Name: 英國文學史：超！級！總！覽！ (A (Very) General Overview of British Literary History)
Uploaded: 2026-01-09T10:26:39.000Z
Duration: 7 min 45 s

Usually, British literary history opens with the Old English period.

一般來說，英國文學史會從古英語時期開始講起。

It starts halfway through the fifth century when the Anglo Saxons came to the British Isles to find land to farm.

這個時期大約在五世紀中葉，當時盎格魯-撒克遜人來到不列顛群島尋找耕地。

It also covers the super violent Viking invasion at the end of the 8th century, up to the 11th and ends with the invasion of William the Conqueror.

這也涵蓋了八世紀末期非常暴力的維京人入侵，一直到十一世紀，並以征服者威廉的入侵作為結束。

There isn't a lot of literature that survived from this period.

這個時期留下的文學作品並不多。

The most important works are Beowulf, a heroic poem about a hero who defeats monsters, and

其中最重要的作品有《貝奧武夫》，這是一首關於英雄擊敗怪物的史詩，還有

the Anglo Saxon Chronicle, which tells the history of the British Isles.

《盎格魯-撒克遜編年史》，記錄了不列顛群島的歷史。

The Middle English period was a time in which Old English, which was influenced by Germanic tribes and the Vikings, mixed with the French language.

中古英語時期，受到日耳曼部落和維京人影響的古英語，和法語融合在一起。

There was a feudal system in place at the time in which the king was the owner of all the land.

當時實施封建制度，國王擁有一切土地。

In 1215, there was a particularly bad king who was then forced to sign the Magna Carta, a document which started the idea of human rights.

在1215年，有一位特別糟糕的國王，他被迫簽署了《大憲章》，這份文件開啟了人權的觀念。

It gave all three men the right to justice and a fair trial.

它賦予了所有男性獲得公正和公平審判的權利。

However, this did not apply to the lower classes in society.

不過，這並不適用於社會底層。

In 1348, the Black Death, a plague, took at least a third of all the lives in the British Isles, which led to a great shortage of workmen.

西元1348年，黑死病，一種瘟疫，奪走了不列顛群島至少三分之一的生命，這導致了嚴重的勞動力短缺。

In 1381, peasants demanded equal rights during what is now known as the Peasants Revolt.

西元1381年，農民在現今稱為農民起義的事件中，要求平等的權利。

The period ends with the wars of the Roses, in which several battles were fought over control of the English throne.

這個時期以玫瑰戰爭結束，期間發生了數場為爭奪英格蘭王位控制權的戰役。

There are a couple of genres which were important during this period.

在此時期，有幾種重要的文學體裁。

Courtly love, romance and morality plays.

宮廷愛情、騎士愛情小說和道德劇。

The most important works are the Canterbury tales, in which 30 pilgrims undertake a journey together and start a storytelling contest.

最重要的作品是坎特伯裡故事集，其中30位朝聖者一同踏上旅程，並展開說故事比賽。

The stories are from people with all kinds of backgrounds and the work includes many different genres.

這些故事來自各種背景的人們，作品包含了許多不同的體裁。

And Arthurian Legend, a bunch of medieval romance stories centering the legendary King Arthur.

還有亞瑟王傳奇，一系列以傳奇的亞瑟王為中心的中古騎士愛情小說。

The Renaissance period, also known as the Golden Age, was characterized by a cultural revival and poetic evolution on the British Isles.

文藝復興時期，又稱黃金時代，其特色是不列顛群島的文化復興和詩歌演進。

Under Queen Elizabeth I, literary writing flourished, especially in the form of theatre plays and poems.

在伊莉莎白一世女王統治下，文學寫作蓬勃發展，尤其以戲劇和詩歌為主要形式。

In terms of literature, there was a slight shift from focusing on religion towards focusing on the individual and rationality.

在文學方面，焦點從宗教轉向個人和理性，有了一點轉變。

The main author that you should definitely know about is William Shakespeare, since a large bulk of his work is still very much relevant today.

你一定要認識的主要作者是威廉·莎士比亞，因為他的大部分作品至今仍非常貼切。

Some examples are Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet, but also the large amount of sonnets that he wrote.

有些例子像是《哈姆雷特》和《羅密歐與茱麗葉》，還有他寫的大量十四行詩。

Shakespeare's contribution to the English language is unsurpassed in he invented many words and phrases that are still in use today.

莎士比亞對英語的貢獻無與倫比，他發明瞭許多至今仍在使用的新詞和片語。

The neoclassical period, also known as the Restoration period, was characterized by political conflict.

新古典主義時期，又稱復闢時期，其特色是政治衝突。

The reign of another bad king led to the Civil War.

另一位糟糕國王的統治導致了內戰。

In 1642, England was ruled as a republic by Oliver Cromwell.

