English Literature, Where Did it All Begin?

Year one of my degree is made up of four modules (like subjects within English Literature):

1. History of English Literature
2. Literary Criticism
3. Imaginative Writing
4. Myth, Mystery and Metamorphosis

I'm going to try to include a bit of each of these in my blog. Lets see how this goes.

So, let's start at the very beginning (it's a very good place to start).

Roots.

English, as a language, started as 'Celtic' between C1-5AD. In this period, Britain was part of the Roman Empire. It was then invaded by pagan tribes from Northern Europe (Angles, Saxons and Jutes). You might recognise the word 'Angles' as it sounds like 'Anglais' (the French word for 'English'. This is because the Angles came from Europe and brought with them their language: Anglisc-this marks the beginning of the English language as we know it today.

Anglo-Saxon/Old English. (450-1100AD)

The Anglo-Saxon invaders (if you live in England then you must have heard of them at some point, Time Team especially like to chat about them) brought with them a very old tradition-oral poetry. Basically, (prepare yourself for a sweeping statement) nothing was written down until the Seventh Century. The earliest manuscripts then began production in the monasteries.

Up until that point, travelling Bards would learn stories off by heart and go up and down the country repeating them. They were often patriotic, heroic, moral and contained SOME element of truth. Most importantly, these tales rhymed and had a meter. This was very important as it made them easier for the Bards to remember (some were thousands of lines long).

Literary Periods and main texts.

• 450-1066- Old English (Anglo-Saxon) Period: Beowulf

Also known as the Middle Ages, this period mostly produced written manuscripts of oral poetry. The characteristic literary form of this period is alliterative accentual verse.

• 1066-1500- Middle English Period: Geoffrey Chaucer's 'Canterbury Tales

A new period begins here because the Norman Conquest of 1066 has brought significant changes to both the English language and its literature. Characteristic genres are the verse romance, mystery plays and morality plays.

• late 15th- early 17th C-The Renaissance: Shakespeare

This period marks the English Renaissance as opposed to the earlier Italian Renaissance. It spanned two centuries, although the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1st is considered to be its high point. The Elizabethan audience were able to view the works of William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe. After her death came the Jacobean Age, remembered in literature as the age of the Metaphysical poets such as John Donne. The final part of the Renaissance was a very confusing time, involving the overthrow of King Charles 1st and the Interregnum period. One famous text from this era is John Milton's epic 'Paradise Lost'.

• 1660-1745-The Neoclassical period: Oroonoko

This period includes the Restoration Period (1660-1700) in which Britain's first published female author, Aphra Behn, wrote the brilliant 'Oroonoko'. It also includes the Augustan Age (1700-1745) in which John Gay produced his wonderful work 'The Beggar's Opera' (1728).

• 1780s-1830s-The Romantic Period: choose your own from about a Billion texts

I think that this is the period most people think of when they talk about English Literature. Think Victorians, think classical poetry, think of English Literature at its highest point in society. And from this entire period the text I was given to study was...'The Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano'. Never heard of it? No, neither had I. But let me tell you, it is a heart-breaking, heroic adventure written by a slave and based on true events. I'd choose that over 'ponsy' Victorian poetry any day.