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英美文学名词解释

名词解释(英国)Epic(叙事诗): Epic is a narrative poem on the grand scale and in majestic style concerning the exploits and adventures of a superhuman hero (or heroes) engaged in a quest or some serious endeavor. Among noted epics are Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, old English Beowulf and Milton’s Paradise Lost.Romance(传奇):A Romance is a long composition, in verse or in prose, describing the life and adventures of a noble hero. It generally concerns knights and involves a large amount of fighting as well as a number of miscellaneous adventures and a series of love stories.Ballad(民谣):Ballad is an anonymous narrative song, usually in 4-line stanzas, with the second and the fourth lines rhymed.Renaissance(文艺复兴):The word “Renaissance” means “rebirth”(of learning). The Renaissance period was marked by a reawakening of interest in learning, in the individual and in the world of nature. The revival of learning led scholars back to the culture of Greece and Rome. The rebirth of interest in the individual gave rise to a new appreciation of beauty, to a desire for self-expression in varied activities and to the creation of great works of art. The renewal of curiosity about the natural world ultimately drew men to discover new lands and new scientific truth. Humanism(人道主义):Humanism was a literary and philosophic system of thought which attempted to place the affairs of mankind at the centre of its concerns. According to humanists, man should mould the world according to his own desires, and attains happiness by removing all external checks by the exercise of the human intellect.Sonnet(十四行诗):A sonnet is a fourteen-line poem in iambic pentameter with a carefully patterned rhyme scheme. Puritanism(清教主义):Puritanism was the religiousdoctrine of revolutionarybourgeoisie during the EnglishRevolution. It preached thrift,sobriety, hard work andunceasing labor, with noextravagant enjoyment of thefruits of labor. Worldlypleasures were condemned asharmful. Puritans opposedchurches,squandering property.Enlightenment(启蒙运动):The movement, on the whole,an expression of the struggle ofthe bourgeoisie againstfeudalism, class inequality,stagnation and prejudices. Theenlighteners believed in thepower of reason and thewatchword was CommonSense.Neo-classicism(新古典主义):Modeling itself on theliterature of ancient Greece andRome, neoclassicism exalts thevirtues of proportion, unity,harmony, grace, taste, manners,and restraint. It values realismand reason over imaginationand emotion. Wit and satireflourished in this period, as didthe ode and verse written inheroic couplets.Romanticism(浪漫主义):Romanticism is a movementprevailing the Western world inthe 19th century in literature,art, music and philosophy,beginning as a reaction andprotest against the bondage ofrules and customs ofneo-classicism to unfetterhuman spirit. It returned tonature and plain humanity formaterial. It is a movement ofexpression of individualoriginality. Imagination ishighlighted and a dream ofgolden age is required againststern reality.Critical Realism(批判现实主义):Critical realistsdescribed with much vividnessand artistic skill the chief traitsof the English society andcriticized the capitalist systemfrom a democratic viewpoint.In their best works, the greedand hypocrisy of the upperclasses are contrasted with thehonesty and good-heartednessof the obscure “simple people”of the lower classes. Humorand satire abound. Withoutfinding a way of solution, theydo not point toward revolutionbut rather evolution orreformism with happy endings.Aestheticism(唯美主义):Thebasic theory of the Aestheticmovement---“art for art’s sake”.Aestheticism places art abovelife, and holds that life shouldimitate art, not art imitate life.According to the aesthetes, allartistic creation is absolutelysubjective as opposed toobjective. Only when art is forart’s sake, can it be immortal.Stream of Consciousness(意识流小说):First, it reveals theaction or plot through themental processes of thecharacters. Second, characterdevelopment is achievedthrough revelation of extremelypersonal and often typicalthought processes. Third, theaction of the plot seldomcorresponds to realchronological time, but movesback and forth through presenttime to memories of pastevents and dreams of the future.Fourth, it replaces narration,description, and commentarywith interior monologue andfree association.Women’s Movement(女性运动):feminism is a belief in thesocial, political and economicequality of the sexes, and amovement organized aroundthe conviction that biologicalsex should not be thepre-determinant factor shapinga person's social identity orsocio-political or economicrights.Oedipus Complex(恋母情结):In Greek myth, Oedipus isthe king who is said to kill hisfather and marry his mother.According to Freud, childrenmay have sexual drivessubconsciously toward theopposite parent. Here, Oedipuscomplex refers to that boy’sobsession to his mother. InEnglish literature, Lawrence isthe first to introduce malecharacters’ impotence tofemales because of mother’sexcessive love.。

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