Key words：Black English; American English; American Culture; Influence
Contents
1. Introduction 1
2. The Characteristics of Black English 2
2.1 Phonetics 2
2.2 Grammar 3
3. The Influence on American Culture 7
3.1 The Influence on American English 7
3.2 The Influence on American Art 9
3.3 The Influence on American Literature 11
4. The Practical Significance of Black English 14
5. Conclusion 15
Acknowledgements 16
References 17
1．Introduction
Black English is a social dialect of American English, and it has been historically influenced by West African languages, General Southern American English and English-based creoles.
This kind of English shares several characteristics with the forms of Creole English spoken by people throughout the whole world. In addition, it also has pronunciation, grammatical structures, and vocabulary in common with various West African languages.[1]198 Since a large number of Black people migrate to America and they have the percentage of more than 12%, [2]496the Black English has been popularized in this country. But in the American society, people seldom realize the influence and contribution of Black English and they never give the equal state to Black people. In fact, the language and culture of American reflect the contributions of the Black English in many aspects, such as linguistic, art and literature.
Nowadays, it is reasonably acceptable to say that Black English is not only an independent language but also making practical significance to American English and the American Culture. Researchers need to study the significance in details. So this paper intends to collect the study of the characteristics of Black English, and then summarize its influences on the American English. Since the change of language can lead changes in other aspects, such as Art and Literature aspects, this paper also states the influence in detailed options.
The method of this paper is reviewing the past study and surveys, not just from the linguistic point of view or the historical aspects of Black English, but from its formation and characteristics to demonstrate the existence and development of Black English and the practical significance. Through the analysis of Black English on the profound impact of American culture, the paper advances a view on the value of Black English and its prospects. Finally it puts forward the importance and necessity of enhancing learning and research on Black Culture as the continuous improvement and economic conditions of Black people.
2. The Characteristics of Black English
Black English, as a unique variant of English, has many differences with the Standard English based on the structure of language. And this paper tends to discuss the features of Black English in phonetics and grammar aspects. Since Black English is not just a simplified version of English, it has a unique language system with the same fixed structure as any other dialect all over the world.
2.1 Phonetics
Most Black people use a distinctive English variant. This black dialect has aroused many linguists’ interests. Repeatedly been labeled as “pidgin English”, Black English’s role in the development of American Culture can not be questioned. Black English as a source of Black Culture has always been paid more attention by linguists and sociologists in nowadays.
2.1.1 The Weakened Consonant
Because of the influence of West African, some voiced consonants are the same with their form of voiceless consonant. Word-final devoicing of /b/, /d/, and /g/ are always pronounced to //, //, //, and in most cases these phonemes are ignored. In order to make a difference between them, sometimes the vowel before the voiced consonants could be slightly re-read harder, take the “heat and heed”, “let and led” and “fate and fade” which is ended with the word “e” as examples.
In the syllables which are combined with consonants and vowels, some nasals can also be weakened, such as “sum, sun, sung”, and only the vowel // in the word which is somewhat influenced by the nasal.
2.1.2 The Omission of Consonant Clusters
The simplification of Consonant Clusters is an obvious feature of Black English. The mutes in English are //, //, //, //, //, //, //, //, //, //. Black English often omit the mutes in the end of a word, and the word “side”// is always pronounced to “sigh”//. This kind of omission is not arbitrary, and it is decided by the situation of pronouncing a word: when the mute at the end only represents the morpheme is not connected, for example, the frequency of reserving // is higher than integral part of the stem in the word “borrow”. It will also be reserved if there is vowel behind the mute, such as the first “d” in the phrase “tried hard”.
2.1.3 The Pronunciation of // and //
The omission of // is a notable characteristic of Black English. In American, it is a tendency of underclass to omit // before vowels but not only of Black English.[3]297Because of this kind of omission, there is no differences between “guard-god”, “fort-fought” and “sore-saw” in Black English.When // is between two vowels, the syllable after it needn’t be pronounced, as “Paris” could be read as//; when there is a word beginning with vowel behind it, the // could also be regretted.
// is voiceless before the consonant, such as the word “health” always be pronounced to // and so on. However, when // is after the vowel as the end of the word, it is assimilated by the phoneme before it, such as the similar pronunciation with “mail” and “may”//. In addition, // is voiceless before // and //, as “always”//, “already” //. The more interesting thing is that they pronounce “will” to “ah”，for example, “I ah be there in a minute.” While the correct form in Standard English is “I will be there in a minute.”
2.1.4 The Pronunciation of // and //
In Black English, // is always pronounced as // and // is always pronounced as //, for example, “think” is pronounced to be //. While the // in the end of a word is transformed to //, and “mouth” is pronounced to be //, “nothing” is to //. In addition, the “th” in the middle of a word is always pronounced to be //, so “mother” is to //, “other” is to //, and “brother” is to //.
Actually, there are many more characters than mentioned in the paper, but we can recognize the differences of phonetics between Black English and Standard English just from the mentioned examples.
Smith Thurman, a well-known expert in Black English, said that black dialect used same number of English phonemes with white, and the only difference is the distribution pattern of phoneme.[4]553
2.2 Grammar
There are also many researches who have found the special usage in grammar of Black English. For example, the different meanings in the sentences “He workin’” and “He done worked” are hard to be explained by the Standard English. The first means “He is working 253.It also indicates the difference between Simple progressive and emphasized perfective. Not only the tense plays a different role in the grammar, there are many other points such as the relative usage of the word “be”, the negation and transmission of the word.
2.2.1 Tense
Syntax best embodies the characteristics of Black English. In the verb-system, the differences between Black English and Standard English are most significant, which is most similar with pidgin and Creole their ancestors used. In Black English, the only duty of the verb in the sentence is to indicate the time concept of one or a few verbs, and other verbs can be expressed in verb stem. Sometimes when the context gives essential temporal support, the tense can be totally regretted. For example, in the following section of black sermons, the Preacher has made it clear that he is talking about the past, because both the life and devotion of Jesus have already happened: “The man Jesus，he come your sins! He the thieves and here. He die to walk the earth. He you from go among try to Save the unrighteous. The master say whoever will let him come!”
In addition, the singular verb of third person in Present Tense is not ended with “s”, for example, “She work in the factory”.
Black English has two Perfect Tenses: “Remote Perfect aspect” which is constituted by the “been” and “Immediate Perfect aspect” constituted by “done”. At this point, Black English and West African languages is extremely similar. [6]
(i) The “been” in “remote perfect aspect” has a certain meaning of action in past tense. And this kind of perfect tense could be divided into two forms: I been know him(momentary action), I been knowin’-him.(ongoing action).
(ii) “Immediate Perfect aspect” uses the auxiliary verb “done”. In modern Black English, following sentence are commonly used:
① I done go.
② I done went.
③ I done gone.
These three are used in different situations:
① Used in the Immediate Present sentences.
② Used in the Simple Past sentences.
③ Used in the semi adjective structures.
2.2.2 Relative usage of “be”
The usage of“be”in Black English is also very special. If one action, thing or state does not happen frequently, the“be”in this sentence will be deleted. For example, “he in the house -watchin’ TV”. The abbreviation of the copula such as “is” and “are” can also be deleted. In addition, when in a passive sentence the passive voice is not expressed so clearly by the speaker, “be” can also be deleted, for example, “the factory built in 1958”. However if the action happens frequently, “be” can be used as the predicate verb in the sentence“they be out in the yard every night.”
When“be” and“do” work together means this kind of thing happens frequently in the Interrogative sentences and Emphatic sentences. For example, “Do you be playing all day?” (Do they play all day?) “Yeah, the boys do mess around a lot.”(Yeah, the boys do mess around a lot.) Famous linguist William Labov researched a lot in the Black English and concluded that: all the“be”which can appear in the forming of abbreviation can be deleted in Black English. [7]113Actually, the usage of “be”is far more complex than this conclusion which is easily got from the above descriptions.
