So that we don’t get lost in the maze of Literary Periods, we will run through it again in order to have an idea of how far we have come and where we are going.
Also, it is important to separate the literatures of different peoples and their times. So, we have:
African Literature
European Literature
American Literature
African-American Literature
Asian Literature
African Literature is our destination. However, because when we go to school, we are taught a wide variety of things in order to receive a balanced education, we have to touch the literatures of other lands and peoples.
A rundown of Literary Periods
Ancient/Classical Literature (1200BCE-455CE)
Medieval Literature (400AD-500 AD (1,000 years!))
Renaissance (1300-1600)
Reformation Literature (1660-1700 – it was part of the Renaissance)
Enlightenment Period (mid 1700s-1815)
Romanticism (1798-1870)
Literary Realism (1820-1920)
Victorian Literature (1837-1901)
Naturalism (1860s)
Modernism (1901-1939)
Existentialism (1940s-1950s)
The Renaissance slash the Reformation periods we just finished treating is a wide period (in English literature, it is divided into the Elizabethan Age – 1558-1603; Jacobean Age – (King James VI of Scotland/ James 1 (1603-1625) of England period. James is called Jacobus in Latin); the Caroline/Carolean Era – this is the period of the reign of the son of James 1 of England called Charles 1 of England, Scotland & Ireland ((born November 19, 1600) – reigned – 1625-1649, executed January 30, 1649.
Caroline is an adjective of Carolus, Latin for Charles – it is a hectic period of poetry separating three kinds of schools: Metaphysical, Cavalier and Puritan.
On September 6, 1642, the English theatre was closed and reopened because of the activities of the Puritans. The Puritans stood for righteousness and liberty.
1625-1675 was a period known as the Puritan Era. What makes this period stand out is that one of the greatest literary figures in English literature, a Puritan himself, John Milton (1608-1674), was writing at this time.
This period is an interesting read because although Charles 1 was raised a Protestant by his father King James V1 of Scotland/ James I of England, Charles married a Catholic princess (Henrietta Maria) of French descent, and incurred the wrath of his subjects.
Maybe because he was hated, he had many quarrels with his Parliament who accused him of authoritarian rule which “provoked a civil war”. Found guilty of treason later, he, although a king, was beheaded on January 30, 1649!
A major contribution of this unloved and beheaded king was that the monarchy was stripped of its power by the English Parliament leaving England a democratic state whose power lay with the Parliament.
After Charles 1, no monarch ascended the throne of England. A man called Oliver Cromwell, a Puritan leader took over power (1649-1660) – and this period was called The Commonwealth Period/Puritan Interregnum. During this time, writers like Andrew Marvell and Sir Thomas Browne amongst others wrote joining forces with John Milton to keep the literary fire burning in England.
We rushed through literary periods because it is a newspaper column and not a classroom course outline. Students of Literary Studies should do well to follow the periods and read through slowly perusing through the works of the Jacobean and the Caroline writers among whom are the Puritans.
Students of Literary Studies should also tarry with the Reformation period when great literary giants like Dryden were writing. The works of John Dryden (1631-1700) who dominated the literary life of Reformation England to an extent that the period was called the Age of Dryden and the man known as the creator of English Literature while Geoffrey Chaucer is known as the father of English Literature are worth perusing.
Dryden was influential in his time as a poet, literary critic, playwright and translator. It was this Dryden who established the iambic pentametre also known as heroic couplet or rhyming couplet.
Literary students should look at different literary periods, their themes and styles.
An Introduction to the Enlightenment Period
The Enlightenment period also known as the Age of Reason was a period that men took humanism to a higher height raising it to reasoning, deism and skepticism.
This period is a mid 17th to early 18th century movement emphasizing reason, individualism, skepticism and science. This period saw men of thoughts going back to God, but in a different way.
Curiously, this was the age of atheism. However, some men of thoughts at this time were deists. They believed in God who created the universe, but was not in control of the universe. They equated God to a clock maker who made the clock but was not in control of the clock. They propounded the theory that the universe God created ran by natural laws.
Writers, philosophers, scientists of this age shunned superstition, supernaturalism and things without proofs. They rejected many of the Puritan Ideals. Remember that the Puritans stood for righteousness and liberty (in the spirit). The Enlightenment age of thought stood for scientific proofs.
The influence of science began to be noticed in poetry and literature at this time.
It was believed that the writings of such men of thought as Rene Descartes, Isaac Newton, Baruch Spinoza and others helped in the birthing of this period of thought.
To be continued…