XIV Международная студенческая научная конференция Студенческий научный форум - 2022

Old English Literature

The term ‘Old English’ was invented as a patriotic and philological convenience. The more familiar term is ‘Anglo-Saxon’. Anglo-Saxon tribes brought their language and culture to the British Isles. Runic scripts of Anglo-Saxons were preserved. Pagan priests prohibited to write down poetry. After the introduction of Christianity scholar monks wrote down poems, but the main part of it wasn’t recorded.

The most important Anglo-Saxon work was the poem ‘Beowulf’. Beowulf includes two parts and tells about the exploits of the brave knight Beowulf, who saved Denmark from the terrible sea monster Grendel. Beowulf refers back to an age of monster slayings in Scandinavia, but it interprets them as struggles between good and evil, between humanity and the destructive forces. Some episodes are not related to Beowulf, but contain information about the life of the Germanic tribes and include details of the history of the royal families of the Geats, Danes, Swedes and continental Angles.

In addition to Beowulf, examples of lyrical Anglo-Saxon poetry had been preserved. These are small poems: “The Wife’s Lament” (approximately the 8th century), “The Husband’s Message”, “The Wanderer”, etc. These poems were included in the handwritten Exeter Book relating to the middle of the XI century.

Medieval Literature

In 1066 was the conquest of England by the Normans. The Norman Conquest marked the beginning of a new period in the history of England. French became the official language of the country. It was spoken by the elite; it was used in parliament, schools, it was spoken by those parts of the population who moved from France. The indigenous population spoke Anglo-Saxon, which underwent significant changes after the Norman Conquest. Latin was used in church circles.

Trilingualism affected the development of literature. There were literary works in Latin, French and Anglo-Saxon. Scientific works, anti-church satires were written in Latin. Literature in French was represented by chivalrous poetry. In the Anglo-Saxon language, works of folk poetry have been preserved from this period, as well as a number of poems and chivalric novels dating back to the 13th-14th centuries. Only in the XIV century English became the main literary language.

The "History of the Britons" was of particular importance for the further development of medieval literature. It contained the earliest processing of the Celtic legends about King Arthur, which later become the property of other European literatures. The royal court and nobles who settled in medieval castles craved literary entertainment no less than the courts of the kings who ruled during the Anglo-Saxon period, and also preferred the heroic poem to other literary genres. The feudal environment radically transformed the content, character and style of the poem, and in the aristocratic circles of the 13th century it was the chivalrous novels.

Moralistic literature flourished in the 14th century partly under the influence of the ideas of the religious reformer D. Wycliffe. It took various forms: a detailed outline of world history, like the ‘Cursor Mundi’, interpretation of church doctrine, like the ‘Handlyng Synne’ by R. Manning; reviews of the misdeeds of people of every kind and condition, like the essay written in French by Chaucer's friend D. Gouer ‘Le Miroir d'l'Homme’.

William Langland is known as the author of the allegorical poem "The Vision of Piers the Plowman" (1362) - the largest monument of moral and didactic poetry of the XIV century. It is written in Middle English in alliterative verse. Langland's work is connected with the social movement of his time; it poses pressing social problems, reflects the suffering, hopes and aspirations of the English peasantry, its ideals and convictions.

Geoffrey Chaucer is the highest embodiment of the English creative genius of the Middle Ages and one of the largest figures in English literature. He performed in almost all genres of literature of that time.Chaucer laid the foundations of the satirical tradition in English literature. The gradation of his laughter is different: from a harmless joke and sly mockery to impudent attacks.

Renaissance

In the XV-XVI centuries. in European countries there is a transition from the feudal Middle Ages to the new time, marked by the initial period of the development of capitalism. This transitional era was called the Renaissance. The formation of new social relations was expressed in the emancipation of the individual. Great opportunities for creative activity open up to a person. It was the era of humanism, when the spiritual dictatorship of the church was broken and the individual became the center of public interests.

Thomas More's most significant work is ‘A fruteful and pleasaunt worke of the beste state of publyque weale, and of the newe yle called Utopia’ (Latin text published in 1516). "Utopia" (which means "non-existent place") contains critical judgments about the vices of contemporary society. This is not only a philosophical, but also an art work.

The Spencer's best work is the unfinished allegorical poem ‘The Faerie Queene’. Using the motifs of chivalric romances about King Arthur, Spencer in each of the six books of the poem poeticizes some kind of virtue. Creating images of the heroes of the fairy-tale knightly world, the poet had in mind real people.

The work of the great English writer William Shakespeare is known everywhere. Shakespeare's genius is dear to all mankind. Shakespeare's sonnets were the top of English Renaissance poetry and a milestone in the history of world poetry. To the end of the XVI century the sonnet became the leading genre in English poetry. Shakespeare's sonnets, in their philosophical depth, lyrical power, dramatic feeling and musicality, occupy an outstanding place in the development of the art of the sonnet of that time.

Revolution and Restoration

The work of John Dryden occupies one of the places of honor in English literature of the second half of the 17th century. Dryden is primarily a poet and playwright. In the history of English literature, John Dryden bears the lofty title of "Father of English Criticism".

Reference:

1. Andrew SANDERS: The Short Oxford History of English Literature, Clarendon Press, Oxford 1994

2. http://svr-lit.ru/svr-lit/mihalskaya-anikin-angliya/srednie-veka.htm

3. https://www.krugosvet.ru/enc/kultura_i_obrazovanie/literatura/ANGLISKAYA_LITERATURA.html

4. https://www.rsu.edu.ru/wp-content/uploads/e-learning/reshetov_Istoriya_angliyskoy_literatury_19_vek/30.html

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