新古典 的 文藝The Neoclassic Art of Literatur

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董 崇 選中山醫大應用外語系教授

「懂更懂學習英文網站」負責人網址： dgdel.nchu.edu.tw

I. The Neoclassic Age:新古典時代

1. 又稱 the Age of Reason, 理性的時代 或 the Enlightenment ( 啟蒙 ) 。

2. 時間 : the late 17th C. & the 18th C. 或 between roughly 1660 and 1770 或 1660 (Restoration) ~ 1798 (Lyrical Ballads) 3. 地點在歐洲，特別 France and England 4. 範圍 in literature, painting, sculpture, music,

architecture, etc.

II. The Meaning of Neoclassicism:

新古典的含義– To revive the virtues of the Greek and R

oman classics. 恢復古典希臘羅馬之優點

• To follow especially Virgil and Horace.

– To react against the extravagant fires of the Renaissance. 反抗過熱的文藝復興情懷

• To restrain especially individualism and human passions.

III. The Background of Neoclassicism: 新古典的背景

1. Monarchs ( 君王 ) faced insecurity ( 不安全 ): wars within and between nations

• The Civil War & the Commonwealth (1642-1660) 英國內戰、共和

• The Glorious Revolution (1688) 光榮革命• Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes

(1685) 法王 廢除 「南特詔書」

• The French Revolution (1789)

III. The Background of Neoclassicism:

2. Thinkers of enlightenment: 啟蒙思想家• Descartes: Discourse on Method 《方法論》 Cogito, ergo sum (I think, therefore I am) 我思故我在

• Locke: Essay Concerning Human Understanding “Our business here is not to know all things, but those which

concern our conduct.” Tabula rasa (blank sheet) 人生來如白紙

• Berkeley: Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge Esse est percipi (To be is to be perceived) 存在就是被覺知

• 英 Newton, 荷 Spinoza (Ethics 、泛神論 ), 德 Leibnitz (La Monadologie 、樂觀論 ), 法 Pascal (Pensees 《思想集》 )

“Man is but a reed, the weakest thing in nature, but he is a thinking reed” 會思考的蘆葦

III. The Background of Neoclassicism:

3. Deism ( 理神論 ) : God is but like a watchmaker. 上帝如錶匠

4. Optimism ( 樂觀論 ) : This is the best of all possible worlds. 此世界最佳

5. The rise of the middle class and the novel 中產階級興起、小說興起

6. The “Ancients and Moderns” dispute 「古今之爭」

IV. The Neoclassical Genres:新古典的文類

– The epigram ( 警句 ), the essay ( 散文 ), the epistle (letter) 信札

– The epic ( 史詩 ), comedy ( 喜劇 ), tragedy ( 悲劇 ), early novel ( 早期小說 )

– The mock-epic ( 效嘲史詩 ), satire ( 諷刺文 ), philosophical tale ( 哲學故事 ), didactic poetry ( 教化詩 )

– Fables ( 寓言 ), maxims ( 格言 ), fairy tales ( 神仙故事 ), etc.

V. The Attributes ( 特徵 ) of Neoclassicism:

1. Extolling ration, reason, logic, order, law, rules, good sense, good taste, etc. 褒揚理牲

2. Preferring restraint, moderation, decorum, clarity, simplicity, etc. 偏愛節制

3. Seeking correctness, balance, proportion, symmetry, unity, harmony, grace, etc. 尋求正確、均衡、分寸、和諧、優雅等

4. Revering the past masters and distrusting innovation. 尊重前輩大師、不信革新

V. The Attributes ( 特徵 ) of Neoclassicism:

5. Emphasizing the general and typical rather than the individual and particular. 重普遍

6. Stressing morality and urbanity and praising wit. 重道德、都市氣質、機智

7. Believing in art rather than nature. 講技藝8. Recognizing man’s imperfection and limitatio

n. 認為人有缺陷、有限度9. Viewing men as social beings and trusting au

thority and conventions. 社會人、重權威傳統

VI. Representative Authors and Works: 代表作家與作品

• France1. Corneille 柯內爾 : Medèe. Cid, la Menteur

2. Racine 拉信 : Andromaque, Phaedra

3. Molière 莫里哀 : Tartufe, The Misanthrope 《厭世者》 ,

The Bourgeois Gentleman 《中產階級紳士》4. la Fontaine 拉豐田 : Fables

( 包括 “ The Jay in the Feathers of the Peacock,”

“The Grasshopper and the Ant,” “The Fox and the Crow,” “The Frog Who Would Be an Ox,”etc.

VI. Representative Authors and Works:

5. Perrault 培洛 : Fairy Tales ( 包括 Cinderella, The Sleeping Beauty, Bea

uty and Beast 等 )6. la Rochefoucauld 拉羅希福寇 : Maxims

“To refuse praise means that you want to be praised

twice.” “Women in love forgive major indiscretions more

easily than they do small infidelities.”

7. Voltaire 伏爾泰 : Candide ( 《戇弟德》 )

VI. Representative Authors and Works:

England 1. The Metaphysical Poets: 玄派詩人 John Donne (“A Valediction”), 〈告別〉金箔、圓

規 Marvell (“To His Coy Mistress”) 〈致矜持之女士〉 2. Milton 密爾頓 : Paradise Lost 失樂園 3. Dryden: All for Love,

An Essay of Dramatic Poesy

4. Sheridan and Congreve: Comedy of Manners

VI. Representative Authors and Works:

5. Pepys and Evelyn: Diary 6. Pope 波普 : Essay on Criticism, Essay on Man,

The Rape of the Lock ( 秀髮劫 ), The Dunciad.

7. Swift 史衛夫特 : Gulliver’s Travels ( 格烈佛遊記 ): Houyhnhnms ( 理性馬 ) and Yahoos ( 雅猢 )

8. Addison and Steele: 報章 the Tatler and the Spectator ( 觀察者 ) 9. Johnson: the Dictionary, Rasselas, The Vanity of Human Wishes10. Defoe (Robinson Crusoe 魯賓遜漂流記 ), Fielding (Tom Jones), etc.

VII. Conclusion:

1. Neoclassic art is the art of the mind, not of the heart. 思想的藝術

2. Neoclassic art aims to delight and instruct at the same time. 悅人及誨人

3. Satire is the typical genre and wit is the greatest virtue. 諷刺文及才智

4. The art is best shown in the baroque or rococo style and in the heroic couplet.

巴洛克或洛可可風格，英雄雙行体

Baroque Style

Rococo Style

VII. Conclusion:

Heroic Couplet ( 英雄雙行体 ): “On life’s vast ocean diversely we sail, Reason the card, but Passion the gale.” – Essay on Criticism

“Where wigs with wigs, with sword-knots sword- knots strive, Beaux banish beaux, and coaches coaches drive.” “Smooth flow the waves, the zephyrs gently play; Belinda smiled, and all the world was gay.” – The Rape of the Lock