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Jana Javorčíková
A COMPENDIUM OF ENGLISH LITERATURE –
An Annotated Companion to English Literature and Literary Theory
Vydavateľstvo Univerzity Mateja Bela v Banskej Bystrici Belianum
Banská Bystrica2015
Učebný materiál vznikol v rámci projektu „Inovatívne kroky pre potreby vysokoškolského vzdelávania v 21. storočí“ (ITMS: 26110230109) v súlade s Operačným programom Vzdelávanie. Projekt je spolufi nancovaný zo zdrojov Európskej únie. Prijímateľom nenávratného fi nančného príspevku je Univerzita Mateja Bela v Banskej Bystrici.
© Univerzita Mateja Bela v Banskej Bystrici, 2015
ISBN 978-80-557-1004-4
Učebný materiál vznikol v rámci projektu „Inovatívne kroky pre potreby vysokoškolského vzdelávania v 21. storočí” (ITMS: 26110230109) v súlade s Operačným programom Vzdelávanie. Projekt je spolufinancovaný zo zdrojov Európskej únie. Prijímateľom nenávratného finančného príspevku je Univerzita Mateja Bela v Banskej Bystrici. Názov: A COMPENDIUM OF ENGLISH LITERATURE –
An Annotated Companion to English Literature and Literary Theory
Autorka: PaedDr. Jana Javorčíková, PhD. Ilustrácie: © PaedDr. Jana Javorčíková, PhD. Fotografie: Recenzentky: Mgr. Lucia Otrísalová, PhD. PaedDr. Dagmar Blight, PhD. Jazykový korektor:
BA. Michael Eliot Dove
© Univerzita Mateja Bela v Banskej Bystrici, 2015 ISBN 978-80-557-1004-4
TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword .......................................................................................................................................... 7 How to Use This Book .................................................................................................................... 8 Introduction to Genology ................................................................................................................ 9
WHY DO LITERARY GENRES MATTER? ........................................................................ 9 WHAT IS A “LITERARY GENRE”? .................................................................................... 9 WHAT IS GENOLOGY? ........................................................................................................ 9 SOME HISTORICAL APPROACHES TO LITERARY GENRES ..................................... 10 FORMS OF LITERARY GENRES ...................................................................................... 11 THE METHODS OF GENOLOGICAL RESEARCH ......................................................... 12 THE HIERARCHY OF GENOLOGIC TERMINOLOGY .................................................. 13 DRAMA AND DRAMATIC GENRES ................................................................................ 13 ANCIENT DRAMA .............................................................................................................. 14 MEDIEVAL DRAMA .......................................................................................................... 15 RENAISSANCE (ELIZABETHAN) DRAMA .................................................................... 15 DRAMA OF THE JACOBEAN AND CAROLINE AGES ................................................. 16 THE DIVERSITY OF THE 19TH CENTURY DRAMA .................................................... 16 20TH CENTURY “MODERN” DRAMA .............................................................................. 17 PROSE AND ITS GENRES.................................................................................................. 18 POETRY AND ITS GENRES .............................................................................................. 19
ENGLISH LITERATURE FACT FINDER .................................................................................. 23 Periods of English Literature ......................................................................................................... 23 Old English Period (428–1100) ..................................................................................................... 24 Middle English Period (1350–1500) ............................................................................................. 25
“The Age of Chaucer” ........................................................................................................... 25 Geoffrey Chaucer (1343–1400) ............................................................................................. 25
English Renaissance (1500–1660) – Introduction ......................................................................... 26 William Shakespeare (1564–1616) ............................................................................................... 27
Shakespeare’s poetry ............................................................................................................. 27 Shakespeare’s drama ............................................................................................................. 28
Neoclassic Period: Literature after Shakespeare (1660–1798)...................................................... 29 “Age of Reason” – Restoration – Neoclassicism .................................................................. 29 John Donne (1572–1631) ...................................................................................................... 29 John Dryden (1631–1700) ..................................................................................................... 30 Alexander Pope (1688–1744) ................................................................................................ 30 Prose: Daniel de Foe (1660 – 1731) ...................................................................................... 31 Prose: Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) ....................................................................................... 32
The Rise of the English Novel (late 18th century–early 19th century) ........................................ 33 Henry Fielding (1707–1754) ................................................................................................. 33 Lawrence Sterne (1713–1768)............................................................................................... 33 Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832) ................................................................................................ 34
Romanticism (1798-1870) – Introduction ..................................................................................... 35 Pre-Romanticism ................................................................................................................... 36 Robert Burns (1759–1796) .................................................................................................... 36 William Blake (1757–1827) .................................................................................................. 36 Romantic Poetry – 1st Generation of Lake Poets ................................................................... 37 William Wordsworth (1770-1850) ........................................................................................ 37 Romantic Poetry – 2nd Generation of Lake Poets ................................................................. 38 John Keats (1795–1821) ........................................................................................................ 38 Romantic Prose ...................................................................................................................... 39
