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The Early Modern Period

Period of Revolution (Change) and Reform. This period of culture and literature may be described as one of revolution and reform: religious, philosophical, and political. Until the year 1200 C. E., almost all of the world's literature was composed in the elite languages, employing literary devices

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The Early Modern Period

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    1. The Early Modern Period Presentation for English 2332 Dr. Brenda Cornell

    2. Period of Revolution (Change) and Reform This period of culture and literature may be described as one of revolution and reform: religious, philosophical, and political. Until the year 1200 C. E., almost all of the world’s literature was composed in the elite languages, employing literary devices far removed from the speech of the common people. The literature of the Early Modern Period, for the most part, undergoes the major reform of appearing in the everyday language of the people (hence, a “vernacular reform”) while reflecting the global cultural changes that were underway.

    3. Former Literacy Privilege

    4. 1000-1300 A Vernacular Revolution Begins Most writers began using the language of the commonfolk Some cultures still used the elite “literary” language for poetry and prose romances (ex., China, Japan); it was considered to be the literature of the privileged classes

    5. By the 1500’s Throughout the world, prose writers favored a “vernacular” style much closer to everyday speech. The shift in style brought a shift in emphasis, toward more realistic portrayals of everyday life, often with more attention to the lower classes. “Vernacular” comes from the Latin, verna, meaning a household slave, and later “home-grown” or “native.” The vernacular tongue, then, is the language of the people.

    6. India The former Sanskrit gave way to writing in many of the different languages spoken around the Indian subcontinent, such as Tamil and Telugu. These writers often came from artisan or merchant classes, and they resented the high-toned Sanskrit of the Brahmins. Religious writing still favored the Sanskrit, but over time, it too was composed for the common folk.

    7. Europe German and Icelandic writers on the margins of the Latin tradition began to write in local Germanic languages; Anglo-Saxon, Irish, and Welsh literatures all flourished in the British Isles. By 1300, even the strong writers of the Latin tradition, Dante in Italy and the Provencal poets in France, were using the vernacular to write great poetry. In a letter to his patron, Can Grande della Scala, Dante defended his writing of the Commedia in Italian rather than Latin, saying that he wanted to reach as many of his country men and women as possible.

    8. Themes for Literature The epic hero becomes the epic knight in Don Quixote, by Miguel Cervantes de Savedra. It was written in Spanish, which by that time, had become the language of the people. John Milton’s literary works gave personal dimensions to the literary epic: Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained, Samson Agonistes all grew out of his personal struggles with blindness (he lost his sight at age 23). The sonnet became one of the main forms of lyric poetry, begun in Italy by Petrarch, but also used widely by English Renaissance writers such as Shakespeare, Wyatt, and John Donne.

    9. Literary Themes Continued Social/religious themes show through the literary works of this period. Several Shakespearean plays highlight the female character who outsmarts the male: The Tempest and The Merchant of Venice (an especially bold move since women were forbidden to act on the stage). In The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare also protests the growing European anti-Semitism by making Shylock, the Jewish moneylender, his protagonist and most sympathetic character. In Othello, Shakespeare’s tragic hero is a Moor (black man) who is in love with the fair Desdemona. In the character of Iago, the villain, Shakespeare shows what happens when the Machiavellian philosophy is twisted for selfish means. Shakespeare is regarded as the inventor of the character of the Machiavellian villain.

    10. Translation As vernacular writing spread, translation of major literary texts became more and more important. In biblical translations, the Church had always favored the exclusive use of Latin for theological writing so that all Christians could understand it in common (Latin was the language of the Church). However, with the rise of Protestantism, reformers emphasized the need to make the Bible accessible to all Christians. One of the more important religious-political events of this time was the translation of the Authorized King James Version of the Bible, authorized by King James in 1611. The literature of the English Renaissance (especially Shakespeare) shows the strong influence of this document.

    11. The Printing Press Johann Gutenberg invented the printing press in Germany around 1450, but William Caxton (1422?-1491), was the first English printer, born probably in Tenterden, Kent. His translation and print of The Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye, in 1474, was the first book printed in English. Caxton printed nearly 100 publications, about 20 of which he also translated from French and Dutch. The more notable books from his press include The Canterbury Tales and Troilus and Criseyde by English poet Geoffrey Chaucer and Confessio Amantis by English poet John Gower.

    12. Spread of Education In West Africa, Musa (a Muslim convert who ruled from 1312-1337 ) provided generous patronage for scholarship and the arts. West Africa relied on a strong oral tradition, but Arabic script (influential worldwide) was introduced during this period.

    13. Education and Religion in Europe In Europe, Martin Luther, a German theologian, nailed his 95 theses to the church door at Wittenburg, setting off the Protestant Reformation, forever questioning and changing the formerly unified, universal Catholic church. Some of the bloodiest religious wars were in France (1560s-1590s), where the Protestant minority challenged the Catholic majority as the nobility and bourgeoisie struggled for independence Throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, religion would remain a central issue in European society, with 70 percent of books published written on the subject of religion (many of them Protestant tracts) In England, King Henry VIII fought with the Catholic church over the issue of his desire to divorce Katherine of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn. In protest, he declared himself to be the head of the Church, an act which marked the beginning of Protestantism in England.

    14. Education and Religion in the Americas In what is now Central America, Spanish explorers (Diaz. Cortes, Pizarro) discovered and conquered these lands for Spain. The Spanish colonial system, closely connected with the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, would control New Spain for three centuries. By the seventeenth century, New Spain began to experience a resurgence of Mexican identity that would culminate in independence in 1821. Spanish, not Latin, was established as the main language, the language of the people, although the dominant church was still Catholic.

    15. Education and Literacy in China In China, under the Emperor Yongle, Neo-Confucianism was the official philosophy of the imperial court. The extremely competitive civil service exam, begun during an earlier dynasty, was based on Confucian teachings. The revised examination (which allowed some social mobility) required the applicant to create a composition in a very difficult style (consisting of eight parallel sections) known as the "eight-legged essay." It also required memorization and explication of the ancient Chinese classics and commentaries on them, especially the works of Confucius.

    16. Education in India In India, Akbar (r. 1556-1605), who was considered India's greatest imperial ruler (badshah), cexpanded the empire to include the Deccan Plateau and the Northern independent states, reorganized its political structure (including taxes) with individualized ministries, built new cities, and provided generous patronage for the arts. At its height in the sixteenth century, the Mughal empire had a population of 100 to 150 million. Enormous wealth, made possible by a growing international trade in textiles, led to the flowering of Mughal art (especially architecture and miniature painting) under the influence of Persian culture. Akbar's grandson Shah Jahan (r. 1628-1658) commissioned magnificent palaces, mosques, and garden tombs, including one of the most beautiful buildings in the world, the Taj Mahal.

    17. Summary The Early Modern Period of Literature, marked by historical, cultural, religious changes, brought about educational advances and a flowering of literature and art.

    18. Works Cited Damrosch, et. al. The Longman Anthology of World Literature. Volume C. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 2006. Davis, et. al. The Bedford Anthology of World Literature. Book 3. NY: Bedford/St. Martins, 2006. http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/worldlit/default.asp?b=3&uid=0&rau=0 http://home.vicnet.net.au/~neils/renaissance/caxton.htm

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