英语挽歌审美功能与仪式功能述评

A General Survey of the Aesthetic and Ritual Functions of the English Elegy

英语挽歌发端于古希腊悼亡歌,在悠久的发展历史中呈现出多种变体,造成了学界在界定挽歌概念和功能问题上的困惑。哀挽从来都是挽歌表达的核心情感。这种情感使英语挽歌衍生出形式灵活、情感多变的田园挽歌、葬礼挽歌和职业挽歌,将审美功能和仪式功能贯穿始终。英语挽歌内外兼修的基因既能满足诗人艺术表达的需要,又能应对大众解读古老的死亡问题、摆脱无法逃避的死亡困扰的诉求。

The English elegy originated from ancient Greek songs of lament,assuming over its long history of developmentan extraordinary range of diversities,which has resulted in academic bewilderment over the definition and function of elegy.Lamentation has always been the key emotional basis of the elegy.By sticking to both the aesthetic and ritual function,the English elegy has transformed into the pastoral elegy,the funeral elegy,and the professional elegy,characterized by flexible forms and varied emotions.With its built-in attention to form and content,the English elegy is equipped to meet the aesthetic requirements of poetry and the communal need for understanding the time-honored and inexplicable topic of death.