British Literature, Arts, Architecture and Films

第六讲Literature, Arts, Architecture and Films

英国文学、艺术、建筑及电影

主讲教师：王小海 教授

西方社会与文化视频公开课

Culture

Arts

Archi-tecture

FilmsMuse-ums

Litera-ture

“Culture… is that complex whole which includes knowledge, beliefs, arts, morals, law, custom and any other capacities and habits acquired

by man as a member of society.”

Learning Objectives

Famous writers and their representative works in different periods

Arts

Museums and libraries

Architecture

Films

Literature: Introduction

many ways to categorize English literature

“periods” used by literary historians

In each period, Great Britain has produced

many world famous writers. e.g. Shakespeare,

Jane Austen, J. K. Rowling

Old English Period

around 450 – 1066

prior to the seventh-century --- oral

literature;

Beowulf: written between 8th and

late 10th century

a warrior fight against a monster

the oldest surviving epic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulf

Middle English Period

1066 - 1500

much of writings religious in nature;

from 1350 onward, secular literature

began to rise

Geoffrey Chaucer --- Father of

English literature

The Canterbury Tales: 24 storieshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ge

offrey_Chaucer

The Renaissance

1500-1660; also called “Early Modern” period

subdivided into four parts:

Elizabethan Age (1558-1603),

Jacobean Age (1603-1625),

Caroline Age (1625-1649),

Commonwealth Period (1649-1660).

The Renaissance: The Elizabethan age

golden age of English drama (* play for theatre, radio

or TV )

Francis Bacon, Edmund Spenser, William Shakespeare

Shakespeare (1564-1616), Stratford-upon-Avon

greatest English poet, playwright, and actor

38 plays, 154 sonnets and others

a detailed list of his works

The Renaissance: The Elizabethan age

Shakespeare’s major works

tragedies (Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Othello,

King Lear, Macbeth)

comedies (All’s Well That Ends Well, As You

Like It, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Measure for

Measure, The Merchant of Venice, The Merry

Wives of Windsor, A Midsummer Night’s Dream,

Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night)

historical plays, such as Julius Caesar

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wil

liam_Shakespeare

The Renaissance: the other three ages

The Jacobean Age --- The King James translation of the

Bible (began in 1604 and completed in 1611).

The Caroline Age --- covers the reign of Charles I. John

Milton, Robert Burton, are notable figures.

The Commonwealth Age, so named for the period between the

end of the English Civil War and the restoration of the Stuart

monarchy --- the time when Oliver Cromwell ruled the nation.

The Neoclassical Period

1600 – 1785; subdivided into ages

The Restoration Age --- Comedies of manner

developed; Satire, quite popular. Notable writers:

John Locke, an English philosopher and physician

The Augustan Age

Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), Gulliver’s Travels

Daniel Defoe (1660-1731), Robinson Crusoe

The Romantic Period

1785 – 1832; The beginning date often debated.

Writers: William Wordsworth, Samuel Coleridge,

John Keats, Percy B. Shelley, Jane Austen

Jane Austen (1775-1817)

Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814),

Emma (1815)

The Victorian Period

1832 – 1901

reign of Queen Victoria --- a time of great

social, religious, intellectual, and economic issues

prose fiction truly found its place and made its

mark

Charles Dickens, The Brontes, and others.

The Victorian Period: Charles Dickens

a famous English writer (1812 - 1870)

The Pickwick Papers, in 1837

lived through Industrial Revolution

wrote about how life was changing, especially

for poor people.

Oliver Twist (1837), The Old Curiosity Shop(1840), David Copperfield (1849), Bleak House(1852), Hard Times (1854), A Tale of Two Cities (1859), Great Expectations (1860)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Charles_Dickens

The Victorian Period: Bronte sisters

Charlotte (1816-1855); Emily (1818-1848);

Anne (1820-1849)

Raised in Haworth, Yorkshire

Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.

produced a cast of unforgettable characters

such as the devoted governess, Jane Eyre,

and the lovers, Heathcliffhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bront%

C3%AB_family

The Edwardian Period

1901 – 1914; a short period

named for King Edward VII and covers the period

between Victoria’s death and the outbreak of WWI

novelists --- Joseph Conrad

poets --- William Butler Yeats

dramatists --- George Bernard Shaw

The Georgian Period

1910 – 1936

the themes and subject matter

rural or pastoral in nature

treated delicately and traditionally rather than with

passion or with experimentation (as would be seen

in the upcoming Modern period)

The Modern Period

1914 - ? (after the start of First World War)

Common features: bold experimentation with subject

matter, style and form, and encompasses narrative,

verse, and drama.

