英国社会与文化

章节摘录

　　联邦日　　19世纪末女王维多利亚统治下的大英帝国处于它的全盛时期。女王逝世不久，每年中都有一天用来纪念她5月24日的生日，在英国某些地方被称作“维多利亚日”，但在整个英国，这一天称为“帝国日”。　　到20世纪50年代，帝国消亡了，取而代之的是英联邦，即许多前英帝国内的国家组成的一个联合组织。帝国日由此也改名为联邦日，同时日期也发生了变化，先是定在6月女王伊丽莎白生日那天，后又改在3月的第二个星期一，并一直延续至今。　　在这一天，议会广场上飘扬着各联邦国家的国旗，威斯敏斯特教堂有一个特别的宗教仪式。作为英联邦的领袖，女王将对成员国发表讲话。在讲话中，她会不厌其烦地提及长久的友谊以及维护联邦密切关系的共同历史和利益。　　5.英国与欧共体　　大英帝国以及后来的英联邦，建立了一个亲密的贸易网络。英国加入欧共体后英联邦贸易联系的重要性就降低了。　　尽管通过了1975年的复决投票，仍有相当多的人反对英国继续留在欧共体内，尤其是公共农业政策更是备受批评。当英国人听说欧洲黄油堆积如山、甜菜大量过剩时，他们拒绝购买高价食物，他们过去已经习惯了从诸如新西兰之类的英联邦国家进口廉价产品的做法。还有一个原因：大不列颠群岛四面环水，至今仍被天然的屏障隔离并保护着。因此，英国并不像大陆国家那样，具有强烈的“团结起来，进行自我保护”的意识。而且，在英国对当年法国否决英国加人欧共体的申请而耿耿于怀。因此，不能笼统地说欧共体在英国受欢迎。　　Ⅲ. The Monarchy　　1. Three Famous Queens　　Queen Elizabeth I　　(1558 - 1603)　　When. Elizabeth I , daughter of Henry　and Anne Boleyn,succeeded Mary as queen in 1558, She possessed two great advan-tages. Firstly, Elizabeth was a Protestant. Secondly, she was all English, unlike Mary whose mother had been Spanish. in addi-tion, however, Elizabeth had the qualities of a powerful and popular monarch, for she had a natural talent for wise, moderate govern-ment.　　Elizabeth chose as her advisers men of great ability; Sir William Cecil who served her until his death in 1598, and his son Robert.Between them, Elizabeth and the Cecils handled Parliament careful-ly and tactfully and Parliament was now very strong and influential.　　Elizabeth succeeded, for under the Acts of Supremacy and Uni-formity (1559), she made possible the gradual spread of the.new Protestant religion, without offending the Catholics too much: for instance, the 1552 Protestant Prayer Book was altered to make iteasier for Catholics to accept.　　Elizabeth wisely realised that her subjects loathed the idea of foreign influence in England n Particularly after the Spaniards had controlled the government during Marys reign. This was one rea- son why Elizabeth never married, although she had many suitors,including Philip of Spain, Marys former husband.　　Instead, Queen Elizabeth preferred to be married to her country and her pople. Elizabeths court became a centre of culture for English musicians, peoets, scholars, and artists, like William Byrd, the composer, Nicholas Hillyarde, the painter and Sir Walter Raleigh, the poet and adventurer. This was also the age of great English writers,　like the dramatists,　William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe。　　Elizabeth herself had great charm, intelligence and pride-in be-ing English. Although she was rather vain and quick tempered, she had a great talent for inspiring loyalty. She also had considerable courage, and when England seemed in grave danger from Spanish invasion in 1588, Elizabeth went down personally to Tilbury to speak to the crews of the ships that were going to do battle with the　　great Spanish Armada. "I know I am a weak and feeble woman,"Elizabeth told her sailors, "but I have the heart and stomach of a King -- and a King of England, too ！" This was marvelously stirring stuff, and afterwards, when the English fleet won a great victory against the Armada, Elizabeths subjects felt great pride in their country, their navy —- andtheir queen.: This was a time, too, when England was becoming more important in the world, and English sailors were challenging the Spaniards in the new, rich Spanish colonies in America。　　Queen Elizabeth seemed to personify this age of daring adven-ture, and as a result, she was given nemes Like the Sun Queen or　Gloriana。　　Queen Victoria　　(1837- 1901)　　After the disreputable Hanoverian kings, it was high time the monarchy became more respectable. That was the opinion of Queen Victoria and her husband, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.　　Although Albert was never popular in England, and did not be-come Victorias prince consort until 1857, he had great influence on the queen. Victoria, for her part, adored her handsome husband, and when hedied in 1861, she was overcome with grief. She shut herself away to mourn him and refused to appear in public for a long time. To the end of her long life, Victoria wore black in Albertsmemory.　　Victoria was very Hanoverian in many ways. She had Hanove-rian stubbornness and hot temper and she was sometimes~ cruel and intolerant. Like the Hanoverian kings, she disliked her heir, and despite his protests refused to let him take part in government af-fairs. However, Victoria did possess a very strong sense of duty to-wards her subjects. As time went on, she acquired more and more subjects, for the British Empire grewto great size during her reign,and uhimately covered one quarter of the Earths surface and one quarter of its population.　　Albert encouraged Victoria to become interested in the suffering of children working in the mines, the hard conditions in factoriesand the filthy living conditions which so many poor people had to endure.　　……

