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Introduction to Euro-American Literature

Introduction to Euro-American Literature. Lecture 2 European Literature of Middle Ages Tian Xiangbin. Medieval European Literature I. Historical Background. Middle Ages (5th – 15th Century), AD 500 to the beginning of the Florentine Renaissance in the late 15th century.

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Introduction to Euro-American Literature

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  1. Introduction toEuro-American Literature Lecture 2 European Literature of Middle Ages Tian Xiangbin

  2. Medieval European LiteratureI. Historical Background Middle Ages (5th – 15th Century), AD 500 to the beginning of the Florentine Renaissance in the late 15th century. ● “Dark Ages” by early Renaissance historians ●The Catholic Church as the major unifying cultural influence with a centralized administration through its network of bishops. ●Urbanization of northern and western Europe ●The rise of monasticism ●Courtly love

  3. II. Outline of European Literature of the Middle Ages 1. Religious literature Bible --The Hebrew Bible --The Christian Bible: Christian Bibles include the books of the Hebrew Bible, but arranged in a different order: Old Testament, New Testament The Old Testament: 39 books of Hebrew Scripture. The New Testament: 27 books

  4. 2. Romance (传奇文学，骑士文学) Romance was a long composition, sometimes in verse, sometimes in prose, describing the life and adventures of a noble hero. The central character of romances was the knight, a man of noble birth skilled in the use of weapons. He was commonly described as riding forth to seek adventures, or fighting for his lord in battle. He was devoted to the church and the king. The famous romance is " Adventures of King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is one of the fest.

  5. 3. Heroic Epic Beowulf (750 A.D.) (England) The Song of Roland (1095 A.D France ) The Song of the Cid (1140 A.D. Spain) Nibelungenlied (1200 A.D. German) The Tale of Igor's Campaign (Russia)

  6. The Song of Roland (1095 A.D.) It is said that French literature begins with the Song of Roland. The story was developed from a historical incident in the career of Charles the Great (查理大帝).

  7. The Song of the Cid (1140 A.D.) It is also known in English as The Poem of the Cid is the oldest preserved Castilian(卡斯提尔人；位于西班牙的古代王国) epic poem. Based on a true story, it tells of the Castilian hero El Cid, and takes place during the reconquest of Spain from the Moors.

  8. (The Cid's daughters after being beaten and tied up)

  9. Nibelungenlied (1200) The Nibelungenlied, translated as The Song of the Nibelungs, is an epic poem in Middle High German. The story tells of dragon-slayer Siegfried at the court of the Burgundians, 勃艮第人 how he was murdered, and of his wife Kriemhild's revenge.

  10. ←Departure Siegfried's Death→

  11. The Tale of Igor's Campaignis an anonymous epic poem written in the Old East Slavic language. The poem gives an account of a failed raid of Igor Svyatoslavich (d. 1202) against the Polovtsians of the Don River region.

  12. 4. Popular Ballads The Gest of Robin Hood Get Up and Bar the Door 5. Great Poets and Novelist of Middle Ages Dante Alighieri: The Divine Comedy Giovanni Boccaccio: The Decameron Geoffrey Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales

  13. III. Masterpieces in the Middle Ages Dante Alighieri: The Divine Comedy Giovanni Boccaccio: The Decameron Geoffrey Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales English Ballads: Get up and Bar the Door

  14. Medieval Europe Vatican

  15. Medieval Europe Medieval Italy

  16. Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) ['dænti] His fame In Italian literature he is known as “the Supreme Poet”. “Father of the Italian language”. Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio are also known as “the three fountains” or “the three crowns”. The Devine Comedy is often considered the greatest literary work composed in the Italian language.

  17. Dante His life Born in a prominent family in Florence, Italy, probably in 1265. When Dante was 12 he was promised in marriage to Gemma, while he had already fallen in love with Beatrice (first met when he was 8). Not much is known about Dante’s education, it is presumed he studied at home.

  18. Dante His life He was active in the politics and was involved in the Guelph-Ghibelline conflict. Dante was condemned to exile for two years by his political enemies in1302; soon later his banishment was made perpetual. He died in 1321 on a diplomatic journey and was buried in Ravenna.

  19. Background Guelph-Ghibelline conflict The Guelphs and Ghibellines were factions supporting, respectively, the Papacy and the Holy Roman Empire in central and northern Italy. Dante’s family was prominent in Florence, with loyalties to the Guelphs. After defeating the Ghibellines, the Guelphs divided into two factions: the White Guelphs

  20. (Dante’s party) and the Black Guelphs. The Blacks supporting the Pope and the Whites wanting more freedom from Rome. In 1301 the Black Guelph came into power, Dante was condemned to exile for two years, and ordered to pay a large fine.

