Anglophone Literature

• Literature


  Writing which is not literally true (fact versus fiction)
• Literature is primarily a work of imagination rather than analysing or describing something in the real world
• Willing suspension of disbelief

  Phenomenon described by Samuel Taylor Coleridge where the reader accepts the implausibility of a fantastic narrative if the writer can infuse it with human interest and a semblance of truth
• Literature is fiction, unlike a cookery book which is based on practical experience
• Literary language


  • Deviates systematically from everyday speech because literature is an art form
  • Characterized by a clearly deliberate use of language
  • More striking and memorable phrases than everyday ways of writing
  • Something enigmatic or mysterious in quality
• Literature does not privilege communication of message, but allows relationship between form and content to be figured in other ways
• Literature is defined by context, rhythm, and deeper meaning beyond its pragmatic purpose
• There is no 'essence' of literature and the category is not eternally given and immutable
• The literary canon is a construct fashioned by particular people for particular reasons at a certain time
• The idea or quality of literature is not inherent in works themselves but is related to the ways in which we read them
• Mimetic understanding of literature

  Text imitates reality (referential context)
• Pragmatic understanding of literature

  Text provides pleasure and/or profit for the reader
• Expressive understanding of literature

  Text expresses the author's inner self and imagination
• Poetic understanding of literature

  Text is a self-referential aesthetic object, creating its own world
• Criteria for distinguishing literary genres

  • Form of communication
  • Mood or attitude
  • Content
  • Relation to reality
  • Aesthetic effect
• Media of literary communication

  • Oral
  • Written
  • Audiovisual
  • Modern digital
• Literary criticism involves interpretation, analysis, and evaluation of literary works
• Major literary epochs


  • The Middle Ages
  • The Renaissance/Early Modern Period
  • The Restoration Period
  • The Age of Classicism
  • The Age of Romanticism
  • The Victorian Age
  • Modernism
  • The Postwar Period
  • Postmodernism
• Major historical events (1)

  • 1536 Anglican Church founded
  • 1588 Spanish Armada defeated
  • 1605 Gunpowder Plot
  • 1649-1660 Civil War in England
  • 1688/89 Glorious Revolution and Bill of Rights
  • 1707 Union of England and Scotland
  • 1776 America: Declaration of Independence
• Major historical events (2)


  • 1789 French Revolution
  • 1801 Union with Ireland
  • 1815 Battle of Waterloo
  • 1861-1865 American Civil War
  • 1914-18 World War I
  • 1939-1945 World War II
  • 1949 Independence of India
  • 1965-1975 Vietnam War
  • 2001 9/11 attacks
• The Middle Ages saw the rise of a culture of chivalry under King Edward III, but also the devastation of the Black Death plague
• Major Middle Ages literary works

  • Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales and Troilus and Criseyde
  • Sir Gawein and the Green Knight
  • The Vision of Pier's Plowman
• The Renaissance/Humanism period saw the founding of the Anglican Church and the 'Golden Age' under Queen Elizabeth I
• Humanism focused on human values and matters rather than divine or supernatural, embracing the spirit of learning and the ability of humans to determine truth and falsehood
• Major Early Modern writers

  • Christopher Marlowe
  • Ben Jonson
  • William Shakespeare
  • John Fletcher
  • John Ford
  • Thomas Middleton
  • Thomas Heywood
  • Sir Philip Sidney
  • Edmond Spenser
  • John Donne
  • Andrew Marvell
  • Michel Montaigne
• The Restoration Period saw the return of the monarchy under King Charles II after the English Civil War
• The Restoration Period saw the rise of Restoration Comedy as a new literary genre
• The 18th century saw dramatic growth and change, including the Enlightenment, the rise of the natural sciences, and the development of Classicism in the fine arts
• The 18th century saw the development of a 'literary public' with the growth of circulating libraries and the work of authors like Defoe, Swift, Addison, Steele, and female writers like Aphra Behn and Sarah Fielding