History and Anthology of English Literature

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Outline

• Course Introduction

• Periods of English Literature

• The Early History

• Beowulf

• The Anglo-Norman Period

• Geoffrey Chaucer and The Canterbury Tales

• Literature is broadly defined as any written or spoken material, but the term most often refers to creative works, which are of artistic value. Literature is the expression of life in words of truth and beauty; it is the written record of man’s spirit, of his thoughts, emotions and aspirations; it is the history and the only history of human soul. It is characterized by its artistic, suggestive and permanent qualities.

• Poetry• Drama• Essay• Fiction

What is literature?

Literary Genres

A Brief Introduction to Literature

Functions of Literature

• 诗言志 .• — 《尚书》• 诗可以兴，可以观，可以群，可以怨。• — 孔子 “ 盖文章，经国之大业，不朽之盛事。• — 曹丕 《典论 · 论文》• 欲新一国之民，不可不先新一国之小说。• — 梁启超《论小说与群治之关系》• 优秀的文学作品能引起人们的快感。• — 柏拉图《文艺对话录》• 悲剧具有“陶冶”、“净化”作用。• — 亚里士多德《诗学》• 寓教于乐。• — 贺拉斯《诗艺》

Why do people need literature?

A. Reading for pleasure Howells (American novelist, playwright and literary criti

c) observed that the study of literature should begin and end in pleasure. Apart from its role of protest, education, cognition and aesthetic appreciation, literature is primarily to give pleasure, to entertain those who voluntarily attend to it. We can enjoy ourselves and get enlightened in the course of reading. The greatest pleasure and satisfaction to be found in literature occurs when it brings us back to the realities of human situations, problems, feelings, and relationships.

1.All the world 's a stage, and all the men and women merely players. ——Shakespeare(1564-1616)

2.It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.

——Jane Austen(1775-1817) Pride and Prejudice

3. Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.

—— Mark Twain (1835-1910)

B. Reading for relaxation

• Generally speaking, literature offers the reader an exciting narrative. It leads the way for readers to an exciting world of experience that is different from their own. Thus, literature succeeds in temporarily getting readers away from their own time and place and sending them to some imaginary world that they otherwise would never know.

• When readers are indulged in reading, they will put aside their problems and obligations of everyday life for the time being. Modern life is full of pressure. It is people's common desire to seek temporary relaxation from the stress in life.

Literature gives readers not only pleasure but also knowledge and insight into the nature of reality. The readers' interest in reading lies partly in the fact that in the process of reading they acquire a good deal of information.

Literature gives readers an insight into the tradition, custom, beliefs, attitudes, folklore, values of the age in which it is written. Whether it is in the form of a story, a poem, a play, or an essay, literature always offers readers some new piece of information that broadens their knowledge of the world.

C. Reading for acquiring knowledge

D. Reading to Confront Experience

• Doris Lessing states ： "Literature maps the world for us, fleshing out what we get from newspaper articles and television reports, giving us a parallel landscape infinitely rich and various where we may stroll any time we like, tourists in imaginary world that mirror real ones."

• Literature is appealing mainly because of its relationship to human experience. It sheds light on the complexity and ambiguity of human experiences and thus broadens readers' awareness of the possibilities of experiences. Readers get immediate access to a wide range of human experiences they otherwise might never know. Literature not only gives readers a chance to participate in the experience of others', but also tries to influence their attitudes and expectations.

E. Reading for Artistic Appreciation

• Under perfect discipline, literature can be studied for artistic appreciation. The well-structured language manifests good craftsmanship, and the beauty of expression and form enjoy immortality. A story, a poem, a play or an essay is a self-contained piece of art, with its unique structure and texture. It can be analyzed according to literary theories and criteria.

• When we approach literature in this way, we began to move in the direction of literary criticism. Literary criticism is by no means negative or fault finding. It is an attempt to clarify, explain and evaluate literature from an aesthetic point of view. In fact, the more we learn about how to analyze a story, a poem, a play, or an essay from an artistic point of view, the greater our understanding and appreciation of a literary work can be acquired, and greater the pleasure and enjoyment we can draw from it.