  21. The Divine Comedy • Originally known as “the Comedy”, later added “Divine” by Giovanni Boccaccio. • Over 14,000 lines, three parts (canticas): Inferno (Hell), Purgatorio (Purgatory), and Paradiso (Paradise). • each part consists of 33 cantos. An initial canto serves as an introduction to the poem; the total number of cantos is 100. • The verse scheme is terza rima (3 lines of 11 syllables as one stanza, or “terset”), with the rhyme scheme aba, bcb, cdc, ded, ...

  22. Dante: The Divine Comedy • Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita • mi ritrovai per una selva oscura, • ché la diritta via era smarrita. • Midway on our life's journey, I found myself • In dark woods, the right road lost. To tell • About those woods is hard—so tangled and rough • Robert Pinksy translation • Midway upon the journey of our life • I found myself within a forest dark, • For the straightforward pathway had been lost. • H. W. Longfellow translation

  23. Introduction Written in the first person, it tells of Dante’s journey through the three realms of the dead, lasting during the Easter Triduum in the spring of 1300.

  24. The Roman poet Virgil guides him through Hell and Purgatory; Beatrice guides him through Heaven. Written in Tuscan dialect of Italian and helped establish the Tuscan dialect as the standard Italian.

  25. The Divine Comedy • Structure • Introduction • 3 beasts, unable to find the way to the mountain with the sun, Virgil and Beatrice • Inferno (Hell) • 9 circles • Purgatorio (Purgatory) • 7 terraces • Paradiso (Paradise) • 9 spheres

  26. The Divine Comedy Dante with 3 beasts (a lion, a leopard, and a she-wolf)

  27. Infeno Dante gazes at Mount Purgatory

  28. Dante and Beatrice speak to Piccarda and Constance of Sicily, in Paradis

  29. Literary influence in the English-speaking world The work was recognized as a masterpiece in the first centuries following its publication. The work was largely ignored during the English Enlightenment. It was “rediscovered” by William Blake and the romantic writers of the 19th century. Later authors such as T. S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, Samuel Beckett, and James Joyce have drawn on it for inspiration. The poet Longfellow was its first American translator.

  30. For further study • Online resources • Italian with English translation and audio: • http://www.csupomona.edu/~jelerma/dante/index.html • Italian with English translation: • http://www.worldofdante.org/inferno1.html

  31. 2.Giovanni Boccaccio（1313-1375）乔万尼·薄迦丘 • The Decameron • Form：Novel • Author: Boccaccio • Type: Frame stories • Time: 14th century • Place: in Florence in Italy Setting: Plague • Main Characters: • 7 young ladies and 3 young gentlemen

  32. His life Almost certainly an illegitimate, the son of a Florentine merchant. Probably born in Paris, grew up in Florence. Studied law and banking. Black Death attacked Florence in 1348. Began work on the Decameron around 1349. final years troubled by illnesses

  33. The Decameron The title is a combination of two Greek words meaning “ten” (déka) and “day” (hēméra). structured in a frame narrative It begins with a description of the Black Death and leads a group of 7 women and 3 men who flee from plague-ridden Florence to a villa in the countryside for two weeks. 100 stories are told at the end of ten days. known for its bawdy tales of love, appearing in all its possibilities from the erotic to the tragic. Many writers such as Chaucer are said to have drawn inspiration from this work.

  34. Background Black Death (Plague) thought to have begun in Central Asia or India and spread to Europe (1348-1350). 25-50 million people were killed in Europe 30% to 60% of Europe’s population. returned to Europe every generation with varying virulence and mortalities until the 1700s.

  35. Boccaccio reading from the Decameron to Queen Johanna of Naples

  36. Questions 1. What is the cause of the plague? 2. Hong long could a person live when infected? 3. What did people do to protect themselves? 4. Did Boccaccio witnessed the terrible situation in Florance? 5. Who did survive the plague?

  37. For further study Online resources http://petrarch.petersadlon.com/petrarch.html www.ProJet-cn.com/yang Binphon.blogbus.com

  38. Match the following • 1) ( ) Poetry a. The Decameron • 2) ( ) Drama b. The Divine Comedy • 3) ( ) Novel c. Poetics • 4) ( ) Essay d. Oedipus the King

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