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英美国家概况
1.4.8.8 8. Literary Prizes

8. Literary Prizes

Recipients of the Nobel Prize in Literature from the isles include Rudyard Kipling (1907), W. B. Yeats (1923), George Bernard Shaw (1925), John Galsworthy (1932), T. S. Eliot (1948), Bertrand Russell (1950), Winston Churchill (1953), Samuel Beckett (1969), William Golding(1983), Seamus Heaney (1995), V. S. Naipaul (2001), Harold Pinter (2005) and Doris Lessing(2007).

Literary prizes for which writers from the United Kingdom are eligible include:

● Man Booker Prize

● Commonwealth Writers’ Prize

● International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award

● Carnegie Medal in Literature

● Costa Book Awards (formerly the Whitbread Awards)

● Orange Prize for Fiction

● Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry

Notes

1. Isle of Man马恩岛(也称为Mann),英格兰与爱尔兰间的海上岛屿,是英国的皇家属地。此岛的自治政府有着长远的历史,他们在公元10世纪就已经有自己的国会,首府为道格拉斯(Douglas)。

2. King Arthur亚瑟王,是公元5世纪左右英格兰最富有传奇色彩的国王。人们对他的感性认识更多的是来自凯尔特神话传说(Celtic mythology)和其分支,没有人大量涉足过亚瑟王的真实生活。传说中,他是古英格兰的国王,圆桌骑士(Knights of the Round Table)的首领,一位近乎神话般的传奇人物。在罗马帝国瓦解之后,他率领圆桌骑士团统一了不列颠群岛,被后人尊称为亚瑟王。西元800年左右,威尔斯的修士撰写了一本《布灵顿人的历史》,书中首次记载“亚瑟”这个名字,描述他领导威尔斯人抵抗从泰晤士河中游入侵的萨克森人。

3. Old English古英语和现代英语无论在读音、拼写、词汇和语法上都很不一样。古英语的语法和德语比较相近,形态变化很复杂。公元410年,罗马人结束了对英国的占领,随后,来自德国北部平原的三个日耳曼部落:昂格鲁人(Angles),撒克逊人,和朱尔特人开始到不列颠定居.英语就是盎格鲁-撒克逊的人的语言。语言史家一般把英语的历史分为三个时期:古英语,中英语,现代英语。

4. Beowulf 《贝奥武夫》,一译贝奥武甫。完成于公元九世纪的英雄叙事长诗。全诗共3182行,以斯堪的纳维亚(Scandinavia)的英雄贝奥武夫(Beowulf)的英勇事迹构成主要内容。虽然历史上并未证实确有贝奥武夫其人,但诗中所提及的许多其他人物与事迹却得到印证。本诗以西撒克斯(Wessex)方言写成,押头韵而不押尾韵,用双字隐喻而不用明喻。是现存古英语文学中最古老的作品,也是欧洲最早的方言史诗。在语言学方面也是相当珍贵的文献。

5. King Arthur’s Round Table亚瑟王的圆桌骑士这一典故来源于古代英国亚瑟王的传说,是亚瑟王身边的著名骑士的统称,因他们聚会的桌子是个圆桌而得名。英国史记载,亚瑟登基称王。又获得了湖中仙女赠魔剑“埃克斯凯利伯”。亚瑟王高擎此剑,东征西讨,所向披靡,打败那些不驯服的诸侯,征服各个部落,成为所有凯尔特人的国王。因他智勇双全,心地仁厚,深孚众望,各路英雄豪杰纷纷慕名前来投奔。一时间,亚瑟麾下猛将如云,遂将其中最为英武者册封为骑士,每每召集他们一起围坐圆桌旁议事或用餐。这圆桌亦是奇物,若是真正骑士落座桌旁,座位上会自动显现其姓名,若是滥竽充数者落座,不仅不会显名,还会立即倒地身死。因而能与亚瑟王共座者均为真正忠勇侠义之士,人称“亚瑟王的圆桌骑士”。

6. sonnet十四行诗, 商籁体,有两种,一种为“彼特拉克体”,由两节四行诗和两节三行诗组成,每行11个音节,另一种为“莎士比亚体”,由三节四行诗和两节对句组成,每行10个音节。

