英美文学术语整理版(考试答题用)

历年考题高频术语,精心整理,可直接用于答题

Humanism As the essence of the Renaissance, humanism emphasizes the dignity of human beings and the importance of the present life. Humanists voiced their beliefs that man was the center of the universe and man did not only have the right to enjoy the beauty of the present life, but had the ability to perfect himself and to perform wonders.

Renaissance The Renaissance marks the transition from the medieval to the modern world. The essence of it is Humanism. It indicates a revival of classical arts and sciences after the dark ages of medieval obscurantism. Man became the center of the world instead of God. The Renaissance Movement is a great revolution carried out in the 14c to the mid-17c Europe. It brought human wisdom and capacity into full play.

Enlightenment The 18c England is known as the Age of Enlightenment or the Age of Reason. The purpose was to enlighten the world with the light of modern philosophical and artistic ideas. It celebrated reason, equality, science and human beings’ ability to perfect themselves and their society. It advocated universal education. Representatives are Alexander pope, Jonathan Swift, etc.

Classicism A movement in tendency or art, literature, or music that reflects the principles manifested in the art of ancient Greece and Rome. Classicism emphasizes the traditional and the universal, and places value on reason, clarity, balance and order.

Romanticism A movement that flourished in literature, philosophy, music, and art in western culture during most of the 19c. It emphasizes the individual, the irrational, the imaginative, the spontaneous and the emotional. The representatives include Wordsworth, Shelley, Byron, etc.

Realism the attempt in literature and art to represent life as it is, without sentimentalizing or idealizing it. Realistic writing often depicts the everyday life and speech of ordinary people.

Neoclassicism A thought of movement in the 17c characterized by the revival of Greek and Roman style, order, balance and harmony in literature.

Critical Realism It flourished in the 19c. The realists first and foremost set themselves the task of criticizing capitalist society from a democratic viewpoint and delineated the crying contradictions of bourgeois reality. But they did not find a way to eradicate social evils.

Epic An epic is a long oral narrative poem that operates on a grand scale and deals with legendary or historical events of national or universal significance. It reflects the values of the society from which it originated.

Ballad: A story told in verse and usually meant to be sung. Folk ballads have no known authors. They were transmitted orally and were not set down in writing until centuries after they were first sung. The subject matter of folk ballads stems from the everyday life of the common people. Devices commonly used in ballads are the refrain, incremental repetition, and code language.

Essay: A piece of prose writing, usually short, that deals with a subject in a limited way and expresses a particular point or view. An informal essay is usually brief, it uses a conversational style and a personal or humorous tone. By contrast, a formal essay is tightly organized, dignified in style, and serious in tone.

Allegory 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 literal meaning and a symbolic meaning.

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