2.2.3 Negation
There are three different versions of negation in Black English: “ain’t”, “don’” and “dit’n”, which can be written as “ain’t”, “don’t” and “didn’t”. While the special usage of “ain’t” is a feature of Black English. Ain not is a negative form in past tense: I ain’t see. In a sentence, the negation always repeated: I ain’t see nothin’ like that no place. The meaning is equivalent of: I did not see anything like that anywhere. (I’ve never seen this kind of thing in any place.) When the predicate is not active verb, ain’t become the only symbol of negation. For example, I ain’t afraid of nothing. He ain’t gonna get no money out of it. Besides, it can be combined with "ing" and make up the present continuous tense. For example, we ain’t kidding and we ain’t quitting, we ain’t turning back.
The function of “ain’t” in Black English is same with the “haven’t” in Standard English. Therefore the “We haven’t contacted each of her since last Christmas.” can be evolved to “We ain’t contacted each of her since last Christmas.” Sometimes, “ain’t” can replace the phrase “didn’t” in simple negation sentence. So in Black English, sentences can be like following forms: “She ain’t email me yesterday.” The young boy insisted, “I ain’t steal his wallet.” “I ain’t run like that in years.”
Multi-negation means there is not only one symbol of negation. Under this regulation, the pronoun needs to add some mark of negation.
For example: “She ain’t see any thing/ anyone at the railway station” can be changed into “She ain’t see nothing/ nobody at the railway station”. If the subject is “nobody” but not “he” or “Janet”, it will add negative determiner at the beginning of the sentence. This is called “negative inversion” by linguists. As a result, it is very common to hear that “Didn’t nobody say nothing to the peoples!”
3. The Influence on American Culture
An important contribution of Black English is the influence on the American Culture. The familiar “negro spiritual”, the unusual rhythms and the famous performance in movie and literature —all these originated with the slaves. It is said that what is the best and most original in American popular culture has its roots in Black English. Important black speakers, singers, actors and writers are too numerous to list.
3.1 The Influence on American English
He Ruigao expresses his opinion in his article Black English that there are some differences in certain aspects of language between Black English and American English. And he believes that after all, Black English is a variant of English, so the differences are only in some degree rather than fundamental, and do not affect the people’s contacts.
It is clear that there is a strong relationship between Black English and American English, while the distinct characters of Black English are not fully explained and its origins are still a matter of debate. One theory is that Black English arose from one or more slave creoles that arose from the trans-Atlantic African slave trade and the need for African captives to communicate among themselves and with their captors. According to this theory, these captives’ language developed into what are called pidgins, simplified mixture of two or more languages. As pidgins are from closely contact between members of different language communities, the slave trade would have been exactly such a situation. Not until the time of the American Civil War did the language of the slaves become familiar to a large number of educated whites. As the time passes, the Black English gradually plays an important role in the United States and U.S. Culture.
3.1.1 The Forming of Black English
In the slave society, there are so many different languages that the natives on two sides of the river cannot understand each other. But the safest way for them to keep their authority is to trade with the different nations on both sides of the river. The famous writer, Cotton Mather, claimed to have been very familiar with his slaves’ speech, and his imitative writing shows features presented in many Creole languages and even in modern Black English. By the time of the American Revolution, varieties among slave creoles were not quite mutually intelligible.
Not until the time of the American Civil War did the language of the slaves become familiar to a large number of educated whites. In Army Life in a Black Regiment (1870), Thomas Wentworth Higginson detailed many features of his soldiers' language. Shana Poplack has also provided corpus-based evidence from isolated enclaves in Samaná and Nova Scotia lived by descendants of migrations of early Black English-speaking groups. All of these researches suggest that the grammar of early Black English is closer to that of contemporary British dialects than modern urban Black English to current American dialects. We can find that the modern language is a result of divergence from mainstream varieties, rather than the result of creolization from a widespread American creole.
3.1.2 The Relations with the American English
In United States, blacks worked in this land with the identity of slaves and inherited some habits from the African culture and language, and thus gradually formed a black American society with unique culture. While the communication between the black slaves and the slavers became a major hub linking the two cultures, and produced a subtle influence to American English, which mainly reflected in English words borrowed, as well as the meaning of the word twists and turns, and the absorption of idioms. Its pronunciation is, in some respects, common to Southern American English, which is spoken by many African Americans and many non-African Americans in the United States.
There is little regional variation among speakers of Black English.89 In order to understand the United States and American culture, and to acquire its development, Blacks melt their culture, such as language, literature and art, with those of the United States. Later, Black English is not only for Black people, it is still widely used by a number of regional dialects. Even in literature works, authors often use Black English to show the hero's nationality, identity and upbringing.
Not only the phonetics and grammar of Black English prove the influence to American language, but we can also achieve it from the assertion of Black English. For example, “the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice” means “she is very mature and favorable”. Another example, “you aren’t got a pot to piss in on a window to throw I tout of” means that you are very pool. “If I tell you a hen hip snuff, look under its wing and find a whole box” means that all you said is true. “You never miss yo water till yo well run dry” means that “you will never feel the importance of water until you are very thirst”.[10]6-7 The representative assertion is very lively and meaningful, suggesting the wisdom of the Black English.
3.2 The Influence on American Art
When Blacks live in Africa, they have the hobby to sing and dance during laboring. But then they are later taken away as slaves by the colonists to the southern United States plantation. They work in the fields wearing shackles and live in the primitive hut in the deserted swamp and jungle. But due to this kind of suffering, they create a valuable oral literature including hymns and blues and other Black Art, which has made an outstanding contribution to the culture to the United States.
3.2.1 The Integration with Music
It is generally believed that music of blacks has some distinctive forms from American music like American Ragtime, Blues, Jazz, Musical and Country music. Ragtime was first played by a black Anonymous piano, which was very popular in the late 19th century to early 20th century. It uses segmentation rhythm, trying to evolve from the popular dance music of blacks, and then Ragtime music appears. Scott. Joplin is one of the Ragtime representatives, and his performance of “Maple Leaf pull tone” has been a smash hit, which is so famous that all of the Ragtime pianist would play in their shows.
Blues is from field horn and songs with a strong feeling of African tradition and its tunes are always sad. The most famous Blues singer is Bessie Smith, known as Blues Queen. When Ragtime, Blues and other tunes with rich colors of Africa's influence add together with the elements in Europe, the Jazz comes into being.
With the integration of grammar, the ways people sing a song become various in American. Many young people jump into the swim of “rap” and “hip-hop”, which is considered as a really fashion style to express one song and the soul. While among the most famous masters, more than 90 percent are black people, such as the episode in Prison Break.
The word “rap” meant “blame” in the middle of 18th century and was always used in phrase in the 19th, “to take the rap” meant “to take the blame”. After the civil war, black people used it to blame white people and requested the equality with them. And finally it replaced the word “conversation” to be popular among the white teenagers. There are many simplifications of words in “rap” which become totally different with American English. For example, the “er” in the end of word is changed into “a”, “nigger” into “nigga”.[11]185 Besides, the “ks” or “cks” in the end of a word can be replaced by “x” because they have the same pronunciation. All of these examples prove that it has become a new version of grammar in American English. For example, the “re” or “e” which can’t be heard during a speedy song are always omitted such as “more” and “mo”, “for” and “fo”, or the number “4”. The omission of “g” in “ing” is another new grammar in American English.
Some words also change its pronunciation. For example, in the word “through”, “gh” never being pronounced is know to all, since we pronounce “th” // in stead of // there is no difference in pronunciation with the word “true”.
In the “rap”, the Black English has many distinct characters and its lyrics tend to be more fashion and creative. Most of these new word are very short or the abbreviation of some long words so that even the local Americans can not understand. In order to keep its character of fashion, “rap” uses word on the point of fashion. Therefore, the characteristics of Black English are the foundation of “rap”, which makes it no longer a simple style of music but a diverse style.
3.2.2 The Integration with Film
Film is an integrated form of art, with combination of test technology, art and commerce, and the thought of images it brings to the human mind is revolutionary. Because it's easy to be accepted, the film is destined to be a mass media on hundreds of millions people when it appears. In a short century, Hollywood becomes a symbol of American mass culture, and the influence on American society is immeasurable.