Učebný materiál vznikol v rámci projektu „Inovatívne kroky pre potreby vysokoškolského vzdelávania v 21. storočí” (ITMS: 26110230109) v súlade s Operačným programom Vzdelávanie. Projekt je spolufinancovaný zo zdrojov Európskej únie. Prijímateľom nenávratného finančného príspevku je Univerzita Mateja Bela v Banskej Bystrici. Názov: A COMPENDIUM OF ENGLISH LITERATURE –
An Annotated Companion to English Literature and Literary Theory
Autorka: PaedDr. Jana Javorčíková, PhD. Ilustrácie: © PaedDr. Jana Javorčíková, PhD. Fotografie: Recenzentky: Mgr. Lucia Otrísalová, PhD. PaedDr. Dagmar Blight, PhD. Jazykový korektor:
BA. Michael Eliot Dove
© Univerzita Mateja Bela v Banskej Bystrici, 2015 ISBN 978-80-557-1004-4
TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword .......................................................................................................................................... 7 How to Use This Book .................................................................................................................... 8 Introduction to Genology ................................................................................................................ 9
WHY DO LITERARY GENRES MATTER? ........................................................................ 9 WHAT IS A “LITERARY GENRE”? .................................................................................... 9 WHAT IS GENOLOGY? ........................................................................................................ 9 SOME HISTORICAL APPROACHES TO LITERARY GENRES ..................................... 10 FORMS OF LITERARY GENRES ...................................................................................... 11 THE METHODS OF GENOLOGICAL RESEARCH ......................................................... 12 THE HIERARCHY OF GENOLOGIC TERMINOLOGY .................................................. 13 DRAMA AND DRAMATIC GENRES ................................................................................ 13 ANCIENT DRAMA .............................................................................................................. 14 MEDIEVAL DRAMA .......................................................................................................... 15 RENAISSANCE (ELIZABETHAN) DRAMA .................................................................... 15 DRAMA OF THE JACOBEAN AND CAROLINE AGES ................................................. 16 THE DIVERSITY OF THE 19TH CENTURY DRAMA .................................................... 16 20TH CENTURY “MODERN” DRAMA .............................................................................. 17 PROSE AND ITS GENRES.................................................................................................. 18 POETRY AND ITS GENRES .............................................................................................. 19
ENGLISH LITERATURE FACT FINDER .................................................................................. 23 Periods of English Literature ......................................................................................................... 23 Old English Period (428–1100) ..................................................................................................... 24 Middle English Period (1350–1500) ............................................................................................. 25
“The Age of Chaucer” ........................................................................................................... 25 Geoffrey Chaucer (1343–1400) ............................................................................................. 25
English Renaissance (1500–1660) – Introduction ......................................................................... 26 William Shakespeare (1564–1616) ............................................................................................... 27
Shakespeare’s poetry ............................................................................................................. 27 Shakespeare’s drama ............................................................................................................. 28
Neoclassic Period: Literature after Shakespeare (1660–1798)...................................................... 29 “Age of Reason” – Restoration – Neoclassicism .................................................................. 29 John Donne (1572–1631) ...................................................................................................... 29 John Dryden (1631–1700) ..................................................................................................... 30 Alexander Pope (1688–1744) ................................................................................................ 30 Prose: Daniel de Foe (1660 – 1731) ...................................................................................... 31 Prose: Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) ....................................................................................... 32
The Rise of the English Novel (late 18th century–early 19th century) ........................................ 33 Henry Fielding (1707–1754) ................................................................................................. 33 Lawrence Sterne (1713–1768)............................................................................................... 33 Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832) ................................................................................................ 34
Romanticism (1798-1870) – Introduction ..................................................................................... 35 Pre-Romanticism ................................................................................................................... 36 Robert Burns (1759–1796) .................................................................................................... 36 William Blake (1757–1827) .................................................................................................. 36 Romantic Poetry – 1st Generation of Lake Poets ................................................................... 37 William Wordsworth (1770-1850) ........................................................................................ 37 Romantic Poetry – 2nd Generation of Lake Poets ................................................................. 38 John Keats (1795–1821) ........................................................................................................ 38 Romantic Prose ...................................................................................................................... 39
4
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797–1851) .......................................................................... 39 The Development of the 19th century Novel – between Romantic and Realistic ............... 40 Jane Austen (1775-1817) ...................................................................................................... 40
The Victorian Era – Introduction (1837–1901) ............................................................................ 42 Periods of Victorian Literature ..................................................................................................... 44
