A-Brief-Introduction-to-English-Literature.doc

A Brief Introduction to English Literature - 英国文学1. Old English Literature（449A.D. 1066） 1）History background： The making of the England: Jutes, Angles and Saxons invaded Albion and combined into one United Kingdom-the England. Their dialects gradually grew into a single language called Anglo-Saxon, or Old English. The transition from tribal society to feudalism2) Main literature: poetry 3) Main writers: Caedmon, Cynewulf, Venerable Bede and Alfred the Great.4) Main work: The Song of Beowulf 2. Medieval English Literature (1066-15th century)1）History background： Feudal system was established Roman Catholic Church controlled over the country. 2) Main literature: poetry, Romance, Popular ballad 3) Main writers and their works: Geoffrey Chaucer 杰弗里乔叟 The Canterbury Tales 坎特伯雷故事集 William Langland威廉朗格兰 Piers the Plowman农夫皮尔斯 Thomas Malory 马洛里 The Death of Arthur Robin Hood Ballads 罗宾汉民谣集 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight高文爵士与绿衣骑士3. Renaissance English literature (late 15th century early 17th century)1）History background：The establishment of Tudor Dynasty (都铎王朝)(14851603) Religious Reformation The establishment of Protestantism Commercial expansion abroad The War with Spain Movement of Renaissance The thought of humanism arose 2) Main literature: poetry (sonnet and blank verse), drama, essay3) Main writers and their works: Thomas More托马斯莫尔 Utopia乌托邦Edmund Spencer 埃德蒙斯宾塞The shepherds Calendar牧人日历 The Faerie Queene 仙后William ShakespeareFrancis Bacon Essays随笔集Christopher Marlowe 克里斯托弗马洛Doctor Faustus浮士德博士Ben Jonson 本琼生Volpone福尔蓬奈4. English Literature of the Revolution and Restoration Period (17th century) 1）History background： English Revolution (1649) The establishment of a Commonwealth The monarchy was restored (1660) Glorious Revolution(1688) 2) Main literature: poetry, comedy, prose3) Main writers and their works: John Milton 弥尔顿Paradise Lost失乐园 Samson Agonistes 力士参孙 John Bunyan班扬 The Pilgrims Progress天路历程 John Dryden 德莱顿 Alexanders Feast亚历山大的宴会 The Indian Queen印第安王后 John Donne 多恩 The Elegies and Satires挽歌与讽刺5. 18th century English literature-the age of Enlightenment1）History background：A period of comparatively peaceful development Industrial Revolution Enlightenment（启蒙运动） The struggle of the bourgeoisie against feudalism.2) Main literature: poetry, drama, fiction3) Literature trends: a) neoclassicism b) Realistic novel. c) Sentimentalism d) Pre-romanticism 4) Main writers and their works: Alexander Pope 亚历山大蒲柏 The Rape of the Lock卷发遇劫记 Daniel Defoe 丹尼尔笛福 Robinson Crusoe 鲁滨逊漂流记 Moll Flanders摩尔弗兰德斯 Jonathan Swift 乔纳森斯威夫特 Gullivers Travels 格列佛游记 Henry Fielding 菲尔丁 Tom Jones汤姆琼斯 Thomas Gray托马斯格雷 Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard墓园挽歌 William Blake 威廉布莱克 Songs of Innocence天真之歌 Songs of Experience经验之歌 Robert Burns 罗伯特彭斯 A Red, Red Rose一朵红红的玫瑰 Richard Brinsley Sheridan理查德布林斯利谢里丹 The School for Scandal造谣学校 The Rivals情敌6. English Critical Realism1) Historical Background Queen Victorian (1837-1902) Chartist Movement2) Main Literature: poetry; fiction3) Literature forms: a) Chartist literature b) Critical realistic novel. c) Victorian poetry 4) Charles Dickens & William Makepeace Thackeray Their main works and characteristics 7. The Literature of 20th Century1) Historical background The decline of the British Empire:2) Cultural background New Theories and Ideas: Natural sciences; Social science3) Modernism4) Early 20th century literature: poetry; dramas5) Fiction of the Twentieth Century6) Postwar poetry, fiction, dramaEnglish literature began with the Anglo-Saxon settlement in England. The study of English literature usually begins with the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf. The Anglo-Saxons first brought to England the Germanic language and culture. After the Norman Conquest in 1066, the Normans bought to England a fresh wave of Mediterranean civilization, which includes Greek culture, Roman law, and the Christian religion. It is the cultural influences of these two conquests that provide the source for the rise and growth of English literature. The English at that time was called Old English, which is quite hard to recognize today.Geoffrey Chaucer, father of English literature, is a great representative of the Mediaeval Age. Hes the first person to use English to write stories.By the time of Queen Elizabeth Is reign (1558-1603), English was basically as it is today. In the works of Shakespeare and later in the King James version of the Bible, English reached its peak of purity and beauty. In all the centuries since, the English language has undergone gradual changes. Shakespeare lives in this age but he belongs to all ages. He is the greatest playwright and poet. His masterful plays have dominated English-speaking stages ever since they were written. They have been translated into every major language. Among all his 38 plays, the well-known four greatest tragedies are: Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth.The 17th century witnesses the Great Revolution in England. In this period, John Milton finished writing his masterpieces Paradise Lost, Paradise regained, and Samson Agonistes after he became blind.The 18th century English literature is marked by a rather large shift from the mood and tone of the 17th century. In