考虑到课堂教学的实际情形，教材以不同西方文化相关主题为脉络，从文理之分、脑与心、性别的差异、东方与西方、历史的版本、全球民族等议题切入，以辩论、小组讨论与故事新编等活动为依托，结合课后包括影视剧、纪录片、小说与文献在内的文化文本赏析，形成对文化从表层现象到深层原理的把握。

本书作者陈博，南京航空航天大学外国语学院讲师，文学博士，研究领域当代英国文学。从事非英语专业大学英语教学十年，编撰英语专业教材《口语教程》第三册。本书作者梁道华，长期从事非英语专业本科教学，主要研究英文写作与翻译。

While there are many approaches to contemporary western literature and art, this book takes a cultural one, as works of literature and art are deeply rooted in their cultures. To fully appreciate them, it is therefore crucial to develop a sound understanding of contemporary western culture. The term ¡°culture¡± is perhaps one of the most elusive and meaning-loaded concepts in the study of humanities. A quick search online would yield hundreds of defi nitions in various lengths, each emphasizing a different aspect. Even so, almost all definitions centered on one intrinsic element¡ªhuman. Indeed, literature and art are after all human products, and that is why this book has chosen to ...