19th Century Literature: Background, Periodization, and Social Classes - Prof. Monrós, Apuntes de Literatura del Siglo XIX

¡Descarga 19th Century Literature: Background, Periodization, and Social Classes - Prof. Monrós y más Apuntes en PDF de Literatura del Siglo XIX solo en Docsity! Introduction to the 19th Century literature Background: the 18th century 1750-1850: Industrial revolution 1776: < American Declaration of Independence < The same year, the following influential works were published: Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (Adam Smith) and Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Edward Gibbon) 1789: French Revolution. The French example provided hope to those who wanted to extend reforms of the British government from the imperfect settlement of 1688. Events in France had provoked considerable reflection about the way society was organised along with class and gender lines. The French Revolution not only inspire intellectual debates but ordinary working people began to organise into political groups and call for reforms. There were conservative reactions that considered the influence of the events as a threat to the British constitution. < The Rights of Man (Thomas Paine) was published in 1791 as a response to Burke's Reflections. It was defended by Mary Wollstonecraft. < Cheap Repository Tracts (Hannah More) was conservative propaganda distributed among the poor about the benefits of good Christian morality, hard work and deference to authority in contrast to the perils of French Revolutionary ideas. Periodization < For some authors periodization in literary history does not prove a useful tool to understand and teach literature e e Michael Foucault argued that periodization of literary history culture has no inherent historical validity as a division of human culture - An arbitrary imposition on a Periodization of the past can be reductive. Periods are necessary for understanding past texts because they make difference apparent. Period terms are “relative” and fictitious, but necessary for understanding the complex accomplishments of individual authors. Period texts help to establish the context of a text and a fictional homogenous period style. e e What is a literary canon? The “Canonical” Canon - The Western Canon, mainly white male authors that have written about traditional themes. Literary Periods eS + Periodization - the division of works into blocks of time. Used to organize the literary works in periods, related to the timeline. eS + Generation - is made up of a group of writers that have born in the same era and whose works emphasize a common formula. eS + Movement - Literary movements are a way to divide literature into categories of similar philosophical, topical, or aesthetic features. eS + Style is influenced by a given socio-political atmosphere. There are contrasts between different kinds of literature. It might be due to the different language or because people think that some periods have more movements. Literary periods are subjective depending on the critic as they would divide into more or fewer movements the timeline. Social classes Both the French and the Industrial Revolutions had effects on the social history of Great Britain, provoking the conscience of a hierarchical society. This effect was reflected in the literature and arts of the period. Ford Madox Brown's Work e 19th Century realism; the very heart of Victorian Life e It's a social panorama - the hero ofthe painting is a manual labourer, meanwhile, the other social types are pushed to the sides of the composition (the intellectuals (Thomas Carlyle and Frederick Denison), a groundsel seller). e Aparody ofthe English class system through the dogs that appear in the painting. Tripartite class structure in the 19th century Class: distinct social groupings which at any given historical period, taken as a whole, constituted British Society. Different social classes can be distinguished by inequalities (power, wealth, working, education, religion, culture...). < Under classes: those who lived in poverty