1、刘炳善 英国文学史课件part1to8 AS and AN 盎格鲁-撒克逊时期和中世纪时期Historical background 1. The Roman Conquest 2. Anglo-Saxon Conquest 3. The conversion In 597 the Pope of Rome sent Augustine to England to convert the AS and within a century all England was Christianized. The conversion is the second important event beca
2、use it brought a new life， a new culture and a new civilization to England. The Anglo-Saxon literatureTwo divisions: pagan and Christian1. The pagan lit refers the songs, legends which the AS brought from their original home. 2. The Christian lit refers to poems or prose writings developed after the
3、 conversion, under the teaching of the monks; they mainly deal with religious subjects, stories based on the Bible. Beowulf1. The use of alliteration, compound words, understatement, metaphor2. It is the national epic of Anglo-Saxons3. It is passed down orally from generation to generation until the
4、 10th century when it was written down in old English.4. It is regarded as the national epic of the Anglo Saxon people. It is written in Old English, part-historical, part-legendary. It is a long narrative poem on the theme of arms and man, mixing with pagan elements and Christian coloring.Artistic
5、feature in Beowulf1. The use of alliteration, words beginning with the same consonants alliterate with each other within each line, or a word beginning with a vowel alliterates with another word beginning with the same or another vowel. e.g. a. Thus made their mourning the men of Geat land,b. For th
6、eir heros passing ,his heath-companionc. Quoth that of all the kings of earth,e. Of men he was the mildest and most belovedf. To his kin the kindest, keenest to praise2. The use of indirect metaphor (kennings)e.g. sea: swan-road, whale-path or sea-bathShip- wave-travelerSoldier: shield-bearer, battl
7、e-hero, spear-fighterFights: sword-clashing, edge-clashArmor: ring-mail, limb-sark, breast-net3. the use of understatement(低调，轻描淡写地陈述）：a negative expression usually in the form of an understatement creating a. Not troublesome, for very welcomeb. Need not praise, for a right to condemn4. Parallel and
8、 antithesis5. Episodes and digression Middle English literature Alliterative and metrical Romances constitute the bulk of the literary works Romancethe most popular literary form in the Middle Ages in Europe; A tale (in verse or prose) that deals with knightly adventures or other heroic deeds or sup
9、ernatural or amorous subjects, and usually emphasizes the chivalric love. Characteristics of romance:1) Mysterious, fantasies, romantic love, and standardized characterization; 2) Loose structure, simple and straightforward language; 3) Set in idealized worlds, containing unlikely or supernatural ha
10、ppenings, reflecting a chivalric age. 4) Most of the English Romances of the time were metrical. Meter and rhyme having been adopted from French poetry to take the place of alliteration in AS poetry. Chivalry： Qualities idealized by knighthood, such as bravery, courtesy, honor, and gallantry toward
11、women.Sir Gawain and the Green knightArtistic features1. The use of alliteration. It is an alliterative Romance about King Arthur and his round table knight. Each fit consists of 2 parts, the first part contains alliterative long lines of more than 10 and the second part contains bob (two or three s
12、yllables) and four rhymed wheel. This kind of special fit makes the narrative rhythm changeable and variable; it combines the strong alliteration with musical rhyme so as to come to the effect of musical melody. 2. Images and figures contain mysterious meaning and color and foreground the theme of t
13、his poem.Five star picture- five symbols, five senses, five fingers, five wounds. Three days in castle, three seductions, three test Piers the PlowmanA long poem by William Langland Artistic features: 1. First it is written in the form of dream visions, 2. Second it is an allegory which uses symboli
14、sm to relate truth; 3. Third, it is a realistic picture of medieval England.Allegory: is a fictional narrative or artistic expression that conveys a symbolic meaning parallel to but distinct from and more important than the literary meaning.The English BalladsA ballad is a story told in song, usuall
15、y in 4-line stanza, with the second and fourth lines rhymed. The English and Scottish popular ballads flourished in the 15th century.Features of ballads:1. four-line stanza. 2. 1/3 lines 4 stresses3. 2/4 lines 3 stresses. 4. Iambic (抑扬格）5. Abrupt beginning. 6. Dramatic elements7. Told through dialog
16、ues and actionsGeoffrey Chaucer (1340? -1400)Main worksHouse of Fame (plot, 1379) The Parliament of Fowls (1382) Troilus and Criseyde (1385) The Canterbury TalesHis master piece The Canterbury tales contains a general prologue and 24 tales, unfinished at the authors sudden death The total effect of