The Victorian Social Novel – ............................................................................................... 45 Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) ........................................................................................... 45 Charles Dickens (1812–1870) – Realistic or Romantic novelist? ........................................ 46 Periods of Dickens’ Artistry ................................................................................................. 47 1. Early “Idealistic” Years of Dickens’ Artistry ................................................................... 47 2. Master (stylistically mature) Years ................................................................................... 49 3. Late (Bleak) Years ............................................................................................................ 49 Conclusion: Dickens’ Social and Literary Contribution ...................................................... 52
Victorian Women Writers ............................................................................................................. 53 The BRONTË Sisters ........................................................................................................... 55 George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans) – a woman among the social realists? ............................. 56 Victorian Poetry .................................................................................................................... 57 Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892) .................................................................................... 58 Robert Browning (1812–1889) ............................................................................................. 59 Elizabeth Barrett-Browning (1806–1861) ............................................................................ 60 The Pre-Raphaelites .............................................................................................................. 61 Dante Gabriel Rosetti (1828–1882) ...................................................................................... 61 Christina Rosetti (1830–1894) .............................................................................................. 61 Algernon Charles Swinburne “Swineborn“ .......................................................................... 61 Matthew Arnold (1822–1888) .............................................................................................. 62 Victorian Drama ................................................................................................................... 63 Walter Pater (1839–1894) ..................................................................................................... 64 Oscar (Fingal O’Flahertie Wills) Wilde (1854–1900) .......................................................... 65 Reflexion of the Victorian Age in Wilde’s fiction ............................................................... 66 Reflexion of the Victorian Age in Wilde’s drama ................................................................ 67 From Victorian to Modern Drama ........................................................................................ 68 George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) ..................................................................................... 68 Reflexion of the Victorian Age in Shaw’s drama ................................................................. 69 Drama after Shaw ................................................................................................................. 70 High and Late Victorian Literature ....................................................................................... 71 CHILDREN’S LITERATURE: ............................................................................................ 72 Lewis Carroll (1832 – 1898) ................................................................................................. 72 Exotic Novel: ........................................................................................................................ 74 Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) .............................................................................................. 74 Science fiction: Herbert George Wells ................................................................................. 75 (1866–1946) .......................................................................................................................... 75
From Victorian Literature to Modernism ..................................................................................... 76 Joseph Conrad (1857–1924) ................................................................................................. 76 Literature before the First World War .................................................................................. 78 The Edwardian Period (1901–1914) ..................................................................................... 78
The Rise of Modernism (1914-1965) ........................................................................................... 79 Virginia (Adeline Virginia Stephen) Woolf (1882–1941) .................................................... 80 James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (1882–1941) .................................................................... 83 David Herbert Lawrence (1885–1930) ................................................................................. 85 Edward Morgan Foster (1879-1970) .................................................................................... 86 Rupert Brooke (1887–1915) ................................................................................................. 87
5
Siegfried Sassoon (1886–1967) ............................................................................................. 88 Wilfred Owen (1893–1918)................................................................................................... 89
Literature after the Second World War: trends and tendencies ..................................................... 91 1 Chronological periodization ............................................................................................... 91 2 Genre classification ......................................................................................................... 92 3 Periodization according to dominant literary groups ...................................................... 92
APPENDIX – SAMPLE TEXTS .................................................................................................. 94 Part I: Poetry .................................................................................................................................. 94 From Beowulf to McGough .......................................................................................................... 94
ANONYMOUS (8th-11th century) ........................................................................................ 94 GEOFFREY CHAUCER (app. 1343-1400) .......................................................................... 95 WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (1564 – 1616) ........................................................................ 97
