1、英美文學名詞解釋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。所有的寓言都是一 個具有雙重意義、文學內涵或象征意義的故事。2. Allite

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

3、品中作家希望讀者能夠認識或做出反應的一個人物、地點、事件或文學作品。典故或來自歷史、地理、 文學或宗教。4. American Naturalism:American naturalism was a new and harsher realism. American naturalism had beenshaped by the war; by the social upheavals that undermined the comforting faith of an earlier age. America ' s literary naturalists dismissed

4、the 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 displayedan affinity to t

5、he 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. Al

6、though 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、更具批判性的現實主義。美國自然主義是在戰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，他們想達到極端的客觀與直 率，他們所展現的人物往往都是下層社會的人，他們的命運受到環境和遺傳的制約。在反應生活方面，自

7、然主義作家 往往表現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 義文學通過更為苛刻的現實主義手法來展現這個世界，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 of the Prot

8、estant 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 and practic

9、es. They accepted the doctrine ofpredestination, original sin andtotal depravity, and limitedatonement 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 influence on Americ

10、an 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，他們有著嚴格的宗教信仰和道德準則。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，美國清教主義在早期美國人的思想上 有著深刻的影響，他對美國文學的影響也是頗為持久的。6. American Realism: In American literature, the Civil War brought the Romantic Period to an end. The Age

11、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 faithfulrendering of the ordinary, a slice of lifeas it is really lived. It expresses the concern for commonplace and the low, and it offer

12、s an objective rather than an idealistic view of human nature and human experience.美國現實主義： 在美國文學史上，內戰宣告了浪漫主義的終結和現實主義的開始。現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向了普通人的真實生活的描寫。它所關心的是普通的下層勞動人民而非理想中的人類 本性和現實經歷。7. American Romanticism: The Romantic Period covers the first half of the 19th century. A rising America

13、 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 inevitab le in the period immediately following the nation ' s p

14、olitical 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. Romantic values were

15、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 世紀前半頁。美國的不斷壯大和發展以及隨之而來的明珠和平等的思想、工業 化的發展、西北邊疆的不斷擴展和國外的各種影響使浪漫主義作家文學不但成為一種可能，而且使它成為美國

16、政治獨 立后的一種必然。然而，浪漫主義文學往往有很多共性：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。在內戰以前，浪漫主義價值觀占據是政治、 藝術、和哲學等領域，浪漫主義者對個人的贊揚正好迎合了美國的革命遺風和邊疆開拓者的品均主義。8. American Transcendentalism:the emergence of the Transcendentalists as an identifiable movement tookimportanceabout life' s Nature has been

17、calledplace during 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 common ancestor the C

18、alvinism of the 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 of the individual. To them, the individual was the most important element of soci

19、ety. They offered a fresh perceptio n of nature as symbolic of the Spirit or God. Nature was, to them, alive, filled with God overwhelming presence. Transcendentalism is based on the belief that the most fundamental truths and death can be reached only by going beyond the worldof the senses. Emerson

20、the “ Manifesto of American Transcendentalism” and his The American Scholar has been rightly regarded asAmerica ' s “ Declaration of Intellectual Independence”.個人他們，他的美美國超驗主義： 美國超驗主義出現的 19 世紀 20 年代末期到三十年代，但是它的根源在宗教史上要遠得多。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 世紀和 18 世紀的加爾文神教。超驗主義者主張文化 的復興，認為“超靈”是宇宙

21、中最重要的事物。他們強調個人的重要性，反對精神上的物質主義。對他們來說， 是一個社會最重要的元素。他們認為自然就是“精神”或“上帝”的象征，它是有生命的，而上帝又無處不在。 認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” 國學者則被認為是美國的“文化獨立宣言書” 。between them.9. Analogy: (a figure of speech) A comparison made between tow things to show the similarities Analogies are often used for illustra

22、tion or for argument. 類比：(修辭)把兩種事物放在一起進行對比從而發現他們的相同點，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 the two unstressed ones infront. 抑抑揚格： 抑抑揚格由兩個非重度音節和一個重讀音節組成，兩個非重度音節在前。11. Antagonist: A person or force opposing the protagonist in a narrative; a riva

23、l of 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 which identical or similar grammatical structure is u

24、sed 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，也就是，一句話中使用相同或 相似的語法結構來表達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、準確的方式來表達對生活充滿智慧的觀點。14. Apostrophe: A figure of speech in which an absent or a dead perso

25、n, 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 , 或對擬人的事物所說的話。s idea or actions.15. Argument: A form of discourse in whichreason is used to influence or change peopleWriters practice argument most often when writing nonfiction, particularly essays or s

