alaways英国文学名词解释复习要点

2021年1月19日发(作者：toten)
1
、

romance

Romance, which uses narrative verse or prose to sing knightly adventures or other heroic deeds, is
a
popular
literary
form
in
the
medieval
period.
It
has
developed
the
characteristic
medieval
patterns of the quest, the test, the meeting with the evil giant and the encounter with the beautiful
beloved. The hero is usually the knight who sets out on a journey to accompany some missions
–

to protect the church, to attack infidelity,
to rescue a maiden, to meet a challenge, or to obey a
knightly command. There is often a liberal use of the improbable, sometimes even supernatural,
things in romance such as mysteries and fantasies. Romantic love is an important part of the plot
in romance. Characterization is standardized so that heroes, heroines and wicked stewares can be
easily moved from one romance to another. While the structure is loose and episodic, the language
is
simple
and
straightforward.
The
importance
of
the
romance
itself
can
be
seen
as
a
means
of
showing medieval aristocratic men and women in relation to their idealized view of the world. If
the epic reflects a heroic age, the romance reflects a chivalric one.

2. epic

An epic is a long narrative poem telling about the deeds of a great hero and reflecting the values of
the society from which it originated. The earlier ones concern the history and legends of a country
or a region and include stories and information from many anonymous sources. These were oral or
folk epics of which some were later written down. The epics of the ancient Greek p
oet Homer’s
Iliad
and
Odyssey,
and
Beowulf,
written
in
old
English
and
found
in
the
late
10th
century,
are
good
examples.
Later
epics
were
deliberately
composed
by
one
author
and
written
down.
The
ancient Roman Virgil is regarded as the first composer of such epics.
3
、
folk ballad

The
folk
ballad
is
a
popular
literary
form;
it
comes
from
unlettered
people
rather
than
from
professional
mintrels
or
scholarly
poets.
As
the
main
form
of
medieval
folk
literature,
the
folk
ballad has an oral tradition which makes it easier to remember and memorize. Therefore, all the
stylistic
features
of
the
folk
ballad
have
derived
from
their
oral
nature.
The
first
is
its
simple
language; the simplicity is reflected both in the verse form and the colloquial expressions. So far
as the verse form is concerned, ballads are compose mainly in quatrains, which are known as the
ballad stanza, rhyming abcb, with the first and third lines carrying 4 accented syllables and the
second and fourth carrying 3. By making use of a simple, plain language or dialect of the common
people
with
colloquial
and,
sometimes,
idiomatic
expressions
in
its
narration
or
dialogues,
the
ballad leaves a strong dramatic effect to the reader. The second is its wonderful story which deals
only
with
the
culminating
incident
or
climax
of
a
plot.
Most
of
the
ballads
have
a
romantic
or
tragic dimension, with a tragic incident, often a murder or an accidental death, as their subject.
Like classical tragedy, ballads have an inevitability, which reflects the folk belief that people are
lured into the fatally attractive traps just because all human life is shaped by fate. It is a common
pattern of romantic tragic balladry that if one lover dies the other must follow suit. So usually the
hero would die of his wound, and the heroine of her sorrow. The third is its dominant mood or
tone, either tragic like
―
Sir Patric Spens
‖, which tells a story
of treachery, or comic like
―
Get up
and Bar the Door
‖
, which presents a funny scene of the domestic life. Furthermore, to strengthen
the dramactic effec of the narrative, ballads also make full use of hyperbole; actions and events are
much exggerated. This hyperbolic style partly comes from a desire to astonish, for the poor folk
would be delighted to hear of the large-than- life exploits of ballad people. Music has an important
formative influence on ballads, too. Another impresdsive feature of the ballad is the use of refrains