英国文学术语汇编Part I01. Humanism (人文主义)Humanism is the essence of the Renaissance. It emphasizes the dignity of human beings and the importance of the present life. Humanists voiced their beliefs that man was the center of the universe and man did not only have the right to enjoy the beauty of the present life, but had the ability to perfect himself and to perform wonders.02. Renaissance (文艺复兴)The word “Renaissance” means “rebirth”, it meant the reintroduction into Western Europe of the full cultural heri tage of Greece and Rome.2>the essence of the Renaissance is Humanism. Attitudes and feelings which had been characteristic of the 14th and 15th centuries persisted well down into the era of Humanism and reformation.3> the real mainstream of the English Renaissance is the Elizabethan drama with William Shakespeare being the leading dramatist.03. Metaphysical poetry (玄学派诗歌)Metaphysical poetry is commonly used to name the work of the 17th century writers who wrote under the influence of John Donne.2>with a rebellious spirit, the Metaphysical poets tried to break away from the conventional fashion of the Elizabethan love poetry.3>the diction is simple as compared with that of the Elizabethan or the Neoclassical periods, and echoes the words and cadences of common speech.4>the imagery is drawn from actual life.04. Classicism (古典主义)Classicism refers to a movement or tendency in art, literature, or music that reflects the principles manifested in the art of ancient Greece and Rome. Classicism emphasizes the traditional and the universal, and places value on reason, clarity, balance, and order. Classicism, with its concern for reason and universal themes, is traditionally opposed to Romanticism, which is concerned with emotions and personal themes.05. Enlightenment (启蒙运动)Enlightenment movement was a progressive philosophical and artistic movement which flourished in France and swept through western Europe in the 18th century.2> the movement was a furtherance of the Renaissance from 14th century to the mid-17th century.3>its purpose was to enlighten the whole world with the light of modern philosophical and artistic ideas.4>it celebrated reason or rationality, equality and science. It advocated universal education.5>famous among the great enlighteners in England were those great writers like Alexander pope, Jonathan Swift. etc.06. Neoclassicism (新古典主义)1>In the field of literature, the enlightenment movement brought about a revival of interest in the old classical works.2>this tendency is known as neoclassicism. The Neoclassicists held that forms of literature were to be modeled after the classical works of the ancient Greek and Roman writers such as Homer and Virgil and those of the contemporary French ones.3> they believed that the artistic ideals should be order, logic, restrained emotion and accuracy, and that literature should be judged in terms of its service to humanity.07. The Graveyard School (墓园派诗歌)1>The Graveyard School refers to a school of poets of the 18th century whose poems are mostly devoted to a sentimental lamentation or meditation on life, past and present, with death and graveyard as themes.2>Thomas Gray is considered to be the leading figure of this school and his Elegy written in a country churchyard is its most representative work.08. Romanticism (浪漫主义)An artistic and intellectual movement originating in Europe in the late 18th century which emphasis on the individual…s expression of emotion and imagination, departure from the attitudes and forms of classicism.1> it was characterized by a strong protest against the bondage of neoclassicism, which emphasized reason, order and elegant wit. Instead, romanticism gave primary concern to passion, emotion, and natural beauty.2>In the history of literature. Romanticism is generally regarded as the thought that designates a literary and philosophical theory which tends to see the individual as the very center of all life and experience.3> the English romantic period is an age of poetry, which prevailed in England from 1798 to 1837. The major romanticpoets include Wordsworth, Byron, and Shelley.09. Byronic Hero (拜伦式英雄)1>Byronic hero refers to a proud, mysterious rebel figure of noble origin.2> with immense superiority in his passions and powers, this Byronic Hero would carry on his shoulders the burden of righting all the wrongs in a corrupt society. And would rise single-handedly against any kind of tyrannical rules either in government, in religion, or in moral principles with unconquerable wills and inexhaustible energies.3> Byron‟s chief contribution to english literature is his creation of the “Byronic Hero”.10. Critical Realism (批判现实主义)Critical Realism is a term applied to the realistic fiction in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.2> It means the tendency of writers and intellectuals in the period between 1875 and 1920 to apply the methods of realistic fiction to the criticism of society and the examination of social issues.3> Realist writers were all concerned about the fate of the common people and described what was faithful to reality.4> Charles Dickens is the most important critical realist.11. Modernism (现代主义)1. Modernism is comprehensive but vague term for a movement , which begin in the late 19th century and which has had a wide influence internationally during much of the 20th century.2> modernism takes the irrational philosophy and the theory of psycho-analysis as its theoretical case.3> the term pertains to all the creative arts. Especially poetry, fiction, drama, painting, music and