Film expresses and promotes the life style and values of Americans. During the war era, it boosts moral e of the soldiers. While in the Depression era, it could replace the cash of the American dream and reflected the public's ideals and dreams. In this case, blacks also express their dream to achieve the equality in the American society through the film, such as Shaw shank Redemption, the Pursuit of Happiness and Death Pact and so on. Because of the success of these works and the influence on future, some later generations continued to collect and summarize the classic dialogue in these black films, and to commemorate the black culture for future generations to study at the same time.
There are two characteristics of grammar which can be easily found in the black films.First is the invariant of “be”, and second is the multi-negation of“ain’t”.The invariant of“be”is used before verb, adjective, noun and passive voice in Black English.
(i)Your gas bill be high, don’t it? (Your gas bill is usually high, isn’t it?)
(ii) My boss be in his office by 8am. (My boss is usually in his office by 8am.)
(iii)It don’t be dogged. I grease it and oil it. (It isn’t usually dogged, I grease it and oil it.)
Laurel Avenue (1993) is a story about a family’s effort to counter drug, faction and violence in order to achieve the “American Dream”. In the film, when Rashhawn’s uncle blamed on his sailing drug, he said that “What the hell I be giving you money fuh[for ]？” while his word can also be translated to “Do you know why I always give you money ? ”
It is worthy to mention that this kind of grammar in the film is also very popularized by young Latinos. Therefore, the Black English users have crossed the racial boundaries and expanded to the crowd who are favor of hip hop culture.
The multi-negation of “ain’t” can be fully realized in the most influential black filmmaker Spike Lee’s masterpiece Do the Right Thing. The story happened in Brooklyn, New York, and demonstrated an explosion caused by the ethnic problems. There are a large number of unique performances of Black English in the dialogues: “Ain’t no brothers on the wall? I ain’t run like that in years. Don’t call me no bum. Jade don’t come here no more, all right? Don’t call me nothing.”
Although many so-called “not standard”regulations of Black English have been criticized for a long time, its expression is an important means to promote Black Culture of the Hollywood directors and become a beautiful view in American films.
3.3 The Influence on American Literature
In the destiny of black, there must be a clearly visible way, on which they have worked with effort to win dignity and literary. Through their effort, it exhibited such a road as well as those marks in relation to life along the way: once in Black history, unforgettable pain is essential for the experience to the results today. Black Literature, in the United States and the world, has been mainly as slaves, especially in countries outside Africa.
The Black English writer Toni Morrison was born in black family, and later achieved today’s scholars and writer’s identity by reading. In 1993, because of her “making the important part of American society much more vigorously through the rich poetic imagination and expression”, she won the Nobel Prize for Literature, and became the only black women writer in history to be honored.
Not only the Black Literature but also the American Literature has these characters of Black English in their works.
The Sound and the Fury (1929) is written by a famous American writer William Faulkner (1897-1962). The first part, “April 7th, 1928”, describes the conversation and action between the children in the farm waiting for the coming of procession.
“I skeered I going to holler,” T.P said.
“Get on the box and see is they started.”
“They haven’t started because the band hasn’t come yet.” Caddy said.
“They ain’t going t have no band.” Frony said.
“How do you know?” Caddy said.
“I know what I knows,” Frony said.
“You don’t know anything,” Caddy said.
“She went to the tree.”
“Put me up,” Versh.
“Your paw told you to stay out that tree,” Versh said.
“That was a long time ago,” Caddy said,
“I except he’s forgotten about it, besides he said to mind me tonight. Didn’t he say to mind me tonight?”
“I’m not going to mind you, T .P and Frony are not going to either,” Jason said.[12]4
The children in this conversation turn out to be totally different between T.P, Frony, Versh and Caddy, Jason. The dialogue of the first three people has some characters of Black English. For example, “be” in the sentence “I (am) skeered (that) I (am ) going to holler” which is the distinct signal of Black English. On the contrary, the conversation of Candy and Jason do not omit this part as Jason says that “I’m not going to mind you，TP and Frony are not going to either”. And the singular verb of third person even does not have any difference with first person or any one else in the sentence “I know what I knows”. In addition, the mixture of // and // of the word “git” in the sentence “got on the box” is very common in Black English. It turns out that T.P, Frony and Versh are children of black in the farm, while Caddy and Jason are children of the farmer.
On the other hand, many black people like Frederick and William, not only struggle to learn the culture, but also use the pen as a weapon after the flight. They took active part in the abolitionist movement and expressed positive public opinions. Slave owner always treat Black people as the inferior race, so Black people’s ability to carry out literature itself is a powerful evidence of that lie, let alone the rich ideological content in their articles. And all of these proof that Black people is an excellent nation with a historical cultural tradition on the literature and their language also plays an irreplaceable role in the development of American literature.
4. The Practical Significance of Black English
In1863， 2 years before the war ended, Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves in the Confederate states. Shortly after the war ended in 1865, the thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution freed all slaves. A few years later, the fourteenth and fifteenth Amendments gave the former slaves full civil rights, including giving African-American men the right to vote.[13]77
In politics, more blacks are voting, and more are getting elected. Since 40 years ago, the Black middle-class group has risen from scratch and grown in their standard of living. There are no difference in professional skills and educational background with the white middle class. Outstanding representatives of Black people appear in many areas of the United States, such as the Black mayor, governor, ministers and members of Congress, and all of them are no longer surprise to us. The much more important thing is that Democratic candidate Barack Obama won the U.S. presidential election in 2008 to become the first real chance to win the presidency in the Black.
Blacks are also trying to improve their financial position by going into professions or starting their own business. There are now more than 600,000 black-owned companies in the U.S. and blacks are more numerous than ever in the professions-as teachers, doctors, lawyers, judges and ministers.
In 1952, Ralph Ellison, a black author, wrote a book about blacks in the U.S. called the Invisible Man. Since the 1960s, blacks have become more visible on TV and in movies and magazines. Networks, filmmakers and advertisers now realize that black consumers want to see their race represented. Today, blacks in significant numbers work as newscasters, TV actors and actresses, and movie stars.
Huang Weifeng says in his African American English on a Number of Historical Issues that, “Only when the racism in American society has been completely eradicated from the mind, the Black Cultural expressions of Black English can really be recognized.”81
5. Conclusion
“Black English” is widely used as the name because it is used by Black people. In fact, its user of this language is far beyond our imagination. In addition to the external community in the black population, it is also used by lower middle and low classes in America. It has profound impacts on American culture and communication in various aspects, especially with the continuous improvement of their political, economic and cultural status, and Black English has been paid more and more attention. In view of this, the paper starts to explore the formation and characteristics of its existence and development. It is said that the view of helping people understand the Black Culture correctly, the concept of eliminating the racial discrimination and enhancing the awareness to protect national culture plays an important role to cultural exchanges and cultural diversity.
The above discussion of Black English is by no means comprehensive but it can serve our purpose to improve the regulation and state of Black English. The significance of studying the nature of Black English is really multifaceted. While the most direct one is the significance for lingu istic research. The attitude to the question that whether Black English is a dialect or a language determines the methods of research. This paper argues that Black English is essentially a separate system and its significance to the American Culture. It should be researched as an independent study of language. [17]34
Undoubtedly, the Black English makes Black people more dramatic in the movies. The syntax rules and special vocabulary of Black English, which are incompatible with the mainstream of English, become the foundation of their culture with their bold dance and passive music. Although most black people using Black English live in the southern United States and the countries, those well-educated middle-class blacks also use Black English in some informal gatherings.
With the black music, novels and movies continuously mix into the mainstream of American society, the syntax rules and special vocabulary of Black English begin to be accepted by American English and become parts of the American culture. Because of the worldwide spread of English and increasingly prosperous Black Culture, the Black English will be more widely active in screen as a mature variation of English and an important way to display the diverse culture of the United States.