7. Edmund Spenser斯宾塞,受到维吉尔和忒奥克里托等古典诗人以及中世纪英国诗人乔叟的影响,但是他的作品都是原创的,表达的是他自身的宗教、道德和政治观点。他发明了一种九行的诗歌(后来被称为斯宾塞诗体),这种诗体尤其适合很长的英雄题材诗歌。斯宾塞诗体的前八行是抑扬顿挫的五步格诗,第九行是抑扬顿挫的六步格诗,押韵格式为“ababbcbcc”。

8. William Hogarth贺加斯(1697—1764),英国人,油画家、版画家、艺术理论家。

9. Daniel Defoe丹尼尔·笛福(1660—1731),英国作家,新闻记者。英国启蒙时期现实主义小说的奠基人,被誉为“小说之父”。其作品主要为个人通过努力,靠自己的智慧和勇敢战胜困难为构架。情节曲折,采用自述方式,可读性强。并表现了当时追求冒险,倡导个人奋斗的社会风气。其代表作《鲁滨逊漂流记》闻名于世,鲁滨逊也成为与困难抗争的典型模范,因此他被视作英国小说的开创者之一。

10. Frankenstein弗兰肯斯坦,英国女作家Mary Shelly所著同名小说中的主角,人形的怪物, 作法自毙的人。

11. Charles Dickens狄更斯,19世纪英国批判现实主义小说家。狄更斯特别注意描写生活在英国社会底层的“小人物”的生活遭遇,深刻地反映了当时英国复杂的社会现实,为英国批判现实主义文学的开拓和发展做出了卓越的贡献。他的作品至今依然盛行,对英国文学发展起到了深远的影响。主要作品《匹克威克外传》、《雾都孤儿》、《老古玩店》、《艰难时世》、《我们共同的朋友》。

12. Oscar Wilde奥斯卡·王尔德,生于1854年,卒于1900年,为剧作家、诗人、散文家,19世纪与萧伯纳齐名的英国才子。他的戏剧、诗作、小说则留给后人许多惯用语,如:活得快乐,就是最好的报复。

13. J. K. Rowling乔安妮·凯瑟琳·罗琳,作家,代表作品《哈利·波特》系列小说。1965年7月31日,生于英国的格温特郡的Chipping Sodbury普通医院。毕业于英国University Of Exeter(埃克塞特大学),学习法语和古典文学,获文理学士学位。毕业后曾在英国曼彻斯特接受教学培训。

Exercises

I. Define the following terms.

1. English Renaissance theatre

2. the Canterbury Tales

3. Robin Hood

4. Vanity Fair

5. the “angry young men”

II. Fill in the blanks according to the text.

1. British Literature refers to literature associated__________. By far the largest part of British literature is written in the English language, but there are bodies of written works in_______________ and other languages. Northern Ireland has a literary tradition in__________. Irish writers have also played an important part in the development of English-language literature.

2. The Ulster Cycle written in the 12th century, is a body of__________. The stories are written in__________, mostly in__________, interspersed with__________.

3. Culhwch and Olwen is a_____ tale about a hero connected with_____, and is the longest of the surviving Welsh prose tales. It is perhaps the earliest extant_____ and one of Wales’ earliest extant prose texts.

4. John Evelyn and Samuel Pepys depicted__________. Their works are among the most important primary sources for_____, and consists of eyewitness accounts of many great events, such as the_____. The publication of__________ in 1678, established the theologian John Bunyan as anotable writer.

5. Jane Austen was writing highly polished novels about__________, seen from a woman’s point of view, and wryly focused on__________, especially marriage and money. Austen’s_____ 1813, is often considered the epitome of the romance genre, and some of her other most notable works include__________,__________, Persuasion and Emma .

6. The author of the classic novels Tess of the d’Urbervilles and Far from the Madding Crowd , concentrated on poetry after the harsh response to his last novel, _____.

7._____’s 1638 The Man in the Moone recounts an imaginary voyage to the moon and is now regarded as the first work of_____ in English literature.

III. Questions for discussion.

1. Why is the question of identifying the first novel in English a subject of academic discussion? State briefly the development of English novel during the 18th century.

2. What makes Charles Dickens one of the most popular creative writers?

3. Did the novels by Scottish writers of the 19th century reflect the realities? Support your viewpoint by citing some examples.

4. Who is the father of the English literature? Why?