LITERATURE AFTER SHAKESPEARE – RESTORATION – “AGE OF REASON” ............. 99 JOHN DONNE (1572-1631) ................................................................................................. 99 ALEXANDER POPE (1688-1744) ..................................................................................... 101 PRE-ROMANTICISM ........................................................................................................ 103 ROBERT BURNS (1759-1796) ......................................................................................... 103 Auld Lang Syne (1788) ....................................................................................................... 104 WILLIAM BLAKE (1757-1827) ........................................................................................ 105
Romanticism – First Generation of Lake Poets .......................................................................... 106 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH (1770–1850) ....................................................................... 106 SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE (1772–1834) .............................................................. 107
Romanticism – Second Generation of Lake Poets ...................................................................... 110 JOHN KEATS (1795-1821) ............................................................................................... 110 PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY (1792-1822) ........................................................................ 112 ROBERT BROWNING (1812-1889) ................................................................................ 114 ELISABETH BARRETT BROWNING (1806-1861) ........................................................ 116 MATTHEW ARNOLD (1822-1888) .................................................................................. 117
Poetry after Second World War................................................................................................... 118 JOHN BETJEMAN (1906-1984) ........................................................................................ 118 SEAMUS HEANEY (1939-2013) ...................................................................................... 119 ROGER MCGOUGH (b. 1937) .......................................................................................... 120 TED HUGHES (1930-1998) ............................................................................................... 121
Part II: Drama .............................................................................................................................. 122 From Shakespeare to Beckett ...................................................................................................... 122
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (1564-1616) ......................................................................... 122 OSCAR WILDE (1854-1900) ............................................................................................. 123 GEORGE BERNARD SHAW (1856-1950) ....................................................................... 128
Drama after the Second World War ............................................................................................ 130 JOHN OSBORNE (1929-1994) .......................................................................................... 130 HAROLD PINTER (1930-2008) ........................................................................................ 132 SAMUEL BECKETT (1906-1989) ..................................................................................... 133
Part III: Prose ............................................................................................................................... 135 From Chaucer to Lodge ............................................................................................................... 135
GEOFFREY CHAUCER (app. 1343-1400) ........................................................................ 135 JONATHAN SWIFT (1667-1745) ...................................................................................... 136
The Development of the Novel ................................................................................................... 142 (late 18th century–early 19th century)......................................................................................... 142
DANIEL DEFOE (app. 1660-1731) .................................................................................... 142 MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT SHELLEY (1797 – 1851) ................................................ 144 JANE AUSTEN (1775 – 1817) ........................................................................................... 149
4
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797–1851) .......................................................................... 39 The Development of the 19th century Novel – between Romantic and Realistic ............... 40 Jane Austen (1775-1817) ...................................................................................................... 40
The Victorian Era – Introduction (1837–1901) ............................................................................ 42 Periods of Victorian Literature ..................................................................................................... 44
The Victorian Social Novel – ............................................................................................... 45 Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) ........................................................................................... 45 Charles Dickens (1812–1870) – Realistic or Romantic novelist? ........................................ 46 Periods of Dickens’ Artistry ................................................................................................. 47 1. Early “Idealistic” Years of Dickens’ Artistry ................................................................... 47 2. Master (stylistically mature) Years ................................................................................... 49 3. Late (Bleak) Years ............................................................................................................ 49 Conclusion: Dickens’ Social and Literary Contribution ...................................................... 52
