MB UNIUD

  THE DEVELOPMENT OF LITERATURE

Main Literary Genres

• Poetry

• Fiction: stories in verse

• Drama: it began to develop from the rituals of the church in the 12th century

Epic Poetry

• The oldest surviving British poetry is a long narrative epic: Beowulf. The poem is probably from the 7^th century. Author and place of this composition are unknown. This poem tells the deeds of Beowulf, a Scandinavian hero, who fights first against a monster and a dragon by whom he is mortally wounded. The poem's subject matter derives from the history of Germanic tribes (tales and legends).

• The quantity of Anglo-Saxon poetry which has survived besides Beowulf is relatively small. Much of the poetry of the time was in Latin. A standard written form of the English language started to emerge towards the end of the 14^th century.

Anglo-Norman Poetry

• In the Anglo-Norman period nothing of any literary interest was produced in English until about the year 1200. Poetry remained oral and anonymous. It took on different forms according to the place where it developed and the audience for which it was intended. The nobility favoured the French form of the romance.

• Among the most famous romances that flourished in Britain is the cycle of legends dealing with King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. These describe the heroic life and deeds of King Arthur and his knights.

• The influence of French literature also affected the poetic form: the rhymed line began to develop side by side with the alliterative line, while the number of syllables per line acquired more and more importance.

Poetry in the Age of Chaucer

• By the end of the 14^th century French and English had amalgamated. There was a tendency from about 1400 onwards for the written language to conform to the dialect used in London, Oxford and Cambridge (they were important centres). This dialect is referred to as Middle English.
• The most popular poetic forms of the period were the narrative-descriptive poem and the ballad.
• The most famous example of a narrative-descriptive poem: The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. A group of 29 pilgrims setting off on a pilgrimage to Canterbury are the tellers of the tales in the collection. Chaucer makes a very vivid picture of late medieval life and society (realistic description, skilful narration, humour).
• Chaucer is often referred to as "the father of English poetry" because he laid the foundations of the classic English verse line.