Gothic novel is a type of romance very popular late in the 18th century and at the beginning of the 19th century. emphasizes things whi ch are grotesque, violent, mysterious, supernatural, desolate and horrifyi ng. With its description描述 of the dark, irrational荒繆

的 side of human nature.

American Romanticism:

1.from the end of the 18th century to the outbreak of the civil war . It started with the publication出版of Washington Irving’s The Sketch Book and ended with Whitman’s Leaves of Grass .

2.It was a rebellion反抗against the objectivity of rationalism. For romantics, the feelings, intuitions直觉and emotions were more important than reason and common sense;

3.emphasis on imagination, individualism.back to medieval and natural

The Lost Generation(迷惘的一代）：

Is a term used to characterize a general feeling of disillusionment of