《英国文学教案Part》doc版.doc

English Literature The Anglo-Saxon PeriodBasic concepts and requirements of this course1. whats literature? In English, we use the word in at least two different senses:very often it simply means anything that is written: timetables, catalogues, text-books, travel brochures (booklet/ pamphlet). In this broad sense, an account of yesterdays football match or an advertisement of soap powder, is as much literature as the Dialogues of Plato or the novels of D. H. Lawrence. But when we talk about English literature as we do in this course, we are using the word in a different, and perhaps more serious sense. Here we may agree that literature is writing which expresses & communicates thoughts, feelings & attitudes towards life. But someone may ask: what about advertisements, travel booklets, etc? They certainly seem to be expressing thoughts & feelings & attitudes, yet they are not literature in the sense in which we have how decided to use the word. This is because they lack one of the qualities that make serious literature so different from advertising or journalism. The quality, I have in mind, is permanence. Such things as journalism, advertising, & even works of information are “here today & gone tomorrow”, but literature is intended to last.To summarize what has been said, we may now say that literature is a permanent expression in words of some thoughts or feelings or ideas about life & the world.2. What is the usefulness of studying (English) Literature? (1) Increasing ones knowledge English literature is a mirror to the social life at different stages of English history. It is a general expression of the ideas, feelings & aesthetic judgments of writers from different social classes. It is also a direct or indirect & vivid expression of the relationship among people of different social classes, between people & society, people & nature, and the spirit & psychological state of people themselves. Therefore studying English literature, is one of the best ways for us to get a good command of English knowledge.(2) Improving ones language ability. Generally speaking, all that is best in a language finds expression in its literature. Dictionaries tell us about the spellings, pronunciations & definitions of words. The commonest way to learn the meaning of a word is to look it up in a dictionary. But dictionaries cannot show all the subtle shades of meaning of a word. The best way to study the meaning of a word is that of learning it between the lines in the works of major writers. For an intimate understanding of the language , we need to read literary works and to think about what we read. An author may contribute in various ways to the enrichment of the language he writes. He may do so directly by introducing new words or new usages of words, or indirectly by bringing those existing forms of expression into a general use among people.(3) Training ones thinking.(4) Fostering ones connoisseurship (the ability to appreciate a work of art)(5) Exerting a favorable influence on a persons feeling or character (or making us be better people; in other words., English literature is something from which we get moral education)(6) Enjoying oneself.(7) Enabling one to get more education or to appear well educated. etc. The Anglo-Saxon Period 1. Roman Conquest and the English Conqest The British civilization is one of the oldest in the world. One of its extant signs, the Stonehenge,dates back to 1400-1800 BC, when mankind was still wrapped in the mist of time. This prehistoric monumental pile of stones indicates a fairly advanced level of engineering and astronomy. As such advanced engineering and astronomy could only be part of a whole fairly advanced culture, and an advanced culture,as human history shows, has to have an advanced literature as its offshoot, the ancient people of the land must have had a prehistoric literature of their own.But whatever might have existed, in oral form or otherwise, nothing is left now except for some scrapes and fragments. It might have been destroyed by the Celts. The Celts were probably the first inhabitants of the British Isles in recorded history. These powerfully built and fairly-haired people were tenacious and loved war. One of their tribes, the Britons, came over in the 5th century BC,stayed for some five hundred years, and gave its name to the place: Britain means the land of the Britons. The Celts left behind a rich oral tradition of myths and legends, of which the Arthurian legends are an important part. About 55 BC, the Roman soldiers of Julius Caesar came to stay for five centuries and transplanted their civilization to the land. The Romans built roads and bridges, erected sculptures, and built baths beside the warm springs of Bath with heating systems in them. Then the cultural heritage of the Celts and the Romans was destroyed by the invading Anglo-Saxon in the 5th century. The Anglo-Saxons were a branch of the Germanic tribes who lived at the mouth of the Elbe and along the North Sea. They came over the sea, drove the Celts to the north and west, and slowly developed their own language and culture. Anglo-Saxon became Old English, and the place became England, or the Angle-land, “the land of the Angles.” The period was generally one of wars between the petty kingdoms in the land. In 597 AD the Anglo-Saxons began to be converted to Christianity. In the seond half of the 7th century, the first English poet Caedom began to sing. Another century passed and Beowulf, the first English poem still intact as a whole piece today, was composed in old English. In the 9th century King Alfred the Great defeated a new wave of invasion from Scandinavia and brought peace,security and prosperity to his kingdom. The king built schools,wrote annals and encouraged cultural growth. It was King Alfred who decided that literature should be written in the vernacular, or Old