Down by the Salley Gardens演唱：藤田惠美 作词： Yeats( 叶芝 ,1865-1939,爱尔兰剧作家、诗人 , 获 1923 年诺贝尔文学奖 )

Down by the Salley gardens my love and I did meet. She passed the salley gardens with little snow-white feet.She bid me take love easy, as the leaves grow on the tree; But I, being young and foolish, with her would not agree.In a field by the river my love and I did stand. And on my leaning shoulder she laid her snow-white hand.She bid me take life easy, as the grass grows on the weirs; But I was young and foolish, and now am full of tears.

Rhyme: aabbccdd

How to improve reading skills?

• Reading literature is different from reading texts of an average reading course. Therefore, it is important to improve the skills of reading literature. Here are a few tips for you ：

• 1. You should form the habit of intelligent guessing at the meaning of new words with the clues provided by the context.

• 2. You should learn to notice details, to get the main idea, and to skim to locate the most meaningful passages in a literary work.

• 3. You should cherish a strong desire to extract greater meaning from a literary work by relating ideas found in your reading with your own experience.

Course Objectives

• This course aims to provide different angles to interpret works and help improve students’ perception into literary works, expounding the historical background of England and showing the classical literary works of English literature.

• In taking this course, students are expected to: 1) read the original works of major writers; 2) understand different periods of the history of English

literature; 3) analyze the text, and communicate their critical

responses orally or in written form.

Methods

• 结合文学史学习本课程，了解各个特定的历史时期有哪些主要文学流派及代表作家。

• 了解作家的生平、主要作品、写作特征、诗学理论。• 阅读教材上的选读内容。• 注意各类文学作品的不同特色。 a. analytical approach (poetry, novel, drama, essay) The elements of fiction include plot, character, setting, point of view, theme, symbol, allegory, style, and tone. b. historical approach

Useful Books

• 1. 《英国文学简史》（新增订本）第二版 , 刘炳善 . 河南人民出版社 ,2006 年 .

• 2. 《英美名诗解读》刘守兰 . 上海外语教育出版社 , 2002年 .

• 3. 《英国文学简史》 常耀信，南开大学出版社 2006.• 4. 《牛津文学术语词典》编者： Chris Baldick. 上海外语教

育出版社 ,2000 年 .• 5. 《英国文学选读》王守仁主编 . 高等教育出版社， 2001.• 6. 《英美文学赏析教程（小说与戏剧）》罗选民主编 清华

大学出版社， 2006.• 7. 《英美文学赏析教程（散文与诗歌）》罗选民主编 清华

大学出版社， 2002.

Explore the internet

• Literature: An Introduction• An Online Companion to the Norton

Introduction to Literature• The Bedford Introduction to Literature• Classics at the Online Literature Library• The Literature Network• BUBL LINK Catalogue of Internet Resources

Enjoy Web-Site-Seeing

• British Literature Timeline• Britannia Panorama• Norton Anthology of British Literature• Norton Anthology - Audio Companion• Norton Anthology of American Literature• Listen to English literature• Nobel e-Museum

Suggestions for this course

• Preview the part to be discussed before you attend my lecture.

• Take down the notes efficiently, trying to find out the authors, texts, historical background and literary trends out of class.

• Participate in the discussions actively and give your own opinions as possible.

• Bring out your own experiences and feelings, and relate the texts to yourself—this is the first step on the way towards critical appreciation.

• Write comments on the discussed text.

Requirements• Final score• =Attendance (10%)+ Participation (20%)+ final exam

(70%)• Presentation• One topic, one presentation. • The volunteers have to register in advance.• The volunteers have to make PowerPoint files.• A presentation has to be finished in 5-8 minutes. • Classroom Rules• Come to the classroom on time.• Turn off your mobile phones.• Don’t whisper to each other.• When having a discussion, please be active.• Don’t forget to prepare.

