Neoclassicism

• Neoclassical writers aimed to articulate general truth rather than unique vision, to communicate to others more than to express themselves.
• The classical ideals of order and moderation which inspired this period, its realistically limited aspirations, and its emphasis on the common sense of society rather than individual imagination, could all be characterized as rational. 

  The Age of Reason
• meaning a romantic story told in verse

  romaunt
• • Comes from the word “romaunt” meaning a romantic story told in verse
  • Focus was on the lives of ordinary people written in plain language and mostly concerned with human emotions and feelings


  Romanticism
• • Presented bleak, harsh, difficulty-ridden life in contrast to the optimistic, hopeful, and fulfilled life of the Romantics
  • Took away the emotional display of the Romanticists and replaced it with raw realities. 


  Realism
• • Influenced by the works of Darwin and Spencer 
  • A person’s future is determined by heredity, chance and environment 


  Naturalism
• Who started the Symbolist movement?

  Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Verlaine
• • Baudelaire, Rimbaud, and Verlaine started this movement
  • Heavily influenced by British and Irish writing 
  • Seek to establish a network of symbols to imply certain thought or emotion


  Symbolism
• protests against oppression and unjust social issues

  Social Realism
• • expands the category of realism to include myth, magic, and marvels of the natural world, while using humor and irony

  Magic Realism
• The journey from Neoclassicism to the Contemporary period in the literary movement is long and was initially centered only in Europe.
• there were a lot of political, social and artistic movements which eventually gave way to Contemporary literature.
• Literature after 1946 to the present is the literature of the Contemporary World
• The Neoclassical period of literature was born out of the neoclassical era which tried to copy the Roman and Greek Classics.
• why did the Neoclassicist sought to copy the Greek and the Roman style?

  because the “classics'' brought a very high distinctive value especially to the highest members of the society.
• This was a time when people valued fashion, intellect and good manners especially when these could be flaunted in public.


  Neoclassical era
• Neoclassical literature is characterized by parodies, essays, satires, letters, fables, melodrama and rhyming with couplets.
• The term “Neo'' means new, thus Neo-Classical literature is the rehash of Classical style but would primarily dwell on the assumption that humans are naturally flawed.
• Human flaws are to be prevented if not hidden through?

  Self-control, restraint, and common sense
• The Neoclassical Period of literature covers three stages. These are the Restoration period, the Augustan period and the Age of Johnson.
• Changes in the European life during the 19th century were brought about by the many political and social movements with the introduction of new ideas.
• Kings, generals, and reformists dominated the world for the time being, and industrialism and science gave birth to the four literary movements in the nineteenth century literature which are: Romanticism, Realism, Naturalism, and Symbolism.
• In this movement, the focus was on the lives of ordinary people written in plain language and mostly concerned with human emotions and feelings.


  Romanticism
• Romantics dwelled on themes about deep love, respect and love for nature, folklore, the supernatural, optimism, individualism, spirituality, isolation and melancholy, and idealization of women.
• As often misunderstood only to mean love, Romanticism actually is a movement focused on the celebration of the ‘regular people” - their emotions, behavior, thoughts, feelings and experiences.
• Many works in Romantic era were very personal, and they often explored the inner life of the writer. Autobiographical influences in prose and poetry of this period was very common.
• the Realists tried to portray life as accurately as possible. Unlike the Romanticists, the Realists presented a bleak, harsh, difficulty-ridden life in contrast to the optimistic, hopeful, and fulfilled life of the Romantics.
• Realism was because of the effects of industrialization and the harsh realities that beset the “working class” of the 19th century.
• Realists wanted to tell the story of the common man through plain and simple language. They took away the emotional display of the Romanticists and replaced it with raw realities that may have truly presented the life of the common man.
• Like the Realists, the Naturalists sought to also portray life as accurately as possible.
• Naturalists were influenced by the works of Darwin and Spencer who had defined views of how things are and should be.
• Naturalists would always depict a person’s life being the product of circumstances and a number of factors one cannot fathom nor control.
• Symbolist poems are richly musical works whose larger meanings are implied but not directly stated.
• The Symbolists believe that art is achievable only if it invokes emotions because emotions should be the true and proper subject of art.
• As a stark contrast to Realism’s attempt to portray reality, Symbolism attempts to create meaning through dreamlike , lyrical, and emotionally-charged poetry.
• At the start of the 20th century, many events happened and have left a tremendous impact on the lives of the people. Along with these historical events are the literary trends which banked on individualism, experimentation and populism on the later stage of Modernism.
• After WWII, the world made giant leaps in the advancement of science and technology which still continues to unfold to this day
• Contemporary literature predominantly originated from the existentialist movement which was anchored on the responsibility and freedom of an individual.
• Furthermore, the upsurge of literature in Latin America was so dramatic that it was labeled as the Latin American “Boom”.
• Two Latin American writers, Jorge Luis Borges (Argentinian) and Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Colombian) were prominent figures in this Latin American “Boom.”