architecture.4> in England from early in the 20th century and during the 1920s and 1930s, in America from shortly before the first world war and on during the inter-war period, modernist tendencies were at their most active and fruitful.5>as far as literature is concerned, Modernism reveals a breaking away from established rules, traditions and conventions. Fresh ways of looking at man‟s position and function in the universe and many experiments in form and style. It is particularly concerned with language and how to use it and with writing itself.12. the Age of Realism (现实主义时期)1).Realism was a reaction against Romanticism and paved the way to Modernism;2).During this period a new generation of writers, dissatisfied with the Romantic ideas in the older generation, came up with a new inspiration. This new attitude was characterized by a great interest in the realities of life. It aimed at the interpretation of the realities of any aspect of life, free from subjective prejudice, idealism, or romantic color. Instead of thinking about the my steries of life and death and heroic individualism, people‟s attention was now directed to the interesting features of everyday existence, to what was brutal or sordid, and to the open portrayal of class struggle;3) so writers began to describe the integrity of human characters reacting under various circumstances and picture the pioneers of the far west, the new immigrants and the struggles of the working class;13. Naturalism (自然主义)1>Naturalism is a literary movement related to and sometimes described as an extreme form of realism but which may be more appropriately considered as a parallel to philosophic Naturalism.2>as a more deliberate kind of realism Naturalism usually involves a view of human beings as passive victims of natural forces and social environment. In Naturalism a more documentary-like approach is in evidence, with a great stress on how environment and heredity shape people.3>As a literary movement, Naturalism was initiated in France.4> Naturalist fiction aspired to a sociological objectivity, offering detailed and fully researched investigations into unexplored concerns of modern society.14. Metaphysical poets (玄学派诗人）It is the name given to a diverse group of 17th century English poets whose work is notable for its ingenious use of intellectual and theological concepts in surprising conceits, strange paradoxes and far-fetched imagery. The leading Metaphysical poets was John Donne, whose colloquial, argumentative abruptness of rhythm and tone distinguishes his style from the conventions of Elizabethan love lyrics.15. Feminism(女权主义)Feminism incorporates both a doctrine of equal rights for women and an ideology of social transformation aiming to create a world for women beyond simple social equality.2>in general, femini sm is ideology of women‟s liberation basedon the belief that women suffer injustice because of their sex. Under this broad umbrella various feminisms offer differing analyses of the causes, or agents, of female oppression.3> definitions of feminism by feminists tend to be shaped by their training, ideology or race. So, for example, Marxist and socialist feminists stress the interaction within feminism of class with gender and focus on social distinctions between men and women. Black feminists argue much more for an integrated analysis which can unlock the multiple systems of oppression.Part II1. Alexandrine (亚历山大诗行)1>The name is derived from the fact that certain 12th and 13th century French poems on Alexander the Great were written in this meter.2>It is an iambic line of six feet, which is the French heroic verse.2. Allegory (寓言)1>Allegory is a story told to explain or teach something. Especially a long and complicated story with an underlying meaning different from the surface meaning of the story itself.2>allegorical novels use extended metaphors to convey moral meanings or attack certain social evils. Characters in these novels often stand for different values such as virtue and vice.3>Bunyan‟s Pilgrim’s Progress and Melville‟s Moby Dick are such examples.3. Ballad (民谣)1>Ballad is a story in poetic from to be sung or recited. 2>.ballads were passed down from generation to generation.3>Coleridge‟s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is a 19th century English ballad.4. Blank Verse (无韵诗)Blank verse is unrhymed poetry. Typically in iambic pentameter, and as such, the dominant verse form of English dramatic and narrative poetry since the mid-16th century.5. Climax (高潮)The point of greatest intensity, interest, or suspense in a s tory‟s turning poin t. The action leading to the climax and the simultaneous increase of tension in the plot are known as the rising action. All action after the climax is referred to as the falling action, or resolution. The term crisis is sometimes used interchangeably with climax.6. Canto (诗章)1>Canto is a section of division of an epic or narrative poem comparable to a chapter in a novel.2>the most famous cantos in literature are those that make up Dante‟s Divine comedy, a 14th century epic.7. Comedy (喜剧)Comedy is a light form of drama that aims primarily to amuse and that ends happily. Since it strives to provoke smile and laughter, both wit and humor are utilized. In general, the comic effect arises from recognition of some incongruity of speech, action, or character revelation, with intricate plot.8.Conceit (奇特比喻)1>Conceit is a far-fetched simile or metaphor, a literary conceit occurs when the speaker compares two highly dissimilar things.2>conceit is extensively employed