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.