modifying常耀信《英国文学简史》名词解释大全

常耀信《英国文学简史》名词解释大全

1Romance: is a long composition in verse or in prose, describing the life and adventures of a noble

hero. It generally concerns the knights and involves a large amount of fighting as well as a number

of

miscellaneous

adventures

and

a

series

of

love

stories.

The

most

important

romance

of

the

period is about King Arthur and his knights of round table.

2. Ballad: The most important form of popular literature is the popular ballad, the ageless narrative

folk

song,

which

flourished

with

special

vigor

during

the

15

th

century

and

most

ballads

were

written down in 18

th

century. The ballads are mostly written in quatrains with the first and third

lines in iambic tetrameter, and the second and the forth lines in iambic trimester, and the rhyme

scheme of abcb or abab. Most important ballad is Robin Hood ballads.

3.

The

miracle

play:

the

miracle

play

or

the

mystery

play

has

as

its

subject either a

story

from

Bible or else the life and martyrdom of a saint. The word miracle denotes only drama on the lives

of saints. In contrast, the miracle play is applied to dramas based on the Old and New Testaments.

Interlude:

in

Latin

means

“

between

the

play

”

.

It

is

terms

applied

to

a

variety

of

short

entertainments which were often put on between courses of feasts and between the acts of a longer

plays.

The morality plays were dramatized allegories of the life of a man, of his temptation and his quest

for salvation, of his confrontation with death.

4.

Humanism

was

a

literary

and

philosophical

system

of

thought

which

attempted

to

place

the

affairs of mankind at the centre of its concerns. Originating in Italy during Renaissance, it soon

spread

throughout

the

most

of

Western

Europe.

According

to

humanist,

man

should

mould

the

world according to his desires and remove the checks by the exercise of human intellect.

5.

The

oxford

reformer:

During

the

reign

of

Henry

VIII,

there

was

a

group

of

scholars

called

oxford reformer. They were students and later the teachers in Oxford University. They traveled in

Italy

and

introduced

to

England

the

classical

literatures

and

strove

to

reform

education

on

humanistic line, by emphasizing the study of Greek and Latin and secular science. They helped to

spread the light of new science and world outlook.

6. The Spenserian stanza: it is a type of stanza invented by Edmund Spenser in his Faerie Queen

which

is

written

on

a

nine-lined

stanza

invented

by

Spenser

and

has

since

born

his

name

Spenserian

stanza.

The

first

eight

lines

are

iambic

pentameter

and

the

ninth

line

has

two

more

syllables,

rhyming

ababbcbcc.

This

poetical

form

had

been

utilized

by

Thomas,

Byron,

Shelley

and Keats.

7. University wits: among the first playwrights who wrote for the popular playhouses was a group

of young men called

“university

wits

”

. They had studied at universities of Oxford or of Cambridge

and

then

set

up

as

professional

writers,

selling

their

learning

and

wits

to

the

London

public

of

playgoers and to the reading public as well. These playwrights were hardworder as they revised

the

old

plays

and

wrote

new

ones.

They

made

rapid

progresses

in

dramatic

techniques

because

they had close contract with the actors and audience. Their representatives are Marlowe, Lyly, etc.

8. The metaphysical poets appeared in England in the beginning of 17

th

century. It was a school of

poets who were characterized by mysticism in content and fantasticality in form. Their poetry is

often labored and intellectual and obscure and concerned too much with philosophy. Its hallmark

is the conceit, a sort of far-fetched and ingenious metaphor. Their representatives are John Donne,

The cavalier poets were often courtiers who stood on the side of the king and called themselves

the sons of Ben Johnson. They wrote the light poems, polished and elegant, amorous and gay, but

often

superficial.

Most

of

their

verses

were

short

songs,

pretty

madrigals,

and

love

fancies

characterized

by

lightness

of

heart

and

of

morals.

But

beneath

their

lightness

lies

the

some

foreboding of impending doom.

9. Humor:

a

humor

is

a

theory

used

by

Ben Johnson

in

his

playwriting

which

according

to

the

physiology and psychology of the time is one of the liquid constituents of the body, each of which

has its peculiar emotional propensity. Thus, each character of his play personified a definite humor,

so his characters are like caricatures.

10. Neoclassicism: in England the neoclassicism was initiated by Dryden, culminated in Pope and

continued by Johnson. Flourishing in 17

th

and 18

th

century England, neoclassicism was a reaction

to

the

intricacy

and

obscurity

and

boldness

and

extravagance

of

European

literature

of

the

late

Renaissance

as

seen

for

instance

in

the

works

of

the

metaphysicals,

in

favor

of

simplicity,

regularity, clarity, restraint and good sense. These writers were called neoclassicist because they

modeled themselves on the works of ancient Greek and Latin writers in order to achieve perfect

form in literature. The general tendency of neoclassical literature is to look at social and political

life critically, to emphasize the intellect rather than imagination, the form rather than content of

sentence. These writers tend to repress the enthusiasm, and to use precise and elegant method of

expression.

The

term

“classicism”

in

the

18

th

century

refers

only

to

the

critical

and

intellectual

spirit of many writers, to the fined polish of their heroic couplet or to the elegance of their prose.

The neoclassicists invented literary rule of their own: in drama, they adhered to the unity of time,

place and action. In diction, they highly regarded the witty expression. In poetry, they demanded

to follow the ancient division: lyric, epic, didactic, satirical or dramatic and each class should be

guided by its principle. In versification, they used closed heroic couplet.

11. The literary club: Samuel Johnson is a poet, essayist, lexicographer, literary critic. In 1764, he

founded

the

famous

literary

club

which

included

many

famous

figures

of

the

time.

At

the

gathering of the club, Samuel Johnson

’

s conversational gifts were fully exercised and well enjoyed

and he gave his laws upon literature through his talks.

12. Sentimentalism; in the middle of 18

th

century, the sentimentalist came into being as a result of

the

bitter

discontentment

with

social

reality.

They

were

dissatisfied

with

the

reason

in

the

neoclassicism and appealed to the sentiment. They turned to the countryside for literary material.

The poetry of sentimentalist is marked by sympathy with the poor peasants. The appearance and

development

of

sentimentalism

marks

the

transience

from

neoclassicism

to

romanticism

in

English poetry.

13. Pre-romanticism: in the second half of 18

th

century, a new literary movement came in Europe

called

romantic

revival,

and

this

literary

tendency

has

been

called

pre-romanticism.

The

representatives are Robert Burns and William Blake. It was marked by the strong protest against

the

bondage

of

classicism,

by

recognition

of

the

claims

of

imagination

and

emotion,

and

by

a

renewed interest in the medieval literature.

14.

the

special

qualities

of

romanticism:

the

spontaneous

overflow

of

powerful

emotion,

the

creation of the a world of imagination, return to nature for material, sympathy with the humble

and

the

glorification

of

commonplace,

the

emphasis

on the

expression

of

individual

genius,

the

return

to

John

Milton

and

Elizabethans

for

literary

model,

the

interest

in

the

old

stories

and

medieval romances, a sense of melancholy and loneliness, a rebellious spirit.

15.

The

lake

poets:

The

first

generations

of

romantics

include

Wordsworth,

Coleridge,

and