How to Read English Literature.docx

How to Read English Literature.docx

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HowtoReadEnglishLiterature

HowtoReadEnglishLiterature

1.Informationofhistoricalandintellectualbackgroundisessentialforunderstandingliteraryworks.Forinstance,JohnDonne’sshortpoem“Song:

GoandCatchaFallingStar”hasmuchtodowithhistimes.

Song

Goandcatchafallingstar,

Getwithchildamandrakeroot,

Tellmewhereallpastyearsare,

OrwhoclefttheDevil’sfoot,

Teachmetohearmermaidssinging,

Andfind

Whatwind

Servestoadvanceanhonestmind.

Ifthoube’stborntostrangesights,

Thingsinvisibletosee,

Ridetenthousandsdaysandnights,

Tillagesnowwhitehairsonthee,

Thou,whenthoureturn’st,wilttellme

Allstrangewondersthatbefellthee,

Andswear

Nowhere

Livesawomantrue,andfair.

Ifthoufindstone,letmeknow,

Suchapilgrimageweresweet.

Yetdonot;Iwouldnotgo,

Thoughatnextdoorwemightmeet;

Thoughsheweretrue,whenyoumether,

Andlast,tillyouwriteyourletter,

Yetshe

Willbe

False,ereIcome,totwo,orthree.

Comments:

JohnDonnelivedinthe17thcenturywhenEnglandwitnessedaturbulentperiod.Everythingwasthoughttobeuncertain.Thisshortpoemelucidatesthegloomyatmosphereofthattransitionalage.

2.Linguisticcapacityisalsonecessaryforstudentsofliterature

Comments:

Theverbsofthepresenttenseintheimperativemoodareactionsimpossibletocarryout;theverbsofthepasttenseintheconditionalsentenceareactionsimpossibletohappen.

Whatismore,fromtheChineseexplanationsbelow,itcanbeseenthatsomeparticularwordsconveyasenseofspacialuncertaintywhichhassomethingtodowithJohnDonne’stransitionalperiod.

多恩《歌》（去，捉一颗陨落的星辰）的空间：

歌：

去抓住那颗陨落的星辰》空间叙述的时代背景：

十六世纪的哥白尼（NicolausCopernicus,1473-1543）“日心说”产生了重大的空间认知转向。

“日心说”出现之前，托勒密（ClaudiusPtolemy,about85—about165）“地心说”构成了西方传统宇宙论的核心内容，宇宙空间被普遍认为是有限的，柏拉图认为宇宙是八重天，中世纪神学家则认为是十重天。

哥白尼的“日心说”则揭示了宇宙空间的无限性，认为人类目前认识的宇宙只是一个以太阳为中心的太阳系空间，大宇宙还有无数个类似太阳系的宇宙空间。

那个时候的许多视觉艺术的空间构建往往是动态的、延伸的。

这样，哥白尼的“日心说”带来了17世纪视觉艺术的空间革命，尤其体现在巴罗克艺术上。

巴罗克视觉艺术的空间构建往往是动态的、延伸的。

豪泽（ArnoldHauser,1959:

182）曾指出，整个巴罗克艺术“都表达了对无限性的强烈和热切的渴求”。

表现空间无限性成为巴罗克视觉艺术的自觉追求，巴罗克艺术家通过“伸向地平线的道路，展现无际天空幻觉的壁画，运用变换透视效果使其变得扑塑迷离的镜面手法”等，“力图表现或暗示无穷感”。

3.Knowledgeofaparticularwriterisalsoimportanttounderstandhis/herworks.Forinstance,thebeginningofT.S.Eliot’s“TheLoveSongofJ.AlfredPrufrock”runsthisway:

Letusgothen,youandI,

Whentheeveningisspreadoutagainstthesky

Likeapatientetheriseduponatable;

….

Comments:

Eliot’spuritansensibilityisofgreathelptounderstandthetimesettingandthelivingbutdyingpatient.

4.Agoodknowledgeofmasterpieceswilldefinitelyhelpyoureadliterature.

