1、英美文学导论,Introduction to English Literature and American Literature,English Literature,the body of written works produced in the English language by inhabitants of the British Isles (including Ireland) from the 7th century to the present day. The major literatures written in English outside the Britis
2、h Isles are treated separately under American literature, Australian literature, Canadian literature, and New Zealand literature.,American Literature,the body of written works produced in the English language in the United States.,Like other national literatures, American literature was shaped by th
3、e history of the country that produced it. For almost a century and a half, America was merely a group of colonies scattered along the eastern seaboard of the North American continentcolonies from which a few hardy souls tentatively ventured westward. After a successful rebellion against the motherl
4、and, America became the United States, a nation.,By the end of the 19th century this nation extended southward to the Gulf of Mexico, northward to the 49th parallel, and westward to the Pacific. By the end of the 19th century, too, it had taken its place among the powers of the worldits fortunes so
5、interrelated with those of other nations that inevitably it became involved in two world wars and, following these conflicts, with the problems of Europe and East Asia. Meanwhile, the rise of science and industry, as well as changes in ways of thinking and feeling, wrought many modifications in peop
6、les lives. All these factors in the development of the United States molded the literature of the country.,关键词,From Beowulf to Virginia Woolf Geoffrey Chaucer(1343-1400) and The Canterbury Tales(13871400) William Shakespeare(1564-1616), plays and sonnetsJohn Milton(1608-1674) and Paradise Lost(1667)
7、 John Donne(1572-1631) and Metaphysical poems,关键词,6. The 18th centurySamuel Johnson(1709-1784) Daniel Defoe(1660-1731) and Robinson Crusoe(171922)Henry Fielding(1707-1754) and Tom Jones(1749),关键词,7. Romanticism(the 19th century)Robert Burns(1759-1796)William Wordsworth(1770-1850)George Gordon Byron(
8、1788-1824)Percy Bysshe Shelley(1792-1822)John Keats(1795-1821),关键词,8. Early Victorian VerseAlfred Tennyson(1809-1892)Robert Browning(1812-1889)Elizabeth Barrett Browning(1806-1861)Matthew Arnold(1822-1888),关键词,9. Realism (the 19th century)Jane Austen(1775-1817) and Pride and Prejudice(1813)The Bront
9、esCharlotte Bronte(1816-1855) and Jane Eyre(1847)Emily Bronte(1818-1848) and Wuthering Heights(1847)Anne Bronte(1820-1849) and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848)George Eliot(1819-1880)Elizabeth Gaskell(1810-1865),Realism(the 19th century),Charles Dickens(1812-1870) David Copperfield (1850)A Tale of
10、Two Cities (1859)Great Expectations (1861) William Makepeace Thackeray(1811-1863) and Vanity Fair (184748),Realism(the 20th century),Thomas Hardy(1840-1928) and Tess of the dUrbervilles (1891) Joseph Conrad(1857-1924) and “Heart of Darkness” (1902)John Galsworthy(1867-1933) and The Forsyte Saga(The
11、Man of Property (1906) began the novel sequence known as The Forsyte Saga, by which Galsworthy is chiefly remembered; others in the same series are “Indian Summer of a Forsyte” (1918, in Five Tales), In Chancery (1920), Awakening (1920), and To Let (1921).),Realism,William Somerset Maugham(1874-1965
12、) and The Razors Edge (1944)Edward Morgan Forster(1879-1970) and A Passage to India (1924)Arthur Conan Doyle(1859-1930) and Sherlock HolmesGeorge Bernard Shaw(1856-1950),Modernism,Virginia Woolf(1882-1941)Mrs. Dalloway (1925) A Room of Ones Own (1929)David Herbert Lawrence(1885-1930) Sons and Lovers
13、 (1913)The Rainbow (1915)Women in Love (1920)James Joyce(1882-1941) and Ulysses(1922),Modernism,Thomas Stearns Eliot (1888-1965) and The Waste Land (1922)William Butler Yeats(1865-1939)Agatha Christie(1891-1976) Hercule PoirotMurder on the Orient Express (1933; film, 1974) and Death on the Nile (193
14、7; film, 1978),Contemporary(1945-),William Golding(1911-1993) and Lord of the Flies(1954; film 1963 and 1990) John Fowles（1926-) and The French Lieutenants Woman(1969) Doris Lessing(1919-) The Golden Notebook (1962),Contemporary,Ted Hughes(1930-1998)Sylvia Plath(1932-1963) Seamus Heaney(1939-) Anton
15、ia Susan Byatt(1936-),第一课 早期英国文学 Early English Literature,In its literature, England arguably has attained its most influential cultural expression. For more than a millennium, each stage in the development of the English language has produced its masterworks.,Little is known of English literature b
16、efore the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons, though echoes of Englands Celtic past resound in Arthurian legend. Anglo-Saxon literature, written in the Old English language, is remarkably diverse. Its surviving corpus includes hymns, lyric poems such as The Wanderer and The Seafarer, riddles and spells, so
17、ngs, and the epic poem Beowulf , which dates from the 9th or 10th century. Following the NormanConquest of 1066, French influence shaped the vocabulary as well as the literary preoccupations of Middle English.,Geoffrey Chaucer epitomized both the courtly philosophical concerns and the earthy vernacu