Schedule

Week 1 Brief Introduction and The Old-Medieval English Literature Week 2 The RenaissanceWeek 3 William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, Sonnet 18 & Francis Bacon’s Of Studies Week 4 The Literature of Revolution and Restoration & John Milton’s Paradise Lost Week 5 John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s ProgressWeek 6 The 18th Century Literature & Jonathan Swift’s A Modest

Proposal Week 7 Thomas Gray’s Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard Week 8 William Blake ’s London &Robert Burns’s A Red, Red Rose

Week 9 The Romantic Period and William Wordsworth’s She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways Week 10 Percy Shelly’s To a Sky-Lark & John Keats’s Ode on a Grecian Urn Week 11 Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and movie watching Week 12 The Victorian Age and Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twist Week 13 Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre and Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Height & Robert Browning’s My Last Duchess Week 14 Twentieth Century Literature & Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles Week 15 Introduction to Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw Week 16 D. H. Lawrence’s The Sons and LoversWeek 17 Virginia Woolf & James Joyce’s Araby

Periods of English Literature

The Old and Medieval English literature

The Renaissance period

The Neo-classical period

The Romantic period

The Victorian period

The Modern period

(449-1350)

(14th –mid 17th century)

(1660-1798)

(1798-1832)

(1837-1901)

20th century

The Early History

• In the history, England, the early inhabitants were Celts, has been conquered three times. It was conquered by the Romans (78 A.D—410 A.D), the Anglo-Saxons (449—1066), and the Normans (1066—1350). England was not much affected by the Roman Conquest, but much affected by the other two conquests.

• The Anglo-Saxons brought to England the Germanic language and culture, while the Normans brought a fresh wave of Mediterranean civilization, which includes Greek culture, Roman law, French language and Christian religion. It is the cultural influences of these two conquests that provided the source for the rise and growth of English literature.

Literature in Anglo-Saxon period

• The literature of this period falls naturally into two divisions: pagan (a person who is neither a Christian, a Jew and a Moslem), and Christian. The former is represented in the form of oral saga (传奇 ), the latter represents the writings developed under teaching of the monks, which is filled with religious coloring.

• Two ecclesiastic poets: Caedmon who lived in the latter half of the 7th century and who wrote a poetic Paraphrase of the Bible, and Cynewulf, the author of poems on religious subjects, who lived a century later.

  凯德蒙 (公元 7世纪盎格鲁 -撒克逊基督教诗人 )基涅武甫 (盎格鲁 -撒克逊诗人 ,生活在公元 9 世纪诺森伯里亚或麦西亚 ,其古英语诗稿于 10世纪被发现 ,有《埃琳娜》、《使徒们的命运》、《基督升天》和《朱莉安娜》等 ).

The Song of Beowulf

• Literary position The song of Beowulf can be justly terme

d England’s national epic and its hero Beowulf– one of the national heroes of the English people.

• The main plot (3182 lines) (see page 3) Its characters: Beowulf: nephew of HygelacHygelac: king of Geats in JutlandHrothgar: king of the Danes Grendel: a monster

• fight with Grendel’s mother (she came to avenge the deat

h of her son but was killed by Beowulf )

fight with Grendel 　　 (a monster half-human, devouring the warriors while they are feasting. The monster died in the battle against Beowulf)

• death and funeral Thematically the poem presents

a vivid picture of how the primitive people wage heroic struggles against the hostile forces of the natural world under a wise and mighty leader.

fight with firedrake (a fire-breathing dragon. Beowulf came to steal the treasures of earth namely the golden corn and ruddy fruits for his people. he succeeded at last but got mortally wounded and died at last.)

Comments on Beowulf

• 1.  Beowulf is a grand hero. He is so, simply by his deeds. He is faithful to his people. He dies a heroic death for his people.

• 2.  It is not Christian but a pagan poem, despite the Christian flavor given to it by the monastery scribe. It is the product of an advanced pagan civilization. The whole poem presents us an all-round picture of the tribal society. The social conditions and customs can be seen in it. So the poem also has a great social significance.