English. In 1057 Macbeth, king of Scotland, died only to be resurrected a few hundred years later in Shakespeares famous tragedy.2. Literature Now lets turn to the literature of the period under discussion. The Anglo-Saxon period was basically barren in literary creations. The reason for this was easily found: the fact that people wrote on animal skin and frequently scraped old things out to make room ro the new, or the destruction by wars or simply through loss to time-all accounted for the scarcity of writings still extant from the period. What has been left through the ravages of time is mostly fragments. These include both pagan and religious poems. For nearly two centuries into the period, pagan poetry and pagan spirit remained dominant on the poetic scene. It was essentially a body of heroic poetry. Mostly the poems were songs about wars, sea-faring, and violence in a cruel world with little or no tenderness or joy.The religious group is mainly on biblical themes. ( Genesis A, Genesis B and Exodus are poems based on the Old Testament; Whereas The Dream of the Rood comes from the New Testament(in this poem, Christ is portrayed as the young warrior striding to embrace death and victory, while the rood itself takes on the burden of his suffering.) The secular group represents the poetry or song which the Anglo-Saxons probably brought with them in the form of oral sagas.( The Wanderer, Deor, The Seafarer, and the Wifes Complaint are among the most beautiful. The harsh climate of North Sea strongly affected the tone or mood of the poets. The life is sorrowful, and the speakers are fatalistic, though at the same time courageous and determined. ) Literature characteristicsThe literature of this period is divided into pagan literature and Christian literature.The former represent poetry and in form of oral sagas.The later represents the writings developed under teaching of the monks.The poetry was copied by the monks and has the religious coloring.Most of works can not find its scribe.Caedmon, the father of English song, is the first known religious poet of England. He wrote a poetic Paraphrase of the bibleCynewulf produced the didactic poem The ChristAlfred the Great (848-901) wrote The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles. This book records the main happenings of the Anglo-Saxon period. It is the best monument of the Old English prose.Representative achievement of Anglo-Saxon periodThe Song of BeowulfThe Song of Beowulf is Englands national epic. It was written by an unknown scribe at the beginning of the 10th century and was discovered in 1705. It reflects events which took place approximately at the beginning of the 6th century.The epic consists of 3182 lines and is to be divided into two parts. The story takes place in Scandinavia, and there is no mention of England at all. The hero comes from Sweden, and performs his deeds in Denmark. The work was possibly brought over to England at the time of the Anglo-Saxon conquest, and was handed down by word of mouth from generation to generation until it was anonymously recorded in Anglo-Saxon, or Old English, in the 8th century.The main plot: Beowulfs fight with the monster Grendel in Hrothgars Hall Beowulfs slaying of Grendels mother in her hair. Beowulfs return in glory to his uncle, and his succession to the throne. Beowulfs victory in death, fifty years later, over the fire dragon.Writing Features of the Poem:Structurally speaking, Beowulf is built around three fights. The first part deals with the fight with between Beowulf and the monster Grendel that has been attacking the great hall of Heorot, built by Hrothgar, the Danish King. The second part involves a battle between Beowulf and Grendals mother a water-monster, who takes revenge by carrying off one of the kings noblemen. The last part is about the fight between Beowulf and a firedrake that ravages Beowulfs kingdom.Thematically the poem presents a vivid picture of how the primitive people wage heroic struggles against the hostile forces of the natural world under a wise and mighty leader. The poem is an example of the mingling of nature myths and heroic legends.Literary terms:Epic, in poetry, refers to a long work dealing with the actions of gods and heroes.Alliteration: a repeated initial consonant to successive words. e.g.1.To his kin the kindest, keenest for praise.2.Sing a song of southern singerEpic: It is, originally, an oral narrative poem, majestic both in theme and style. Epics deal with legendary or historical events of national or universal significance, involving action of broad sweep and grandeur. Typically, an epic includes several features: the introduction of supernatural forces that shape the action; conflict in the form of battles or other physical forces combat; and stylistic conventions such as an invocation to the Muse, and set speeches couched in elevated language. They summarize and express the nature or ideals of an entire nation at a significant or crucial period of its history. Eg: Iliad 伊利亚特，Odyssey奥德赛 Paradise Lost 失乐园，The Divine Comedy神曲。Writing Features of Beowulf It is not a Christian but a pagan poem of all advanced pagan civilization, presenting an all-around picture of the tribal society. So the poem has a great social significance The use of the strong stress and the predominance of consonants are very notable in this poem. Each line is divided into two halves, and each half has two heavy stresses The use of alliteration is another notable feature and makes the stresses more emphatic. Alliteration means a repetition of the initial sounds of several words in a line or group. Alliteration is a traditional poetic devices in English literature, eg: I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet. Part The Anglo-Norman PeriodHistorical background1. Norman ConquestThe date that even a child of three in England is supposed to know is 1066, and the year of the conquest of England by the French-speaking Normans. It was the year in which the Normans came under William the Conqueror, and the last Anglo-Saxon King Harold died with an arrow shot through his eye at the battle of Hastings. It was also the year that marked the beginning of the Middle English or Anglo-Norman period.