1642年，英格蘭由奧利佛·克倫威爾統治，成為一個共和國。

For a while, but his son after him was a terrible leader, however, and

雖然持續了一段時間，但他的兒子卻是個糟糕的領導者，然而，

Important events in this period are the Great Plague of London in 1665 and the Great Fire of London in 1666.

這段時期重要的事件有 1665 年的倫敦大瘟疫和 1666 年的倫敦大火。

In 1689, Mary and William of Orange took over the throne in a Glorious revolution.

1689 年，瑪麗和奧蘭治的威廉在光榮革命中接管了王位。

In the remainder of this period, there were a lot of Scottish rebellions.

在這段時期的剩餘時間裡，發生了許多蘇格蘭叛亂。

The literature from the Neoclassical period is characterized by a questioning of accepted norms and the control that the monarchy and other leaders had over society, as well as the Enlightenment, which brought a strong focus on reason.

新古典主義時期的文學特點是對公認準則的質疑，以及君主制和其他領導人對社會的控制，還有啟蒙運動，它強烈關注理性。

Some important works that you should know about are Paradise Lost, a poem about the fall of man.

有些你應該知道的重要作品是《失樂園》，這是一首關於人類墮落的詩。

How Adam and Eve were tempted by Satan and had to leave the Garden of Eden.

亞當和夏娃如何被撒旦誘惑，不得不離開伊甸園。

A Modest Proposal, in which Jonathan Swift proposes that the Irish could sell their children to the rich as food.

《一個溫和的建議》，喬納森·斯威夫特在其中提議愛爾蘭人可以把他們的孩子賣給富人當食物。

A satire criticising British policy towards the Irish Robinson Crusoe, considered by some as the first novel about one man's survival on a deserted island.

一部諷刺批評英國對愛爾蘭政策的作品《魯賓遜漂流記》，被一些人認為是關於一個人孤島求生的第一本小說。

The Romantic period is a short but important period in British literary history.

浪漫主義時期是英國文學史上一個短暫但重要的時期。

According to many writers at the time, it seemed as though a new age had begun in which individual thought and personal feeling was at the center of literary expressions.

許多當時的作家認為，似乎一個新時代已經開始，文學表達的中心是個人思想和個人情感。

Rather than the rationalism of the Enlightenment, the Romantics desired liberty and cared about the poor.

浪漫主義者渴望自由，關心窮人，而不是啟蒙運動的理性主義。

Characteristics of Romantic poetry are a focus on imagination, nature, emotions and a childlike worldview.

浪漫主義詩歌的特點是注重想像力、大自然、情感和孩童般的視角。

The Gothic novel was also important in this period, a genre that combined mystery, horror, fear and other intense emotions with romance.

歌德小說在此時期也很重要，這是一種將神祕、恐怖、恐懼和其他強烈情感與浪漫結合的類型。

The poems from authors like William Blake, William Wordsworth, Percy Bishop Shelley, Lord Byron and others are among the most important works from this period.

威廉·布萊克、威廉·華茲華斯、珀西·比希·雪萊、拜倫勳爵等作者的詩歌是這個時期最重要的作品之一。

Then there's Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley.

接著是瑪麗·雪萊寫的《科學怪人》。

The and the Monk, by Matthew Lewis, two prominent examples of the Gothic novel.

以及馬修·路易斯的《僧侶》，這兩本都是歌德小說的傑出代表。

Jane Austen also wrote her famous novels during this period, but

珍·奧斯汀在這個時期也寫了她的小說，但

she doesn't really fit in with the period's main characteristics.

她的作品與該時期主要的特點不太符合。

Queen Victoria ruled a powerful nation with a rich culture.

維多利亞女王統治著一個擁有豐富文化的強大國家。

During the Victorian period, Victorian society was divided based on class and gender.

維多利亞時期，社會階級和性別劃分明顯。

Upper classes had a lot of power and wealth.

上層階級擁有許多權力和財富。

Lower classes often lived in horrible circumstances.

下層階級的生活條件通常很糟糕。

They frequently worked in the factories that were built during the Industrial Revolution.

他們經常在工業革命期間建造的工廠裡工作。

Some of the most important works are Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, two novels by two sisters, Charlotte and Emily Bronte.

其中最重要的作品包括夏洛特·勃朗特和艾蜜莉·勃朗特兩姊妹寫的小說《簡愛》和《咆哮山莊》。

They wrote relatively dark stories about love and family.

她們寫了關於愛情和家庭，相對黑暗的故事。

The Picture of Dorian Gray by the Irish Oscar Wilde, a Gothic novel about beauty.

愛爾蘭作家奧斯卡·王爾德的《格雷的畫像》，一本關於美的歌德小說。

Tess of the Ubervilles by Thomas Hardy, which tells the story of a fallen woman.