Acknowledgements
My initial thanks go to my tutor, Wu Qing, who patiently supervised my dissertation and was at times very willing to offer me illuminating advice or suggestions. Without her help, I could not have finished this dissertation.
I am also indebted to other teachers and my classmates who have not only offered me their warm encouragements but also shared with me their ideas and books.
My greatest personal debt is to my grandparents and parents, who have cultivated a soul of sensitivity, hospitality, and honesty out of me, and offered a harbor of happiness and sweetness for me.
The remaining weakness and possible errors of the dissertation are entirely my own.
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[17] 葛咏涛. 美国文化风云人物[M]. 四川大学出版, 2007.
诚 信 承 诺
我谨在此承诺：本人所写的毕业论文《论黑人英语对美国文化的影响及其现实意义》均系本人独立完成，没有抄袭行为，凡涉及其他作者的观点和材料，均作了注释，若有不实，后果由本人承担。
承诺人（签名）： 徐珊珊
一、英美文学评论概述
英美文学评论的理论基础是建立在英美文学的形式和作品中,通过研究英美文学的特点或者英美文学中存在的特殊事物及其发展规律来鉴定英美文学,从而得出英美文学差异的具体表现。英美文学评论的形式具有多元化特点,根据英美文学作品的语言特色和文化差异可以将文学评论的形式划分为以下三种:小说评论、诗歌评论、戏剧评论。在英美文学评论体系中,对英美文学作品进行一个全面性、多角度、多层次、全方位的品读与鉴赏是英美文学评论的最终目的。比如在评论英国着名文学家简·奥斯汀的《傲慢与偏见》和美国着名文学家海明威的《老人与海》这两部文学作品时,评论家们就需要对这两部文学从作者写作背景、思想内容、文学表现风格和形式等方面对文学进行理解与鉴赏,为文学爱好者提供一个专业性的评论方案,从而为提升其鉴赏水平提供理论基础。
相较于一般文学作品而言,英美文学评论的层次更加鲜明。文学评论家们对英美文学作品全方位、多层次地深入分析是英美文学评论的基础,也是英美文学综合评论体系的主要内容之一。评论家们要想完整、全面地理解文学作品所表达的含义,就需要对作品从背景、时间、题材、创作风格等方面做出深刻的文学评论。由此可见,英美文学评论与一般文学评论之间的最大差距是英美文学评论具有鲜明的文学色彩、艺术表现特点。因此,文学评论家们要将评论的着重点放在英美文学作品本身具有的属性上,全面综合评价文学作品。
二、评论视角选取策略
1、时效性策略
时效性是文学评价家评论视角选取策略考虑的首要策略,其原因是英美文学作品具有极大的现实意义,对后世文学研究具有极大的参考价值。因此,评论家要想达到英美文学评论可以启发文学创作思维的目的就需要把握时效性策略和英美文学作品的特点,为英美文学的发展提供保障。时效性策略研究是以英美文学作品的创作背景、创作风格、作品特征、艺术表现形式等方面作为研究内容,以文学作品自身艺术属性和作品特色作为时效性策略的研究重点,以推动英美文学的发展作为研究目的。因此,重视英美文学评论的时效性是推动英美文学评论得以快速有效发展的关键因素,也是发挥英美文学评论加快精神文明建设脚步的重要策略之一。
2、差异化策略
文学表现形式和文学作品体裁的多样性赋予了文学作品文学样式的多元化特征,因此不同的文学作品具有不同的属性,这也是区分文学作品差异的主要方式。针对文学评论体系中的文学作品差异认识,评论家需要正确把握差异性策略在文学评论体系中的应用原理,把提升英美文学评论质量作为差异性策略研究的主要目的,以提高英美文学评论水平、提升英美文学评论的整体效果、帮助文学阅读者正确理解文学内涵作为差异性策略研究的方向。由此可见,评价家要以差异性策略研究的方向作为提升英美文学评论的重要手段,从全新的角度把握差异性策略,从而为英美文学评论体系提供理论基础。
三、英美文化差异对英美文学的影响
1、语言差异对英美文学评论的影响
作为一个民族的根基之一的语言,在文化体系中占据着重要的地位。首先,英语是英美文学作品创作的工具,也是传达文学内容和表现形式的主要方式。英美文学作品与一般的文学作品在语言表现形式、抽象概念表达方面极具鲜明的主观色彩和浓厚想象力。英美文学评论家就需要利用英语传达出文学作品的精髓,为文学阅读者们提供简洁、华丽、通俗或者高雅的评论与见解,帮助文学爱好者们更加深入地了解文学内容。由此可见,作为语言体系的主要组成部分之一的英语,在语言表达方面具有极强的语言表现了和文体风格。
英语与汉语一样,在表达文学思想内涵方面会受到一个国家的地理环境、宗教文化、文化历史等方面的因素影响,导致英语在英国和美国的发音、表达方式等方面具有差异性,从而形成了“美式英语”和“英式英语”。造成美式英语和英式英语之间的差异元素有很多,主要包含谚语、典故、俗语等。谚语、典故、宗教的不同,一方面造成英语的语法结构不同,另一方面使英语表达的含义存在一定的差异,导致其他国家理解别国的文学作品含义上存在一定的难度。英语是英国的母语,国家在传承与发扬英语文化的过程中会根据英语文化的“正宗”结构和表达形式来表达文学作品。虽然正宗的英语表达形式会给文学评论家和文学阅读者们带来方便,但是也会造成英国文学作品没有美国文学作品的随意洒脱。其原因是作家在表达语言时严格遵循英式英语的正规表达结构,使作品带有浓厚的“庄严”色彩。
相较于英式英语而言,美式英语在表达结构方面注入了新鲜的血液,没有完全遵循英式英语的传统文化,在美式英语结构改革方面加入了创新元素,使美式英语充满“叛逆性”和“革新性”。另外,美式英语的历史背景没有英式英语那么浓厚,人们在传承语言文化时没有背负沉重的思想包袱,因此作家在文学作品语言表达方面更加开放、随意,带有鲜明的个人主观色彩。美国文学评论的特色是自由、创新,与英国文学评论相比,美国文学评论不仅可以激发文学家们的创作热情,还可以促进美国文学领域的快速发展。
