英国文学论文.docx

judging the social visage development from the history of english literature(从文学史看到英国社会的变迁)abstracta certain period of culture is the reaction of a period of economic and political. literature belongs to the category of culture. further more literature is also a significant part of culture. chinese historian usually analyse the style or other characteristic of ancient literary works in the exact period so that they could get some information about economy, politics, humanrism, even important incidents, which provide great value in research .from my opinion, the method i mentioned is universal . linking to the english literature course ive taken, i think i can get more meaningful information more than literature. the method of drawing inferences about other cases from one instance can be widely used in every aspect. combining with some knowledge that we get from other courses, we will have a more effective learning which promotes our impression more profound. so if we exploit the english literature with a wide view, we may fetch more things. that will benefit us. i will reveal one aspect through the whole passage: the social visage. i will reveal the social visage in every english literature period. some period will be emphasis , others will be briefly introduced, even be negelect. the details depends on the importance of each period. errors and mistakes in the passage are unavoidable, and i sincerely invite the teacher to offer me the comments, advice and criticism.key word:history,literature,developmnet1. the definition of english literaturethere are many different definition of english literature. firstly, i list a definition from wikipedia: english literature is the literature which is distinctly written in the english language, as opposed to differing languages. english literature includes literature composed in english by writers not necessarily from england nor primarily english-speaking nations. in other words, english literature is as diverse as the varieties and dialects of english spoken around the world in countries originally colonized by the british. from the definition we know that english literature is written with english no matter who the writer comes from. the definition is so wide that we may not grasp anything other than literature from britain. the writer from other countries can not get a well known about britain, even less than a common english. so our target can not realize. so i give a limitation to the definition: english literature is the literature which is written by english writer. the word of english literature once be metioned in the passage, the definition will be adapted.2. history of english literature2.1 old english literature: 4501100old english literature, or anglo-saxon literature, encompasses literature written in old english in anglo-saxon england, in the period after the settlement of the saxons and other germanic tribes in england after the withdrawal of the romans and ending soon after the norman conquest in 1066; that is, c. 110050. these works include genres such as epic poetry, hagiography, sermons, bible translations, legal works, chronicles, riddles, and others. in all there are about 400 surviving manuscripts from the period.2.2 middle english literature: 11001500after the norman conquest of england in 1066, the written form of the anglo-saxon language became less common, and under the influence of the new aristocracy, law french became the standard language of courts, parliament, and polite society. as the invaders integrated, their language and literature mingled with that of the natives and the norman dialects of the ruling classes became anglo-norman. at the same time anglo-saxon underwent a gradual transition into middle english. political power was no longer in english hands, so that the west saxon literary language had no more influence than any other dialect and middle english literature was written in the many dialects that correspond to the region, history, culture, and background of individual writers.2.3 english renaissance: 15001660 following the introduction of a printing press into england by william caxton in 1476, vernacular literature flourished. the reformation inspired the production of vernacular liturgy which led to the book of common prayer, a lasting influence on literary english language. the english renaissance was a cultural and artistic movement in england dating from the late 15th and early 16th centuries to the 17th century. it is associated with the pan-european renaissance that is usually regarded as beginning in italy in the late 14th century. like most of northern europe, england saw little of these developments until more than a century later. renaissance style and ideas, however, were slow in penetrating england, and the elizabethan era in the second half of the 16th century is usually regarded as the height of the english renaissance.2.4 neo-classical period: 16601798 it include 3 parts: restoration age(16601700) ,augustan literature (17001750), age of sensibility(17501798).restoration literature includes both paradise lost and the earl of rochesters sodom, the high spirited sexual comedy of the country wife and the moral wisdom of pilgrims progress. the term augustan literature derives from authors of the 1720s and 1730s themselves, who responded to a term that george i of england preferred for himself. while george i meant the title to reflect his might, they instead saw in it a reflection of ancient romes transition from rough and ready literature to highly political and highly polished literature. the age of sensibility, which is also sometimes described as the age of johnson.93 samuel johnson (17091784), often referred to as dr johnson, was an english author who made lasting contributions to english literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. johnson has been described as arguably the most distinguished man of letters in english history.94 he is also the subject of the most famous single work of biographical art in the whole of literature.2.5 19th-century literature(1798-1901)2.5.1 romanticism (17981837)romanticism was an artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that originated in europe toward the end of the 18th century. various dates are given for the romantic period in british literature, but here the publishing of lyrical ballads in 1798 is taken as the beginning, and the crowning of queen victoria in 1837 as its end.2.5.2 victorian literature (18371901)it was in the victorian era (18371901) that the novel became the leading literary genre in english. women played an important part in this rising popularity both as authors and as readers. monthly serializing of fiction encouraged this surge in popularity, due to a combination of the rise of literacy, technological advances in printing, and improved economics of distribution.2.6 20th-century genre literature(1901-now).in the later decades of the 20th century, the genre of science fiction begun to be taken more seriously because of the work of writers such as arthur c. clarkes, isaac asimov, ursula le guin, michael moorcock and kim stanley robinson. another prominent writer in this genre, douglas adams, is particularly associated with the comic science fiction work, the hitchhikers guide to the universe, which began life as a radio series in 1978. mainstream novelists such doris lessing and margaret atwood also wrote works in this genre, while scottish novelist ian m. banks has also achieved a reputation as both a writer of traditional and science fiction novels.3. the social visagefor this part, i will list 2writer. according to the period they lived. i will introduce