26、peeches. 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 ismeant to be unheard by the other characters onstage. 旁白： 在戲劇中低聲說出或直接說給觀眾的臺詞。旁白在舞臺上其他人物是聽不到的。17. Assonance: The repetition of

27、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，它的目的主要是用來使句子悅耳動聽或用來強調某個音。18. Atmosphere: The prevailing mood or feeling of a literary work. Atmosphere is often developed, at least in part, through descriptions o

28、f setting. Such descriptions help to create an emotional climate for the writers to establish the reader' s expectations and attitudes.氣氛： 文學作品中主要的基調或感覺。氣氛的渲染主要是通過對環境的描寫來展開的，這種描寫有助于作家創造一種 情緒氣氛來時感染讀者19. Autobiography:A person ' s account of his or her own life. An autobiography is generally w

29、ritten innarrative 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. Folk ballads have no known authors. They were transmitted o

30、rally from generation to generation 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. A later

31、form of ballad is the literary ballad, which imitates the style of the folk ballad.民謠： 民謠是一種做詩配唱的故事。在很多國家，民謠是最早的文學形式之一，都是無名作家所寫，它們從開始傳唱 到真正寫下來要在口頭流傳好幾代人。民謠中所采用的手法多為疊句、重復和暗語。后來民謠就變成了有文字的歌謠， 其風格模仿民間歌謠。syllables;21. Ballad stanza: A type of four-line stanza. The first and third lines have four stressed

32、 words or the second and fourth lines have three stresses. Ballad meter is usually iambic. The number of unstressed syllables in each line may vary. The second and fourth lines rhyme.民謠體詩節： 一種四行詩節，第一、三行由四個重讀單詞或音節組成，二、四行由三個重音組成。民謠的韻腳往往采 用抑揚格的形式，每一行中非重度音節的數目不等，二、四行押韻。22. Biography: A detailed account

33、of a person' s life written by another person.23. Blank verse: Verse written in unrhymed iambic pentameter. 素體詩：用五音步抑揚格寫的無韻詩。24. Caesura: A break or pause in a line of poetry. 休止： 一行詩中的間斷或停頓。25. Canto: A section or division of a long poem. 詩章： 長詩的一部分。A physical26. Caricature: The use of exaggera

34、tion or distortion to make a figure appear comic or ridiculous. 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生滑稽可笑的效果。character,temperament27. Character: In appreciating a short story, characters are an indispensable element

35、. Characters are the persons presented in a dramatic or narrative work. Forst divides characters into two types: flat which is presented without much individualizing detail; and round character, which is complex in 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

36、。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， 扁平型人物和圓型人物。扁平型人物往往缺乏個人化的細節描寫而圓型人物則在性格和行為動機上較為復雜。28. 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。29. Classicism: A movement or tendency in art, literature, or music that reflects the principles manifested in the art of anci

37、ent Greece and Rome. Classicism 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

38、、文學或音樂方面反映古希臘、羅馬文學原理的運動。古典主義強調傳統，追求理性、明晰、平衡 和秩序。因為古典主義強調理性和普遍主題，在傳統上反對強調感情和個人主題的浪漫主義。30. Climax: The point of greatest intensity, interest, or suspense in a story' s turning point. The actionsometimesleading to the climax and the simultaneous increase of tension in the plot are known as the risi

39、ng action. All action after the climax is referred to as the falling action, or resolution. The term crisis is used interchangeably with climax.，高潮后高潮： 小說中最緊張、最有趣或最具懸念的轉折點。情節中引起高潮的動作和情節緊張度的增加稱作“上升” 的動作稱為“回落”或“結局” 。有時候高潮又稱作“轉折點” 。A conceit31. Conceit: A kind of metaphor that makes a comparison betwee

40、n two startlingly different things. 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行對比的一種隱喻。它雖被視為是一種隱喻，但是它往往構建了整首詩的框架， 最為奇特的應屬玄學詩里面的。narrative32. Conflict: A stru

41、ggle between two opposing forces or characters in a short story, novel, play, or 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，并且在故事的結 尾矛盾都會得以解決。33. Connotation: Al

42、l the emotions and associations that a word or phrase may arouse. Connotation is distinct from denotation, which is the literal or“ dictionary ” meaning of a word or phrase.內涵： 一個詞或短語所指的所有的情感和聯系。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。34. Consonance: The repetition of similar consonant sounds in the middle or at

43、 the end of words. 諧音： 單詞詞尾或中間相似輔音的重復。35. Couplet: Two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme. A heroic couplet is an iambic pentameter couplet. 對句： 兩個連續押韻的詩行。英雄雙行體的對句一般都為抑揚格五音步。36. Critical Realism: The critical realism of the 19th century flourished in the forties and in the beginning of fifties.