2、文化内涵差异对英美文学评论的作用
相较于美国文学评论而言,英国文学评论家们在继承英语传统文化与坚持自由开放、创新的评论体系之间挣扎。英国文学评论创作手法在17世纪与18世纪之间发生了明显的变化,从遵循浓厚的宗教色彩向创新的创作表现方向发展,从思考历史文化向思考人性力量方向发展。创作手法在英国文学评论体系中的不断变化表明文学家和评论家在以一种创新发展的相关思考文化差异对文学的作用,以传统文化内涵作为依托,将传统文化理念结合后现代文学主义、女权主义、后殖民主义思想向独立、个性、自由的文学方向发展。作为英国文学思想的主要组成部分之一的解构主义,在美国后现代主义文学思想体系中具有引导作用。文学是文学评论产生的理论基础,英美文学评论体系的不断发展与英美文学研究结构体系息息相关。在文学价值方面,英国文学评论和美国文学评论具有相同的文学价值:构建一个独立自由、共性与个性并存、富有独特魅力的文学评论价值体系。
【关键词】文化差异；英美文学；文学评论
前 言
英美文学评论是运用文学理论研究英美文学著作，对其特点和发展规律进行研究，对文章展现的主题思想、表现形式、写作风格进行评析，从而为以后的英美文学创作提供蓝本和依据并且提高文学爱好者的文学欣赏水平。英美两国的文学评论家在不同的历史背景和文化差异中会对文学评论产生不同的表现，英美文化差异对英美文学评论的影响力是不言而喻的。
一、英美文学发展史与特点
英国文学的发展历史悠久，经历了文艺复兴、浪漫主义、现实主义、现代主义、写实主义、实验主义等阶段，每一个发展阶段都有其特点和艺术价值。不同时期涌现了创作风格不同的著名的大作家，如莎士比亚、萧伯纳、拜伦等。英国文学做早的时候多以诗歌形式展现，以后逐渐发展成小说、散文等多样化的形式，慢慢的英国文学逐渐发展出一种浪漫理性的风格。英国文学作品在其漫长的发展过程中，已经逐渐成为世界文化艺术这座大山中屹立不倒的一座傲人的山峰。
美国文学史主要经历了浪漫主义、现实主义、现代主义这三个时期，各个时期分别产生了大量的优秀作家，主要有马克吐温、狄金森、爱默生、惠特曼、海明威、庞德等人。美国文学因早期沦为英国殖民地的原因，曾深受英国文学的影响并一直致力于模仿英国文学，但是随着美国文学的不断发展何美国独自自主意识的增强，美国文学逐渐形成了自己的风格并开始脱离于英国文学。美国经济实力不断壮大，独立意识被激发，再加上大批优秀文学家和作品的出现，让美国文学逐渐成为了一个独立的文学分支并开始向多元化的趋势发展，独立革命是美国民族文学诞生的背景。
二、英式与美式英语差异对英美文学评论产生的影响
语言是民族文化发展的重要载体，语言是民族文化的基石，在文学作品的创作中，思想是文学作品的心脏，语言是文学作品的躯干。语言这一载体能够把民族文化的差异性展现的淋漓尽致。英美文学作品的语言都是英语，英语能够在英美文学作品中以艺术性和象征性表达出作品中的主题思想，是一种极富有表现力的语言。但是由于历史、地域等原因，英美两国的英语在某些方面略有不同，这些不同所具有的内在意义是除其自身外的其他国家都无法真正理解的。在英美文学作品中，其创作所用的语言是作者精心的提炼、汇聚而成的，英式与美式语言的差异无疑对英美文学评论产生巨大影响。通过分析文学评论家在进行文学作品评论时所使用语言特点、风格的差异，可以看出文化差异对英美文学评论的影响。
英式英语有着悠久的文化历史，可以说它击沉了传统英国文化的遗产，是英语正宗。一直以来英式英语在文学评论中呈现出一种中规中矩的状态，很多评论家在进行文学评论时显得小心翼翼。究其原因，可能是顾忌其英语正宗的地位和对传统语言神圣性的膜拜，害怕过于锋利和大胆会亵渎了英式英语的传统地位。
众所周知美式英语是从英国语言中衍生而来的，但是由于美国这个新生国家本身文化、制度、思想等的全新性，虽然语言的核心没有改变但是美式英语充满了创新和不同。与英国语言不同，美国在历史、文化和政治等方面没有沉重的历史包袱，，也处处充满了创新精神。1930年以后，美国文坛呈现出一片百家争鸣的景象，诺贝尔文学奖获得者大有人才。相比英国文学评论的保守而言，美国的文学评论则更为自由、大胆、创新。美国文学评论的这种特点无形中激发了作家的激情，促进了整个文坛思想的开化与前进，为美国文学在世界文学史中后来后来居上打下了基础。
三、文化内涵差异对英美文学评论的影响
英国的文学评论可以说是挣扎在接受传统文化影响和挣脱传统文化影响之间。十七世纪到十八世纪英国文学评论从具有宗教主义到逐渐荒诞的创作手法，都体现了该阶段英国文学评论家们在传统与挣脱传统之间的挣扎和徘徊。莎士比亚的经典代表作《哈姆雷特》似乎就无形中展现了这一时期英国文学评论的性格特点，文中的主角哈姆雷特苦苦的挣扎在复仇的道路上，对于生存还是死亡这个问题很好的展现出哈姆雷特那犹豫不决、优柔寡断的性格。到了二十世纪以后，英国的文学评论家对于自身及其文学评论历史进行了深刻的思考，这种走出现状的全新的审视与反思使英国文学评论界发生了翻天覆地的变化。英国文学评论的发展是朝着后现代主义、女权主义、后殖民主义的方向前进的。
文学评论是建立在文学基础上的，对于美国文学评论的研究也要建立在对美国文学深入研究的基础上。美国受其殖民地历史因素影响，其文学受到欧洲大陆文学的极大的影响。但是美国文学仍有其特性，不然也不会逐渐发展成独特的一支。美国文学评论也是特立独行的完整个体，其虽携带英国文学的基因，却结出了全新的果实。
四、文化历史差异对英美文学评论的影响
英国文学的历史文化传统特色是相对于禁欲主义和神权主义而言的人本主义。英国文学评论中的人本主义比较保守，究其原因与英国资产阶级自身在文化历史中的软弱性和妥协性是分不开的。大文豪莎士比亚在说到自己的文学作品时认为其更多的是在多人本主义进行一种宣传，人本主义是要实现人类的和谐、自由、与爱，消除了人和人之间的阶级束缚。莎士比亚的人本主义观点的作品的评论可以说是英国文学评论中的典型，对英国后续文学评论产生了广泛的影响。随着社会的发展，这一观点逐渐受到不少人的质疑。人们认为社会要快速发展是离不开革命的催化作用的，创新是完善社会的必要条件，人本主义观随着社会发展已经显得太过于保守，而保守的人本主义观只有在某些特殊时刻才会发挥其作用。
同样是对于人本主义观点，美国文学评论就显得比较激进。前文提到过，美国的文化历史不像英国那样有太多的顾虑和沉重的包袱。美国历史上的独立战争所形成的的自由民主的社会氛围同时也渲染了文化氛围，美国文学评论的发展可以呈现出一种轻轻松松的状态。
结束语
纵观全文我们可以看出，美国文学评论具有较强的创新性和独创性，而英国文学评论虽略显保守却是更加具有传统性的。英美文学评论的差异与英美文化的差异是紧紧相连、不可分开讨论的，英美文化差异对英美文学评价的影响更是深远的。英美文学评论虽各有其特点，但是却都是无可替代的。
【参考文献】
[1]王巍.英语语系下对英美文学评论的影响[J].作家，2010（03）：12-14.