媒体关注与评论

　　前言　　随着中国加入WTO和迈入21世纪，全球化的趋势和进程成为我们必须面对的现实，而这一时代最重要的标志，市场经济的全球化和信息传播的全球化，则超越和突破了原本意义上的文化接收与渗透，为我们的价值观和道德观提供了更广阔的发展空间。《英国社会与文化》编著的宗旨，就是为中国广大的英语学习者提供一个窗口，通过对英国社会与文化方面的考察，从广义的文化哲学层面去审视西方文明的精髓：其一，梳理英国社会思想文化的脉络，理性思辨西方文明的思维模式和行为准则；其二，阐释英国社会艺术文化的美学价值，理解和领悟其深邃的内涵和人文关怀；其三，体验和鉴赏世纪更迭时期英国社会丰富多彩的实用文化，包括饮食、民俗、娱乐、休闲等各方面的文化范式。同时，《英国社会与文化》也将提供精美的英语语言材料，帮助读者在轻松愉悦、节奏舒缓的享受中开阔视野，提高英语语言修养，以成熟与自信的步伐，跨入英语语言的殿堂。　　英国社会与文化对中国、对世界的影响远不止一个世纪。透过文化历史的幔帐，大不列颠的民族精神随着时代更迭衍变。英国国旗记录着三个王权一步步成功联合为一个王国的进程。英格兰的乡村，苏格兰的高地，威尔士的群山，北爱尔兰的海岸，处处洋溢着温文尔雅的绅士风度。英国的气候，构成了英国社会的一种独特文化：它造就了英国人的性格——小心谨慎且具有忍耐力和适应性。英国的君主立宪制是英国社会整体发展的典型例证，它与上议院和下议院刚健的职责交相辉映，相得益彰。英联邦涵盖了许多不同的政府、种族、肤色、语言和观念及发展水平，他们凝聚成一种历史，一种文化。英国王室由封建式走向更高历史阶段是历史的一种抉择，它一直在用贵族的气质雕塑一种生命的形式美。维多利亚时代的“日不落”帝国形象早已在历史的风雨中淹没无闻，但沿袭历史的文化独特性和魅力仍给一向保守的英国民族自信心和自豪感。英国经济是现代规则和贵族风度的结合体，因为英国贵族之所以久享荣华，就因为一贯用财富原则指导其重商、经商。声名显赫的牛津和剑桥一直是英国知识和智慧的中心，他们就像独特的温室，为英国和世界培养出了众多的社会上层精英，展示着英国教育制度的辉煌成就。英国文学艺术的长廊中琳琅满目地陈列着具有精神超越性和灵魂升华感的伟大作品，他们早已进入接受主体的鉴赏、参与、再创造，将文学与艺术价值的审美升华为社会的审美，折射出其文化及其价值取向。英国的新闻传媒虽然承袭了客观、低调、含蓄的传统风格，其影响力却风靡世界。英国是一个精英辈出的国家，他们都与头衔和爵位有着割舍不断的渊源，即成名之后总会接受王室的授勋。英国城市的典雅和精致已经成为英国社会和文化中的一道景观，他们激活了英国经济，丰富了人民生活。风光旖旎的伦敦，令人流连忘返的景点名胜不胜枚举，是镶嵌在英国社会与文化中的明珠。英国人的体育、娱乐、和休闲活动多种多样，他们或在户外采用各种不同的方式与大自然亲密接触，或入酒吧与至爱亲朋畅叙豪饮。英国社会的现代生活已经发生了很大的变化——传统与开放并存：英国社会的风俗习惯不仅在保守的基础上根深蒂固，而且还在不断创新，最突出的一个例子就是今日英国宗教的急剧衰退。达尔文的进化论给喜欢思考的英国人提供了令人信服的答案：人不是上帝创造的特殊生命。而是从更低的生命形式经过漫长的进化产生。科学似乎把神秘及神圣排挤出了宇宙，为英国社会与文化在再生中注入新的生命活力。　　……

书籍目录

一、概览1、大不列颠及北爱尔兰联合王国2、地貌与气候二、君方立宪制1、君主立宪2、英国议会3、英国两大政党4、英联邦5、英国与欧共体三、王室掠影1、三位著名的女王2、今日王室3、爵位与荣誉四、历史事件五、经济与教育1、英国经济与对外贸易2、中小学教育与大学透视六、文学艺术1、英国文学2、剧院，电影院和音乐3、图书馆与博物馆4、民族艺术七、大众传媒1、大众传媒2、报刊、杂志八、英国名人九、主要城市十、伦敦揽胜十一、体育与娱乐1、体育运动2、文化娱乐十二、人民与社会1、英国民族特2、生活习俗3、英国宗教

作者简介

本书的宗旨就是为中国广大的英语学习者提供一个窗口，通过对英国社会与文化方面的考察，从广义的文化哲学层面去审视西方文明的精髓：其一，梳理英国社会思想文化的脉络，理性思辩西方文明的思维模式和行为准则；其二，阐释英国社会艺术文化的美学价值，理解和领悟其深邃的内涵和人文关怀；其三，体验和鉴赏世纪更迭时期英国社会丰富多彩的实用文化，包括饮食、民俗、娱乐、休闲等各方面的文化范式。同时，《英国社会与文化》也将提供精美的英语语言材料，帮助读者在轻松愉悦、节奏舒缓的享受中开阔视野，提高英语语言修养，以成熟与自信的步伐，跨入英语语言的殿堂。

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