英美文學(xué)名詞解釋匯總

1、英美文學(xué)名詞解釋匯總1. 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.寓言： 用詩歌或散文講的故事， 在這個故事中人物、 事件或背景往往代表抽象的概念或道德 品質(zhì)。所有的寓言都是一個具有雙重意義、文學(xué)內(nèi)涵或象征意義的故事。2. Allit

2、eration:The repetition of the initial consonant sounds in poetry.頭韻：詩歌中單詞開頭讀音的重復(fù)。3. Allusion:A reference to a person, a place, an event, or a literary work thata writer expects the reader to recognize and respond to. An allusion may be drawn from history, geography, literature, or religion. 典故：文學(xué)作品中

3、作家希望讀者能夠認(rèn)識或做出反應(yīng)的一個人物、地點、事件或文學(xué)作品。 典故或來自歷史、地理、文學(xué)或宗教。4. American Naturalism: American naturalism was a new and harsher realism. American naturalism had been shaped by the war; by the social upheavals that underminedthecomforting faith of an earlier age. America' s literary naturalists dismissed the

4、validity of comforting moral truths. They attempted to achieve extreme objectivity and frankness, presenting characters of low social and economic classes who were determined by their environment and heredity. In presenting the extremes of life, the naturalists sometimes displayed an affinity to the

5、 sensationalism of early romanticism, but unlike their romantic predecessors, the naturalists emphasized that the world was amoral, that men and women had no free will, that lives were controlled by heredity and environment, that the destiny of humanity was misery in life and oblivion in death. Alth

6、ough naturalist literature described the world with sometimes brutal realism, it sometimes also aimed at bettering the world through social reform.美國自然主義： 美國自然主義是一種新的、 更具批判性的現(xiàn)實主義。 美國自然主義是在戰(zhàn)爭 和影響人們早期信念的社會動亂的影響之下形成的。 美國的自然主義者往往否定了廣為接受 的道德真理的正確性， 他們想達(dá)到極端的客觀與直率， 他們所展現(xiàn)的人物往往都是下層社會 的人， 他們的命運(yùn)受到環(huán)境和遺傳的制約。 在反應(yīng)

7、生活方面， 自然主義作家往往表現(xiàn)出早期 浪漫主義中感傷主義特征，但和浪漫主義不同的是，自然主義者認(rèn)為， 世界缺乏道德， 人不 論男女都沒有自由的意愿， 他們的生活都受到遺傳和環(huán)境的控制， 人在生前過著悲慘的生活， 死后便被人所遺忘。 雖然自然主義文學(xué)通過更為苛刻的現(xiàn)實主義手法來展現(xiàn)這個世界， 但是 他有時也是為了通過社會改革來改善這個世界。5. American Puritanism:Puritanism is the practices and beliefs of the Puritans.The Puritans were originally members of a division

8、 of the Protestant Church. The first settlers who became the founding fathers of the American nation were quite a few of them. They were a group of serious, religious people, advocating highly religious and moral principles. As the word itself hints, Puritans wanted to purity their religious beliefs

9、 and practices. They accepted the doctrine of predestination, original sin and total depravity, and limited atonement through a special infusion of grace form God. As a culture heritage, Puritanism did have a profound influence on the early American mind. American Puritanism also had a enduring infl

10、uence onAmerican literature.美國清教主義： 清教主義是新教徒的原來的一個分支清教徒的行為和信仰。 在美國的第 一批居民中有很多就是清教徒， 他們有著嚴(yán)格的宗教信仰和道德準(zhǔn)則。 就像這個詞所暗指的 那樣， 清教徒們想“清化”他們的宗教信仰和行為習(xí)慣。 他們相信宿命論、 原罪說、全體墮 落和有限的贖罪。 作為一種文化遺產(chǎn)， 美國清教主義在早期美國人的思想上有著深刻的影響， 他對美國文學(xué)的影響也是頗為持久的。6. American Realism:In American literature, the Civil War brought the RomanticPerio