湯瑪斯·哈代的《黛絲碧兒》，講述一個墮落女人的故事。

Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens, an extensive novel about class struggles and the human condition.

查爾斯·狄更斯的《遠大前程》，一本關於階級鬥爭和人類處境的長篇小說。

Alice in Wonderland, a great example of nonsense literature by Lewis Carroll.

路易斯·卡羅的《愛麗絲夢遊仙境》，是荒誕文學的絕佳範例。

The Sherlock Holmes novel is created by Arthur Conan Doyle.

夏洛克·福爾摩斯小說是由亞瑟·柯南·道爾所創作。

The modern period is characterized by World War I and 2.

現代時期以第一次世界大戰和第二次世界大戰為特徵。

Some of the most important literature from this period is World War I poetry, in which poets describe the horrors of fighting in the war.

這個時期一些最重要的文學作品是第一次世界大戰的詩歌，詩人藉此描述戰爭的恐怖。

Modernist writers are characterized by their rebellion against clear cut storytelling.

現代主義作家以反抗清晰敘事手法為特徵。

Modernists rejected Victorian outlooks on life and really tried to break with the past.

現代主義者拒絕維多利亞時代的人生觀，並試圖與過去劃清界線。

Some prominent modernist works the poems by writers like Wilfred Owen, Rupert Brook and Siegfried Sassoon which described the war the Waste Lands by T.S.

一些著名的現代主義作品，像是威佛烈·歐文、魯伯特·布魯克和西格夫裡德·沙遜等作家描寫戰爭的詩歌，以及T.S.艾略特的《荒原》，探討第一次世界大戰的後果，還有愛爾蘭作家詹姆斯·喬伊斯極其複雜的小說《尤利西斯》。

eliot, which explores the aftermath of the First World War Ulysses, which is a highly complicated novel by the Irish James Joyce Mrs.

《戴洛維夫人》是維吉尼亞·伍爾芙運用意識流技巧寫成的小說，伍爾芙也是女性主義的代表人物。

Dalloway, a novel in which Virginia Woolf used the technique of the stream of consciousness and Woolf was also a feminist icon.

《一間自己的房間》是一篇重要的論文，批評女性缺乏自由表達。

A Room of One's Own is an important essay that criticises women's lack of free expression.

後現代時期見證了「北愛爾蘭問題」的開始，由於愛爾蘭的衝突，長達三十多年的暴力與爆炸。

The postmodern period witnessed the start of the Troubles, more than 30 years of violence and bombing because of a conflict in Ireland.

It also covers Princess Diana's death in 1997, which left a big mark on the country, and

而且也涵蓋了1997年黛安娜王妃的逝世，這件事在國家留下了深刻的影響，

the UK leaving the European Union in 2020.

還有英國在2020年脫離歐洲聯盟。

Next to that, during this period a lot of literature got adapted into films.

同時在這段時期，也有許多文學作品被改編成電影。

An important literary genre is metafiction, which continuously reminds the reader that they are reading a fictional work.

一個重要的文學類型是後設小說，它不斷提醒讀者他們正在閱讀虛構作品。

One example is Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett, in which two vagabonds are waiting endlessly for someone who never arrives.

其中一個例子是山謬·貝克特的《等待果陀》，劇中兩位遊民無止盡地等待一位從未出現的人物。

One way in which to characterize literature from this period is through the establishment of prizes, one of the most important being the Booker Prize, awarded every year to the best novel written in the English language.

這個時期文學的一個特色是獎項的設立，其中最重要的獎項之一是布克獎，每年頒發給最優秀的英文小說。

Some titles and authors that you may recognize from shortlists and wins Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, about human cloning Wolf hall by Hilary Mantel, about the court of King Henry viii the Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes, about friendship and Girl Woman Other by Bernadine Evaristo, about 12 characters from the United Kingdom and their stories over the course of several decades.

有些你可能在入圍名單和獲獎名單中看過的書名和作者：石黑一雄的《長日將盡》，關於人類複製；希拉蕊·曼特爾的《狼廳》，關於亨利八世的宮廷；朱利安·巴恩斯的《時代的終結》，關於友誼；以及伯納黛新·伊瓦瑞斯托的《女孩女人其他》，關於英國的12位角色以及他們數十年來的經歷。

I hope this video was in some way helpful for you.

If you'd like to hang up a poster of my overview in your classroom or you'd like to support this channel, you can download the digital file via the link in the description below.

如果你想在教室裡掛上海報，或是想支持這個頻道，可以透過下方的連結下載數位檔案。

For more videos like this one, head over to my channel Illustrated and explained.

想看更多類似的影片，請到我的頻道「Illustrated and explained」。