摘 要

文学作品是在特定的历史环境中表达人们思想的艺术形式。它们往往被作者赋予特殊的意义，反映了当时的社会经济和历史特征。通过对英国文学作品《鲁滨逊漂流记》和美国文学作品《老人与海》的比较分析，我们可以感受到文学作品中反映的英美文化差异，不同文学作品带来的个人享受，以及不同文化的独特魅力。本文首先对《鲁滨逊漂流记》与《老人与海》的文化背景进行了比较分析,然后从主人公形象塑造、英美海洋文化的文化背景、主题深化所创造的情境三个方面对这两部小说的文化形象进行了比较分析。

关键词：《鲁滨逊漂流记》；《老人与海》；文化差异；对比

Abstract

Literary works are an artistic form of expressing people's thoughts in a specific historical environment. They are often endowed with special significance by the authors, reflecting the social economy and historical characteristics of the time. Robinson Crusoe and The Old Man and the Sea are two quite representative works, each of which has had a significant impact on British and American literature. Although the two works have similarities in the outline of the story, they express different cultural intentions. By comparing and analyzing the British literary works Robinson Crusoe and the American literary works The Old Man and the Sea, we can feel the differences between British and American cultures reflected in literary works, the personal enjoyment brought by different literary works and cultures. This paper first makes a comparative analysis of the cultural background of Robinson Crusoe and the Old Man and the Sea. Then the cultural images of the two novels are compared and analyzed from three aspects: the portrayal of the protagonist, the cultural background of British and American marine culture, and the situation created by the deepening of the theme. Based on the analysis above, better understanding of the cultural differences between two countries can be achieved.

Key Words: Robinson Crusoe ;The Old Man and the Sea ; British and American ;Cultural difference; Contrast

Contents

1.Introduction 4

2. Comparison of the Cultural background 5

2.1 Robinson Crusoe. 5

2.2 The Old Man and the Sea 6

2.3 The cultural background of the two novels. 7

3. Comparison of the Cultural Images 7

3.1Comparison of the portrayal techniques of the protagonist's image. 7

3.2 Literary techniques of the Old Man and the Sea. 8

3.3Literary techniques of Robinson Crusoe. 8

4. Comparison of the implication of British and American marine literature 9

4.1 Robinson and the desert island 9

4.2 The Old Man and Sea 10

5. Differences on the deepening theme 11

6. Conclusion 13

References 15

Acknowledgements 16

The Cultural Differences between Britain and America in The Contrast between Robinson Crusoe and The Old Man and the Sea

1.Introduction

“Each country has its own unique history of development, and the literary works derived from it also have their own characteristics.” ^[1]The most typical representatives of Western literature are the United Kingdom and the United States, the influence of British and American literature in the world is very huge. To some extent, it leads the trend of the development of the literary world, the numerous classics come out one after the other. But British and American countries have formed different national cultures in their long history. These cultures have different national characteristics. “It is precisely because of these national characteristics that the literature of different nationalities presents different characteristics and promotes the formation of cultural diversity in the world.”^[2]

“Through the analysis of British and American literary works, we can see the cultural differences between the two sides. Yearning for freedom is the theme of most English literary works, while struggle and criticism are the themes of American literary works.”^[3] Although both the Old Man and the Sea and Robinson Crusoe take the ocean as the clue to the development of the story, from the perspective of cultural intention, the former represents American literature. Most of the American literary works are a criticism of the dark society, and most of the masters have the spirit of resistance and struggle against the powerful forces at that time, as well as the expectation of freedom. The latter represents English literary works, which is mainly based on people's yearning for a free and better life. The novel the Old Man and the Sea shows a struggling outlook on life. Even if the enemy can't beat, the old man may face the failed ending, but the tenacious struggle and the spirit of non-retraction displayed on him are difficult to be reflected in many people, so these spirits are more valuable and worthy，they are worth learning and advocating.It can be said that "the Old Man and the Sea" is a hymn of heroes. Robinson Crusoe highlights the indomitable spirit of the protagonist who is fearless, bold in action and brave in pursuit. And Robinson's actions on the desert island are moving towards higher domination. It shows the value concept of capital abundance and righteousness, which acquires, manipulates and dominates the outside world.

As the social and historical development of each country has great differences, therefore, the formation of cultural and literary works also have a strong national and regional characteristics. Through these two works, we can analyze the differences of cultural images in Anglo-American literary works.

2. Comparison of the Cultural background

2.1 Robinson Crusoe.

Robinson Crusoe is a diary novel written by Daniel Defoe, a famous British novelist. The story is mainly about Robinson, an Englishman who lived tenaciously on a desert island because of a shipwreck, but he survived tenaciously on the strength of nature. He took in a savage, Friday, and finally returned to England with his friend and servant. In this novel, the protagonist Robinson's optimistic spirit and perseverance left a deep impression on people. Robinson lived on the island for 28 years, isolated from the rest of the world for 28 years. There was no civilization for 28 years, which made the bourgeoisie at that time yearn for it. Although the novel is not realistic, it makes people feel that it has authenticity, which is in line with the psychology that people yearned to take risks but dared not take risks at that time. The writer Defoe took such a true and legendary story as his creative background, and took Robinson as the hero of the bourgeoisie at that time. With its special experience of life at sea, it is gradually portrayed as the image of the first idealized new asset in western literary works, and displays the truth, goodness and beauty of human nature to the world in its own literary expression. Robinson Crusoe is regarded as the first real novel in Britain and is the foundation of realistic novels. "The novel was adapted on the basis of real events, reflecting the contradictory psychology that people yearned for adventure and dared not take risks at that time. With the development of English literature, great changes have taken place in stylistic form and literary content, which are more contemporary. “When the creation of Robinson Crusoe and the transition from British neoclassical literature to romantic literature, At that time, the British bourgeoisie grew further, and Robinson became a hero of the novel. ”

From him, we can see the enterprising spirit and exploration consciousness of the bourgeoisie. By reading the book, we can feel the truth, goodness and beauty of human nature, make readers further reflect on social reality.

2.2 The Old Man and the Sea

The Old Man and the Sea was written by the famous American novelist Hemingway. It is mainly about the old fisherman who failed to catch fish many times, but met a ferocious salmon and fought with Marlin and defeated it. then the story of the old man fighting the shark bravely. “The novel also caused a great sensation and won the two highest awards in the literary world-the Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Prize for Literature.”^[4]The protagonist of the Old Man and the Sea is an old man in the twilight. In people's eyes, he himself belongs to a vulnerable group, but it is such an old man who shows people his clank and iron bones. In the novel, the rough sea, the destructive storm, all bring people the feeling of survival. In order to survive, the fisherman has to go to the depths of the ocean. This novel is about the brave men represented by the fishermen resisting the predicament, the indomitable spirit, and the spirit of pursuing freedom. "The Old Man and the Sea is a myth of man and nature created by the writer with his rich imagination by borrowing a true story." by reading this literary work carefully, we can feel the values embodied in it. Due to the destruction of the two world wars, the United States was depressed and depressed at that time. The author describes the fishermen in order to make a living. Heading for the rough sea, in the face of this desperate sea, the fisherman persevered and bravely resisted. Compared with

English literature, American literature starts later and younger, and has experienced the period of transition between the old and the new, the period of experimentalism and the period of pluralistic development. With the development of American literature, it has gradually formed unique literary characteristics. Hemingway's the Old Man and the Sea was created at the time of the transition between the old and the new in the United States, reflecting the characteristics and critical spirit of American literature.