Features of Beowulf• 1.  The use of alliteration is another notable feature. In alliter

ative verse, certain accented words in a line begin with the same consonant sound. The following stanza serves as a good example.

• Thus made their mourning the man of Geatland• For their hero’s passing, his hearth-companions• Quoth that of all the kings of earth,• Of men he was the mildest and most beloved,• To his kin the kindest, keenest to praise.• 4.       A lot of metaphors and understatements are used in th

e poem. For example, the sea is called the whale-road or the swan-road; the soldiers are called shield-man; the chieftains are called the treasure-keeper; human body is referred to as the bone-house; God is called wonder-wielder; monster is called soul-destroyer.

The Anglo-Norman Period (1066-1350)

• Historical Background• In the year 1066, at the battle of Hastings, the Normans

headed by William, Duke of Normandy, defeated the Anglo-Saxons. The Normans brought the French civilization and the French language to England. Besides, the Normans brought Greek culture, Roman law and the Christian religion, which provided the source for the rise and growth of English literature. English literature is also a combination of French and Saxon elements. The Norman conquests marked the beginning of feudalism in England.

Literature in Anglo-Norman Period

• In contrast with the Anglo-Saxon poetry, Medieval English literature deals with a wider range of subjects, is expressed in the form of romance (传奇 ). Romance which uses narrative verse or prose to sing knightly adventures or other heroic deeds is a popular literary form in the medieval period.

• Romantic love is an important part of the plot in romance. While the structure is loose and episodic (片段的 ), the language is simple and straightforward. If the epic reflects a heroic age, the romance reflects a chivalric one. (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight).

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

• It was regarded as the best of Arthurian romance.

• Plots:• The Green Knight’s challenges• Sir Gawain’s hard journey• Three days of Gawain’s sojourn at th

e castle• Gawain went to the Green Chaple• Themes: The tests of faith, courage,

purity and the human weakness for self-preservation give us the characteristics traits of the chivalric romance.

• The romance falls into 3 cycles or categories: matters of Britain, matters of France and matters of Rome. (see page 18)

• a. The matters of France deal with the exploits of Charlemagne, known as Charles the Great, King of Frank and Emperor of the West Empire. The famous romance in this group is Chanson de Roland.

• b. The matters of Rome deal with tales from Greek and Roman sources. Alexander the Great (356B.C.—323B.C.), king of Macedonia and conqueror of Greece, Egypt, India and Persian Empire is the major hero of this group. Besides this, Trojan War is a hot topic in this group.

• c. The matters of Britain deal with the exploits of King Arthur and his knights of Round Table. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight heads the list of Arthurian romances.

Romance

Popular Ballads

• It is a folk song or orally transmitted poem telling in a direct and dramatic manner some popular stories usually derived from a tragic incident in local history or legend. The story is told simply, impersonally, and often with vivid dialogue.

• Ballads( 民谣） are anonymous narrative songs that have been preserved by oral transmission. (Robin Hood) Ballads are normally composed in quatrains with alternating four-stress and three-stress lines, the second and fourth lines rhyming, but some ballads are in couplet form, and some others have six-line stanzas.

• There are various kinds of ballads: historical, legendary, fantastical, lyrical and humorous. (see page 52)

Geoffrey Chaucer (1340?-1400)

Chaucer’s literary career He is acclaimed as “father of English poetry” and one of the greatest narrative poets of England. He is the first poet to be buried in Poet’s Corner in Westminster Abbey. We are indebted to him for his most vivid description of the fourteenth-century England.Chaucer’s life (see page 41-43)Chaucer’s works: The Romance of the Rose (translated from French), Troilus and Cressie (adapted from Italian), The Canterbury Tales ( purely English)

Full wise is he that can himselven knowe.

—Geoffrey Chaucer

“The Canterbury Tales” (1387-1400)

• It is Chaucer’s masterpiece and one of the monumental works in English literature.

