英美文化13 British Cultural Life

英美社会与文化

British Life

I. Cultural Institutions

1. English culture tends to dominate the formal cultural life of the United Kingdom, but Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland have also made important contributions.

Each constituent part of the United Kingdom—England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland—maintains its own unique customs, traditions, cuisine, and festivals. Moreover, as Britain's empire spanned (横跨) the globe, it became a focal point of immigration, especially after the independence of its colonies, from its colonial possessions. As a result, immigrants from all corners of the world have entered the United Kingdom and settled throughout the country, leaving indelible imprints on British culture.

2. The United Kingdom contains many cultural treasures. It is home to a wide range of learned societies, including the British Academy(不列颠研究院), founded in 1901 for the promotion of historical, philosophical, and philological studies), the Royal Geographical Society(英国皇家地理学会), and the Royal Society of Edinburgh(爱丁堡皇家学会, Scotland's national

academy of science and letters,（科学与文学研究院). The British Museum (不列颠博物馆)in London houses historical artifacts from all parts of the globe. London is also home to many museums，e.g., the National Gallery (国立美术馆), the National Portrait Gallery (国立肖像画陈列馆), the Tate galleries(泰特美术馆), the Imperial War Museum (帝国战争博物馆), and the Victoria and Albert Museum，（维多利亚与阿尔伯特博物馆) and theatres, e.g., the Royal National Theatre (皇家国立剧院)and those in the world-renowned West End theatre district (伦敦西区剧院区). Cultural institutions also abound throughout the country. Among the many libraries and museums of interest in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland are the Royal Museum, the Museum of Scotland, and the Writers' Museum in Edinburgh, the Museum of Scottish Country Life in Glasgow, the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff (加地夫，威尔士的主要海港), and the Ulster Museum (阿尔斯博物馆)in Belfast (贝尔法斯特，北爱尔兰首府). II. Newspapers

1. In both sales and reputation the national papers (全国性报纸)published in London dominate. Within the national newspaper business in the United Kingdom, a distinction has developed between popular papers (大众报纸 often tabloids，【以轰动性报道为特点的, 文简图多的】，小报) with multimillion circulation and quality broadsheet papers (高质量宽幅报纸)with relatively small sales. Four “populars” account for about five-sixths of the total morning paper circulation. Generally, British newspapers are not formally tied to specific political parties. However, most display clear political sympathies that are usually determined by their proprietors. The tabloid Daily Mail （每日邮报）and broadsheet Daily Telegraph (每日电讯报)have consistently supported the Conservative Party, while the tabloid Daily Mirror (每日镜报)and broadsheet The Guardian (卫报published in both London and Manchester) normally support Labour. The Times (泰晤士报)of London is one of the world's oldest

newspapers. The United Kingdom's biggest-selling newspaper, The Sun (太阳报)—whose popularity since it was bought by Rupert Murdoch's News International company in 1969 has stemmed from a diet of sensational personality-based news stories, show-business gossip, lively sports reporting, and pictures of scantily dressed young women—supported Labour in the early 1970s, switched to the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher in 1979, and switched back

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英美社会与文化

again to Labour in the late 1990s. In England there are also several regional dailies and weeklies and national weeklies—some targeting particular ethnic communities.

2. The Welsh press includes several daily papers (e.g., the Western Mail 西部邮报and the South Wales Echo南威尔士回声) as well as a number of weekly English-language, bilingual, or Welsh-language newspapers. Scotland has national daily newspapers based in Edinburgh and Glasgow with wide circulation (e.g., The Scotsman苏格兰人, the Daily Record每日记录, and The Herald先锋报) and a number of regional weeklies as well. Northern Ireland's daily papers (e.g., the Belfast Telegraph（贝尔法斯特电讯报） and the Irish News爱尔兰新闻) are all published in Belfast. There is a large periodical press in the United Kingdom that ranges from such traditional publications as The Economist, The Spectator, and New Statesman to more specialized and, often, more mercurial [m?:?kju?ri?l] 雄辩的journals. III. Broadcasting

1. The BBC, which had been established as an independent public corporation in 1927, held a monopoly of both radio and television broadcasting until 1954, when the Independent Television Authority (独立电视局ITA) was established to provide the facilities for

commercial television companies. The BBC draws its revenue from license fees (on a scale fixed by the government) from persons owning television sets. It is governed by 12 individuals appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister, with separate governors for Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The ITA's successors today are the Radio Authority, responsible for commercial radio, and the Independent Television Commission (独立电视委员会，ITC，an organization responsible for licensing and regulating commercial television. It replaced the Independent Broadcasting Authority in 1991), responsible for all commercial

television services, including satellite and cable. Commercial television broadcasters include Channel Four and the ITV network （独立电视公司）. The satellite and cable market is dominated by BSkyB, partly owned by Murdoch's News International, which operates 11 channels of its own (including a 24-hour news channel and three sports channels) and also distributes channels for other companies via its satellite and digital networks.

2. Both the BBC and terrestrial陆地commercial channels supply educational programs for schools and for adult studies. The Open University, offering degree courses to people who lack formal academic qualifications, uses educational programs that are broadcast by the BBC; these programs are backed by correspondence courses（函授课程）.

3. There are more than 30 BBC local radio stations and more than 200 commercial local radio stations serving the United Kingdom.

IV. Complementary material:

1. British Museum: a national museum of antiquities in London. Established with public funds in 1753, it includes among its holdings the Magna Carta, the Elgin Marbles, and the Rosetta Stone不列颠博物馆（位于伦敦的英国国家博物馆，珍藏古文物，1753年由国家投资建成，珍藏有大宪章、埃尔金大理石雕和罗塞塔石碑等藏品）The British Museum has one of the world's finest collections, particularly of Egyptian, Assyrian, Greek, Roman, and oriental

antiquities; to house the library and collections of Sir Hans Sloane and manuscripts from other sources.

2. National Gallery: an art gallery in Trafalgar Square, London, holding one of the chief national collections of pictures. The collection began in 1824, and the present main building was opened in 1838.

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英美社会与文化

3. National Portrait Gallery: an art gallery in London holding the national collection of portraits of eminent or well-known British men and women. Founded in 1856, it moved to its present site next to the National Gallery in 1896.

4. Tate Gallery: a national museum of art at Millbank, London, founded in 1897 by the sugar

manufacturer Sir Henry Tate (1819–99) to house his collection of modern British paintings, as a nucleus for a permanent national collection of modern art. In the 20th century modern foreign paintings and sculpture (both British and foreign) were added.

5. Victoria and Albert Museum：a national museum of fine and applied art in South Kensington, London, created in 1852 and having collections principally of pictures, textiles, ceramics, and furniture.

Bibliography

\Encyclop?dia Britannica. Encyclop?dia Britannica 2009 Ultimate Reference Suite. Chicago: Encyclop?dia Britannica, 2009.

朱永涛.英美文化基础教程.北京：外语教学与研究出版社，1991.

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