this period, Jonathan Swift was one of the greatest figures. His Gullivers Travels not only satirized the political circle but also entertained many children with his fantastic stories. Daniel Defoe, father of English novels, was also worth mentioning. Robinson Crusoe is the most famous tale of shipwreck and solitary survival in all literature. Roughly the first third of the 19th century makes up English literatures romantic period. Writers of romantic literature are more concerned with imagination and emotion than with the power of reason, which marked the 18th century. Wordsworth and Coleridge published their Lyrical Ballads in 1798, which was called romantic poetrys Declaration of Independence. Together with Robert Southey, they were called “Lake Poets” since all of them lived in the lake district and admired nature very much. Byron, keats and Shelly are all well-known figures in this period. Jane Austen was the only famous woman novelist, with her graceful novels, like Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, and Emma.The romantic period shades gradually into the Victorian age, which takes its name from Queen Victoria. She came to the throne in 1837 and reigned until 1901. Historical and philosophical writing continued to flourish along with poetry and fiction. At the same time, satire and protest against evils in society became strong elements. Among the famous novelists of the time were the critical realists like Charles Dickens, William Makepeace Thackeray, and Bronte sisters. In Charles Dickens novels, he combines a rare comic gift and a power to reduce the readers to tears. Thomas Hardy lived well into the 20th century, but did his major work as a novelist in the 19th century, as a poet he belongs to the 20th.20th century is the most difficult to summarize. It has witnessed wars and revolutions. And the postwar economic dislocation and spiritual disillusion produced a profound impact upon the British people, who came to see the prevalent wretchedness in capitalism. Britain suffered heavy losses in the war: thousands of people were killed; the economy was ruined; and almost all its former colonies were lost. The sun-never-set Empire finally collapsed. 20th century has marked the end of the British Empire. With the development of science and technology, various ideas and theories have been printed or passed on, through newspapers, radio and TV. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels put forward the theory of scientific socialism; Darwins theory of evolution caused many people to lose their religious faith; the social Darwinism, under the cover of “survival of the fittest”, strongly advocated colonialism and jingoism; Freuds analytical psychology drastically altered peoples conception of human nature; Friedrich Nietzsche went further against rationalism by advocating the doctrines of power and superman and by completely rejecting the Christian morality. All in all, modernism rose out of skepticism and disillusion of capitalism. New ideas in writing were mixed with the old, to follow the changing times. The major themes of the modernist literature are the distorted, alienated and ill relationships between man and nature, man and society, man and man, and man and himself. All kinds of literary trends of modernism appeared: symbolism, expressionism, surrealism, futurism, Dadaism, imagism, and stream of consciousness, Theater of the Absurd, black humor. Many outstanding men of letters emerged, James Joyce, D.H.Lawrence, Virginia Woolf, E.M.Forster, T.S.Eliot, to name a few. Knowledge of Poetry - 英国文学I. Rhythm(韵律) 1.syllable: a word or part of a word which contains one vowel sound(元音).2. Stress: a word or part of a word which should be pronounced with more force.3. Rhythm: In English, words of two syllables always contain one that is stressed syllable and one that is unstressed; longer words contain one stressed syllable and two or more unstressed syllables. Unstressed syllables are marked with a curve “” and stressed, with a dash “”. In a line of poetry, when the stressed and unstressed syllables of all the words are arranged in a definite order, the line will rise and fall in a musical way. And this musical flow, or the rise and fall of language in poetry, is called “rhythm”. E.g. My heart is like a singing bird.II. foot (音步)1. Definition: foot is the unit of rhythm and contains two or three syllables, one of which is stressed.2. 4 kinds of foot:A. iambus (): consists of one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable.e.g. Appear, besides , attack , supply. B. Trochee (): consists of one stressed syllable followed by one unstressed syllable.e.g. holy, upper, failingC. anapaest (): consists of two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable.e.g. reappear, indistinct, incomplete, on the hillD. dactyl (): consists of one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables. e.g. messenger, merrily, property, accidentIII. meter(格律) 1. The meter of a line of poetry is determined by the kind of foot used and by the number of feet in a line. The longest poetical line contains 8 feet. Monometer单音步诗行, dimeter二音步诗行, trimeter三音步诗行, tetrameter四音步诗行, pentameter五音步诗行, hexameter六音步诗行, heptameter七音步诗行, octameter八音步诗行 （八步格）. A line of five iambic feet is an iambic pentameter lin