Victorian Women Writers ............................................................................................................. 53 The BRONTË Sisters ........................................................................................................... 55 George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans) – a woman among the social realists? ............................. 56 Victorian Poetry .................................................................................................................... 57 Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892) .................................................................................... 58 Robert Browning (1812–1889) ............................................................................................. 59 Elizabeth Barrett-Browning (1806–1861) ............................................................................ 60 The Pre-Raphaelites .............................................................................................................. 61 Dante Gabriel Rosetti (1828–1882) ...................................................................................... 61 Christina Rosetti (1830–1894) .............................................................................................. 61 Algernon Charles Swinburne “Swineborn“ .......................................................................... 61 Matthew Arnold (1822–1888) .............................................................................................. 62 Victorian Drama ................................................................................................................... 63 Walter Pater (1839–1894) ..................................................................................................... 64 Oscar (Fingal O’Flahertie Wills) Wilde (1854–1900) .......................................................... 65 Reflexion of the Victorian Age in Wilde’s fiction ............................................................... 66 Reflexion of the Victorian Age in Wilde’s drama ................................................................ 67 From Victorian to Modern Drama ........................................................................................ 68 George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) ..................................................................................... 68 Reflexion of the Victorian Age in Shaw’s drama ................................................................. 69 Drama after Shaw ................................................................................................................. 70 High and Late Victorian Literature ....................................................................................... 71 CHILDREN’S LITERATURE: ............................................................................................ 72 Lewis Carroll (1832 – 1898) ................................................................................................. 72 Exotic Novel: ........................................................................................................................ 74 Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) .............................................................................................. 74 Science fiction: Herbert George Wells ................................................................................. 75 (1866–1946) .......................................................................................................................... 75
From Victorian Literature to Modernism ..................................................................................... 76 Joseph Conrad (1857–1924) ................................................................................................. 76 Literature before the First World War .................................................................................. 78 The Edwardian Period (1901–1914) ..................................................................................... 78
The Rise of Modernism (1914-1965) ........................................................................................... 79 Virginia (Adeline Virginia Stephen) Woolf (1882–1941) .................................................... 80 James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (1882–1941) .................................................................... 83 David Herbert Lawrence (1885–1930) ................................................................................. 85 Edward Morgan Foster (1879-1970) .................................................................................... 86 Rupert Brooke (1887–1915) ................................................................................................. 87
5
Siegfried Sassoon (1886–1967) ............................................................................................. 88 Wilfred Owen (1893–1918)................................................................................................... 89
Literature after the Second World War: trends and tendencies ..................................................... 91 1 Chronological periodization ............................................................................................... 91 2 Genre classification ......................................................................................................... 92 3 Periodization according to dominant literary groups ...................................................... 92
APPENDIX – SAMPLE TEXTS .................................................................................................. 94 Part I: Poetry .................................................................................................................................. 94 From Beowulf to McGough .......................................................................................................... 94
ANONYMOUS (8th-11th century) ........................................................................................ 94 GEOFFREY CHAUCER (app. 1343-1400) .......................................................................... 95 WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (1564 – 1616) ........................................................................ 97
LITERATURE AFTER SHAKESPEARE – RESTORATION – “AGE OF REASON” ............. 99 JOHN DONNE (1572-1631) ................................................................................................. 99 ALEXANDER POPE (1688-1744) ..................................................................................... 101 PRE-ROMANTICISM ........................................................................................................ 103 ROBERT BURNS (1759-1796) ......................................................................................... 103 Auld Lang Syne (1788) ....................................................................................................... 104 WILLIAM BLAKE (1757-1827) ........................................................................................ 105
Romanticism – First Generation of Lake Poets .......................................................................... 106 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH (1770–1850) ....................................................................... 106 SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE (1772–1834) .............................................................. 107
Romanticism – Second Generation of Lake Poets ...................................................................... 110 JOHN KEATS (1795-1821) ............................................................................................... 110 PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY (1792-1822) ........................................................................ 112 ROBERT BROWNING (1812-1889) ................................................................................ 114 ELISABETH BARRETT BROWNING (1806-1861) ........................................................ 116 MATTHEW ARNOLD (1822-1888) .................................................................................. 117
