英美概况之爱尔兰4

1、Chapter 14:Irish Culture: Language, Literature and ArtsLanguageuThe issue of language is heavily politicized. Traditionally, the Irish people spoke their own language, called Irish or Erse. It is a very ancient (and difficult) language with a rich oral culture.LanguageuUnder English colonial policy,

2、 much pressure was brought to bear(推动）推动） to stop the Irish people speaking their own language and to learn standard English instead. uSince the Irish people felt, instinctively（凭直（凭直觉）觉）, that to lose their language was to lose their native culture, they resisted this policy strongly.uUntil the mid

3、-19th century Irish was still spoken widely by the peasant classes.LanguageuThe death blow to the Irish language was the Great Famine of 1845-48, in which about two million Irish people emigrated or died.uMost of the Irish-speaker were peasants.uAfter the first Irish national state was set up (the F

4、ree State of 1922), under Eamonn De Valeras government, the school system was reconfigured （重新恢复）（重新恢复）so that it taught the Irish language to all Irish children from the age of four until they left school at fifteen.LanguageuNo one may enter the civil service or the diplomatic core or the teaching

5、profession in first- and second-level schools without having a certain level of competence in the Irish language.uDespite such official pressures, the language that is spoken universally in the Republic of Ireland is a version of standard English known as Hiberno-English.Oral CultureuAlthough the Ir

6、ish do not generally now speak Irish, they do retain one element of their native culture: they talk. uThe Irish value good talk, and they love a good story.uThe basis for this is, of course, in the original peasant culture, which made the transfer from an oral to a written culture only slowly in the

7、 late 19th century.Art CultureuIreland is a traditional culture and it is true to say virtually every art form in Ireland derives from its rich folk heritage.uIn Ireland, writers may publish in either the Irish or the English language.uIn dance, Ireland is known throughout the world for the intricac

8、y(错综复杂）错综复杂） and fervour（热情）（热情） of its folk dances, rearranged and modernized in the current stage production of Riverdance.LiteratureuThe first stories told in Ireland were not only oral, but were recited in the Irish language, as it was the first language of land.uThe first poem identified as “Ir

9、ish”, for instance, is the saga of the Tain, which was transmitted orally for centuries before it was written down.LiteratureuIn modern times alone, the territory that has become the Republic of Ireland has been the home of four winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature: the poets, W.B. Yeats(济慈济慈18

10、65-1929) and Seamus Heaney(1939-); and the playwrights, George Bernard Shaw(肖伯纳肖伯纳1856-1950) and Samuel Beckett(毕吉特）毕吉特）1906-1989).uSelf-conscious avant-garde: Oscar Wilde (1856-1900), James Joyce(1882-1941) and Samuel Beckett.uIn Ireland, the poet and the writer are honored above all other artists.

11、Music and DanceuThe oldest form of music is that embodied （体现）（体现）by the sean nos or “old style” of singing. Traditionally, sean nos is sung by the unaccompanied（无伴奏）（无伴奏） voice. The singer will often close his eyes and hold one hand behind his ear, to hear himself better. The words are always in Ir

12、ish. Usually the song is about unrequited （无结果的）（无结果的）love and is a lament（伤心）（伤心） for lost love. The last line is spoken, not sung.uThe Irish pipe （风笛）（风笛）is distinctive.Music and DanceuDancing is traditionally part of Irish culture.uFiddlers （小提琴手）（小提琴手）became common in the early 19th century in I

13、reland and Irish fiddlers today are well-known for their repertoire（多（多种剧目）种剧目） of jigs and reels, hornpipes and slides（快步舞，旋转舞，号笛及（快步舞，旋转舞，号笛及U字型滑音管）字型滑音管）.Visual CultureuIf one looks at Irelands accomplishments（成就）（成就） they are in literature and musicarts of the ear, particularly as they are manif

14、est（表演）（表演） in the old oral culturenot of the eye.Sports CultureuThe performance culture which elicits （表现（表现出）出）the most passionate response in the Irish people is sports, such as soccer or football, rugby football（橄榄球）（橄榄球）, hurling （爱尔兰棒（爱尔兰棒球）球）and golf.uOther widely popular sports are sailing,

15、tennis and running. But that nearest the Irish heart must be the sport of horse-racing.uWatching horse racing combines several elements that the Irish particularly enjoy: it is very sociable, involves valuable and elegant animals, and is an occasion for placing a bet.What Is Irish about Irish Cultur

16、euIreland is a culture where art flourishes, although the arts that flourish most vigorously are those associated with the ear, not the eye.uIreland is also a very people-oriented （以人（以人为本）为本）society, which regards the family as central to its values.uWhat is clear today is that Ireland is still a n

17、ation that is making itselfand the first place a nation makes itself is in its imagination.What Is Irish about Irish Culture uToday Ireland is considered to be one of the most globally-oriented （面向世界的）（面向世界的）societies in the Western world. One of the reasons that Irish people look outward, towards t

18、he larger world, is that they have had a history of emigration. What Is Irish about Irish CultureuThe Irish diaspora（海外侨民）（海外侨民）: as it has been called, is a scattering of Irish people across the world, usually as the result of dire conditions at homefamine, foreign domination, and poverty. As a result, Irish people can today be found in significant concentrations in many countries. In fact, it is hard to go anyw