Alliterative Revival, Piers Plowman, and Medieval Drama
The Alliterative Revival (14th Century)
Two English dialects:
- South East: Chaucer. The Canterbury Tales
- West:
- Langland. Piers Plowman
- Anonymous. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Chaucer wrote in an alliterative form of his own regional English, that of the South East Midlands. As this was the English of London and the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, this was the dialect that became established as the literary norm in the end. It is the basis of modern SLE (Standard Literary English).
That’s why Chaucer’
Read MoreLiterary Movements: Naturalism, Avant-Garde, and Anti-Victorianism
Fantastic Novel
Fantastic Novel: Carroll picked up the stories he told to a girl in Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. In both, boundless imagination is mixed with all kinds of puns and parodies.
Naturalist Theater
Naturalist Theater: Naturalistic drama emerged when the naturalist novel was in decline. Some playwrights tried to delve into the psychology and circumstances of the characters to explain their most notable behaviors. The most prominent were Ibsen and Strindberg, precursors
Read MoreThe Thirteenth Century: A Flourishing Era in Medieval Europe
The Thirteenth Century: A Flourishing Era
The thirteenth century represents a period of significant growth in medieval Europe, with France at its political and cultural center.
Economic Stability and Growth
The economy thrived due to flourishing trade, currency stability, increased circulation of precious metals, and the consolidation of craft guilds. This led to the enrichment of many peasants and bourgeois merchants, while much of the old nobility began to experience impoverishment. Cities experienced
Read MoreLorca’s Theater: Exploring Themes of Freedom and Love
Lorca’s Theater: Themes of Freedom and Love
Lorca’s theater is characterized by seeking new forms and the rejection of traditional theater. He believed theater had the obligation to provide the public with the possibility of moral evidence, addressing old or mistaken ideas and exploring examples of the heart and living standards. Man’s feelings, according to Lorca, should not be a mere show for entertainment but a place where people’s lives are reflected. Lorca achieved this purpose through a treatment
Read MoreKey Postcolonial Studies Texts: Critical Approaches
Essays: Critical and Theoretical Approaches
Edward Said, *Orientalism*
Orientalism is a book in which the author establishes the eponymous term “Orientalism” as a critical concept to describe the West’s common, contemptuous depiction and portrayal of “The East,” i.e. the Orient. Societies and peoples of the Orient are those who inhabit the places of Asia, North Africa, and the Middle East. Said argues that Orientalism, in the sense of Western scholarship about the Eastern World, is inextricably tied
Read MoreSpanish Literature: Generation of ’98 and Modernism
Generation of ’98
The Generation of ’98, comprised of figures like Baroja, Maeztu, Azorín, and Unamuno, focused on Spain’s national decay. They aimed to regenerate the country and renew Spanish literature in the early 20th century. There are two viewpoints on whether the group belongs to Modernism (Cernuda and Gullón) or not (Salinas). They meet Petersen’s characteristics: no more than 15 years between them, the same formative events, and a shared historical event. Nietzsche served as a guide.