11、d to an end. The Age of Realism came into existence. It came as a reaction against the lie of 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 expresses the concern for commonplace an

12、d the low, and it offers an objective rather than an idealistic view of human nature and human experience.美國現(xiàn)實主義： 在美國文學(xué)史上， 內(nèi)戰(zhàn)宣告了浪漫主義的終結(jié)和現(xiàn)實主義的開始。 現(xiàn)實主義 反對浪漫主義和感傷主義的謊言， 它從一個陌生的世界轉(zhuǎn)向了普通人的真實生活的描寫。 它 所關(guān)心的是普通的下層勞動人民而非理想中的人類本性和現(xiàn)實經(jīng)歷。7. American Romanticism:The Romantic Period covers the first half of the 19th

13、century. A rising America with its ideals of democracy and equality, its industrialization, its westward expansion, and a variety of foreign influences were among the important factors which made literary expansion and expression not only possible but also inevitablein the period immediately followi

14、ng the nation' spolitical independence. Yet, romantics frequently shared certain general characteristics: moral enthusiasm, faith in value of individualism and intuitive perception, and a presumption that the natural world was a source of goodness and man' s societies a source of corruption.

15、 Romantic values were prominent in American politics, art, and philosophy until the Civil War. The romantic exaltation of the individual suited the nation ' s revolutionary heritage and its frontier egalitarianism.美國浪漫主義：浪漫主義階段涵蓋了19 世紀(jì)前半頁。美國的不斷壯大和發(fā)展以及隨之而來的明珠和平等的思想、 工業(yè)化的發(fā)展、 西北邊疆的不斷擴(kuò)展和國外的各種影響使浪漫主義

16、作 家文學(xué)不但成為一種可能， 而且使它成為美國政治獨(dú)立后的一種必然。 然而， 浪漫主義文學(xué) 往往有很多共性： 他們熱心于道德、 相信個人主義價值觀和對世界的直觀感受， 并且他們認(rèn) 為自然世界是真、善、美的源泉而人類社會則是墮落的根源。 在內(nèi)戰(zhàn)以前， 浪漫主義價值觀 占據(jù)是政治、 藝術(shù)、 和哲學(xué)等領(lǐng)域， 浪漫主義者對個人的贊揚(yáng)正好迎合了美國的革命遺風(fēng)和 邊疆開拓者的品均主義。8. American Transcendentalism: the emergence of the Transcendentalists as an identifiable movement took place du

17、ring the late 1820s and 1830s, but the roots of their religious philosophy extended much farther back into American religious history. Transcendentalism and evangelical Protestantism followed separate evolutionary branches from American Puritanism, taking as their commona ncestor the Calvinism of th

18、e seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. They spoke for cultural rejuvenation and against the materialism of American spirit, or the Oversoul, as the most important thing in the Universe. They stressed the importance of the individual. To them, the individual was the most important element of society

19、. They offered a fresh perception of nature as symbolic of the Spirit or God. Nature was,to them, alive, filled with God' s overwhelming presence. Transcendentalism is based on the belief that the most fundamental truths about life and death can be reached only by going beyond the world of the s

20、enses. Emerson' s Nature has been called the “ Manifesto of American Transcendentalism” and his The American Scholar has beenrightly regarded as America' s “ Declaration of Intellectual Independence”.美國超驗主義： 美國超驗主義出現(xiàn)的 19 世紀(jì) 20 年代末期到三十年代， 但是它的根源在宗教 史上要遠(yuǎn)得多。超驗主義和福音派新教分別是美國清教主義的兩個分支，他們的祖先是 17 世紀(jì)