Poetry after Second World War................................................................................................... 118 JOHN BETJEMAN (1906-1984) ........................................................................................ 118 SEAMUS HEANEY (1939-2013) ...................................................................................... 119 ROGER MCGOUGH (b. 1937) .......................................................................................... 120 TED HUGHES (1930-1998) ............................................................................................... 121
Part II: Drama .............................................................................................................................. 122 From Shakespeare to Beckett ...................................................................................................... 122
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (1564-1616) ......................................................................... 122 OSCAR WILDE (1854-1900) ............................................................................................. 123 GEORGE BERNARD SHAW (1856-1950) ....................................................................... 128
Drama after the Second World War ............................................................................................ 130 JOHN OSBORNE (1929-1994) .......................................................................................... 130 HAROLD PINTER (1930-2008) ........................................................................................ 132 SAMUEL BECKETT (1906-1989) ..................................................................................... 133
Part III: Prose ............................................................................................................................... 135 From Chaucer to Lodge ............................................................................................................... 135
GEOFFREY CHAUCER (app. 1343-1400) ........................................................................ 135 JONATHAN SWIFT (1667-1745) ...................................................................................... 136
The Development of the Novel ................................................................................................... 142 (late 18th century–early 19th century)......................................................................................... 142
DANIEL DEFOE (app. 1660-1731) .................................................................................... 142 MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT SHELLEY (1797 – 1851) ................................................ 144 JANE AUSTEN (1775 – 1817) ........................................................................................... 149
6
Victorian Literature .................................................................................................................... 151 CHARLES DICKENS (1812-1870) ................................................................................... 151 CHARLOTE BRONTE (1816-1855) ................................................................................. 153 EMILY BRONTE (1818-1848) .......................................................................................... 158 JOSEPH CONRAD (1857-1924) ....................................................................................... 159 VIRGINIA WOOLF (1882-1941) ...................................................................................... 160 JAMES JOYCE (1882-1941) ............................................................................................. 170 ALDOUS HUXLEY (1894-1963) ...................................................................................... 173
Prose after the Second World War ............................................................................................. 177 GEORGE ORWELL (1903-1950) ..................................................................................... 177 ALAN SILLITOE (1928-2010) .......................................................................................... 178 JOHN WAIN (1925-1994) ................................................................................................. 181 KINGSLEY AMIS (1922-1995) ........................................................................................ 181 SALMAN RUSHDIE (b. 1947) ......................................................................................... 182 KAZUO ISHIGURO (b. 1954) ........................................................................................... 183 GRAHAM GREENE (1904-1991) ..................................................................................... 185 WILLIAM GOLDING (1911-1993) .................................................................................. 186 JOHN FOWLES (1926-2005) ............................................................................................ 190 MURIEL SPARK (1918-2006) .......................................................................................... 192 GEORGE MIKES (1912-1987) .......................................................................................... 193 SUE TOWNSEND (1946-2014) ........................................................................................ 193 DAVID LODGE (b. 1935) ................................................................................................. 194 Bibliography ....................................................................................................................... 196 Photographs and pictures .................................................................................................... 201
7
FOREWORD There are many ways to understand literature. One may pick a book at random, enjoy it and try to find out more about its author, era and perhaps literary tendencies that formed the style and content of the book. School curricula are more systematic – they require one’s awareness of the historical timelines, and plenty of background knowledge related to the authors being discussed. Understanding literature, however, means understanding the continuity of its development. As such, it requires both a diachronic and a synchronic view of the literary and extra-literary events that formed each era or literary movement. To this aim, I have compiled this course book from the standpoint of the literary genre. Each genre, prose, poetry and drama, has its own formative tendencies and shifts logically resulting from artistic as well as historical and political changes. If a student of literature is aware of these, he or she can very easily understand not only an individual piece of writing but also its general literary and cultural context, and its historical inevitability. And that is exactly what differentiates an art and literaturelover from a scholar. Those who contributed to the formal and intellectual content of this book include:
Ivan Zelenka and Richard Amidon Betts, who helped me to understand literature and its historical context;
Michael Dove, an excellent advisor and mentor in the filed of English;
Free web-sites such as Project Guttenberg E-texts which make publications like this possible;
The EU project Inovatívne kroky pre potreby vysokoškolského vzdelávania v 21. storočí (ITMS:
26110230109) in accordance with the Operational Programme Education.
