World Literature Flashcards
In American literature, a group of late Romantic writers are recognized as…
These authors’ works may be associated with both the Romantic and Gothic movements. These works emphasize nature and emotion, aligning them with Romanticism, and include dark themes and tones, aligning them with Gothic literature. However, these works do not all feature the historically inspired characteristics of Gothic literature, and their morals or outcomes more closely resemble those of Romantic literature
Dark Romantics
The Dark Romantics include writers such as Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Emily Dickinson, and Herman Melville.
This movement shared the Romantic emphasis on emotion and also focused heavily on how a person experiences life through their senses. They extended these sentiments to suggest that through embracing one’s senses, an individual could transcend, or experience a state of being above physical humanity
Transcendentalism
This movement is also known as the American Renaissance. This movement yielded several notable American writers and works that began characterizing American literature and differentiating it from British literature. This literature, written after the American Revolutionary War and until the end of the Civil War, praised individualism and featured an expression of national pride and patriotism. The transcendentalists’ extreme ideas about self-sufficiency and subjectivity reiterated this individualism, and their recommendations about society and its structure furthered the separation of American literature from British literature
American Romantic Movement
This movement took place in America during the 1920s and 1930s. The changing economy and opportunities led African Americans in the south to seek new lifestyles in other parts of America at the beginning of the 20th century. Many moved to Harlem, a small area in New York City. This group of African Americans yielded highly influential scholarly and artistic works, including poetry, fiction, music, and plays.
Harlem Renaissance Movement
Some members of the Harlem Renaissance who influenced American literature include Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and Paul Robeson.
This period began in the middle of the 17th century and ended in the late 18th
century. The latter part of the movement also took place alongside the Enlightenment, a period of scientific discovery and study that influenced many Western cultures. The Enlightenment’s concern with intellectual pursuits and improvement increased discussions of introspection, or an individual’s analysis of their own behavior, thoughts, and self.
British Neoclassical Period
This era in England was influenced by a variety of events and ideas, many of which were influenced by the Victorians’ economy. The Industrial Revolution in England changed the circumstances of work for the Victorians. The changing industries and lack of labor laws led to several problems and a wide division between Victorian social classes. These factors inspired and saturated much of Victorian literature. Many novels’ plots and characters were heavily influenced by social and economic issues, and many poems referenced and criticized specific events that occurred during this period.
Victorian Era
Victorian writers include Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Emily Bronte, Matthew Arnold, and Thomas Hardy.
The English language developed over a long period of time through interactions between different groups in Europe, including the Romans, the Germans, and the Celtics. The Anglo-Saxons, a group that left what is now Germany and settled in England, further established the English language by using what is now called…
Old English
Old English persisted until the 12th century, where it was eventually replaced with Middle English. Influential literature from this period includes Beowulf, “The Wanderer,” “The Wife’s Lament,” and “The Seafarer.”
Old English was replaced by…., which was used from the 12th century to the 16th century. Old English was not governed by a consistent set of grammatical rules until the Norse people, their language, and its structure influenced the integration of grammar into English.
Middle English
Central Middle English is characterized by the development of dialects within written communication, which is partly due to scribes who translated texts or parts of texts using terms from their own dialect, rather than the source. Late Middle English includes numerous developments that created the foundation for Modern English. The Canterbury Tales, “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,” and “Le Morte d’Arthur” are all Middle English texts that are still read and studied today.
This movement swept through Europe and lasted for multiple centuries, bringing many developments in culture, the arts, education, and philosophy. The movement in England did not begin until the late 15th century. Though ideas and cultures of the past, especially those of the ancient Greeks and Romans, inspired the movement , the period saw innumerable developments in the English language and literature.
Renaissance
Influential writers of the English Renaissance include William Shakespeare, John Donne, John Milton, Edmund Spenser, and Christopher Marlowe.
This movement, beginning in the 18th century and persisting through the 19th century, took inspiration from the architecture and cultures of the Late Middle Ages in Europe.
Gothic literary movement
Gothic works also are often set in the past, long before the time the story was written. This aligns with prominent themes in Gothic literature, as several pieces are informed by an event that occurred before the story begins or a character who died before the plot’s first event.
Well-known authors of Gothic literature include Horace Walpole, Ann Radcliffe, Edgar Allan Poe, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. While the Gothic literary movement took place in the 18th and 19th centuries, many works have been published in more recent centuries that have several characteristics of Gothic literature and may be included within the overall Gothic genre.
This movement was an active literary movement in the late 19th century, taking place alongside movements such as realism and modernism. It, like realism, rejected the emotional focus and sentimentality of Romanticism and provided a type of social commentary.
Naturalism
Prominent themes in naturalist literature include nature as an apathetic force, the influence of heredity, and life as something to be endured and survived. One of the most influential naturalist writers is French writer Emile Zola. Influential American Naturalists include Stephen Crane, Hamlin Garland, and Theodore Dreiser.
This movement was largely influenced by industrialization, which heavily impacted both the Unites States and England, primarily in the 19th century. The movement in literature was characterized by an attempt to turn away from the norms and traditions of literature and use new techniques and methods
Modernist literary movement
The Victorian society was characterized by a strict moral code that permeated England’s society at the time. This moral code was incompatible with the Modernist’s desire to turn away from tradition, but the changes that accompanied Victoria’s death in 1901 enabled the Modernist movement to grow in England. American Modernist writers include Ezra Pound, William Carlos Williams, and Gertrude Stein. British Modernist writers include Matthew Arnold, William Butler Yeats, T. S. Eliot, and Joseph Conrad.
This movement grew out of Modernism’s reliance on science and universal assertions, but emphasized the individual’s subjective perception of reality, as it is often more authentic to an individual’s experience than a universally applied statement. It asserts that since each person creates their own version of reality, fully and accurately defining reality is futile and impossible.
Postmodernism
The literary movement included a variety of new genres and techniques, reflecting the postmodernist idea that things like art cannot be truly defined or simplified. Notable American writers of the postmodernist movement include Kurt Vonnegut, John Barth, and Thomas Pynchon. British postmodernist writers include John Fowles and Julian Barnes.