James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, D.H. Lawrence,

Joseph Conrad

The Postmodern Period

1945 - ?

Some say the period ended about 1990, but it is likely

too soon to declare this period closed.

Poststructuralist literary theory and criticism developed

John Fowles (1926 – 2005)

The French Lieutenant’s Woman (1969)

The Arts A long history of excellence in the arts

The Beatles

an English rock band, formed in Liverpool

in 1960

Members: John Lennon, Paul McCartney,

George Harrison and Ringo Starr

Popular songs: Yesterday, Imagine, Let it

be, Hey Jude and so on.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The

_Beatles

The Arts: The Beatles

The Beatles

break-up in 1970

Lennon shot and killed in 1980

Harrison died of lung cancer in

2001

followed by the Rolling Stones, The

Who, Elton John, and StingThe Beatles Story Exhibition in Liverpool,

2006

Museums and Libraries

Britain is world famous for its outstanding

museums and libraries.

Most located in London

Museums and Libraries: The British Museum

one of the most

spectacular museums

renowned for its extensive

and diverse collections,

from Egyptian mummies

to important historical

documents

Museums and Libraries: N.H.M

Natural History Museum

Plant, animal, and mineral

specimens from all over the

world

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natu

ral_History_Museum,_London

Museums and Libraries: Madame Tussaud

popular with

tourists

a collection of

lifelike wax

figures of famous

people, both

living and dead

Museums and Libraries: outside London

at Oxford University

Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology

contains a diverse collection of rare art and

relics

at Cambridge University

Fitzwilliam Museum

Museums and Libraries: outside London

The National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh

a collection of fine European paintings

The National Museum of Wales in Cardiff

focuses on Welsh life, history, and culture

In Belfast, the Ulster Museum

a diverse collection that mixes the arts, history, and

sciences

Architecture

Latin architectura, both the process and the

product of planning, designing, and constructing

buildings and other physical structures

Architectural works, in the material form of

buildings, often perceived as cultural symbols

and as works of art

Architecture: Anglo-Saxon buildings

Some of the oldest examples of British

architecture include a few small, squarish Anglo-

Saxon buildings.

Architecture: Romanesque

After the Norman Conquest in 1066, Norman

architecture became prevalent in the British Isles.

The Normans built monumental castles and churches

with enormous arches and huge columns.

called Romanesque on the Continent.

The greatest structures, the White Tower

Architecture: Romanesque

example: the

White Tower,

by the Normans

Architecture: Gothic

From 12th to 15th century

gracefully soaring spires and arches marked

the development of the great Gothic cathedrals

e.g. Westminster Abbey in London

Architecture: Gothic

example:

Westminster

Abbey in London

Architecture: Baroque

in 17th century

the architecture of the late Italian Renaissance

was introduced in England by Inigo Jones

Jones, the first of the great British architects

to be influenced by the ideas of Italian

architects

Architecture: Baroque

Jones in turn influenced Sir Christopher Wren

Britain’s greatest architect, who studied the

baroque style popular in Europe in the mid-

17th century

Saint Paul’s Cathedral in London

Architecture: Baroque example:

Saint Paul’s

Cathedral

in London

Features of

baroque: ornate -

-- richly decorated

Architecture: rococo

In the 18th century

rococo architectures used in Europe

Feature: much elaborate decoration

Architecture: Victorian architecture

borrowed from a variety of styles, including

classical, Gothic, and Renaissance

characterized by ornate decoration

Parliament, built between 1840 and 1870

Architecture: Scottish

In Scotland

In the early 20th century, famous Scottish

architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh

His work influenced 20th-century architects

and interior designers.

Films: History

a long history

noted for many critically acclaimed productions

and actors

in recent decades, largely international

Films: during 1930s; quota

film industry developed

government established a quota

requiring that a certain percentage of films

shown in British cinemas be made in Britain

Films: during WWII

many working in film industry immigrated to

USA

London-born director, Alfred Hitchcock,

moved to USA in 1939 and continued to

produce popular films

e.g. The Thirty Nine Steps

Films: late 1940s and early 1950s

tended to be literary

drawing upon classics from Dickens and

Shakespeare

Genevieve (1953)

The Belles of St. Trinian’s (1954)

Films: by the mid-1950s

Free Cinema Movement had begun

Shooting low-budget films that illuminated the

problems of contemporary life

so-called new cinema films began to present anti-

middle class views with social realism using working-

class themes and characters

Look Back in Anger (1959)

Films: after 1960s

London

for a brief time, the film production capital of

the world

a number of important films made there

Summary

British literature

Arts

Museums, libraries

Architecture

Films