in John Donne‟s poetry.9. Elegy (挽歌)Elegy has typically been used to refer to reflective poems that lament the loss of something or someone, and characterized by their metrical form.10. Epic (史诗)1>Epic, in poetry, refers to a long work dealing with the actions of goods and heroes.2>Epic poems are not merely entertaining stories of legendary or or historical heroes; they summarize and express the nature or ideals of an entire nation at a significant or crucial period of its history.3>Beowulf is the greatest national Epic of the Anglo-Saxons.11. Epigram (警句)A short, witty, pointed statement often in the form of a poem.12. Epistolary novel （书信体小说）It‟s a novel told through the medium of letters written by one or more of the characters. Originating with SamuelRichardson‟s Pamela, or, Virtue Rewarded (1740), the story of a servant girl‟s victorious struggle against her master‟s attempts to seduce her, it was one of the earliest forms of novel to be developed and remained one of the most popular up to the 19th century. The epistolary novel‟s reliance on subjective points of view makes it the forerunner of the modern psychological novel.13. Foot (音步) It is a rhythmic unit, a specific combination of stressed and unstressed syllables.14. 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. Gothic novel emphasizes things which are grotesque, violent, mysterious, supernatural, desolate and horrifying.15. Heroic Couplet (英雄对偶句/英雄双行体)The Heroic Couplet means a pair of lines of a type once common in English poetry, in other words, it means iambic pentameter rhymed in two lines.16. Iamb (抑扬格) It is the most commonly used foot in English poetry, in which an unstressed syllable comes first, followed by a stressed syllable.17. Iambic pentameter (五音步诗)Iambic pentameter is the most common english meter, in which each foot contains an unaccented syllable and an accented syllable.ke Poets (湖畔诗人)In English literature Lake Poets refer to such romantic poets as William Wordsworth, Coleridge and Southey who lived in the Lake District. They came to be known as the lake school or Lakers.19. Lyric (抒情诗)1>Lyric is a short poem wherein the poet expresses an emotion or illustrates some life principle.2>Lyric often concerns love. 3>the elegy, ode and sonnet are all forms of the lyric.20. Morality plays (道德剧)A kind of medieval and early Renaissance drama that presents the conflict between the good and evil through allegorical characters. The characters tend to be personified abstractions of vices and virtues, which can be named as Mercy. Conscience,etc. unlike a mystery or a miracle play, morality play does not necessarily use Biblical or strictly religious material because it takes place internally and psychologically in every human being.21. Metaphor (暗喻)A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two things that are basically dissimilar. Unlike simile, a metaphor does not use a connective word such as like, as, or resembles in making the comparison.22. Miracle play (奇迹剧)A popular religious drama of medieval England. Miracle plays were based on stories of the saints or on sacred history.23. Motif (主题)A recurring feature (such as a name, an image, or a phrase) in a work of literature. A motif generally contributes in some way to the theme of a short story, novel, poem, or play. At times, motif is used to refer to some commonly used plot or character type in literature.24. Motivation (动机)The reasons, either stated or implied, for a character‟s behavior. To make a story believable, a writer must provide characters with motivation sufficient to explain what they do. Characters may be motivated by outside events, or they may be motivated by inner needs or fears.25. Multiple Point of View (多视角)It is one of the literary techniques William Faulkner used, which shows within the same story how the characters reacted differently to the same person or the same situation. The use of this technique gave the story a circular form wherein one event was the center, with various points of view radiating from it. The multiple points of view technique makes the reader recognize the difficulty of arriving at a true judgment.26. Novel (小说)A book-length fictional prose narrative, having may characters and often a complex plot.27. Ode (颂歌)Ode 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.2> John Keats wrote great Odes, his Ode on a Grecian Urn is a case in point.28. Oedipus Complex (俄狄浦斯情结/ 弑父恋母情结)Oedipus complex is a term coined by Sigmund Freud to designate a son‟s subconscious feeling of love toward his mother and jealousy and hatred toward his father.2>wrence‟s Sons and lovers is a case in point.29.Omniscience (无所不知的) Point of ViewThe narrator is capable of knowing, seeing and telling all the actions of the character. And the narrator feels free to make comments on the meaning of actions.2> it is characterized by freedom in shifting from the exterior world to the inner selves of a number of characters and by a freedom in movement both in time and space.30. Paradox (自相矛盾)A statement that reveals a kind of truth, although it seems at first to be self-contradictory and untrue.31. Protagonist and Antagonist (正面人物与反面人物)In literary work protagonist refers to the hero or central character who is often hindered by some opposing force either human or animal. Antagonist is a person or force opposing the protagonist in a narrative; a rival of the hero or heroine.32. Psalm (圣歌) A song or lyric poem in praise of God.33. Pun (双关语)The use of a word or phrase to suggest two or more meaning at the same time. Puns are