(1) the establishment of the Feudal System: William the Conqueror did this effectively within a short space of time. He grabbed Anglo-Saxon land by force and gave it to his nobles and followers. These became lords of manors demanding allegiance from their Anglo-Saxon serfs and owed it to their immediate superiors.( the Normans from the northern France invaded England. In the year 1066, at the battle of Hastings, the Normans headed by William, Duke of Normandy, defeated the Anglo-Saxons, William claimed to the succssion to the English throne)(2) the 1381 Peasant Uprising: Within the system the nobles and the aristocratic had all the power and privilieges while the serfs remained as wretched as ever. The widespread disaffection led eventually to the peasants revolt in 1381 which was led by Wat Tyler of Kent and Jack Straw of Essex. They demanded the abolition of serf slavery and a general pardon. Though it was eventually put down, serfdom died out gradually.(30 the War with France or the Hundred Years War(1337-1453): Britain first won at Crecy and Agincourt, but was in the end driven out. That was the point at which the Norman nobles began to see England as their only home, Norman and Anglo-Saxon elements began to coalesce into one nation, and the English language started to revive.2. the influence of the Norman ConquestPolitically, a feudalist system was established in EnglandReligiously, the Rome-backed Catholic Church had a much stronger control over the countryOn language, three languages co-existed in England. French became the official language used by the king and the Norman lords; Latin became the principal tongue of church affairs and in universities; old English was spoken only by the common English people. . Literature With the Norman Conquest starts the medieval period in English literature, which covers about four centuries. From 1066 up to the mid-14th century, there was not much to say about literature in English. It was almost a barren period in literary creation. But in the seond half of the 14th century, English literature started to flourish with the appearance of writers like Geoffrey Chaucer, William Langland, etc. The language and literature of the Middle Age is marked by increasing influence from Europe, particularly from France. Due to the arrival of the Norman ruling class at the end of the 11th century. In fact, middle English literature is a combination of French and Ango-Saxon elements. But it must be observed that religious writings were far more important as literature during the middle ages. The general relation of Normans and Saxons was that of master and servant. One of the most striking manifestations of the supremacy of the conquerors was to be seen in the language. The Norman lords spoke French while the English subjects retained their old tongue. For a long time the scholar wrote in Latin and the Couriter in French. There was almost no written literature in English for a time, religious poems were in Latin, Romance, the prominent kind of literature in this period were at first all in French. By the end of 14th century, when Normans and English intermingled, English was once more the dominant speech in the country. But now it is different from the old Anglo-Saxon. Middle English literature deals with a wider range of subjects, is uttered by more voices and in a greater diversity of styles, tones and genres. Popular folk literature also occupies an important place in this period. Middle English literature strongly reflects the principles of the medieval Christian doctrine, which were primarily concerned with the issue of personal salvation. (1) the growth of the Arthurian legends: the legends of King Arthur and his knights had existed as an oral tradition since the time of the Celts. It was not put down on paper until 1147 when Geoffrey of Monmouth, a 12th-century Welsh priest came out with his Latin Hitoria Regum Britanniae. He claimed that the book was a translation of a Welsh history of King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table, but it proved to be a lie. In fact, he wrote it himself, drawing as he did from sources such Bede and British traditions. He might have been collecting the legends about the king, and he certainly had a very rich imagination. With his efforts, the Arthurian Legends, which has become in time one of the vitalizing sources of inspiration for English writers, came into being. In the 13th and 14th centuries, the legend flourished first in verse and then in prose, and the Celtic Arthur became a national hero for the English nation.(2) Essential features of romanceThe romance was the prevailing form of literature in the Middle Ages. It was a long composition, sometimes in verse, sometimes in prose, describing the life and adventures of a noble hero, Its essential features are: 1. it lacks general resemblance to truth or reality. 2. It exaggerates the vices of human nature and idealizes the virtues. 3. It contains perilous adventures more or less remote from ordinary life. 4. It lays emphasis on supreme devotion to a fair lady. 5. The central character of the romance is the knight, a man of noble birth skilled in the use of weapons. He is commonly described as riding forth to seek adventures, taking part in tournaments, or fighting for his lord in battle. He is devoted to the church and the king.The great majority of the romances fall into three cycles : the matters of Britain ( adventures of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table), and the matters of Frances (Emperor charlemagn