European Literature Flashcards
history and catalogue of European literature is so rich that it is quite close to impossible to describe it and give justice to its entire list of great works and even greater writers in an introduction
European Literature
-marked the emergence of three dominant cultures: Christianity, Islam, and the Germanic invaders
-the literary forms dominant in this period are hymns, epic poems, elegies, ballads, and narrative poems
The Medieval Period (500-1500)
-was set in Denmark, the land of Danes and Sweden, also known as the land of Geats
-was a supernatural tale inspired by historical events
Beowulf
-an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun c. 1308 and completed around 1321, shortly before the author’s death
-widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and one of the greatest works of Western literature
The Divine Comedy
-an Old French epic poem translated as The Song of Roland in English
-considered the earliest and greatest chanson de geste or French heroic poem
La Chanson de Roland
-classical scholars, known as humanists, revived and translated ancient texts
-humanists also used the Greek and Latin classics, along with traditional Christian thought, to teach people about human life
-humanism, the belief that people could attain earthly perfection, was rampant among the intellectuals
Renaissance period (1300–1600)
who invented printing press in 1440, is the greatest innovation of the Renaissance era, which resulted in a more cost-and time efficient production of literature
Johannes Gutenberg
-was a byproduct of the Renaissance that birthed humanism
-this period could be summed up as the celebration of different ideas
-made the cafés serve as the unofficial center of this new movement, a place where people would read whatever literature available and debate about their needs and desires as a community or a population
The Age of Enlightenment (1600–1800)
-an epic poem about the Fall of Man, where John Milton, the writer, made Adam, Eve, Satan, and God his characters
Paradise Lost
-in this novel by Jonathan Swift, Gulliver traveled on four separate voyages and encountered different types of societies each time
-each journey is a metaphor for different aspects of British society that the author wanted to criticize
Gulliver’s Travels
-literary movement against the aristocratic culture that started in the late 18th century
-uplifts the characters from humble backgrounds or the common man and places importance on imagination and emotion
-the works of early Romantics were seen as absurd and fantastic
Romanticism (1800–1850)
-also the birthplace of many great thinkers who put their ideas into writing and made their thoughts available to historians of this century
The Age of Enlightenment (1600–1800)
-the hero of the story, was described as having a hand grip equivalent to the strength of 30 men, which enabled him to slay monsters
Beowulf
-was the next generation of romantics who will prove creativity and imagination can blend well with reality and composure
Romanticism (1800–1850)
-was marked by the rebirth of the Greco-Roman literary tradition
Renaissance period (1300–1600)
