基督教节日对英美流行文化的影响_英语论文

The Influence of Christianity Festivals on British and American Popular Culture

摘要

基督教是以信仰耶稣基督为救世主的宗教，基督教徒相信上帝是唯一的神，上帝创造了世间万物。基督教的创始人耶稣在公元1世纪向众人传道，许多人成为他的门徒。在耶稣被罗马人杀害后，耶稣的门徒们依然相信耶稣死而复活，不久便将基督教传遍整个罗马帝国。基督教对西方的文化，尤其是哲学、文学、美术与音乐产生了不可磨灭的影响。在西方，许多节日都与基督教息息相关，例如非常受到年轻人欢迎的圣诞节、复活节、万圣节等等，圣诞节是为了庆祝耶稣的诞生日，复活节则是为了庆祝耶稣死后的复活，人们通过多种多样的方式庆祝这些节日。但是在现代，人们在庆祝这些节日的方式上发生了很大的变化，这些节日的庆祝不仅仅是为了纪念道成肉身的耶稣，同时也是一种娱乐方式。本文旨在研究起源于基督教的节日，以圣诞节、复活节、万圣节、主显节为研究目标，探索这些节日的庆祝方式以及它们如何影响了英美流行文化。

关键词: 基督教；发展；节日；流行文化

Abstract

Christianity is the religion whose whole show is Jesus Christ the Savior. The Christians believe God is the only divinity, and that God created the world. Jesus, the founder of Christianity, was preaching to the people in the first Century A.D, and many of them became his disciples. After Jesus was killed by the Romans, the disciples of Jesus still believed that Jesus would come back to life, and Christianity was soon spread throughout the Rome Empire. Christianity has an indelible influence on the western culture, especially philosophy, literature, art and music. In the west, many festivals are closely linked with Christianity, including Christmas, Easter, Halloween, and so on. Christmas is to celebrate the birth of Jesus, and Easter the resurrection of Jesus. People use a wide variety of ways to celebrate these festivals. But in modern times, great changes have taken place in the way people celebrate these festivals. Celebration is not just in memory of Jesus, but also a form of entertainment. The aim of this paper is to research into the origins of the Christian holiday, and to explore the ways to celebrate these festivals and how they affect the American and English popular culture by taking Christmas, Easter, Halloween, and Epiphany as  research topics.

Key word: Christianity; Jesus; popular culture

Contents

Introduction 7

1. The origin of Christianity 8

2. The development of Christianity in English world 9

2.1 When Christianity Started in English World 9

2.2Christianity in the Early Mid Ages 9

2.3 Henry Ⅷ：The Reformation 10

2.4 Christianity in American World 11

3. Important Christianity Festivals and Their Religious Meaning 11

3.1Christmas 11

3.1.1 The Origin of Christmas 11

3.1.2 The Religious Meaning of Christmas 11

3.2Epiphany 12

3.2.1 The Origin of Epiphany 12

3.2.2 The Religious Meaning of Epiphany 12

3.3 Easter 12

3.3.1 The Origin of Easter 12

3.3.2The Religious Meaning of Easter 13

3.4 Halloween 13

3.4.1The Origin of Halloween 13

4. Christianity Festivals on British and American Popular Culture 13

4.1 Christianity on British and American Popular Culture 13

4.1.1 The Way of Celebration in British 14

4.1.2 The Way of Celebration in United States 14

4.1.3 Santa Claus 14

4.2Epiphany on British and American Popular Culture 14

4.1.2The Way of Celebration in Russia 15

4.2.2 The Way of Celebration in French 15

4.3Easter on British and American Popular Culture 15

4.3.1 Easter gift 15

4.3.2 The Way of Celebration in United States 16

4.3.3 The Way of Celebration in UK 16

4.4 Halloween on British and American Popular Culture 16

Conclusion 17

Reference 18