18、lar of this period in his Troilus and Criseyde and The Canterbury Tales, respectively, while William Langlands Piers Plowman was an early expression of the religious and political dissent that would later characterize English literature.,The Elizabethan era of the late 16th century fostered the flow
19、ering of the European Renaissance in England and the golden age of English literature. The plays of William Shakespeare, while on their surface representing the culmination of Elizabethan English, achieve a depth of characterization and richness of invention that have fixed them in the dramatic repe
20、rtoire of virtually every language. The publication of the King James Version of the Bible in 1611 infused the literature of the period with both religious imagery and a remarkably vigorous language, and it served as an important instrument for the spread of literacy throughout England.,Anglo-Saxon
21、Conquest,In the ancient times, there were three tribes called Angles, Saxons and Jutes in the northern Europe. In the 5th century, they conquered Britain and settled down there. After driving the native people into the deep mountains of Wales and Scotland, they divided the whole island among themsel
22、ves. Agles settled in the east midland, and built the Kingdom of East Angles. Saxons took the southern part of the island and set up some small kingdoms as Wessex, Essex, and Sussex. Jutes occupied the southeastern corner of the island. Gradually seven kingdoms arose in Britain. By the 7th century,
23、these small kingdoms were combined into a united kingdom called England.,Angles, Saxons and Jutes usually known as Anglo-Saxons are the first Englishmen. Language spoken by them is called Old English, which is the foundation of English language and literature. With the Anglo-Saxon settlement in Brit
24、ain, the history of English literature began.,Anglo-Saxon Literature,The Old English literature, exclusively a verse literature in oral form The pagan poetry represented by Beowulf, and religious poetry Anglo-Saxon prose appeared in the 8th century,Beowulf 贝奥武甫,heroic poem, the highest achievement o
25、f Old English in a single manuscript from c. 1000, it deals with events of the early 6th century and is believed to have been composed between 700 and 750. It did not appear in print until 1815. Although originally untitled, it was later named after the Scandinavian hero Beowulf, whose exploits and
26、character provide its connecting theme. There is no evidence of a historical Beowulf, but some characters, sites, and events in the poem can be historically verified.,Beowulf is the oldest poem in the English language. It is the most important specimen of Anglo-Saxon literature, and also the oldest
27、surviving epic in the English language. It consists of more than 3000 lines. It had been passed from mouth to mouth for hundreds of years before it was written down in the tenth century or at the end of the ninth century. The main stories are based on the folk legends of the primitive northern tribe
28、s.,Main incidents of the poem,Beowulfs fight with the monster Grendel in Hrothgars Hall Beowulfs slaying of Grendels mother in her lair Beowulfs return in glory to his uncle, and his succession to the throne Beowulfs victory in death, fifty years later, over the fire dragon,Writing features of the p
29、oem,A pagan poem, the Christian flavor given to it The use of the strong stress and the predominance of consonants The use of the alliteration A lot of metaphors the see is called the whale-road or the swan road; the soldiers are called shield-men; monster is referred as soul-destroyer.,Medieval Eng
30、lish Literature,Anglo-Norman literature The romance Age of Chaucer Ballads Thomas Mallory and Morte dArthur,Norman conquest,The Norman was originally a hardy race of sea rovers living in Scandinavia. In the 10th century, they conquered a part of northern France which had been called Normandy, and se
31、ttled down there. They adopted French as their language and embraced Christianity. They became renowned for their learning, their military prowess and their organizing ability.,The Duke of Normandy William the Great was an able general and statesman. In 1066, he led the Norman army to invade England
32、. The two armies met at Hastings. Finally the English army was defeated, and William became the king of England. After the conquest, feudal system was established in the English society. The new king ruled England with a high hand. William saw himself as the owner of the country, and he owned the la
33、nd and everything in it. The feudal social structure in England was just like the pyramid in Egypt. At the top of was the King William and below him were his noblemen such as barons and knights.,The influence of the Norman conquest upon English language and literature,After the conquest, the body of
34、 customs and ideals known as chivalry was introduced by the Normans into England. The knightly code, the romantic interest in women, tenderness and reverence paid to Virgin Mary were reflected in the literature. With the coming of the Normans, the Anglo-Saxons sank to a position of abjectness. Their