• Outline of the Story• The Prologue• The Tales• Social Significance• Chaucer’s Contribution• Appreciation

Outline of the Story

• On a spring evening, the poet, moved by the passion for wandering, drops himself at the Tabard Inn in Southwark, a suburb of London. He joins this company. At the suggestion of the host of the inn, each pilgrim should tell two tales on the way to Canterbury and two more on the way back. The pilgrims being 32 in all the total number of tales, according to Chaucer’s plan, was to exceed that of Boccaccio’s Decameron, but the author failed to carry out his plan and only 24 tales were written.

• The best story-teller will be treated with a fine supper at the general expense at the end. The host is to be the judge of the contest.

The Prologue （《总引》）• The prologue provides a framework for the tales. • It contains a group of vivid sketches of typical medieval fig

ures. All classes of the English feudal society, except the royalty and

the poorest peasant, are represented by these thirty pilgrims. They range from knight, squire, prioress, tradesman, to the drunken cook and humble plowman, doctor, lawyer, sailor and Oxford scholar. Finally, in the centre of the group is the Wife of Bath, the owner of a large cloth-factory.

• It provides a miniature of the English society of Chaucer’s time.

It is no exaggeration to say that the Prologue supplies a miniature of the English society of Chaucer’s time. Looking at his world-pictures, we know how people lived in that era. That is why Chaucer has been called “the founder of English realism.”

The Tales

• The structure of The Canterbury Tales is indebted to Boccaccio's Decameron .

• Each of the narrator tells his tale in a peculiar manner, thus revealing his own views and character.

• The tales of the Wife of Bath, the Knight, the Pardoner, the Nun’s Priest and the prologue are generally regarded as the best of the whole collection.

Social significance

• “The Canterbury tales” is more than a collection of true-to–life pictures. Taking the stand of the rising bourgeoisie, Chaucer affirms men and women’s right to purse their happiness on earth, opposes the dogma of asceticism (僧侣主义 ) preached by the church and attacks the corruption of the church and so on. As a forerunner of humanism, he praised man’s energy, intellect, quick wit and love of life. Chaucer bears marks of humanism and anticipates a new era to come.

Chaucer’s Contribution to English Literature

• Chaucer is regarded as the “father of English poetry” and has been called “the founder of English realism.” He is the first great poet who wrote in the English language.

• He introduced from France the rhymed stanza of various types, especially the “heroic couplet”to English poetry.

heroic couplet （英雄双韵体 / 英雄对句）• It contains two lines in iambic pentameter with the same

end rhyme, or a rhymed pair of iambic pentameter lines.• His masterpiece “The Canterbury Tales” is one of the mo

numental works in English literature.

Attempts to Define Poetry

• Texts in rhythmic form, often employing rhyme and usually shorter and more concentrated in language and ideas than either prose or drama.

• Poetry is an imaginative awareness of experience expressed through meaning, sound, and rhythmic language choices so as to evoke an emotional response. Poetry has been known to employ meter(格 ) and rhyme, but this is by no means necessary. Poetry is an ancient form that has gone through numerous and drastic reinvention over time.

Rhythm & Foot• Rhythm( 节奏 ) is mainly made up of by the regular repet

ition of stressed syllables and unstressed syllables.

• Foot (feet) ( 音步 )is a certain fixed combination of syllables, each of which is counted as being either stressed (／ ) or unstressed ( ).∨

• Monometer: one foot per line• Dimeter: two feet per line• Trimeter: three feet per line• Tetrameter: four feet per line• Pentameter: five feet per line• Hexameter: six feet per line• Heptameter: seven feet per line• Octometer: eight feet per line

Meter

• Meter ( 格 )• iambic (抑扬格的 ) ∨ ／ : a metrical unit (foot) of

verse, having one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable, as in the word “beyond”.

