Session 1 Flashcards
What are literary texts manifestations of?
- historically specific mentalities
- ideologies
- beliefs
- opinions
- attitudes
- cultural dispositions, wishes and fears
- perspectives on reality (not ‘mirrors’!)
What is of interest when discussing the cultural history of texts?
o literature = comments on the world
o cultural models and discourses – in society and in texts
o social world structured by categories of differentiation
o discursive construction of social realities
o functions of literature – never ‘mere entertainment’
o literary history and the ‘flavour’ of a period
How can you do and learn literary history?
• We can look at literary and cultural history as narratives (phases with a beginning, a middle, and an end; transitions)
• By establishing temporal and causal relationships between phases
• Asking for the underlying models of development? (e.g., organic growth vs. cyclic development)
• selecting, labelling, clustering, periodization (and the difficulty of doing so)
• By laying a focus on text-context relationships and development of aesthetic strategies
What is the period of Old English also referred as?
The anglo-saxon period
When was the Old English period?
From the 5th - 10th century
What were the defining socio-cultural notions of the period?
- Germanic invasions
- Christian Mission
- Anglo-saxon language
- Viking Invasions
When was Middle English spoken?
From Norman Conquest to Renaissance (= 1066 – ca. 15th century)
What is Beowulf?
An old english poem about the geatish (scandinavian) warrior Beowulf who helps the danish King to defend his people against a troll before becoming a King himself and dieing in protecting his people against a dragon.
It is the oldest poem in the English language.
What are the Main values negotiated in Beowulf?
- Bravery
- Physical strength
- Honour
- Sacrifice
It is a fusion of heathen and christian concepts of heroism and honour.
What are the essential features of Old English literature?
• oral transmission (retrospective recordings)
• manuscript culture: religious prose and verse (monasteries as centres of writing)
• religious and semi-religious writing (e.g. saints’ lives)
• spread of literary production in the vernacular
What are the most common types of literature in Old English?
- Saint’s lives: The reinterpretation of heroism (Retellings of the story of the bible which also served as a part in the christian mission)
- Religious Verse (e.g The Dream of the Rood)
- non-fictional prose at the court of King Alfred in Form of chronicles (Stories become a tool of identity creation)
What is the cultural background of the Middle English Period?
- Political, social and cultural changes after the Norman Invasion
- Battle of Hastings in 1066
In which language was literature mainly produced in the Middle English period?
It was a Manuscript culture with French & Latin being the language of the courts and Middle English being the language of the country side.
French became obligatory in the highest realms of society while Middle English remained as the prevelant language in the countryside.
What are the main types of literature in the Middle English period?
- Hero Narratives
- Romance
- Arthurian Legends (Identification and origin myth)
- Religious works
What are the features of Geoffrey Chaucers Canterbury Tales?
- 17.000 lines
- prose and verse, various metres
- collection of 24 stories (but unfinished, wanted 120)
3.1. This shows originality isnt considered as relevant - frame narration of pilgrims telling each other stories (Who tells the best story gets a free meal upon return).
- pilgrims as representatives of the social structure
- variety of genres and ‘borrowings’ (Not every story had never been told before)
- It is considered as one of the most important pieces of english literature.
Name the timeline of british literary history