generally humorous.34. Pastoral (田园诗)A literary work dealing with and often celebrating a rural world and a way of life lived close to nature. It usually idealized shepherds‟ lives in order to create an image of peaceful and uncorrupted existence. Typically, pastoral liturgy depicts beautiful scenery, carefree shepherds, seductive nymphs, and rural songs and dances. A good example of pastoral poetic conventions occurs in Marlowe‟s The Passionate Shepherd to His Love.35. Psychological novel (心理小说)Psychological novel refers to a kind of novel that dwells on a complex Psychological development and presents much of the narration through the inner workings of the character‟s mind.36.Point of View (叙述角度)Point of view can be divided by the narrator‟s relationship with the character, represented by the grammatical person: the first-person narrative, the third-person narrative, and omniscient narrator.37. plot (情节)Plot refers to the structure of a story, 2> the plot of a literary work includes the rising action, the climax, the falling action and the resolution. It has a protagonist who is opposed by an antagonist, creating what is called conflict.38. Rhyme (押韵)Rhyme is the repetition of sounds at the ends of words. End rhyme occurs when rhyming words appear at the ends of lines. Internal rhyme occurs when rhyming words fall within a line.39. Rhythm (韵律)It is one of the three basic elements of traditional poetry. It is the arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables into a pattern. Rhythm often gives a poem a distinct musical quality. Poets also use rhythm to echo meaning.40. Setting (背景)The time and place in which the events in a short story, novel, play or narrative poem occur. Setting can give us information, vital to plot and theme. Often, setting and character will reveal each other.41. Short Story (短篇小说)A short story is a brief prose fiction, usually one that can be read in a single setting. It generally contains the six major elements of fiction—characterization, setting, theme, plot, point of view, and style.42. Simile (明喻)(a figure of speech) A comparison make between two things through the use of a specific word of comparison, such aslike, as than, or resembles. The comparison must be between two essentially unlike things.43. Satire (讽刺)1>Satire means a kind of writing that holds up to ridicule or contempt the weakness and wrongdoings of individuals, groups, institutions, or humanity in general.2> the aim of satirists is to set a moral standard for society, and they attempt to persuade the reader to see th eir point of view through the force of laughter.3> Swift‟s Gulliver‟s Travels is a great satire of the English society from different aspects.44. Soliloquy (独白)1>Soliloquy, in drama, means a moment when a character is alone and speaks his or her thoughts aloud.2>the line “to be, or not to be, that is the question”, which begins the famous soliloquy from Shakespeare‟s Hamlet.45.Sonnet (十四行诗)It is a lyric poem of 14 lines with a formal or recited and characterized by its presentation of a dramatic or exciting episode in simple narrative form.2>it is one of the most conventional and influential forms of poetry in Europe.3>Shakespeare‟s sonnets are well-known.Shakespearean sonnet (莎士比亚十四行诗)Shakespearean sonnet consists of three quatrains and a couplet (rhyming abab cdcd efef gg).Italian or Petrarchan sonnet(意大利十四行诗)Italian or Petrarchan sonnet is composed of an octave and s sestet (rhyming abbaabba cdecde).46. Spenserian Stanza (斯宾塞诗节)Spenserian Stanza is the creation of Edmund Spenser.2>it refers to a stanza of nine lines, with the first eight lines in iambic pentameter(五音步抑扬格) and the last line in iambic hexameter(六音步抑扬格),rhyming ababbcbcc. 3> Spenser‟s The Faerie Queen was written in this kind of stanza.47. Stanza (诗节)Stanza is a group of lines of poetry, usually four or more, arranged according to a fixed plan.2>the stanza is the unit of structure in a poem and poets do not vary the unit within a poem.48. Symbolism (象征主义)Symbolism works under the surface to tie the story‟s external action to the theme. It was often produced through allegory, giving the literal event and its allegorical counterpart a one-to-one correspondence.49. Theme (主题)Theme means t he unifying point or general idea of a literary work.2>it provides an answer to such ques tion as “what is the work about”3>each literary work carries its own theme or themes.50. Theatre of the Absurd (荒谬剧)1>The absurd is a kind of drama that explains an existential ideology and presents a view of the absurdity of the human condition by the abandoning of usual or rational devices and the use of nonrealistic form.2>the most original playwright of the theater of absurd is Samuel Beckett, who wrote about human beings living a meaningless life in a alien, decaying world.51. The Angry young men (愤怒的青年)In the mid-1950s and early 1960s, there appeared a group of young novelists and playwrights with lower-middle-class or working-class background, who were known as “The Angry young men”2> they demonstrated a particular disillusion over the depressing situation in Britain and launched a bitter protest against the outmoded social and political values in their society.3> Kinsley Amis is a leading figure of this group.52. University Wits (大学才子)University Wits refer to a group of scholars during the Elizabethan Age who graduated from either oxford or Cambridge. They came to London with the ambition to become professional writers. Some of them later became famous poets and playwrights. They were called” University Wits”。