一、文化差异对英美文学评论的影响
(一)语言文化差异带来的影响一个民族的语言对该民族人们生活的不同层面都会产生极为深远的影响，是一个民族的文化根基。在文学作品中，语言是文学作品的骨干，文学作品的灵魂通过文字语言得以实现。英语一直以来都是世界性通用语言，其发展大约经历了1500年的历史。在英语发展早期，英国英语和美国英语是同根同源的，两者在语言特点方面有很多相似之处。美国的英语语言文化与印第安土著语语言文化逐渐接触，为更好地适应北美大陆的文化环境，美式英语中出现许多新词汇，使得美国英语与英国英语之间产生很多不同，真正意义上的美国英语也是在这个时期逐渐形成的。
虽然英美国家都以英语作为自己民族的语言，但是两个国家的英语都受到各自国家及历史背景的影响，使得英式英语和美式英语在很多方面存在差异。英式英语历史悠久，秉承一贯的文化传统，具有庄重严谨的特点。英国的评论家进行文学评论时使用的语言中规中矩，庄重、沉稳、不随意。他们以对文学作品尊重、崇敬的态度进行文学评论，这种语言运用方式很大程度上受到语言传统的影响，是对本民族语言传统神圣性由衷尊崇的体现。不同于英式英语，美式英语是在英国语言的基础之上衍生出来的，不具有英式英语悠久的历史和浑厚的历史背景。美国是一个崇尚自由的国度，标榜“一切皆有可能”，这也使得美式英语在语言使用上更为自由、开放、标新立异。表现在文学评论上，其文学评论作品有很多创新，充满创新性和自由性。通常，美国文学评论的观点独到，对人们会产生很大的启发作用。
(二)历史文化差异带来的影响英国和美国这两个国家由于发展过程中历史背景不同等诸多原因，因此其文化历史传统呈现出很大的差异。英国的历史文化传统有着极为浓重的人本主义色彩，这也与英国资产阶级革命不彻底及其具有的妥协性有很大的关系。这种人本主义色彩在早期的英国文学评论中得到很好地体现，表现为评论中对人本主义的观点持保守态度。随着英国社会文明的不断进步，人们开始重新审视传统的评论标准，英国文学评论中的人本主义观点遭到大多数人的质疑甚至否定。虽然美国文学是从英国文学发展出来的，但美国文学受自身历史文化的影响，具有独创性，这主要是由于美国作为一个年轻国家，是一个勇于突破的民族，在独立战争和后期发展中，美国逐渐形成以独立、自由、民主为主的价值观念，历史文化的发展受文化传统遗留问题的影响较小。这种历史文化使得美国文学评论富有创造力、勇于突破传统、善于表达新观点。
(三)人道主义差异带来的影响人道主义从十五世纪开始成为资本主义国家建立资产阶级、巩固资本主义制度的基础。随着历史不断发展，人道主义的内涵得到极大地丰富。从广义上来说，英美国家的人道主义通常把上帝作为信仰的对象，具有浓重的人文指向，而这一指向对英美文学评论也有一定程度的影响。作为两个不同的国度，两者之间具有很大的文化差异，使得英国文学和美国文学关于人道主义有着不同的理解。英国文学评论家对人道主义的理解趋于保守，但理解得更为成熟;美国文学评论家与之不同，他们对人道主义的理解更具创新精神。
二、结语
纵观英国文学和美国文学，我们会发现这样一个规律，英国文学几乎都是用很标准的英语呈现的，无论是遣词造句还是语法结构，英国文学中的语言都显得中规中矩，符合英语标准。虽然，在美国文学作品中也同样使用英语加以呈现，但是其并非通英国文学那样纯正，确切地讲，美国文学使用的是美语，因此其作品中对英语的使用上就非常能有效地给以突破，语言新、奇、自由，是对纯真英语的一种超越。这主要是英国和美国语言文化的差异造成的。在一个民族内部，有通用的语言文化，这是一个民族区别于另一个民族的重要标志。这种语言文化代表着这个民族文化的最优性，它也是一个民族文化是否独立存在的重要体现。透过对文学作品的赏析，我们发现作家使用的语言都是经过了艺术性的加工，具有很高的鲜明民族性。通过对不同国家文学作品的比较，我们就可以很明显地发现不同民族文化之间的差异，也能找出不同民族风格区别，因此，语言文化上的差异对于英美文学的发展影响作用很大。英国英语是英语语言的“正宗”，英国英语有着悠久的历史，被世人所推崇。在文学家进行艺术创作时，他们就会不自觉地使用这种纯正的英语，以体现文化上的传承，更体现作家对英国英语的尊崇。因此，无论是英语文学还是英语评论，在语言使用上，都严格地按照标准、典雅的方式进行。然而，由于美国的英语是基于英国英语基础上衍生而来，因此，尽管美国人也使用英语，但其语言要素并没有改变。这样一来，美国英语和英国英语就产生了差异，其结果是美国英语就显得不够标准，世人在学习英语的时候也不会以美国英语为标志，而是选择英国英语，这就说明，美国英语已发生了变化。这种语言文化的变化是源自于政治的变革，自从美国成为独立的美利坚合众国后，它的一切文化，包括政治制度、民族文化、意识形态都发生了深刻的变化，美国民众在战斗中学会了突破与创新，他们凭着自己的奋斗改写美国历史的同时，也使自己的民族文化发生深度变化。美国人更相信创新，更相信突破，即使在文学作品和文学评论中，依然彰显着毫无顾忌、勇于突破的精神。这就使得美国文学和美国文学评论较英国文学在语言使用上，更有活力，这是对传统英语的巨大突破。
2文化内涵差异对英美文学及评论的影响
（1）从英国文学评论看保守与突破的英伦文化英国文学真正意义上开始应该是从文艺复兴时期算起，虽然中世纪的英国也出现了一些文学方面的作品，但是，没能形成一定的影响。直到14世纪的后半叶，英国文学才在模仿法国、意大利作品中渐渐发展为英国的本色写作，表现出英国文学的自信。在代表的作品中，尤其是英国诗人乔叟用以优美活泼的韵文描写的朝圣人的神态言谈，当时的社会现实为英国文学的发展注入了生命之血。自从新航线开辟以后，英国国力大增，民族主义高涨起来，特别是英国打败了西班牙无敌舰队以后，英国文化开始出现活动频繁、佳作频出的局面，莎士比亚是其中的最为重要的代表，这位文学巨匠的文学作品极具英国文学的代表性。从他的作品中可以清晰地看出，英国文学评论是在继承与反叛中不断挣扎，比如《哈姆雷特》这部经典之作，主人公哈姆雷特在为自己的父亲报仇和力挽狂澜的过程中一直都在苦苦挣扎，他的经典名言“生存还是灭亡，是一个问题”充分地表现出他本人的优柔寡断性格。英国文学评论颇具哈姆雷特的性格特点，无论是17世纪文学评论还是18世纪文学评论，都具有神秘的宗教色彩，即便是后来的边缘体验创作理念、荒诞派创作手法以及非个人化理论等等一系列文学创作理念的提出，都在表明英国文学评论在传统理念问题上继承与突破的挣扎，可以看出英国文学的徘徊与犹豫不决。英国文学评论也是朝着一定的发展方向前进，我们也可以准确地判断出英国文学评论发展方向是后现代主义、后殖民主义和女权主义。当然也可以清楚地预见英国文学评论不会出现像《等待戈多》这样的荒诞力作挥舞大棒，因为，过了2012年，无论是文学作品还是影视作品，种种关于“世界末日”的预言怎么看都是十分可笑与荒诞不经的，都是作者给读者撒下的一个弥天大谎，英国文学评论界也一定会对以往的所谓荒诞、绝望与迷离做出深刻的反思，而且还需要对从前的理论成就进行横向与纵向的重新理解、铸就与阐释。