6
Victorian Literature .................................................................................................................... 151 CHARLES DICKENS (1812-1870) ................................................................................... 151 CHARLOTE BRONTE (1816-1855) ................................................................................. 153 EMILY BRONTE (1818-1848) .......................................................................................... 158 JOSEPH CONRAD (1857-1924) ....................................................................................... 159 VIRGINIA WOOLF (1882-1941) ...................................................................................... 160 JAMES JOYCE (1882-1941) ............................................................................................. 170 ALDOUS HUXLEY (1894-1963) ...................................................................................... 173
Prose after the Second World War ............................................................................................. 177 GEORGE ORWELL (1903-1950) ..................................................................................... 177 ALAN SILLITOE (1928-2010) .......................................................................................... 178 JOHN WAIN (1925-1994) ................................................................................................. 181 KINGSLEY AMIS (1922-1995) ........................................................................................ 181 SALMAN RUSHDIE (b. 1947) ......................................................................................... 182 KAZUO ISHIGURO (b. 1954) ........................................................................................... 183 GRAHAM GREENE (1904-1991) ..................................................................................... 185 WILLIAM GOLDING (1911-1993) .................................................................................. 186 JOHN FOWLES (1926-2005) ............................................................................................ 190 MURIEL SPARK (1918-2006) .......................................................................................... 192 GEORGE MIKES (1912-1987) .......................................................................................... 193 SUE TOWNSEND (1946-2014) ........................................................................................ 193 DAVID LODGE (b. 1935) ................................................................................................. 194 Bibliography ....................................................................................................................... 196 Photographs and pictures .................................................................................................... 201
7
FOREWORD There are many ways to understand literature. One may pick a book at random, enjoy it and try to find out more about its author, era and perhaps literary tendencies that formed the style and content of the book. School curricula are more systematic – they require one’s awareness of the historical timelines, and plenty of background knowledge related to the authors being discussed. Understanding literature, however, means understanding the continuity of its development. As such, it requires both a diachronic and a synchronic view of the literary and extra-literary events that formed each era or literary movement. To this aim, I have compiled this course book from the standpoint of the literary genre. Each genre, prose, poetry and drama, has its own formative tendencies and shifts logically resulting from artistic as well as historical and political changes. If a student of literature is aware of these, he or she can very easily understand not only an individual piece of writing but also its general literary and cultural context, and its historical inevitability. And that is exactly what differentiates an art and literaturelover from a scholar. Those who contributed to the formal and intellectual content of this book include:
Ivan Zelenka and Richard Amidon Betts, who helped me to understand literature and its historical context;
Michael Dove, an excellent advisor and mentor in the filed of English;
Free web-sites such as Project Guttenberg E-texts which make publications like this possible;
The EU project Inovatívne kroky pre potreby vysokoškolského vzdelávania v 21. storočí (ITMS:
26110230109) in accordance with the Operational Programme Education.
8
HOW TO USE THIS BOOK
For the reader’s convenience, thiscourse book has been divided into three sections.
In the first one, entitled “Introduction to Genology”, I analyse the nature of genre and its fundamental features, as well as selected academic issuesrelated to the classification of genres, the emergence of modern genres and many other areas.