5.Agoodofknowledgeofwesternphilosophies,Greekculture,andHebrew-Christianculturewillcertainlyremovetheobstaclestothebeautifulgardenofliterature（forinstance,RobinsonCrusoeandExodus,Shakespeare’ssonnet18andthewesterntraditionalcosmology）

AnOutlineofEnglishHistoryfrom6Cent.B.C.to1485

1.TheCelts,theearliestsettlersoftheBritishIsles,migratedtotheBritishislesatabout600B.C.fromtheupperRhineland.

2.About400to300B.C.theBrythons（Bretons）,onebranchoftheCelts,cametotheBritishislesandfromthemcamethenameBritain.

3.From55B.C.to407A.D.theBritishisleswereundertheruleofRomanempire.JuliusCaesar（102-44B.C.）crossedtheDoverStraitin55B.C.,butCaesarhimselfonlystayedthereforafewweeks.ThoughtheRomansbuilttemples,roads,walls,andmilitarycamps,theymadelittleinfluenceontheculturallifeofCelts.

4.About450A.D.,Angles,Saxons,andJutesinvadedtheBritishIsles.TheysettledinEngland,anddrovetheCeltsintoWales,Scotland,andIreland.

5.TheAnglo-SaxonswereheathensupontheirarrivalinBritain.In597PopeGregorytheGreatsentSt.AugustinetoEnglandtoconverttheAnglo-Saxons.WithinacenturyallEnglandwasChristianized.Churcheswereestablishedandmonksbecamethemostlearnedinthecountry.HeathenmythologywasgraduallyreplacedbyChristianreligion.

6.Fromthelate8thcenturytotheearly11thcentury,BritishisleswereconstantlyinvadedbytheDanes.AlfredtheGreatofWessex（849-899）ledtheAnglo-Saxonkingstodefeattheinvadersbyunitingtheirforces.

7.Harold,thelastSaxonking,withhelpfromWilliam,DukeofNormandy,expelledtheDanesfromEngland.ButWilliamwantedHaroldtofulfillEdward’s（Harold’sformerking）promisetogivehiskingdomtohim.So,in1066NormansundertheleadershipofWilliamfromnorthernFranceconqueredEngland.ThisisknownastheNormanConquest.

TheInfluenceofNormanConquest

Since1066,French-speakingNormansunderDukeWilliamofNormandycametoEngland.

Englishsocietyenteredintofeudalism.

Ahigh-handconquest:

BlackDeathandthepeasant’srisingof1381

HenryVII,thefirstTudorKingofEnglandin1485,EnglishhistoryenteredintoModerntime

EnglishFrenchLatin

time--------age----------epoch

Rise--------mount-------ascend

Ask--------question-----interrogate

Goodness---virtue------probity

Fast-------firm------------secure

Fire--------flame-------conflagration

Fear-------terror--------trepidation

Holy-------sacred-------consecrated

LiteratureoftheAnglo-SaxonPeriod

AcademicallycalledOldEnglishliterature,thefirstpartofEnglishliteratureoftheMiddleAges.OldEnglishliteraturereferstoliteraturewritteninGermanicdialect,alsocalledAnglo-Saxondialect,spokenbyJutes,Angles,andSaxons,whoimmigratedfromthenorthernEuropeintoEnglandinthefifthcentury.

1.Caedmon,thefirstAnglo-Saxonpoet,livedinthe7thcenturyandhisworksareallconcernedwithreligiousthemes.HetranslatedthestoriesoftheBibleintoaversework,calledParaphrase.

2.VenerableBede（673-735）,wroteinLatinThe

EcclesiasticalHistoryoftheEnglishPeople,whichearnedforhimthetitleof“FatherofEnglishHistory.”

3.KingAlfred,whosereignwas871-899,beganTheAnglo-SaxonChronicle.ItbeganwiththestoryofCaesar’sconquestandannuallyrecordedimportanteventsuntil1154.

4.Beowulf:

anAnglo-SaxonorEngland’snationalepicof3182lines.

Anepicisalongnarrativepoeminelevatedordignifiedlanguage,typicallyonederivedfromancientoraltradition,narratingandcelebratingthedeedsandadventuresofheroicorlegendaryfiguresorthepasthistoryofanation.

