PERIODS IN

LITERATURE

Jheremeeh Arcaparlas
Literature Instructor
MEDIEVAL PERIOD
 The Old English Period
The so-called Dark ages occured when Rome falls and Barbarian
tribes move into Europe. Franks, Ostrogoths, Lombards, and Goths
settle in the ruins of Europe and the Angles and Saxons migrate to
Britain.

Early Works: Beowulf, The Wanderer, The Seafarer

MEDIEVAL PERIOD
 The Middle English Period (428-1066)
In 1066, Norman French Armies invaded and conquered
England under William I. 13 Eventually this period paved way to
the emergence of French Literature and theological works.

Early Works: French chivalric romances, French fables

RENAISSANCE & REFORMATION
 The awakening from the long slumber of the Dark Ages.
 Aristocratic landowners lost their hegemony over the lower classes

 11The overwhelming spirit of the time was OPTIMISM.

 Poems and Dramas were the dominant form of literature

 14Printing press Johannes Gutenberg

 Elizabethan period took place.

Early Works: Ben Jonson, William Shakespeare, Edmund Spencer,

Thomas More,12Leonardo da Vinci (Mona lisa)
ENLIGHTENMENT
 It was an intellectual movement in France that emphasized the
importance of reason, progress and liberty.
 This was the age of Egalitarianism.
 The idea of “public” reached fruition. The people were more
opinionated and inclined to political discourse.
 There was an increased reverence for logic and disdain for
superstition.
 Argumentation was the new form of conversation
 Coffee shops or cafés were the unofficial centre of the period.

Early Works: Samuel Johnson, Immanuel Kant, Jonathan Swift, Sir

Isaac Newton
ROMANTICISM
 As a movement, romanticism involved a revolt against convention
and authority and a search for freedom in personal, political, and
artistic life.
 It was to some extent a reaction against Enlightenment.

 10Among the characteristics of this period are deepened

appreciation to nature, emotion over reason and intellect.
 It focuses on individual, his passions, and inner struggles.
VICTORIAN LITERATURE
 The name of the period was borrowed from the royal matriarch of England,
Queen Victoria who sat on throne from 1837-1901
 It was a period remembered for strict, social, political and sexual conservatism
 Women held little power
 Frequent clashes between science and religion.
 Technological Advancements – Steam Engine
 Victorian writers pushed arts and letters in new and interesting directions.
 One Transcending aspect to the Victorian England life and society is change.
 20 Women held a very little power and had to fight hard for the change they
wanted in their lives
 Children were employed to works (The cry of the children)19 Elizabeth Barret
Browning
 Novel replaced poem as the new vehicle for transmission of literature.

Early artists: Bronte Sisters, Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde, Arthur Conan Doyle
TRANSCENDENTALISM
 18It took root in America and evolved into a predominantly literary
expression
 It is a movement that doubted all established religions, believing
that Divinity resided in every individual.
 Ralph Waldo Emerson is considered as the Father of the movement

Early artists: Henry David Thoreau, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson

THE BLOOMSBURY GROUP
 17It was a small group, informal association of artists and
intellectuals who lived and worked in the Bloomsbury area of
central London.
 The group survived World War 1 but by the early 1930s had ceased
to exist.
 There was never any formal list of members, no acknowledged
leader, no official rules, and not recognized identity.
 Their attacks on patriotism, militarism, and empire in the 1930s
and 1940s brought complaints that their approach weakened the
loyalty and commitment of the British Elite, and even led to
treason among intellectuals.
THE BEAT GENERATION

 Students started questioning the rampant materialism of their

society.
 They saw capitalism as destructive to the human spirit and social
equality
 The beats rallied against strict rules of their parent’s generation.

 The taboos against discussions of sexuality were seen as unhealthy

and damaging to the psyche.
 They fashioned the literature as more bold, expressive and
straightforward one.
MODERNISM

 15This period was marked by sudden and unexpected breaks with

traditional ways of viewing and interacting with the world.
 Intellectuals and artist at the turn of the 20th century believed the
previous generations’ way of doing things was a cultural dead end.
 Class distinction remained arguably the most difficult bridge to cross in
terms of forming a truly equitable society.
 This period witnessed World War 1.
 Harlem Renaissance was popularized
 In American Literature, the group of writers and thinkers known as the
Lost Generation has become synonymous with Modernism.

Early artists: Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner

POST MODERNISM
 An emphasis on Impressionism and subjectivity in writing (visual
arts as well)
 It is a trend which emerged in the post-World War II era
 Postmodern works are seen as a response against dogmatic
following of Enlightenment thinking and Modernist approaches
 16Stylistic techniques that were popularized
-Pastiche (Taking of various ideas from previous writings and literary styles and pasting them
together to make new styles)

-Intertextuality (The acknowledgment of previous literary works within another literary work)
-Maximalism (Disorganized, lengthy, highly detailed writing)
-Realism
-Naturalism
-Extensialsim
THANK
YOU!
1. It is the worst group or movement in the period of literature.
2. These are the group of students who rallied against their parent’s
generation.
3. Pseudonym of Charlotte Bronte.
4. He was the leader of the Norman French Armies.
5. The name of this period was name after a queen who sat on
throne from 1837-1901.
6. It is the act of taking of various ideas from previous writings and
literary styles and pasting them together to make new styles.
 It is a movement that doubted all established religions, believing
that Divinity resided in every individual.
 Father of the movement.

 It was an intellectual movement in France that emphasized the

importance of reason, progress and liberty.