something about the social visage.3.1 william shakespearewilliam shakespeare (26 april 1564 (baptised) 23 april 1616) was an english poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the english language and the worlds pre-eminent dramatist.1 he is often called englands national poet and the bard of avon. his extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and a few other verses, the authorship of some of which is uncertain. his plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.it is not known exactly when shakespeare began writing, but contemporary allusions and records of performances show that several of his plays were on the london stage by 1592. by then, he was sufficiently well known in london to be attacked in print by the playwright robert greene in his groats-worth of wit:there is an upstart crow, beautified with our feathers, that with his tigers heart wrapped in a players hide, supposes he is as well able to bombast out a blank verse as the best of you: and being an absolute johannes factotum, is in his own conceit the only shake-scene in a country.scholars differ on the exact meaning of these words, but most agree that greene is accusing shakespeare of reaching above his rank in trying to match university-educated writers such as christopher marlowe, thomas nashe and greene himself (the university wits). the italicised phrase parodying the line oh, tigers heart wrapped in a womans hide from shakespeares henry vi, part 3, along with the pun shake-scene, identifies shakespeare as greenes target. here johannes factotumjack of all trades means a second-rate tinkerer with the work of others, rather than the more common universal genius.greenes attack is the earliest surviving mention of shakespeares career in the theatre. biographers suggest that his career may have begun any time from the mid-1580s to just before greenes remarks. from 1594, shakespeares plays were performed by only the lord chamberlains men, a company owned by a group of players, including shakespeare, that soon became the leading playing company in london. after the death of queen elizabeth in 1603, the company was awarded a royal patent by the new king, james i, and changed its name to the kings men.in 1599, a partnership of company members built their own theatre on the south bank of the river thames, which they called the globe. in 1608, the partnership also took over the blackfriars indoor theatre. records of shakespeares property purchases and investments indicate that the company made him a wealthy man. in 1597, he bought the second-largest house in stratford, new place, and in 1605, he invested in a share of the parish tithes in stratford.some of shakespeares plays were published in quarto editions from 1594. by 1598, his name had become a selling point and began to appear on the title pages. shakespeare continued to act in his own and other plays after his success as a playwright. the 1616 edition of ben jonsons works names him on the cast lists for every man in his humour (1598) and sejanus his fall (1603). the absence of his name from the 1605 cast list for jonsons volpone is taken by some scholars as a sign that his acting career was nearing its end. the first folio of 1623, however, lists shakespeare as one of the principal actors in all these plays, some of which were first staged after volpone, although we cannot know for certain which roles he played. in 1610, john davies of hereford wrote that good will played kingly roles. in 1709, rowe passed down a tradition that shakespeare played the ghost of hamlets father. later traditions maintain that he also played adam in as you like it and the chorus in henry v, though scholars doubt the sources of the information.shakespeare divided his time between london and stratford during his career. in 1596, the year before he bought new place as his family home in stratford, shakespeare was living in the parish of st. helens, bishopsgate, north of the river thames. he moved across the river to southwark by 1599, the year his company constructed the globe theatre there. by 1604, he had moved north of the river again, to an area north of st pauls cathedral with many fine houses. there he rented rooms from a french huguenot named christopher mountjoy, a maker of ladies wigs and other headgear.3.2 jack londonjohn griffith jack london (born john griffith chaney, january 12, 1876 november 22, 1916) was an american author, journalist, and social activist. he was a pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction and was one of the first fiction writers to obtain worldwide celebrity and a large fortune from his fiction alone. he is best remembered as the author of the call of the wild and white fang, both set in the klondike gold rush, as well as the short stories to build a fire, an odyssey of the north, and love of life.citation needed he also wrote of the south pacific in such stories as the pearls of parlay and the heathen, and of the san francisco bay area in the sea wolf.london shared common californian concerns about asian immigration and the yellow peril, which he used as the title of a 1904 essay. this theme was also the subject of a story he wrote in 1910 called the unparalleled invasion. presented as a historical essay narrating events between 1976 and 1987, the story describes a china with an ever-increasing population taking over and colonizing its neighbors, with the intention of taking over the entire earth. the western nations respond with biological warfare and bombard china with dozens of the most infectious diseases.many of londons short stories are notable for their empathetic portrayal of mexican (the mexican), asian (the chinago), and hawaiian (koolau the leper) characters. londons war correspondence from the russo-japanese war, as well as his unfinished novel cherry, show he admired much about japanese customs and capabilities, which has lead to big popularity of london (considered a japanophile) among the japanese, who consider themselve rather positively portrayed by him.in londons 1902 novel daughter of the snows, the character frona welse has a speech about teutonic virtues in contrast to the characteristics of other races. the scholar andrew furer, in a long essay exploring the complexity of londons views, says there is no doubt that frona welse is acting as a mouthpiece for london in this passage.londons 1904 essay, the yellow peril, criticizes asians. he admits, it must be taken into consideration that the above postulate is itself a product of western race-egotism, urged by our belief in our own righteousness and fostered by a faith in ourselves which may be as erroneous as are most fond race fancies.in koolau the leper, london describes koolau, who is a hawaiian leperand thus a very different sort of superman than martin edenand who fights off an entire cavalry troop to elude capture, as indomitable spirituallya . magnificent rebel. this character is based on hawaiian leper kaluaikoolau who revolted and resisted capture from forces of the provisional government of hawaii in the kalalau valley in 1893.jeffries (left) vs. johnson, 1910 an amateur boxer and avid boxing fan, london reported on the 1910 johnson-jeffries fight, in which the black boxer jack johnson vanquished jim jeffries, the great white hope. in 1908, according to furer, london praised johnson highly, contrasting the black boxers coolness and intellectual style, with the apelike appearance and fighting style of his white opponent, tommy burns: what . . . won on saturday was bigness, coolness, quickness, cleverness, and vast physical superiority. because a white man wishes a white man to win, this should not preve