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In addition, some of the famous writers of Old English literature were Cynewulf and Caedmon. -
The history of English literature begins with the Germanic tradition of the Anglo-Saxon settlers. The term Anglo-Saxon comes from two Germanic tribes: the Angles and the Saxons. And the first long narrative poems in the history of English literature were Beowulf and Widsith. Beowulf is considered the first English epic poem and other famous works are Genesis, Exodus, etc. Earlier, in order to understand the temperament of readers, writers made use of alteration instead of a rhyme scheme. -
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As in the Old English period, much of Middle English writing was religious in nature; however, from about 1350 onward, secular literature began to emerge. It also comprises a wide variety of works, since the English population of the time was literate and a considerable portion was bilingual and trilingual. -
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Geoffrey Chaucer is one of the most appreciated poets of the period between 1342 and 1400, and was known for his courtly love poetry, which includes the famous "Canterbury Tales", although it remained incomplete, "The House of Fame" and "The Book of the Duchess". William Langland's famous religious works, such as "Piers Plowman," also deserve crucial mention, as they represent another popular genre of this period of English literature, which was secular and religious prose. -
These years produced a gallery of authors of genius, some of whom have never been surpassed, and gave dozens of lesser talents the enviable ability to write with fluency, imagination and verve.
In 1476, William Caxton introduced the printing press to England. From that moment on, literature began to flourish.
The poetry, drama and prose written during the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I constitute what is now called the English Renaissance. -
In a tradition of literature remarkable for its exacting and brilliant achievements, the Elizabethan and early Stuart periods have been said to represent the most brilliant century of all.
(The reign of Elizabeth I began in 1558 and ended with her death in 1603; she was succeeded by the Stuart king James VI of Scotland, who took the title James I of England as well. English literature of his reign as James I, from 1603 to 1625, is properly called Jacobean.) -
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It is called the neoclassical period because of the reverence for the works of classical antiquity. It is also known as the Age of Enlightenment or the Age of Reason. Its purpose was to illuminate the entire world with the light of modern philosophical and artistic ideas. They celebrated reason or rationality, equality and science. They held that rationality or reason should be the sole, final cause of all human thought and activity. -
The literature of the time, strongly didactic and moralizing, became a very popular means of public education. Among the great authors were such great writers as John Dryden, Alexander Pope, Joseph Addison and Sir Richard Steele, the two pioneers of the familiar essay, Jonathan Swift, Daniel Defoe, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Henry Fielding and Samuel Johnson. -
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William Words Worth (1770-1850): Leader of the Romantic Movement, described as a poet of nature.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834): Supernaturalism
William Blake (1757-1827): Belongs to the age of transition- in thoughts and style, he is a romantic “songs of innocence and Experience“ (1794), Revolt against classical school reached its climax during this period Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley and Keats- belong to this period. -
(also the Romantic era or the Romantic period) was an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement that originated in Europe toward the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate period from 1800 to 1850. Romanticism was characterized by its emphasis on emotion and individualism as well as glorification of all the past and nature, preferring the medieval rather than the classical. -
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Hazlitt’s essays in The Spirit of the Age (1825) were echoed by Mill’s articles of the same title in 1831, by Thomas Carlyle’s essays “Signs of the Times” (1829) and “Characteristics” (1831), and by Richard Henry Horne’s New Spirit of the Age in 1844. -
It was one of the most remarkable periods in the history of English literature. The major genres of literature flourished in this age. It witnesses the flouring of poetry in the hands of great poet's it marked the growth of English novel and laid the foundation of English prose on a sure footing. -
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Time of technological advances, the Great Depression and two devastating world wars.
First world war-fought between 1914 and 1918 in Europe, many economic and political changes occurred around the world.
The great depression – world-wide economic slump-began in the United States following the Wall Street Crash of October 1929 Britain was badly affected. In late 1931 began a slow recovery from the crisis Weakened Britain’s position as a global power. -
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"The Descent of the Modernists" by E. J. Pace, first appearing in the book Seven Questions in Dispute by William Jennings Bryan, 1924. License: Public Domain.
Modernist writers and poets responded to war, financial collapse, and social change by experimenting with traditional forms and conventions. -
Contemporary literature is a vast group of written works produced from a specific time in history through the current age. This literary era defines a time period, but it also describes a particular style and quality of writing. Some see this period as an extension of postmodern literature, but most refer to it as a literary era of its own. -
Literature written by African Americans during the contemporary period was shaped in many ways by Richard Wright, whose autobiography Black Boy was published in 1945. He left the United States for France after World War II, repulsed by the injustice and discrimination he faced as a Black man in America; other Black writers working from the 1950s through the ’70s also wrestled with the desires to escape an unjust society and to change it. -