完整版考研英美文学名词解释.docx

1、完整版考研英美文学名词解释英美文学名词解释Terms in English and American Literature1。 Aestheticism/the Aestheticism Movement （唯美主义）A European phenomenon during the middle of the 19th century that had its chief headquarters in France。 This movement was introduced to late Victorian England mainly Walter Pater as a reaction

2、 against the materialism and commercialism of an industrialized society。 It was also a reaction against the Victorian convention of art for moralitys sake, or art for moneys sake。 The major tenets of this movement include the belief in the autonomy of a work of art， the emphasis on craft and artistr

3、y-the theory of “art for arts sake”。 The most outstanding Victorian representatives of this movement included Oscar Wilde。2。 Allegory（寓言） A tale in verse or prose in which characters， actions, or settings represent abstract ideas or moral qualities。 An allegory is a story with two meanings， a litera

4、l meaning and a symbolic meaning。寓言:用诗歌或散文讲的故事，在这个故事中人物、事件或背景往往代表抽象的概念或道德品质。所有的寓言都是一个具有双重意义、文学内涵或象征意义的故事.3. Alliteration （头韵）It is the repetition of the same initial consonant sound within a line or a group of words in poetry。 In Old English alliterative meter, alliteration is the principal organizi

5、ng device of the verse line， such as in Beowulf。头韵：在一组词的开头或重读音节中对相同辅音或不同元音的重复。 4. Allusion: A reference to a person， a place, an event， or a literary work that a writer expects the reader to recognize and respond to。 An allusion may be drawn from history, geography, literature, or religion.典故:文学作品中作

6、家希望读者能够认识或做出反应的一个人物、地点、事件或文学作品.典故或来自历史、地理、文学或宗教。5。 American Naturalism (美国自然主义)The American naturalism accepted the more negative interpretation of Darwins evolutionary theory and used it to account for the behavior of those characters in literary works who were regarded as more or less complex comb

7、inations of inherited attributes， their habits were conditioned by social and economic forces. American naturalism was evolved from realism when the authors tone in writing became less serious and less sympathetic but more ironic and more pessimistic. It was no more than a gloomy philosophical appro

8、ach to reality， or to human existence. Dreiser was a leading figure of this school.6。 American Puritanism （美国清教主义）Puritanism is the practices and beliefs of the Puritans. The American puritans， like their English brothers, are idealists。 They accepted the doctrine of predestination， original sin and

9、 total depravity, and limited atonement through a special infusion of grace form God. But due to the grim struggle for living in the new continent， they become more and more practical. American puritanism is so much a part of the national atmosphere rather that a set of tenets.美国清教主义：他们相信宿命论、原罪说、全体堕

10、落和有限的赎罪。7。 American Realism (美国现实主义)In American literature, the Civil War brought the Romantic Period to an end。 The Age of Realism came into existence. George Eliot introduce realism into England, and William Dean Howells introduced it into the United States。 It came as a reaction against the lie o

11、f romanticism and sentimentalism。 Realism turned from an emphasis on the strange toward a faithful rendering of the ordinary, a slice of life as it is really lived. It has been chiefly concerned with the commonplaces of everyday life among the middle and lower classes, and it offers an objective rat

12、her than an idealistic view of human nature and human experience。 Realistic literature finds the drama and tension beneath the surface of ordinary life。 Later, many writers， notably Henry James, turned to psychological realism that closely examined the complex workings of the mind。美国现实主义：在美国文学史上，内战宣

13、告了浪漫主义的终结和现实主义的开始。现实主义反对浪漫主义和感伤主义的谎言,它从一个陌生的世界转向了普通人的真实生活的描写。它所关心的是普通的下层劳动人民而非理想中的人类本性和现实经历.8。 American Romanticism （美国浪漫主义)The Romantic Period covers the first half of the 19th century。 A rising America with its ideals of democracy and equality, the booming economy， the flourishing publications， an

14、d a variety of foreign influences made its literary expansion possible and inevitable. Romantics shared some characteristics： moral enthusiasm, individuality and intuitive perception. Irving played an important role in inspiring American romanticism with his masterpieces Rip Van Winkle and The Legen

15、d of Sleepy Hollow。 American romanticism culminated around the 1840s, which can be called “Transcendentalism or American Renaissance。 One of the major figure in this period was Emerson。 His Nature had been called “the manifesto of American Transcendentalism”。 In the poetry aspect, Whitman and Dickso

16、n were two major American poets in this period. In the novel aspect, Hawthorne and Melville belonged to another type of romanticism。 They placed increasing value on the free expression on emotion and the psychic states of their characters。 The New England poets, such as Longfellow and Bryant formed