21、和 18 世紀(jì)的加爾文神教。超驗主義者主張文化的復(fù)興，認(rèn)為“超靈”是宇宙中最重要 的事物。他們強(qiáng)調(diào)個人的重要性，反對精神上的物質(zhì)主義。對他們來說，個人是一個社會最 重要的元素。 他們認(rèn)為自然就是“精神”或“上帝”的象征， 它是有生命的， 而上帝又無處 不在。 他們認(rèn)為生與死最基本的真理可以超越感官的世界而獲得。 艾默生的 自然被稱為 是“美國超驗主義的宣言”，他的美國學(xué)者則被認(rèn)為是美國的“文化獨(dú)立宣言書”。9. Analogy: (a figure of speech) A comparison made between tow things to show the similarities

22、between them. Analogies are often used for illustration or for argument. 類比：(修辭)把兩種事物放在一起進(jìn)行對比從而發(fā)現(xiàn)他們的相同點，類比一般用于說明或 論述。10. Anapest: It ' s made up of two unstressed and one stressed syllables,with thetwo unstressed ones in front. 抑抑揚(yáng)格：抑抑揚(yáng)格由兩個非重度音節(jié)和一個重讀音節(jié)組成，兩個非重度音節(jié)在前。11. Antagonist:A person or forc

23、e opposing the protagonist in a narrative; a rivalof the hero or heroine. 反面人物：一個故事中和主人公相對立的人物或一種力量，是男女主人公的對手。12. Antithesis: (a figure of speech) The balancing of two contrasting ideas, words phrases, or sentences. An antithesis is often expressed in a balanced sentence, that is, a sentence in whic

24、h identical or similar grammatical structure is used to express contrasting ideas. 對偶：(修辭)相互對稱的兩個短語、句子或思想。對偶往往用一個對稱的句子來表達(dá)，也 就是，一句話中使用相同或相似的語法結(jié)構(gòu)來表達(dá)相互對照的兩種事物。13. Aphorism: A concise, pointed statement expressing a wise or clever observation about life.警句：用一種簡練、準(zhǔn)確的方式來表達(dá)對生活充滿智慧的觀點。14. Apostrophe: A figu

25、re of speech in which an absent or a dead person, an abstract quality, or something nonhuman is addressed directly. 頓呼：演說或詩歌等中對某人 , 常為死者或不在場者 , 或?qū)M人的事物所說的話。15. Argument: A form of discourse in which reason is used to influence or change people ' s idea or actions. Writers practice argument most

26、often when writin g nonfiction, particularly essays or speeches. 議論：用講道理的方法來影響人們的思想或行動的一種文本形式。 作家往往是在寫非小說文 體，尤其是散文或演講的時候用這種方法。16. Aside: In drama, lines spoken by a character in an undertone or directly to the audience. An aside is meant to be unheard by the other characters onstage. 旁白：在戲劇中低聲說出或直接說

27、給觀眾的臺詞。旁白在舞臺上其他人物是聽不到的。17. Assonance: The repetition of similar vowel sounds, especially in poetry. Assonance is often employed to please the ear or emphasize certain sounds.類韻：在詩歌中相同或相似元音的重復(fù)， 它的目的主要是用來使句子悅耳動聽或用來強(qiáng)調(diào)某 個音。18. Atmosphere: The prevailing mood or feeling of a literary work. Atmosphere is

28、often developed, at least in part, through descriptions of setting. Such descriptions help to create an emotional climate for the writers to establish the reader ' s expectations and attitudes.氣氛： 文學(xué)作品中主要的基調(diào)或感覺。 氣氛的渲染主要是通過對環(huán)境的描寫來展開的， 這種 描寫有助于作家創(chuàng)造一種情緒氣氛來時感染讀者19. Autobiography:A person ' s acc

29、ount of his or her own life. An autobiographyis generally written in narrative form and includes some introspection. 自傳：一個人對他或她自己生活的描述，自傳是一種敘述性的文體，多包含回憶性的描寫。20. Ballad: A story told in verse and usually meant to be sung. In many countries, the folk ballad was one of the earliest forms of literature.

