History of English Literature

Old English (450-1066)

1 CE

-Alliterative verse and methaphorical phrases. Two known poets from this period are Caedmon, considered the first Old English Christian poet and Cynewulf.
Manuscripts: The Exeter Book, the Junius Manuscript, the Vercelli Book and The Poem Beowulf, an Old English epic Poem about the brave hero Beowulf.

Middle English (1066-1500)

2

There are significant changes to its vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation and orthography, the descriptions are in verse.
Important writers: John Wycliffe and Geoffrey Chaucer. Many of others works are are anonymous
Writings: Canterbury Tales, The Owl and the Nightingale, The Bestiary.

English Renaissance (1500-1660)

3

The Period of Elizabethan literature as a vigorous literary culture in both drama and poetry.
Representatives: Roger Ascham called the "father of English Prose", poets such as Edmund Spenser, whose verse epic The faerie Queene,an epic poemand fantastical allegory celebrating the Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I, the lyrics of William Shakespeare, Thomas Wyatt.

The Neoclassical Period ( 1600-1785)

4

It´s a period of conscious self-awareness and the emphasis on self-reflection with genres like diaries, letters and essays, newspaper, novels, the journalism becomes a power for the first time.
Representatives: Alexander Pope and his long poem An essay on Criticism. The poet Ben Jonson who also studied classical poetics, he wrote lyrical poems, author of masquerades for the king´s court, the Alchemist.

The Romantic Period (1785-1832)

5

The most notable feature of the poetry of the time is the new role of individual thought and personal feeling.
Representatives: Edgar Allan Poe with the poem A Dream within a Dream, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and his famous poems Kubla Khan, Christabel and The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Lord Byron with the poems She walks in Beauty and Childe Harold´s Pilgrimage.

The Victorian Period (1832-1901)

6

Literature during the reign of Queen Victoria, the magazines provided monthly installments of news, articles, satiric essays, poetry and fiction.
Representatives: Mattew Arnold, British poet and critic, he wrote "Last Essays on Church and Religion, lists of proses such as: The Great Prophecy of Israel´s Restoration, Friendship´s Garland, and Oscar Wilde with the Picture of Dorian Gray.

The Edwardian Period (1901-1914)

7

Edwardian novels started a new style of writing more intense in social and political ambits.
Representatives: Arnold Barett and James Matthew Barrie were two famous writers with works like The Clayhanger trilogy and The First Wives Tale written by Arnold Barett and James Matthew Barrie with his classic tale of Peter Pan.

The Georgian Period (1910-1936)

8

The two genres of Georgian Literature are Hagiography and Hymnography, the writings are documentary by nature on the background of the hero´s life with peculiarities of that epoch and apocryphal writings about christian saints and holy things.
Authors: Thomas Peacock with Nightmare Abbey, Charles Lamb who wrote more essays than novels, he is known for Essays of Elia.

The Modern Period (1914-1945)

9

Modern world people were more into independence, love had become less of a romance and more like a greed.
Writers: George Bernard Shaw, Drama writer, he wrote Plays Pleasant, Literary Series, he won a Nobel Prize in Literature.
David Herbert Lawrence, his masterpieces include: Sons and Lovers, The Rainbow,

The PostModern Period (1945-1965)

10

Literature that is characterized by the use of unreliable narration, self reflexivity and historical and political issues.
Representatives: Kurt Vonnegut, author of 14 novels incuding Titan´s Mermaids, Breakfast of Champions.
Thomas Pynchon: the book of Lot 49 Auction, The Gravity Rainbow.

The Contemporary Period (1965- Present)

11

Works of contemporary literature reflect social or political view points shown through realistic characters.
Authors: Margaret Atwood with the Handmaid´s Tal, The Blind Assassin.
David Mitchell: Novels "Ghostwritten", Cloud Atlas, Thousand autumns.

References

12

-Thomson A. (2014). What is Literature? In The Edinburgh Introduction to Studying English Literature (pp. 3-15). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Retrieved from http://bibliotecavirtual.unad.edu.co/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=783917&lang=es&site=eds-live -Muñoz, M. (2018). History of English Literature. [Video File]. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10596/20315