17、the poem: a general picture of social reality of poets day asp the pilgrims portrayed include men and women of all different profession , the high and the low, the lay and the clerical, the learned and the ignorant , the roguish and the upright all except the very highest and the lowest in social ra
18、nk at the timeArtistic features of Canterbury Tales1. Chaucer displays his humor and irony as he condemns these vicious characters and their culpable deeds. These all- pervading humor mix with the satire constitutes Cs high artistic achievement and enables him to tower above his contemporaries as a
19、poet and a teller of tales 2. London dialect as effective weapon for satire and humor for poetry 3. the first use of heroic couplet (rhyming pairs in iambic pentameter4.Chaucer creates in the general prologue and to the tales a whole gallery of vivid characters from all walks of life and then assign
20、s to each of them some appropriate tales capable of shedding light on the respective narrators distinctive personality.And there are some links between two tales: Unity and coherent Chaucer was the forerunner of English Renaissance1. Free thinking 2. Belief in the right of man to earthly happiness 3
21、. Praise mans energy, intellect, quick wit and love for life; 4. Opposed to the dogma of asceticismChaucers contribution to the English poetry 1. Father of English poetry introduced heroic couplet in to English poetry2. Establishment of English as the literary language of England based on London dia
22、lectPoetry: A way of saying with rhythm and or free style, and rhetorical language that correspond to our sense of experience Rhythm and meterRhythm: arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables Meter: regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables usually marked with “”and “/”Meter1. Iamb
23、 (iambic): an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. Its pattern is like this:/2. Anapest (anapestic) two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable. /3. Trochee (trochDactyl (dactylic) a stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables. / 4. Spondee (spondaic) a stress
24、ed syllable followed by another stressed syllable. / /5. Aic: a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable . / FootA unit of poetic meter of stressed and unstressed syllables1. Monometer one foot 2. Dimeter two feet3. Trimeter three feet 4. Tetrameter four feet5. Pentameter five feet 6. He
25、xameter six feet7. Heptameter seven feet 8. Octameter eight feetEpic A long narrative poem celebrating the great deeds of one or more legendary heroes. In a grand ceremonious style .The hero, usually protected by or even descended from gods, performs superhuman exploits in battle or in marvelous voy
26、ages, often saving or founding a nation.The Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf (8th century AD) is a primary epic, as is the oldest surviving epic poem.BalladA folk song or orally transmitted poem telling in a direct and dramatic manner some popular story usually derived form a tragic incident in local histor
27、y or legend.Ballad are normally composed in quatrains with alternating four-stress and three- stress lines ,the second and fourth lines rhyming.LyricA fairly short poem expressing the personal mood, feeling, or meditation of a single speaker.SonnetA lyric of fourteen lines usually in iambic pentamet
28、er. 1. Shakespearean sonnet: Also called English sonnet or Elizabethan Sonnet. It is structured of 3 quatrains and a final couplet with the rhyme scheme: abab cdcd efef gg2. Petrarchan Sonnet: Also called Italian sonnet. It contains an octave with the rhyme patternabba abba and a sestet of various r
29、hymePatterns such as cdecde or cdcdcd.3. Spenserian sonnet: comprising 3 quatrains anda couplet in iambic pentameter with the rhymescheme abab bcbc cdcd eeOdeOde is a dignified and elaborately structured lyric poem of some length, praising and glorifying an individual, commemorating an event or desc
30、ribing nature intellectually rather than emotionally.ElegyFormal lyric poem lamenting the death of a friend or a public figure, or reflecting seriously on a solemn subject.Pastoral: a highly conventional mode of writing that celebrates the innocent life of shepherds or shepherdesses in poems, plays,
31、 and prose romance.Blank verse and free verseBlank verse: unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter.Free verse: a kind of poetry that does not conform to any regular meter: the length of its lines is irregular.Poetic devices1. Simile, a specific comparison between two unlike things2. Metaphor, a figure of
32、 speech in which the quality of one is transferred onto another.3. Conceit, fanciful idea or far-fetched metaphor or imagery.4. Personification: a figure of speech in which inanimate objects or abstractions are given with human qualities or are represented as possessing human form5. Symbol: an index that points to or represents something else6. Paradox: a statement or situation that appears to be self contra