30、 Folk ballads have noknown authors.They were transmittedorallynot set down in writinguntil centuries afterfrom generation to generation and were they were first sung. The subject matterof folk balladsstems from theused in balladsform of ballad 民謠： 民謠是一are the refrain, is the literary 種做詩配唱的故事。everyd

31、ay lifeincrementalballad, which在很多國家，of the commonp eople. Devices commonly repetition, and code language. A later imitates the style of the folk ballad. 民謠是最早的文學(xué)形式之一，都是無名作民謠中所采用的手法多為疊家所寫， 它們從開始傳唱到真正寫下來要在口頭流傳好幾代人。句、重復(fù)和暗語。后來民謠就變成了有文字的歌謠，其風(fēng)格模仿民間歌謠。21. Ballad stanza:A type of four-line stanza. The firs

32、t and third lines have fourstressed words or syllables; the second and fourth lines have three stresses. Balladmeter is usually iambic. The number of unstressed syllablesin each line may vary.The second and fourth lines rhyme.民謠體詩節(jié)：一種四行詩節(jié)，第一、三行由四個重讀單詞或音節(jié)組成，二、四行由三個重音 組成。民謠的韻腳往往采用抑揚(yáng)格的形式， 每一行中非重度音節(jié)的數(shù)目不

33、等， 二、四行押韻。22. Biography: A detailed account of a person' s life written by another person.23. Black Humor （ 黑色幽默 ）: It also known as Black Comedy, writing that places grotesque elements side by side with humorous ones in an attempt to shock the reader, forcing him or her to laugh at the horrifyi

34、ng reality of a disordered world.24. Blank verse:Verse written in unrhymed iambic pentameter.素體詩：用五音步抑揚(yáng)格寫的無韻詩 .: A break or pause in a line of poetry. 休止：一行詩中的間斷或停頓。26. Canto:A section or division of a long poem.詩章：長詩的一部分。27. Caricature: The use of exaggeration or distortion to make a figure appear

35、comic or ridiculous. A physical characteristic, an eccentricity, a personality trait, or an act may be exaggerated.漫畫： 用夸張或扭曲的手法來描寫一個人物的外貌特征、怪癖、個性或某個動作來產(chǎn)生滑稽可笑的效果。28. Character:In appreciating a short story, characters are an indispensable element. Characters are the persons presented in a dramatic o

36、r narrative work. Forst divides characters into two types: flat character, which is presented without much individualizing detail; and round character, which is complex in temperament and motivation and is represented with subtle particularity. 人物：在短篇小說的欣賞中，人物是必不可少一個元素。人物是喜劇或小說中所描寫的人。 福斯特把人物劃分為兩類， 扁

37、平型人物和圓型人物。 扁平型人物往往缺乏個人化的細(xì)節(jié)描寫 而圓型人物則在性格和行為動機(jī)上較為復(fù)雜。29. Characterization：the means by which a writer reveals that personality.人物描寫：一個作家描寫某個人物的方法。30. Classicism: A movement or tendency in art, literature, or music that reflects the principles manifested in the art of ancient Greece and Rome. Classicism

38、emphasizes the traditional and the universal, and places value on reason, clarity, balance, and order. Classicism, with its concern for reason and universal themes, is traditionally opposed to Romanticism, which is concerned with emotions and personal themes.古典主義：在藝術(shù)、文學(xué)或音樂方面反映古希臘、 羅馬文學(xué)原理的運(yùn)動。 古典主義強(qiáng)調(diào)傳

39、統(tǒng)， 追求理性、明晰、平衡和秩序。因為古典主義強(qiáng)調(diào)理性和普遍主題，在傳統(tǒng)上反對強(qiáng)調(diào)感情 和個人主題的浪漫主義。31. Climax: The point of greatest intensity, interest, or suspense in a story'sturning point. The action leading to the climax and the simultaneous increase of tension in the plot are known as the rising action. All action after the climax i

