Lecture
Lecture I
The literature of England (America)
Plan: I Short survey to the literature of England (America) II Directions of the literature: Romanticism. Realism. Naturalism. III Romanticism. Romanticism in literature. Romanticism and society. IV The theory of naturalism. Naturalism in fiction. V Realism.Realism in fiction.
American and English literature begins with the orally transmitted myths, legends, tales and lyrics (always songs) of Indian cultures. There was no written literature among the more than 500 different Indian languages and tribal cultures that existed in North America before the first Europeans arrived. As a result, Native American oral literature is quite diverse. Narratives from quasi-nomadic hunting cultures like the Navajo are different from stories of settled agricultural tribes such as the pueblo-dwelling Acoma. The stories of northern lakeside dwellers such as the Ojibwa often differ radically from stories of desert tribes like the Hopi. Tribes maintained their own religions – worshipping gods, animals, plants or sacred persons. Systems of government ranged from democracies to councils of elders to theocracies. These tribal variations enter into the oral literature as well. Examples of almost every oral genre can be found in American Indian literature: lyrics, myths, fairy tales, humorous anecdotes, riddles, proverbs, epics, and legendary histories. Romanticism arose as a reaction against the Age of Reason. It dominated European literature from the second half of the 1700’s through the mid 1800’s. It also had important echoes in the US. The romantics praised natural human instincts and wrote about their own emotions and sentiments. Romanticism is a style in the fine arts and literature. It emphasizes passion rather than reason, and imagination and intuition rather than logic. Romanticism favours full expression of the emotions, and free, spontaneous action rather than restraint
The literature of England (America)
Plan: I Short survey to the literature of England (America) II Directions of the literature: Romanticism. Realism. Naturalism. III Romanticism. Romanticism in literature. Romanticism and society. IV The theory of naturalism. Naturalism in fiction. V Realism.Realism in fiction.
American and English literature begins with the orally transmitted myths, legends, tales and lyrics (always songs) of Indian cultures. There was no written literature among the more than 500 different Indian languages and tribal cultures that existed in North America before the first Europeans arrived. As a result, Native American oral literature is quite diverse. Narratives from quasi-nomadic hunting cultures like the Navajo are different from stories of settled agricultural tribes such as the pueblo-dwelling Acoma. The stories of northern lakeside dwellers such as the Ojibwa often differ radically from stories of desert tribes like the Hopi. Tribes maintained their own religions – worshipping gods, animals, plants or sacred persons. Systems of government ranged from democracies to councils of elders to theocracies. These tribal variations enter into the oral literature as well. Examples of almost every oral genre can be found in American Indian literature: lyrics, myths, fairy tales, humorous anecdotes, riddles, proverbs, epics, and legendary histories. Romanticism arose as a reaction against the Age of Reason. It dominated European literature from the second half of the 1700’s through the mid 1800’s. It also had important echoes in the US. The romantics praised natural human instincts and wrote about their own emotions and sentiments. Romanticism is a style in the fine arts and literature. It emphasizes passion rather than reason, and imagination and intuition rather than logic. Romanticism favours full expression of the emotions, and free, spontaneous action rather than restraint