D1, Section 7: Literary Movements

• 1. Homeric Greece - C. 850 BCE

  • Themes: celebration of heroes and Gods, Ancient Legends
  • Forms: Epic Poems (long narrative - hexameter verse), performed or read
  • Works/Authors: Homer, “Iliad” and “Odyssey”
  • Historical Context: revered for his persuasive speeches
• 2. Classical Greece - 900-100 BCE

  • Themes: morality, life and death, satire, seasons
  • Forms: music, poetry, drama
  • Works/Authors: Sophocles, ”The Theban Plays,” etc.
  • Historical Context: Persian invasion (defeated); emphasis on Athens perspective

  Note: these works may have tragic endings; fate always presents itself
• 3. Medieval Period - 1066-1450

  • Themes: centered on God and religion; Chivalric Code of Honor
  • Forms: Epic (poetry to record legends); Romances (stories), Lyric Poetry (songs of love to entertain)
  • Works/Authors: Anonymous, “Beowulf”
  • Historical Context: weak central government

  Note: A lot of authors were anon since their work was commissioned; weak government = idolization of God/relationships more
• 3. Medieval Period, “Middle Ages” - Impact on History

  • fall of Roman Empire to conquest
  • time in which assertion of English lang. as dominant; (invasion of the Norse)
  • shift of language after Norman Conquest
  • English re-established itself after the “100 Years War“ with France
• 4. Renaissance “Rebirth” - 1485-1603

  • Themes: human individual as center of thought; rejects God as center; Greater cosmic order
  • Forms: Prose and Poetry
  • Works: Christopher Marlowe, Sir Philip Sydney
  • Historical Context: Protestant reformation; Catholic church became dogmatic (enormous wealth)

  Key Terms

  1. Renaissance - rebirth of classical knowledge or classical style in literature

  • majority of works were non-Eng. as England was late to era

  Note: Renaissance works prevalent on test!
• 4. (Continued) “The Renaissance” - Impact on History

  • English culture flourished after the reign of Queen Elizabeth
  • there was greater acceptance to combining other cultures; despite this, there was a desire for English to dominate = increase of words to become modern English
• 5. Elizabethan Age - 1558-1603

  • Themes: universe is an orderly whole; where every element has its own proper role
  • Forms: plays and poems
  • Works: William Shakespear, Edmund Spenser, etc.
  • Historical Context: Church replaced by Monarch as head of state; emphasis on central authority to unify political fragmentation (caused by people’s loyalty to local lords rather than the government)
  • English identity developed more
• 6. Neoclassical Period, Age of Reason - 1660-1798

  • Themes: emphasis on balance and order; return to virtues of classical works
  • Forms: poems, prose (more aligned w/ classical models)
  • Works: Alexander Pope, Edmund Burke, etc.
  • Historical Context: Enlightment Period - reason over passion
• 6. Neoclassical Period, Age of Reason - 1660-1798

  1. The Restoration of British Lit.

  • re-establishment of the House of Tudor
  • increase in literacy
  • first period of English prose
  • abundance of witty comedies

  2. American Lit.

  • shift from overt theism to subtle theism = less push to follow a certain religion/dogma
  • God is the creator of a perfect world for humans to enjoy
  • common man is master of own world, not aristocracy or hierarchy
• 7. Romantic Age - 1798-1860

  • Themes: celebrated Imagination, Praise of Human Instinct, Unity…
  • Forms: romantic poems and Gothic novels
  • Works: Jane Austen, Edgar Allen Poe…
  • Historical Context: influenced by French Revolution, as well as by Enlightment
• 7. Romantic Age - 1798-1860

  1. British Lit.

  • emotional reaction to rational, neo-classicism
  • diverse group of followers
  • includes nature, chivalry, magic, idealistic love

  2. Transcendalism

  • reaction against the percieved structures of Neoclassical Age
  • belief system that places God back in nature, not dogma
  • young Bostonians concerned w/ Unitarian Church
  • centers around mysticism, or belief that can be attained through intuition or insight
• 7. Romantic Age, Continued….

  
  

  3. American Renaissance (1830-Civil War)

  • period in which widely accepted American “masterpieces” were produced
  • African America/slave lit. emerged

  4. American Gothic

  • supernatural tales containing elements of psychological realism, realism that focuses on character’s actions and motives
  • dark literature
• 8. Victorian Period - 1832-1900

  • Themes: emphasis on social reform; conservative social and political realms; portrayal of social life
  • Forms: poems, prose
  • Works: Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde...
  • Historical Works: Industrial Revolution (economic and social changes); growth of newspapers and magazines

  British Lit. - Victorian Age

  • embraced social/political change as norm
  • rise of middle class, industrialization, and urbanization
  • increase in tech.
  • analyzes relationship between people and society
• 8. Victorian Period - 1832-1900

  Key Terms

  1. Industrialization - process in which an economy is transformed from a predom. agricultural economy to one based on manufacturing good and industry
  2. Urbanization - when people move from rural areas to cities and towns
• 9. Modern Period - 1900-1950 (Old West is History)

  • Themes: confrontation of ethical problems; alienation vs. isolation - consciousness
  • Forms: detraction from linear forms (Stream of Consciousness)
  • Works: Upton Sinclair, TS Elliot, Ernest Hemingway...
  • Historical Context: WW1, rejection of past and traditions
• 9. Modern Period, Continued...

  1. Naturalism

  • stark realism and skepticism about human free will
  • morals matter less than circumstances
  • psychology (S. Freud), science (C. Dickens), and politics (K. Marx) are altered
  • significance: events like WW1 led to writers adopting mentality that environment decides fate, not free will
• 10. Postmodernism - 1960-present

  • Themes: critical of the absence of tradition; reaction against ordered view of world; Deconstruction - critical theories
  • Forms: Magical realism, fragmented narratives, shift in perspectives and chronology
  • Works: Jorge Borges...
  • Historical Context: social movements, social and racial consciousness
• 10. Postmodernism - 1960-present

  
  

  Note: WWI effect - writers questioning authority/order

  Note: works/authors are more diverse and diff. perspectives are welcomed

  
  

  20th Century - British Literature

  • technology revolution
  • use of literature to express problems
  • describing social cultural problems and lack of social unity
• 11. Other Literary Movements

  1. Realism (1830-1900) - honest portrayal of life; Charles Dickens..
  2. Magical Realism (1935-present) - combines reality w/ dream-like prose; Jorge Luis Borges, "Ficciones"
  3. Symbolist (1870-1890) - highly symbolized expressing individual; opposed Realism; Stephanie Mallarme
  4. Regionalism: through description of landscape and region as vital to the understanding of the literary work; Kate Chopin, "The Awakening"
• 
  

  11. Other Literary Movements

  
  

  5. Imagist (20th Century) - clear image to convey meaning; reject sentiments and discursiveness typical of Romantic and Victorian works

  6. Harlem Renaissance (1918-1930) - concern with clashing between traditional folkway and Western culture; Zora Neale Huston, "Their Eyes Were Watching God"