40、s referred to as the falling action, or resolution. The term crisis is sometimes used interchangeably with climax.高潮：小說中最緊張、最有趣或最具懸念的轉(zhuǎn)折點。 情節(jié)中引起高潮的動作和情節(jié)緊張度的 增加稱作“上升”，高潮后的動作稱為“回落”或“結(jié)局”。 有時候高潮又稱作“轉(zhuǎn)折點”。32. Conceit : A kind of metaphor that makes a comparison between two startlingly different things. A c

41、onceit may be a brief metaphor, but it usually provides the framework for an entire poem. An especially unusual and intellectual kind of conceit is the metaphysical conceit.新奇的比喻：將兩種截然不同的食物進(jìn)行對比的一種隱喻。 它雖被視為是一種隱喻， 但是它 往往構(gòu)建了整首詩的框架，最為奇特的應(yīng)屬玄學(xué)詩里面的。33. Conflict: A struggle between two opposing forces or ch

42、aracters in a short story, novel, play, or narrative poem. Usually the events of the story are all related to the conflict, and the conflict is resolved in some way by the story's end.矛盾：在小說、短篇小說、戲劇或敘事詩中相互對立的兩種力量。故事中的事件往往都和矛 盾有關(guān)，并且在故事的結(jié)尾矛盾都會得以解決。34. Connotation: All the emotions and associations

43、 that a word or phrase may arouse. Connotation is dis tinct from denotation, which is the literal or“ dictionary ”meaning of a word or phrase.內(nèi)涵：一個詞或短語所指的所有的情感和聯(lián)系。 與外延不同，外延則是指一個詞的字面意思 或詞典上的解釋。35. Consonance: The repetition of similar consonantsounds in the middle orat theend of words.諧音：單詞詞尾或中間相似輔音的

44、重復(fù)。36. Couplet: Two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme. A heroic couplet is an iambic pentameter couplet. 對句：兩個連續(xù)押韻的詩行。英雄雙行體的對句一般都為抑揚(yáng)格五音步。37. Critical Realism:The critical realism of the 19th century flourished in theforties and in the beginning offifties. The realists first and foremost setthem

45、selves 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.批判現(xiàn)實主義： 批判現(xiàn)實主義在 19 世紀(jì) 40 年代達(dá)到高潮。 批判現(xiàn)實主義作家們往往把從民 主的角度批評和揭露資本主義社會的丑惡視為己任，但他們并沒有找到治療社會弊病的良 方。38. Dactyl: It

46、' s made up of one stressed and two unstressed syllables, with the stressed in front.揚(yáng)抑抑格：揚(yáng)抑抑格由一個重度音節(jié)和兩個非重度音節(jié)組成，重讀音節(jié)在前。39. Denotation:The literal or“ dictionary ” meaning of a word.外延：單詞的字面意義或“詞典”解釋。40. Denouement: The outcome of a plot. The denouement is that part of a play, short story, novel,

47、 or narrative poem in which conflicts are resolved or unraveled, and mysteries and secrets connected with the plot are explained.結(jié)局：情節(jié)的結(jié)尾部分。在戲劇、小說、短篇小說的結(jié)尾部分，矛盾得以解決，和情節(jié)相關(guān) 的秘密都得以揭露。41. Diction: A writer ' s choice of words, particularly for clarity, effectiveness, and precision.措辭：一個作家用詞的選擇，主要是為了清

48、楚、有效和簡練等目的。42. Dissonance: A harsh or disagreeable combination of sounds; discord. 不和諧音：刺耳或無法融洽的音的組合，噪音。43. Dramatic monologue:A kind of narrative poem in which one character speaks toone or more listeners whose replies are not given in the poem. The occasion is usually a crucial one in the speaker&

49、#39; s personality as well as the incident thatis thesubject of the poem.戲劇獨(dú)白： 在一種敘事詩里面， 一個人物對其他的人物講話但并沒有交代他們的回答， 這種 場合往往對反映說話人的性格特征和詩歌的主題是至關(guān)重要的。44. Elegy: A poem of mourning, usually over the death of an individual. An elegy is a type of lyric poem, usually formal in language and structure, and sol