Characterizationintheepic:

simplebydeeds,faithfultohispeople,braveryinactions—callforgrandheroestofightagainstNature.

Theepicreflectsthefeaturesofthetribalsocietyofancienttimes.

Thechiefsignificanceoftheepicliesinthevividportrayalofagreatnationalhero,strongandcourageousandselflessandeverhelpfultohispeopleandhiskinsfolk.

Onthebasisofthetext,Beowulfisgenerallyconsideredtobetheworkofananonymous8th-centuryAnglianpoetwhofusedScandinavianhistoryandpaganmythologywithChristianelements.Itexistedinoralformasearlyasthe6thcenturyA.D.andwasnotwrittendowntillthe8thcentury（Somescholarsbelievetobethe10thcentury）.Thestoryisbasedonpart-historical,part-legendarymaterialsthatmusthavebeenbroughtovertoEnglandbytheAnglo-SaxonsfromtheiroriginalhomesontheEuropeanContinent.BeowulftheheroandhisadventuresareplacedinDenmarkandsouthernSweden.

StylisticfeaturesofBeowulf

1）ThisepiciswritteninOldEnglish.

2）ThemoststrikingdifferencebetweenOldEnglishpoetryandlaterpoetryisinthetechnicalstructure.Everylineconsistsoftwoclearlyseparatedhalflinesbetweenwhichisapause,calledacaesura,whichinLatinmeansacutting,abreakorpauseinalineofpoetry.Thetwopartsofthelineareunitedbyalliteration,whichistherepetitionofthesamesoundorsoundsatthebeginningoftwoormorewords.[Caesareanoperation/section]

3）Akindoffigurativelanguagecalledkenningisappliedinordertoaddbeautytoordinaryobjects.Akenningisametaphorusuallycomposedoftwowords,whichbecomestheformulaforaspecialobject.Forexample,“helmetbearer”standsfor“warrior,”“swanroad”for“thesea,”“theworldcandle”for“thesun,”“ring-giver”for“king,”etc.

4）Repetitionandvariation:

thesameideaisexpressedmorethanoncebytheuseofdifferentwordswhicharemoreorlesssynonyms.

Alliteration:

theaccentedwordsinalinebeginwiththesameconsonantsound,generally4accentsinaline,threeofwhichshowalliteration.

Examples:

ThusmadetheirmourningthemenofGeatland

Fortheirhero’spassing,hishearth-companions

…

Ofmenhewasthemildestandmostbeloved,

Tohiskinthekindest,keenesttopraise.（Beowulf）

Spring,thesweetspring,istheyear’spleasantking

Thenbloomseachthing,thenmaidsdanceinaring

Colddothnotsting,theprettybirdsdosing（fromapoembyThomasNashinthe16thcentury）

Beowulfwascannonizedsincethe15thcentury.Duringthe500years,therearemorethan60versionsoftranslation.

In2000,SeamusHeaney’stranslationversionBeowulfwonWhitbreadPrizeandbecamethebestsellerinAmerica.

In2007,filmBeowulfwasproduced.

MiddleEnglishLiterature

Itreferstoliteratureoftheyears1100—1500,writteninLatin,French,andLondondialect（middleEnglish）.

1066年的诺曼征服打通了英国和欧洲之间的通道，文化融合和交流得以顺利进行，就中古英国文学而言，十二、十三世纪英国最发达的是拉丁语文学，其次是法语文学，英语诗歌则退居到了一个相对次要的地位，只是到了十四、十五世纪，随着英国民族主义情绪高涨，英语重新得到广泛地运用，以及乔叟、兰格伦（WilliamLangland）、《高文爵士》诗人（GawainPoet）、高尔（JohnGower）等用英语创作的诗人不断涌现，英语诗歌才重新得以复兴。

SomeimportanteventsinMiddleEnglishperiod:

1）1360-1400:

ThesummitofMiddleEnglishliterature:

GeoffreyChaucer;PiersPlowman;SirGawainandtheGreenKnight.

2）1485:

WilliamCaxton’s