The second part of the book, entitled an“English Literature Factfinder”provides an “exegesis” of the most relevant English authors of the British Isles who represent a significant literary movement or shift in style and content. This may be your very first academic encounter with authors such as William Chaucer, Christopher Marlowe, Virginia Woolf, who, I hope, are not completely unknown to you, and also with authors such as John Donne, Matthew Arnold and many others who are perhaps less known in our part of Europe. Each chapter is accompanied by a short excerpt of a representative text that illustrates a significant feature of the author discussed. The purpose of this chapter is to broaden your knowledgeof English authors of various genres. After mastering this part of the course book, you will be able to understand the continuity of literature as such as well as the continuity within various genres.
The third part of the course book (the Appendix) contains a selection of various texts for practical text analysis. Here you can train your abilities at identifying significant features of various genres and literary movements.
I hope you will enjoy reading this course book as such as I enjoyed writing it.
Jana Javorčíková, the author.
9
INTRODUCTION TO GENOLOGY
WHY DO LITERARY GENRES MATTER?
Literary genre is for many reasons a fascinating category. Not only is it an attempt to approach pieces of art systematically, but literary genres also reflect the dominating view of life and even lifestyles of a selected period. Critics often point out that each epoch had its “characteristic” genre:
The prevalent genre of antiquity was drama; The dominating genre of the Middle Ages was poetry; The most popular genre of present period is prose.
As understanding literature relies on understanding the context and interrelation of literary pieces, attention will be paid to the genesis, transformations and experiments with literary genres in various literary periods in order to point out the continuity of development and relationships between various historical and contemporary genres.
WHAT IS A “LITERARY GENRE”?
Before we advance to the essentials of genology (the literary discipline focused on literary genres), it is necessary to answer the basic question: what is a literary genre? The answer to this question is surprisingly complicated: The English word “genre”derives from the French term genre (meaning “kind”,“type” or “class”; Cuddon, p. 342). It refers to acategory or sort (Žilka, 1984, p. 208) of a literary work. Genre represents a normative aesthetic convention which serves as an invariant model for the creation of specific texts which represent variant forms of the genre invariant (Žilka, 1984, p. 208). In order to illustrate this ambivalent nature of genre, Chris Barker uses an illustrative metaphor: Genre is like jazz – it partially follows and copies the pre-described form but it also improvises and enriches the original form. The result is that the spectator perceives the original form as well as the improvisation based on the original as a creative enhancement of the original (Barker, 2006, pp. 202–204). Thus genre and its formal elements (such as the type of hero, conflict and resolution, to name a few) alter, enrich (or diminish) with any new usage, and each deviation from the norm becomes a new norm. The history and evolution of literary genres has been a subject of many studies, for example those conducted by international scholars (George Steiner, Paul Hernadi, Rene Wellek and Austin Warren, to name a few) and Slovak scholars (Július Pašteka and Tibor Žilka and many others). WHAT IS GENOLOGY?
The research of literary genres is one of the oldest and most complex fields of literary inquiry. It is carried out by several disciplines, primarily by genology (Latin: genus = type) and also by genre criticism and genre scholarship, partially also by comparative criticism and a new type of rhetoric discourse called New Rhetoric. The nature of the research of literary genres has changed several times over its history. Historically, it encompassed:
the normative historical research of literary genres (focused on normative taxonomy);
the decoding functions of literary genres, advocated by J. Hvišč (Hvišč, 1979, p. 37);
Názov diela: A Compendium of English Literature –
An Annotated Companion to English Literature and Literary Theory
Autor: PaedDr. Jana Javorčíková, PhD.
Vydavateľ: Vydavateľstvo Univerzity Mateja Bela v Banskej Bystrici Belianum
Počet strán: 202
Náklad: 100 kusov
Vydanie: prvé
Formát: A4
Rok vydania: 2015
Tlač: EQUILIBRIA, s.r.o, Košice
© Univerzita Mateja Bela v Banskej Bystrici, 2015 ISBN 978-80-557-1004-4