50、emn or even melancholy in tone.挽歌： 為某個死去的人所做的詩，挽歌往往屬于抒情詩， 在語言和機(jī)構(gòu)上比較正式，語氣上 比較莊重甚至是哀傷的。45. Emblematic image:A verbal picture or figure with a long tradition of moralor religious meaning attached to it.象征性意象：蘊(yùn)含道德或宗教意義的文字描述或人物。46. Enlightenment: With the advent of the 18th century, in England, as in oth

51、erEuropean countries, there sprang into life a public movement known as the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment on the whole, was an expression of struggle of the then progressive class of bourgeois against feudalism. The social inequality,stagnation, prejudices and other survivals of feudalism. They a

52、ttempted to placeall branches of science at the service of mankind by connecting them with the actual deeds and requirements of the people.啟蒙主義：啟蒙主義是在 18 世紀(jì)在英國發(fā)生的?？傮w上，啟蒙主義是當(dāng)時的資產(chǎn)階級對封 建主義，社會的不平等、 死寂、偏見和其他的封建殘余的一種反對。通過將科學(xué)的各個分支 與人民的日常生活和需要聯(lián)系起來，啟蒙主義者們努力將他們變成為人民大眾服務(wù)的工具47. Epic: A long narrative poemt elli

53、ng about the deeds of a great hero and reflecting the values of the society from which it originated. Many epics were drawn from an oral tradition and were transmitted by song and recitation before they were written down.史詩：講述英雄事跡并反映出這些英雄事跡的社會價值觀的長篇敘事詩。 在成為之前，很多 史詩都來自于口頭傳統(tǒng)并通過歌唱和背誦流傳。48. Epigram: A s

54、hort, witty, pointed statement often in the form of a poem. 警句詩：一種簡短、智慧、蘊(yùn)含深刻的詩。49. Epigraph: A quotation or motto at the beginning of a chapter, book, short story, or poem that makes some point about the work. 題詞：在一章、一本書、短篇小說或詩歌的開頭指涉作品內(nèi)容的引文或銘文。50. Epilogue: A short addition or conclusion at the end

55、of a literary work. 收場白：文學(xué)作品末尾簡短的補(bǔ)充或結(jié)論。51. Epiphany: A moment of illumination, usually occurring at or near the end of a work.頓悟：事實得以揭示的時刻，往往發(fā)生在作品的結(jié)尾或?qū)⒔瘴膊糠帧?2. Epitaph: An inscription on a gravestone or a short poem written in memory of someone who has died.53. Epithet: A descriptive name or phrase

56、 used to characterize someone or something. 稱號：用來描述一個人或事物的描寫性詞或短語。54. Era of Modernism:The years from 1910 to 1930 are often called the Era ofModernism, for there seems to have been in both Europe and America a strong awareness of some sort of “break ” with the past. The new artists shared a desire

57、to capture the complexity of modern life, to focus on the variety and confusion of the 20th century by reshaping and sometimes discarding the ideas and habits of the 19th century. The Era of Modernism was indeed the era of the New.現(xiàn)代主義時期：從 1910 到 1930 年這一段時間被稱作現(xiàn)代主義時期， 因為在這一時期，不論 是在美國還是在歐洲人們都認(rèn)識到一種強(qiáng)烈的

58、與過去的“決裂”， 新藝術(shù)家們都渴望反映現(xiàn) 代生活的復(fù)雜性，都渴望通過重新構(gòu)建，有時候甚至放棄 19 世紀(jì)的思想和習(xí)慣來聚焦于 20 世紀(jì)的多樣性和困惑之上。55. 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 essay may be serious or humorous, tightly organized or rambling, restrained or em

59、otional. The two general classifications of essay are the informal essay and the formal essay. An informal essay is usually brief and is written as if the writer is talking informally to the reader about some topic, using a conversational style and a personal or humorous tone. By contrast, a formal essay is tightly organized, di