（2）从美国文学评论探析自由、民主、多元的美国文化美国文学是指在美利坚合众国产生的文学，由于美国的历史不长，美国文学的发展史也较为短暂，但是，正如美国这个新兴国家的独立、迅速崛起和强大一样，美国文学一诞生，就表现出强劲的生命力，由于美国早期是一个地广人稀的国家，广阔的、未开发的土地为美国人的个人理想实现提供了辽阔的客观空间，没有经历封建主义的漫长时代，使得美国热门更加富有民主自由精神、表现出强烈的个人主义和个性解放；同时，多民族的不断涌入，使得美国文化和评论表现出更加的包容性和多元化，这也显示出美国文学和评论的多样性和庞杂性。从美国文学评论的形式和表现可以清楚地看出美国的文化内涵———自由、包容、开放、理想、民主。
3历史文化的差异对英美文学的影响
【关键词】 英美文学评论;语言;文化;策略;影响
纵观英美文学的发展历程可以看出英美文学评论受社会环境、文化内涵、语言特征、生活习惯、知识结构、文学家主观因素等各方面的影响。特别是文学评论家依据的评论方法不同，从而造成评论的结果不同。因此，正确认知和理解英美文学相关概念，对加强英美文学建设具有积极的促进作用。
一、英美文学评论概述
英美文学评论的理论基础是建立在英美文学的形式和作品中，通过研究英美文学的特点或者英美文学中存在的特殊事物及其发展规律来鉴定英美文学，从而得出英美文学差异的具体表现。英美文学评论的形式具有多元化特点，根据英美文学作品的语言特色和文化差异可以将文学评论的形式划分为以下三种：小说评论、诗歌评论、戏剧评论。在英美文学评论体系中，对英美文学作品进行一个全面性、多角度、多层次、全方位的品读与鉴赏是英美文学评论的最终目的。比如在评论英国著名文学家简・奥斯汀的《傲慢与偏见》和美国著名文学家海明威的《老人与海》这两部文学作品时，评论家们就需要对这两部文学从作者写作背景、思想内容、文学表现风格和形式等方面对文学进行理解与鉴赏，为文学爱好者提供一个专业性的评论方案，从而为提升其鉴赏水平提供理论基础。
相较于一般文学作品而言，英美文学评论的层次更加鲜明。文学评论家们对英美文学作品全方位、多层次地深入分析是英美文学评论的基础，也是英美文学综合评论体系的主要内容之一。评论家们要想完整、全面地理解文学作品所表达的含义，就需要对作品从背景、时间、题材、创作风格等方面做出深刻的文学评论。由此可见，英美文学评论与一般文学评论之间的最大差距是英美文学评论具有鲜明的文学色彩、艺术表现特点。因此，文学评论家们要将评论的着重点放在英美文学作品本身具有的属性上，全面综合评价文学作品。
二、评论视角选取策略
1、时效性策略
时效性是文学评价家评论视角选取策略考虑的首要策略，其原因是英美文学作品具有极大的现实意义，对后世文学研究具有极大的参考价值。因此，评论家要想达到英美文学评论可以启发文学创作思维的目的就需要把握时效性策略和英美文学作品的特点，为英美文学的发展提供保障。时效性策略研究是以英美文学作品的创作背景、创作风格、作品特征、艺术表现形式等方面作为研究内容，以文学作品自身艺术属性和作品特色作为时效性策略的研究重点，以推动英美文学的发展作为研究目的。因此，重视英美文学评论的时效性是推动英美文学评论得以快速有效发展的关键因素，也是发挥英美文学评论加快精神文明建设脚步的重要策略之一。
2、差异化策略
文学表现形式和文学作品体裁的多样性赋予了文学作品文学样式的多元化特征，因此不同的文学作品具有不同的属性，这也是区分文学作品差异的主要方式。针对文学评论体系中的文学作品差异认识，评论家需要正确把握差异性策略在文学评论体系中的应用原理，把提升英美文学评论质量作为差异性策略研究的主要目的，以提高英美文学评论水平、提升英美文学评论的整体效果、帮助文学阅读者正确理解文学内涵作为差异性策略研究的方向。由此可见，评价家要以差异性策略研究的方向作为提升英美文学评论的重要手段，从全新的角度把握差异性策略，从而为英美文学评论体系提供理论基础。
三、英美文化差异对英美文学的影响
1、语言差异对英美文学评论的影响
作为一个民族的根基之一的语言，在文化体系中占据着重要的地位。首先，英语是英美文学作品创作的工具，也是传达文学内容和表现形式的主要方式。英美文学作品与一般的文学作品在语言表现形式、抽象概念表达方面极具鲜明的主观色彩和浓厚想象力。英美文学评论家就需要利用英语传达出文学作品的精髓，为文学阅读者们提供简洁、华丽、通俗或者高雅的评论与见解，帮助文学爱好者们更加深入地了解文学内容。由此可见，作为语言体系的主要组成部分之一的英语，在语言表达方面具有极强的语言表现了和文体风格。
英语与汉语一样，在表达文学思想内涵方面会受到一个国家的地理环境、宗教文化、文化历史等方面的因素影响，导致英语在英国和美国的发音、表达方式等方面具有差异性，从而形成了“美式英语”和“英式英语”。造成美式英语和英式英语之间的差异元素有很多，主要包含谚语、典故、俗语等。谚语、典故、宗教的不同，一方面造成英语的语法结构不同，另一方面使英语表达的含义存在一定的差异，导致其他国家理解别国的文学作品含义上存在一定的难度。英语是英国的母语，国家在传承与发扬英语文化的过程中会根据英语文化的“正宗”结构和表达形式来表达文学作品。虽然正宗的英语表达形式会给文学评论家和文学阅读者们带来方便，但是也会造成英国文学作品没有美国文学作品的随意洒脱。其原因是作家在表达语言时严格遵循英式英语的正规表达结构，使作品带有浓厚的“庄严”色彩。
相较于英式英语而言，美式英语在表达结构方面注入了新鲜的血液，没有完全遵循英式英语的传统文化，在美式英语结构改革方面加入了创新元素，使美式英语充满“叛逆性”和“革新性”。另外，美式英语的历史背景没有英式英语那么浓厚，人们在传承语言文化时没有背负沉重的思想包袱，因此作家在文学作品语言表达方面更加开放、随意，带有鲜明的个人主观色彩。美国文学评论的特色是自由、创新，与英国文学评论相比，美国文学评论不仅可以激发文学家们的创作热情，还可以促进美国文学领域的快速发展。
2、文化内涵差异对英美文学评论的作用
相较于美国文学评论而言，英国文学评论家们在继承英语传统文化与坚持自由开放、创新的评论体系之间挣扎。英国文学评论创作手法在17世纪与18世纪之间发生了明显的变化，从遵循浓厚的宗教色彩向创新的创作表现方向发展，从思考历史文化向思考人性力量方向发展。创作手法在英国文学评论体系中的不断变化表明文学家和评论家在以一种创新发展的相关思考文化差异对文学的作用，以传统文化内涵作为依托，将传统文化理念结合后现代文学主义、女权主义、后殖民主义思想向独立、个性、自由的文学方向发展。作为英国文学思想的主要组成部分之一的解构主义，在美国后现代主义文学思想体系中具有引导作用。文学是文学评论产生的理论基础，英美文学评论体系的不断发展与英美文学研究结构体系息息相关。在文学价值方面，英国文学评论和美国文学评论具有相同的文学价值：构建一个独立自由、共性与个性并存、富有独特魅力的文学评论价值体系。
四、结束语
综上所述，美国文学评论在语言、文化、结构等方面受传统文化的影响并不大，相较于英国文学评论而言，美国文学评论注重创新思维理论的应用。英国文学评论与美国文学评论之间是一种相辅相成的关系，英国文学评论体系遵循的传统语言文化对美国文学评论体系具有指导作用，美国文学评论是对英国文学评论的传承与创新，从而共同构成了一个多元化视角的英美评论体系。
【参考文献】
[1] 吴晶.英美文化差异对英美文学评论的影响分析[J].才智，2015.03.282-283+285.
[2] 李晓旭.英美文化差异对英美文学评论的影响[J].品牌，2015.03.123-124.