• trochaic (扬抑格 ) ／ ∨ : a metrical unit (foot) of verse, having one stressed syllable followed by one unstressed syllable, as in the word “tiger”

• anapestic (抑抑扬格 ) ∨∨ ／ “ contradict”• dactylic (扬抑抑格 ) ／ ∨ ∨ “ foolishness”• Spondaic(扬扬格 ) ／ ／ “ moonstone”

• 夏雨给大地带来了喜悦，• 送走了土壤干裂的三月，• 沐浴着草木的丝丝茎络，• 顿时百花盛开，生机勃勃．• 西风轻吹留下清香缕缕，• 田野复苏吐出芳草绿绿；• 碧蓝的天空腾起一轮红日，• 青春的太阳洒下万道金辉。• 小鸟的歌喉多么清脆优美，• 迷人的夏夜怎好安然入睡——• 美丽的自然撩拨万物的心弦，• 多情的鸟儿歌唱爱情的欣欢。• 香客盼望拜谒圣徒的灵台，• 僧侣立愿云游陌生的滨海。• 信徒来自全国东西南北，• 众人结伴奔向坎特伯雷，• 去朝谢医病救世的恩主，• 以缅怀大恩大德的圣徒。

《坎特伯雷故事集》 总引

As soon as April pierces to the root

The drought of March, and bathes each bud and shoot

Through every vein of sap with gentle showers

From whose engendering liquor spring the flowers;

When zephyrs have breathed softly all about

Inspiring every wood and field to sprout,

And in the zodiac the youthful sun

His journey halfway through the Ram has run;

When little birds are busy with their song

Who sleep with open eyes the whole night long

Life stirs their hearts and tingles in them so,

Then off as pilgrims people long to go,

And palmers to set out for distant strands

And foreign shrines renowned in many lands.

And specially in England people ride

To Canterbury from every countryside

To visit there the blessed martyred saint

Who gave them strength when they were sick and faint.

The Canterbury Tales General Prologue

• 那是一个初夏方临的日子，• 我到泰巴旅店投宿歇息。• 怀着一颗虔诚的赤子心，• 我准备翌日出发去朝圣；• 黄昏前后华灯初上时分，• 旅店院里涌入许多客人；• 二十九人来自各行各业，• 不期而遇都到旅店过夜。• 这些香客人人虔心诚意，• 次日要骑马去坎特伯雷。• 客房和马厩宽敞又洁净，• 店主的招待周到而殷勤。• 夕阳刚从地平线上消失，• 众人同我已经相互结识；• 大家约好不等鸡鸣就起床，• 迎着熹微晨光赶早把路上。

In Southwark at the Tabard one spring day

It happened, as I stopped there on my way,

Myself a pilgrim with a heart devout

Ready for Canterbury to set out,

At night came all of twenty-nine assorted

Travellers, and to that same inn resorted,

Who by a turn of fortune chanced to fall

In fellowship together, and they were all

Pilgrims who had it in their minds to ride

Toward Canterbury. The stables doors were wide,

The rooms were large, and we enjoyed the best,

And shortly, when the sun had gone to rest,

I had so talked with each that presently

I was a member of their company

And promised to rise early the next day

To start, as I shall show, upon our way.

Points to be reviewed

• The early history of England (Anglo-Saxon and Norman period) and their influence upon the making of England. 理解

• The features of Anglo-Saxon period and Norman period 了解

• Beowulf and Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales 了解• Literary terms: Romance, Ballads, and Heroic Couplet

识记• Homework: Selected readings of The Prologue The Renaissance

References

• 常耀信 . 英国文学简史 . 南开大学出版社， 2006. • 王守仁主编 . 英国文学选读 . 高等教育出版社， 20

01.• 吴伟仁 . 英国文学史及选读 ( 第一册 ). 外语教学与研究出版社， 1988.

• 吴伟仁 张强编著 . 英国文学史及选读学习指南第一册 (修订本 ),中央民族大学出版社 ,2002.10.

• http://211.81.200.3:88/ec2006/c47/Course/Index.htm

Recommendations

• http://www.librarius.com/cantales.htm• 提供《坎特伯雷故事》的注释电子文本及词汇表• http://www.siue.edu/CHAUCER• 提供《坎特伯雷故事》的中古英语原文及现代英语译本，诗文朗诵、注解、关于乔叟的论文以及其他相关站点链接。

Thank You!