《英美文学史》名词解释.doc

英美文学史名词解释1. English Critical RealismEnglish critical realism of the 19th century flourished in the forties and in the early fifties. The realists first and foremost criticized the capitalist society from a democratic viewpoi nt and deli neated (portrayed) the crying (extremely shock ing) con tradicti ons of bourgeois reality. The greatness of the English realists lies not only in their satirical portrayal of bourgeoisie and in the exposure of the greed and hypocrisy of the ruli ng classes, but also in their sympathy for the labori ng people. Humor and satire are used to expose and criticize the seamy (dark) side of reality. The major contribution of the critical realists lies in their perfection of the no vel. Charles Dicke ns and William Makepeace Thackeray are the most important representative of English critical realism.2. The "Stream of Consciousness"The "stream of consciousness" is a psychological term indicating "the flux of conscious and subconscious thoughts and impressions moving in the mind at any given time independently of the person's will." In late 19th century, the literary device of "interior monologue" was originated in France as an application of modern psychological kno wledge to literary creati ons. In the 20h cen tury, un der the in flue nee of Freud 's theory of psychological an alysis, a nu mber of writers adopted the "stream of con scious ness" method of no vel writ ing. The strik ing feature of these no velists is their giving precede nee to the depicti on of the characters' men tal and emoti onal reacti ons to external eve nts, rather tha n the events themselves. In doing so, the novelists abandoned the conventional usages of realistic plot structure, characterization and description, and their works became successionsof "fleeting images of the external world mingled with thoughts and half-thoughts and shadows of thought attached to the immediate prese nt or moving back and forth in memory." James Joyce and Virginia Woolf are the two best known no velists of the "stream of con scious ness".3. TranscendentalismTran sce nden talism is the summit of the Roma ntic Moveme nt in the history of America n literature in the 19 cen tury. Tran sce nden talism has been defined philosophically as "the recognition in man of the capacity of knowing truth intuitively". Transcendentalists place emphasis on the importa nee of the Over-soul, the in dividual and Nature. The most important representativesare Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau.4. RenaissanceRenaissanee in European history refers to the period from 14th century to 17th century. "Renaissanee" means "revival", the revival of interest in Ancient Greek and Roman culture and getting rid of con servatism in feudalist Europe and in troduc ing new ideas that express the interests of the rising bourgeoisie. It started in Italy and ended in England and Spain. Renaissancehas two striking features. One is a thirsting curiosity for the classical literature; the other is the keen interest in the activities of humanity. Humanism is the key-note of the Renaissanee. Thomas More and William Shakespeare are the best represe ntatives of the En glish huma ni sts.5. Passive RomanticismEnglish romanticism began when Lyrical Ballad was published in 1798 and ended in 1832. It in effect is a revolt of the English imagination against the neoclassical reason. The romanticists who saw both the corruption of the feudal societies and the inhumanity of capitalism and felt that the society denied people their esse ntial huma n n eeds. They were disc onten ted with, and opposed to the developme nt of capitalism. Some romantic writers reflected the thinking of classes ruined by the bourgeoisie, and by way of protest aga inst capitalism developme nt tur ned to the feudal past, i.e., the "merry old English", as their ideal, or, "frighte ned by the coming of in dustrialism and the n ightmare tow ns of in dustry, they were turni ng to n ature to n ature for protecti on." These were the elder and sometimes called passive or escapist roma ntics, represe nted by Wordsworth and Coleridge.6. I magismImagism is a Moveme nt in U.S. and En glish poetry characterized by the use of con crete Ian guage and figures of speech, moder n subject matter, metrical freedom, and avoida nee of roma ntic or mystical themes, aimi ng at clarity of expression through the use of precise visual images. It grew out of the Symbolist Movement in 1912 and was initially led by Ezra Pound, Amy Lowell, and others. The Imagist manifesto that came out in 1912 showed three Imagist poetic principles: direct treatment of the“ thing (no fuss, frill or ornament), exclusion of superfluous words (precisi on and economy of expressi on), the rhyme of the musical phrase rather tha n the seque nee of a metro nome (free verse form and music)7. The Local Color MovementThe local color moveme nt came in to particular prominence in America after the Civil War, perhaps as an attempt to rec。