罗经国版《新编英国文学选读》笔记

羅經國《新編英國文學選讀

第二版》自製筆記

1.

盎格魯撒克遜時期

钱俊

@ 2009/8/23 13:08

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學習筆記

羅經國《新編英國文學選讀

第二版》自製筆記

1. Chapter One The Anglo-Saxon Period (450

——

1066)

1. Historical background

The Celts

?

〉

the Brythons.

The Iron Age.

The ceremonies of May Day and the cult of mistletoe.

From 55 BC to 407 AD

, the Roman Empire, a slave society.

London was founded.

Little influence on the cultural life of the Celts,

Town with names ending in “chester” or “caster”.

De Bello Gallico

by

Julius Caesar

and

Germania

by

Publius Cornelius

Tacitus

450 AD, the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes.

“angul” means a hook; “seax” means a short sword.

Around 500 AD,

the Celtic King Arthur

fought against

Cerdic, the

founder of the kingdom of Wessex

. Camelot, King Arthur’s capital.

Later 8th, the Danes, or the Vikings.

King Alfred the Great of Wessex (849-899)

Harold, the last Saxon King

?

〉

William the Duke of Normandy

.

597,

Pope

Gregory

the

Great

sent

St.

Augustine

to

England

and

the

first

converted king was King Ethelbert of Kent.

2. Northumbrian School and Wessex literature

——

two highlights in the

development of the Anglo-Saxon literature.

Monasteries and abbeys in the kingdom of Northumbria.

Caedmon

in the 7th turned the stories in the Bible into verse form

——

Paraphrase

. Inspired by God.

The Venerable Bede

(673-735), wrote in Latin

The Ecclesiastical

History of the English People

from Caesar to 731. It was Bede who told

about the story of Caedmon.

The reign of King Alfred (871-899)

First,

Latin

books

into

West

Saxon

dialect.

It

is

said

that

King

Alfred

translated the history of Bede.

Second, the launching of

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

, from Caesar’s

conquest to

1154

.

Third, created a style of Anglo-Saxon prose which was not obscure.

3. Anglo-Saxon poetry

The earliest is

Widsith

and the last is

Maldon

.

Beowulf

As early as the 6th in oral form

Written down in the 8th.

The manuscript preserved dates back to the 10th and in Wessex dialect.

One datable fact in the poem is a raid on the Franks by Gelac in 520.

3183 lines.

Danish King Hrothgar built a hall called Heorot

.

Grendel for 12 years.

Beowulf, nephew to King Hygelac of the Geats. With 14 companions.

Hrothgar's friend Aeschere killed by Grendel's mother.

Killing Grendel’s mother with a magic sword in the cave.

One of the 12 companions, Wiglaf, helped Beowulf kill the dragon.

Physical strength demonstrates his high spiritual qualities.

A mixture of paganism and Christian elements.

Old English Poetry:

1. The technical structure:

1)

Every line consists of two clearly separated half lines between

which is a

caesura

.

The two parts of the line are united by

alliteration

, a form of initial rhyme, which is the repetition of

the same sound or sounds at the beginning of two or more words that

are next to or close to each other.

2)

Every half line consists of two

feet

and each foot is made up of

an

accented syllable

and a varying number of unaccented syllables

.

3)

Generally

there

are

3

alliterations

per

line

,

two

in

the

first

half

line and one on the first foot of the second half line.

2.

The

scop

also

used

a

figurative

language

called

“

kenning

”,

a

metaphor

usually composed of two words, which becomes the formula of a special

object: “helmet bearer” for “warrior.”

3.

The use of repetition and variation

. Same idea expressed more than once by

synonyms.

2. Chapter Two The Norman Period (1066-1350)

1. Historical background

1066, the battle of Hastings

The Normans, also descendants of Scandinavian marauders, having seized

a wide part of northern France.

Accelerated the feudalism in England.

Large tracts of land by the king, barons, knights and the church.

A peasant uprising in

1381

.

2. Middle English

For 3 centuries after the Norman conquest, two languages were used side

by side in England:

Latin and French

.

Words and expressions from Latin and French and Greek in the 14th.

Inflectional forms dropped and grammar simplified.

3. Religious literature

The issue of personal salvation.

Moral and spiritual responsibilities of individual rather than his

ethical and social responsibilities.

Conventional theme: homiletic paraphrases of the Gospels

4. Romance and the influence of French literature

Through French literature the introduction of Italian literature.

Chief

breeding

ground

was

the

aristocratic

society

in

France

in

the

12th

and early 13th and was introduced into England in the second half of the

13th and the 14th.

In subject matters, romance naturally falls under three categories.

1)

The

matter

of

France

:

the

exploits

of

Charlemagne

the

Great

and

Roland,

a national hero in the 8th,

Chanson de Roland

.

2) The matter of

Rome

: Alexander the Great and the siege of Troy.

3) The matter of

Britain

:

the Arthurian legend

, Sir Gawain, Launcelot,

Merlin, the Holy Grail, the death of King Arthur.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Written about 1375-1400.

About 2500 lines.

Four “

fyttes

”.

Green Chapel