44、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.批判現實主義： 批判現實主義在 19 世紀 40 年代達到高潮。批判現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

45、視為己任，但他們并沒有找到治療社會弊病的良方。37. Dactyl: It ' s made up of one stressed and two unstressed syllables, with the stressed in front. 揚抑抑格： 揚抑抑格由一個重度音節和兩個非重度音節組成，重讀音節在前。38. Denotation: The literal or“ dictionary ” meaning of a word.外延： 單詞的字面意義或“詞典”解釋。39. Denouement: The outcome of a plot. The denouement i

46、s that part of a play, short story, novel, or narrative poem in which conflicts are resolved or unraveled, and mysteries and secrets connected with the plot are explained.結局： 情節的結尾部分。在戲劇、小說、短篇小說的結尾部分，矛盾得以解決，和情節相關的秘密都得以揭露。40. Diction: A writer ' s choice of words, particularly for clarity, effect

47、iveness, and precision. 措辭： 一個作家用詞的選擇，主要是為了清楚、有效和簡練等目的。41. 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。42. Dramatic monologue: A kind of narrative poem in which one character speaks to one or more listenerswhose replies are not given in the poem. The occ

48、asion is usually a crucial one in the speaker 's personality as well as the incident that is the subject of the poem.戲劇獨白： 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重要的。43. Elegy: A poem of mourning, usually over the death of an individual. An elegy is a type of lyric poem, usu

49、ally formal in language and structure, and solemn 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，在語言和機構上比較正式，語氣上比較莊重甚至是哀傷的。44. Emblematic image: A verbal picture or figure with a long tradition of moral or religious meaning attached to it.象征性意象 ：蘊含道德或宗教意義的文字描述或人物。45. Enlightenment: With the ad

50、vent of the 18th century, in England, as in other European 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, pr

51、ejudices and other survivals of feudalism. They attempted to place all 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 世紀在英國發生的。總體上，啟蒙主義是當時的資產階級對封建主義，社會的不平等、死 寂、偏見和其他的封建殘余的一種反對。通過將科學的各個分支與人民的日常生活和需要聯系起來，啟蒙主義者們努 力將他

52、們變成為人民大眾服務的工具46. Epic: A long narrative poem telling 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

53、敘事詩。在成為之前，很多史詩都來自于口頭傳統并 通過歌唱和背誦流傳。47. Epigram: A short, witty, pointed statement often in the form of a poem. 警句詩： 一種簡短、智慧、蘊含深刻的詩。48. 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容的引文或銘文。49.

54、Epilogue: A short addition or conclusion at the end of a literary work. 收場白： 文學作品末尾簡短的 補充或結論。50. 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，往往發生在作品的結尾或將近收尾部分。51. Epitaph: An inscription on a gravestone or a short poem written in memory of someon

55、e who has died.52. Epithet: A descriptive name or phrase 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。53. Era of Modernism: The years from 1910 to 1930 are often called the Era of Modernism, for there seems to have been in both Europe and Am erica a strong awareness of some sort

56、 of“break ” with the past. Thenew artists shared a desire 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.有時候甚至現代主義時期

57、： 從 1910 到 1930 年這一段時間被稱作現代主義時期，因為在這一時期，不論是在美國還是在歐洲人們 都認識到一種強烈的與過去的“決裂” ，新藝術家們都渴望反映現代生活的復雜性，都渴望通過重新構建， 放棄 19世紀的思想和習慣來聚焦于 20 世紀的多樣性和困惑之上。way and expressesessay.aboutof essay are the informal essay and the formal the writer is talking informally to the reader or humorous tone. By contrast, a formal es

58、say is tightlyAn informalsome topic,organized,小品文大體上又分為正式的和非正式的兩種。非正式的小品文一般比較 似乎在給讀者針對一個話題侃侃而談。相比之下，正式的小品文則組織54. Essay: A piece of prose writing, usually short, that deals with a subject in a limited a particular point or view. An essay may be serious or humorous, tightly organized or rambling, rest

59、rained or emotional. The two general classifications essay is usually brief and is written as if using a conversational style and a personal dignified in style, and serious in tone. 小品文： 小品文一般都是簡短的散文，作家通過有線的篇幅發表自己獨特的看法。小品文的風格要么嚴肅要么幽默， 組織或嚴謹或松散，情感或抒發或藏而不露。 短，使用對話的風格和個人化或幽默的語氣， 嚴謹，風格高雅，語氣嚴肅。inserted into the text of a sermon that illustrates a moralprinciple.55. Exemplum說教故事