文化伴随着人类历史的产生而产生，广泛而深刻影响着人类社会的历史生活，并在长期的历史发展中表现出了民族文化的差异性，促成了世界文化多元的发展。在多元文化发展的这一社会大背景下，对于英美文学评论的影响因素很多，其中文化差异的因素对英美文学评论所产生的影响最为广泛和深远。
一 英美文学的发展与英美文学评论
英美文学与英美文学评论是相伴产生的，英美文学作品是将英美文化艺术性地展现，而英美文学评论则是通过英美文学这一手段重新审视与剖析英美社会文化生活。两者之间的联系是紧密的，也是必然的。因而，探本文由收集整理讨文化差异对英美文学的评论影响，有必要对英美文学的发展历史作出梳理。
1 英美文学发展
英美文学作品是英美两国人民智慧的结晶，同时也是英美文化的表现形式。英美文学不单单是英美语言的艺术性体现，同时也是对英美人民现实生活的艺术性展现，是世界人民认识英美文化的一个窗口。英语作为一种交流的工具，在英美文学作品中，被用来表达英美人的思想、情感。英国的文学发展史可谓是源远流长，英国文学先后经历了盎格鲁·撒克逊阶段、文艺复兴阶段、新古典主义阶段、浪漫主义阶段、现实主义阶段以及现代主义阶段。纵观英国文学的发展阶段，我们不难发现，其每一个阶段在文学成就上都具有独特的文学艺术魅力。特别是二次世界大战之后，英国的文学在当今多元化社会背景之下，正朝着多元化的方向不断地向前发展。
美国是一个移民国家，而美国文学也受外来文化的影响。美国文学受英国文学的影响很深，开始只是一味地模仿英国文学。这种现象直到19世纪末才得到改观，美国文学逐渐脱离了英国文学，走向独立自主。20世纪初，美国文学达到繁荣，并与英国文学并驾齐驱，成为真正独立的属于自己民族的文学。第二次世界大战之后，随着多元化社会的发展，美国新旧文学之间在展开激烈斗争的过程中，推动了美国文学不断地朝着多元化的趋势发展。
2 英美文学评论
英美文学评论是一种运用文学理论来研究英美文学作品的实践活动，通过研究揭示英美文学这一特殊事物的存在和发展规律，并以此来为英美文学创作提供依据。英美文学评论的对象是英语文学作品，英美文学评论的形式根据其文学作品形式的不同分为小说评论、诗歌评论、散文评论、戏剧评论等。英美文学评论的目的是通过对英美文学作品所表现出来的思想内容、表现形式、创作风格等进行全方位的评鉴与议论，以此来提升文学爱好者阅读和欣赏的水平，准确把握文学作品所传递的信息。
英美文学评论与一般的作品分析不同。当然，英美文学评论要建立在对英美文学作品本身的分析基础之上，没有英美文学作品的分析就没办法进行深刻的评论，也没有资格对英美文学作品进行评论，而对作品的分析本身也具有对文学作品评价的成分。因此，我们可以看出，英美文学评论与一般的作品分析存在着显著的区别，文学作品分析更多地关注文学作品本身所具备的属性，而英美文学评论其关注点则更多的是对英美文学作品所呈现出的外在表现、文学艺术表现进行思考、进行评论。
二 文化发展载体的差异对英美文学评论的影响
民族文化发展的重要载体是语言，同时，作为文化发展载体的语言也是民族文化重要的表现之一。因而，民族文化发展的差异性，必定会在语言这一重要媒介上表现出来。在英美文学作品中，其创作所使用的语言，多是作者经过三思提炼、凝聚而成，文化差异对于英美文学评论的影响，很大程度上是在英式与美式两种语言差异对英美文学评论的影响。因而，从语言差异这个角度去切入，看文化差异对英美文学评论的影响，更具代表性和典型性。
英国在文化历史的发展上源远流长，具有良好的民族文化发展传统。同时，英语作为其文化历史发展的语言正宗，具有得天独厚的优势，因为它继承了其传统文化遗产，在文学作品的使用中具有良好的表现性。或许是因为这一语言原因，很多文学评论家在对英国的文学作品进行评论的时候，对于语言的使用显得小心翼翼，这或许是由于他们潜意识中由衷地尊敬乃至崇拜英式英语古老而悠久的文化传统，害怕语言使用上的不当而亵渎了英式英语的崇高地位。因而，文学评论家对于英国文学作品的评论，在语言的使用上就显得比较中规中矩，缺少一种文学评论上的个性自由与张狂特质。
美国英语作为英国英语的一种衍生之物，虽然在本质上与英国英语相比，没有根本性的改变，但作为一个民族独立、自由、民主的新生国家，美国在其争取独立发展的过程中，其政治制度、经济制度、文化制度以及民主的文化意识都是新生的。而美国英语作为一种新生的事物，其在发展的过程中不可避免地带有某种叛逆和创新的特质。同时，美国的民主革命比较成功，在经济、政治以及文化方面都没有留下任何大的历史遗留问题和负担，这一些反映到语言使用的层面上，就是文学评论家在对美国的文学作品进行评论时，比较个性张扬，没有那种小心谨慎乃至顾忌的痕迹，特别在不少时候体现了文学评论语言使用上的文学艺术创造性。而美国文学评论语言使用上的创新，与美国的自由、民主、个性张扬的创新文化氛围，与“一切皆有可能”的美国文化精神是分不开的。
语言是文化发展的重要载体，也是文化发展的重要表现，通过分析文学评论家在对英美两国文学作品进行评论时所使用语言的不同表现，我们可以看出深层次的文化差异对英美文学评论的显著影响。
三 文化内涵的差异对英美文学评论的影响
英国的文学评论，是在传承文化和挣脱传统文化两者之间挣扎的。《哈姆雷特》是莎士比亚的杰出代表作，主人公哈姆雷特在复仇中苦苦挣扎，“生存还是灭亡”这个问题很好地表现出他优柔寡断的性格。而这一时期的英国文学评论似乎也具有这样的性格。17-18世纪的英国文学评论从具有明显的宗教色彩到荒诞的创造手法，都体现了这一时期英国文学评论的继承传统与打破传统之间的纠结与抗争。20世纪以来，英国文学评论经历了翻天覆地的变化，英国文学评论家对于先前的理论进行了重新的审视与思考，此时的英国文学评论作品也产生了显著的变化。总的说来，英国文学评论界，除了伊格尔顿以外，没有出现一个有影响力的文学评论家，他至今在文学评论界的影响也是举足轻重的。英国文学评论的发展方向是朝着后现代主义、后殖民主义以及女权主义方向发展的，这是英国文学评论的发展趋势。文学评论要对以前的文学理论成就进行纵向的和横向的重新审视和思考，建构起新的、适合当今社会的文学理论。
转贴于
谈及美国文学评论，我们就不能忽视了对于美国文学的研究，因为自从有了文学，才有了文学评论。美国作为殖民地，其文学受到了欧洲大陆文学，特别是英国文学以及印第安文学的影响。笔者认为，美国文学有着其自身的特性，不然也就不会有美国文学这一说法了。美国文学虽然受到了诸多因素的影响，但是最重要的还是在于美国自身这一因素。英国文学在美国这片土壤上生根发芽，结出新的果实——美国文学，虽然有着“遗传基因”，但是美国文学终究是一个独立的个体。当然，与之相对的美国文学评论也是这样的。
四 文化历史的差异对英美文学评论的影响
对于英国文学，在文化历史发展的渊源上，其文化历史传统特色是人本主义，而英国的人本主义是相对于禁欲主义和神权主义而言的。在英国文学评论中，对于人本主义的观点比较趋于保守，这是与英国资产阶级革命在文化历史的不彻底性、妥协性是分不开的。例如，莎士比亚在对自身文学作品进行评论时，谈到他的文学作品更多的是对人本主义的一种广泛宣传，人本主义在发展的金字塔的顶尖上，就是要实现全人类的和平、自由与友爱，没有人与人之间在阶级上的严重束缚。莎士比亚对其文学作品中人本主义观点的评价，可谓是英国文学作品评论中的典型，对英国后续的文学评论产生了广泛而深刻的影响，形成了英国比较稳定而牢固的传统人本主义评论观。但是，随着社会文明的发展和进步，英国文学评论中的这一人本主义观点，却越来越受到大多数人的质疑乃至否定，其原因有如下：一个社会要想获得完善、快速的发展，必须借助革命的推动作用，只有通过革命才能为整个社会在质的发展上提供催化剂的动力支持。因而，相对于保守的人本主义观，创新才是社会完善和发展的重要条件之一，当然，社会的完善和发展不需要保守的人本主义观。保守的人本主义观唯有在社会发展的必要时刻才会真正的有效，它是社会完善和发展的必要条件之一。
美国文学评论对于人本主义的观点，在显得激进的同时，还特别的具有独创性。这很大程度上是因为美国不像英国那样带有沉重的文化历史包袱，也没有很大的文化历史遗留问题。再加上，美国为争取独立而斗争所形成的自由、民主、自由的文化氛围，使美国文学评论在发展上可以轻装上阵。因而，在美国的文学评论中，各位作者以及文学评论者对于人本主义的观点，都持比较激进的态度，甚至在很多时候还表现出独具一格的人本主义的创新观。我们可以从美国文学评论家对马克·吐温《哈克贝利·费恩历险记》的评论中窥见其人本主义的观点。后世不少文学评论家一致从美国的历史去解读《哈克贝利·费恩历险记》，认为他在文章中真实地描写了美国的历史。其中有不少文学评论家认为，马克·吐温在文章结尾部分让黑奴吉姆获得了自由，回避了美国奴隶制度的现实问题，具有一种社会意识形态的欺骗性；也有不少文学评论家认为黑奴吉姆虽然很多时候是自由人，但从本质上看，他却是哈克和汤姆的一种有趣的玩物；但是更多的文学评论家认为，马克·吐温是在通过一种貌似带有种族歧视的描写来揭露讽刺美国的种族歧视问题，从中我们可以看出，美国文学评论所具有的自由、民主、激进而独具创造性的特点。