17、a different school from Whitman， Dickson， Thoreau and Poe。9。 Angry Young Men （愤怒的青年）The Angry Young Men is a journalistic catchphrase applied to a number of British playwrights and novelists from the mid-1950s。 Their works mainly express the bitterness of the lower classes towards the established so

18、ciopolitical system and towards the mediocrity and hypocrisy of the middle and upper classes. The playwright John Osborne was the archetypal example of these angry young men with his signature play Look Back in Anger in 1956。10. Antagonist (反面人物): A person or force opposing the protagonist in a narr

19、ative; a rival of the hero or heroine。反面人物:一个故事中和主人公相对立的人物或一种力量，是男女主人公的对手。11. American Transcendentalism (美国超验主义）American Transcendentalism is more than an attitude of transcendentalists。 To “transcend” something is to rise above it， to pass beyond its limits。 The transcendentalists speak for cultur

20、al rejuvenation and against the materialism of American society。 The major features of American Transcendentalism are: 1。 Transcendentalists place emphasis on spirit, or the Oversoul, as the most important thing in the Universe。 2. They stress the importance of the individual。 To them, the individua

21、l was the most important element of society. 3. They offer a fresh perception of nature as symbolic of the Spirit or God。 Nature was, to them， alive, filled with Gods overwhelming presence。 12. Aphorism （警句）A concise， pointed statement expressing a wise or clever observation about life.警句:蕴含关于人生真理的明

22、智的看法的精练的语句。13. Aside （旁白)In drama， lines spoken by a character in an undertone or directly to the audience and. An aside is supposedly not heard by other actors on stage。14。 Assonance (类韵）The repetition of similar vowel sounds, especially in poetry. Assonance is often employed to please the ear or e

23、mphasize certain sounds.类韵:在诗歌中相同或相似元音的重复，它的目的主要是用来使句子悦耳动听或用来强调某个音。15。 Autobiography (自传)The literary form of autobiography is a persons account of his or her own life。 An autobiography is generally written in narrative form and includes some introspection, such as The Autobiography written by Benja

24、min Franklin。自传:一个人对他或她自己生活的描述，自传是一种叙述性的文体，多包含回忆性的描写。16。 Ballad （民谣） It is a relatively short narrative poem， written to be sung， with a simple and dramatic action。 The ballads tell of love, death, the supernatural， or a combination of these。 Two characteristics of the ballad are incremental repetit

25、ion and the ballad stanza. Incremental repetition repeats one or more lines with small but significant variations that advance the action。 The ballad stanza has four line; commonly, the first and third lines contain four feet or accents， the second and fourth lines contain three feet。 Ballad often o

26、pen abruptly, present brief descriptions and use concise dialogues。The folk ballad is usually anonymous and the presentation is impersonal. The literary ballad deliberately imitates the form and spirit of a folk ballad。 The Romantic poets were attracted to this form, as Longfellow with The Wreck of

27、the Hesperus， Coleridge with The Rime of the Ancient Marine， which is longer and more elaborate than the folk ballad.17。 Ballad Stanza (民谣诗节）A type of four-line stanza， the first and the third lines have four stressed words or syllables； the second and fourth lines have three stresses.18。 Beat Gener

28、ation (垮掉的一代)The Beat Generation refers to a looselyknit group of poets and novelists, writing in the second half of thee 1950s and early 1960s。 They shared a set of social attitudes antiestablishment， antipolitical， antiintellectual， oppose to the prevailing cultural， literary, and moral values, an

29、d were in favor of unfettered self-realization and self-expression. Representatives of the group were Allen Ginsberg with his long poem Howl and Jack Kerouac with his On the Road。 19. Bildungsroman （成长小说)Bildungsroman defines a genre of the novel which focuses on the psychological and moral growth o

30、f the protagonist from youth to adulthood, and in which characters change is thus extremely important。 In a Bildungsroman, the goal is maturity. Charles Dickens David Copperfield is a classical Bildungsroman。20. Biography （传记）A detailed account of a persons life written by another person。传记：由他人篆写的关于

31、某人生平的详细记录。21. Black comedy/Black humor (黑色幽默）It is mostly employed to describe baleful, naive， or inept characters in a fantastic or nightmarish modern world playing out their roles in what Ionesco called a “tragic farce”, in which the evets are often simultaneously comic， horrifying， and absurd。 Jo

32、seph Hellers Catch-22 can be taken as an example of the employment of this technique.22. Black Mountain Poets (黑山派诗人）It is sometimes called projective poets（投射诗人）, a group of the mid20th century American avant-garde or postmodern poets centering on Black Mountain College。 In the essay Projective Verse， Charles Olson calls “for poetry of open field” composition to replace traditional closed poetic forms with an improvised form that should reflect exactly the content of the poem。 This essay became the manifesto for the Black Mountain Poets.23. Blank