35、 language was made a despised thing. French words of Warfare and chivalry, art and luxury, science and law, began to come into the English language. Thus three languages existed in England at that time. The Normans spoke French, the lower class spoke English, and the scholars and clergymen used Lati
36、n.,The romance,The romance was the prevailing form of literature in the Middle Ages. It was a long composition, sometimes in verse, sometimes in prose, describing the life and adventures of a noble hero. Perilous adventures more or less remote from ordinary life Supreme devotion to a fair lady The c
37、entral character of the romance is the knight, a man of noble birth skilled in the use of weapons.,Romance cycles,Matters of France, mainly about Charles the Great, the famous romance of this group is Chanson de Roland Matter of Rome, about Alexander the Great (356-323 BC), King of Macedonia and con
38、queror of Greece, Egypt, India and Persian Empire. Sometimes Trojan War Matter of Britain mainly about the exploits of King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table. The story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is the culmination of the Arthurian romances.,Age of Chaucer,Chaucer was the representat
39、ive writer of the 14th century, and therefore the 14th century is usually called the Age of Chaucer.,GEOFFREY CHAUCER 乔叟,born c. 1342/43, London?, Eng. died Oct. 25, 1400, London the outstanding English poet before Shakespeare and “the first finder of our language.” His The Canterbury Tales ranks as
40、 one of the greatest poetic works in English. He also contributed importantly in the second half of the 14th century to the management of public affairs as courtier, diplomat, and civil servant. In that career he was trusted and aided by three successive kingsEdward III, Richard II, and Henry IV. Bu
41、t it is his avocationthe writing of poetryfor which he is remembered.,Poets Corner 诗人角,Westminster Abbey is crowded with the tombs and memorials of famous British subjects, such as Sir Isaac Newton, David Livingstone, and Ernest Rutherford. Part of the south transept is well known as Poets Corner an
42、d includes the tombs of Geoffrey Chaucer,Ben Jonson (who was buried upright), John Dryden, Robert Browning, and many others. The north transept has many memorials to British statesmen.,The Canterbury Tales 坎特伯雷故事集,The great majority of the words Chaucer uses are the same in meaning and function as t
43、heir Modern English counterparts. They usually differ greatly in spelling. But this initial difficulty soon disappears as one reads through the text - especially if one reads the text aloud. It is soon apparent that “y“ and “i“ are interchangeable and no one can have much difficulty with a phrase su
44、ch as “the French of Paris.“ Indeed, in some ways Chaucers vocabulary may be easier for a modern reader than it would have been for many unsophisticated Middle English readers.,Whan that April with his showres soote The droghte of March hath perced to the roote, And bathed every veyne in swich licou
45、r Of which vertu engendred is the flour;,Modern versionWhen in April the sweet showers fall And pierce the drought of March of the root, And all the veins are bathed in liquor of such power As brings about the engendering of the flower,The whole work consists of a prologue and twenty four tales. Cha
46、ucer tells us that one spring day, he comes into the Tabard Inn in Southward at the south end of London Bridge. Here he meets some thirty pilgrims, who are going to Canterbury. Then he joins this company, which includes all the classes of English society. At supper, the host of the inn suggests that
47、 in order to enliven the journey, each of the pilgrims is to tell two stories while going and two returning. The best story-teller shall be treated with a fine supper at general expense when they come back.,The Knights Tale,Palamon and Arcite are two young Theban knights. They are cousins and sworn-
48、brothers. In a battle, both of them are found wounded on the battle field. So they are taken prisoners by the Duke of Athenians. One day from the prison window they behold the fair maid Emily, who is the sister-in-law of the Duke. Both of the young men fall desperately in love with the lady. For thi
49、s reason their friendship ruptures. To decide who should marry the lady, a grand tournament is held. Aricite, who has prayed to the God of war, Mars, wins, but unfortunately he is thrown from the horse and dies, thus losing the lady in the very hour of triumph. On the other hand, Palamon, who has pr
50、ayed to Venus, though loses in the combat, marries Emily after much sorrow.,The Merchants Tale,The sixty-year-old Baron January has become blind, his young wife May and her lover take advantage of this and make love in a tree. At that moment, Pluto restores the old mans eyesight. He has seen what is occurring. But realizing that nothing can be done about it, the Baron accepts his wifes statement that his eyes have deceived him.,
