考研英国文学复习要点(参照教材刘炳善《英国文学简史》)

PartOne:EarlyandMedievalEnglishLiterature1.Beowulf:nationalepicoftheEnglishpeople;Denmarkstory;alliteration,metaphorsandunderstatements（此处可能会有填空，选择等小题）2.Romance（名词解释）3.“SirGawainandtheGreenKnight”:afamousromanaboutKingArthur’sstory4.Ballad（名词解释）5.CharacterofRobinHood6.GeoffreyChaucer:founderofEnglishpoetry;TheCanterburyTales(maincontents;124storiesplanned,only24finished;writteninMiddleEnglish;significance;form:heroiccouplet)7.Heroiccouplet(名词解释)PartTwo:TheEnglishRenaissance8.TheAuthorizedVersionofEnglishBibleanditssignificance（填空选择）9.Renaissance（名词解释）10.ThomasMore——Utopia11.Sonnet（名词解释）12.Blankverse（名词解释）13.EdmundSpenser“TheFaerieQueene”;Amoretti(collectionofhissonnets)SpenserianStanza（名词解释）14.FrancisBacon“essays”esp.“OfStudies”（推荐阅读，学习写正式语体的英文文章的好参照，本文用词正式优雅，多排比句和长句，语言造诣非常高，里面很多话都可以引用做格言警句，非常值得一读）15.ChristopherMarlowe(“DoctorFaustus”andhisachievements)16.WilliamShakespeare可以说是英国文学史中最重要的作家，一定要看熟了。四大喜剧，四大悲剧比较重要，此外就是罗密欧与朱立叶了，这些剧的主题，背景，情节，人物形象都要熟悉，当然他最重要的喜剧作品是Hamlet这是肯定的。他的sonnet也很重要，最重要属sonnet18。（其戏剧中著名对白和几首有名的十四行诗可能会出选读）Lecture1Part1EarlyandMedievalEnglishLiterature“Early”heremeansEnglishliteratureinprimitiveandslaverysociety.“Medievalperiod”isaquitespecialperiodinEnglishhistory.InChinese“Medieval”or“TheMiddleAge”means“中世纪”.Youmayhearsomethingaboutthisperiod.Itwascalled“TheMiddleAge”becauseitwasconsideredasthetimebetweenancientworldandthemodernworld.Here“Medieval”meansEnglishliteratureinfeudalEnglandbeforetheRenaissance.I.EarlyEnglishLiterature(Anglo-SaxonLiterature)1,HistoricalBackground1TheearliestinhabitantsoftheBritishIsleswereBritons,atribeofCelts.TodaymostCeltslivedinScotlandandWales.2From55B.C.to410A.D.RomansconqueredtheGreatBritain.TheRomanarmywasledbyJuliusCaesar,whowasaveryfamousfigureinancientRome.HewasafamousgeneralandconqueredlotofplacesinEuropeandthenhebecamedictatorofRome.Hehadfamouswords“Icame,Isaw,Iconquered”.Youcanseehowstrongthisman’swillis.ConsequenceofRomanconquest:anetworkofhighways;scoresoftowns,includingLondon;Romanlifestyle3EnglishConquest•ShortlyafterRomans’retreat,theBritainwasinvadedbyAnglos,SaxonsandJutes.Andbythe7thcenturyOldEnglishemerged.•Anglo-Saxonperiodwitnessedatransitionfromtribalsocietytofeudalism.•Anglo-SaxonswereChristianizedinthe7thcentury.BeforeChristianization,Anglo-SaxonsbelievedinoldnorthernEuropeanmythologies.IfyouareinterestedinoldBritainmythologiesyoumayreadthefamousnovel“TheLordoftheRings”,whichwasacollectionofoldnorthernEuropeanmythologies.TheChristianizationofAnglo-SaxonsinfluencedtherecordofoldEnglishliterature.2,Beowulf——NationalepicofEnglishpeople1Definitionofepic:anextendednarrativepoeminelevatedordignifiedlanguage,celebratingthefeatsofalegendaryortraditionalhero2StoryofBeowulf•AskstudentstoreadthestoryofBeowulfontextbookbythemselvesandthenaskthem“Whatarethethreeadventuresmentionedinthestory?”•ThestoryofBeowulfincludesthreeadventures:killingmonsterGrendel,killingGrendel’smotherandkillingafiredragon.3Someimportantpoints•“Beowulf”isafolklegendbroughttoEnglandbyAnglo-Saxonsfromtheircontinentalhomes.HoweveritalsoreflectedthefeaturesofthetribalsocietyinBritain.•OriginallyBeowulf,thegreatepic,wasinoralformanditmustbeacollectivecreation.•Beowulfintheepicisalegendaryfigure.InformalhistoryyoucannotfindamannamedBeowulf.④Artisticfeaturesof“Beowulf”•UsingalliterationDefinitionofalliteration:arhetoricaldevice,meaningsomewordsinasentencebeginwiththesameconsonantsound（头韵）SomeexamplesonP5•UsingmetaphorandunderstatementDefinitionofunderstatement:expressingsomethinginacontrolledwayUnderstatementisatypicalwayforEnglishmentoexpresstheirideas.YoumayfindsomeexamplesonP6⑤EpictraditioninEuropelongnarrativeverse,part-historicalandpart-legendaryoriginThistraditioncanbetracedbacktoHomer’s“Iliad”and“Odyssey”.SimilarworksinEuropeare“Edda”and“Saga”fromIcelandetc.(referringto《欧洲文学史》)3,“Anglo-SaxonChronicle”•ThebookwasconceivedbyKingAlfredtheGreat.Healsoorganizedandsupervisedthewritingprocessofthebook.•ThisbookisaveryimportanthistoricaldocumentandspecimenofAnglo-Saxonprose.II,MedievalEnglishLiterature1,HistoricalBackground1Normanconquestin1066markstheestablishmentoffeudalisminEngland.2Bytheendofthe14thcentury,theMiddleEnglishemerged.3Theecclesiastics,fromthemonksandtheclergytothebishopsandarchbishops,togetherpossessedoveronethirdofthelandinthecountryandownednumerousserfs,andhadtheirtithesandecclesiasticalcourtsandthebackingofthePopeinRome.Theyhadmuchpoliticalaswellasreligiouspower.UnderstandingthegreatinfluenceofChristianityinthemedievalEuropeisveryimportantforyoutounderstandtheirliteraturebecauseChristianityisoneofthetworesourcesofEuropeanculture.(referringtoLecture22.TheRomance（骑士文学）1DefinitionoftheRomance:alongcomposition,sometimesinverse,sometimesinprose,describingthelifeandadventuresofanoblehero.(P10)*KnightisaspecialgroupofpeopleexistedintheMiddleAgeinEurope.Nearlyallnobleswereknights.However,nobodywasbornaknight.Onenoblemanwhowanttobecomeaknightmustexperiencehardtrainingandthenthekingwillgivehimknighthood.*CodesoftheKnight（骑士准则）:protecttheweak,fightforchurch,loyaltoyourlord,loya