Early English Novels: Defoe, Swift, Richardson, Fielding, Smollett
The Rise of the English Novel
Ian Watt, in ‘The Rise of the Novel’, discusses the challenges people faced in accessing literature before the 17th and 18th centuries. These challenges included limited literacy and economic constraints. Throughout the 17th century, there was a growing importance of merchants and tradesmen, and the entertainment of the middle classes became a legitimate objective of literature. The full emergence of the novel in the 18th century was a product of the middle class
Read MoreSpanish Literature, Theater, and Poetry Since 1975
Postmodernism in Spanish Literature
Due to the political and social changes of the 1980s, postmodern thought emerged. It is characterized by the rejection of ideologies and aesthetic theories, and the practice of mixing languages from different disciplines, such as literature and cinema. Postmodernists defend popular culture and the hybridization of styles. Postmodern thought is reflected in everything, from the taste for the fusion of genres, to how the author plays with references known to the
Read MoreLanguage Evolution: A History of Change
Sound Change: Prothesis
One other type of sound change worth noting, though not found in English, occurs in the development of other languages. It involves the addition of a sound to the beginning of a word and is called prothesis. It is a common feature in the evolution of some forms from Latin to Spanish, as in these examples:
- schola → escuela (“school”)
- spiritus → espı́ritu (“spirit”)
Spanish speakers learning English as a second language sometimes use a prothetic vowel, making words like strange
Catalan Chronicles: Epic Tales and Royal History
It is common for nations to have an epic, the story of their heroic deeds and glories. Though the Soviets enjoyed iconic heroes, real or imaginary, especially from the time they acquired a sense of national community, these contributed to reinforcing the same stories. Texts are not preserved in epic verse in Catalan songs of feat, which does not mean they did not exist but were lost, as evidenced by the fact that occasionally some fragments appear known as quatre grans cròniques.
The Great Catalan
Read MoreJournalism, Society, and Morality in 18th-Century England
The Rise of Journalism
18th Century: Origin of Modern-Day Journalism
Richard Steele and Joseph Addison were forerunners of modern newspapers and magazines.
Most novelists of the era started their careers as journalists.
The rise of journalism reflected a greater interest in contemporary reality.
The genre of periodical essays anticipated the editorials of our modern-day newspapers.
Consequences:
- Increasing interest in reading
- Establishment of circulating libraries
- Main new readers: prosperous middle classes
- Booksellers
Alice Munro: Life and “How I Met My Husband”
Alice Munro
Alice Munro grew up in Wingham, Ontario, and attended the University of Western Ontario. She has published thirteen collections of stories and a novel. During her distinguished career, she has been the recipient of many awards, including two Giller Prizes, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the Man Booker International Prize. In 2013, she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. Her stories have appeared in The New Yorker, Atlantic Monthly, Harper’s Magazine, The Paris Review,
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