Literature is a part of human culture. We have written about various genres, forms, and authors throughout history. Let’s look at the history of literature in three different countries: France, Britain, and Rome. Here are the key topics:
Literary history
The dominant reading of literary history is teleological, assuming a higher level of accomplishment and understanding than the people of the past. However, a close study of any period generally awakens a sense of respect for the intellect and achievements of those who lived then. A true acquaintance with any period should enable the study of individual works as well as their contributions to society. Here are some tips for reading literature history critically. The dominant reading of literary history tends to be a conservative gesture that saves values and ends with a hermeneutical approach of self-enlightenment.
In the early centuries, distance acted as a great cultural isolator. This meant that historical literature developed at different rates throughout the world. This resulted in a great number of lost texts, either through mistaken eradication or by total disappearance of the culture from which they came. The destruction of the Library of Alexandria in the 1st century BC is an example of the loss of important texts. Some of these texts were lost to the flames, and the subsequent eradication of that literary heritage is thought to be another example of this kinetic impact.
While literary history does not cover the full range of literary traditions, it is helpful in tracing specific elements of form and content. It is a way to give literary tradition a concrete shape. In addition, it stretches beyond the recording of books. For instance, Sisir Kumar Das calls the Rama story an inherited text. Such texts are used as the basis for theme and form. One example of such a text is the Jain Maharashtri epic Paum Cariya.
Literary forms
Fictional prose narratives are a major form of literature. Novels are longer than short stories but smaller than poetry, and their characters are usually merely there to serve the plot. Literary forms in history are often related, and some of these forms are more similar than others. A schema of literary forms is a pictorial hierarchical arrangement of these forms. The following sections outline some of the most important literary forms.
Poetry Predates all other forms of literature, and the oldest known examples are the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh, parts of the Bible, and the Indian epics, such as the Mahabharata and Ramayana. In oral societies, the formal characteristics of poetry often serve as mnemonic devices, so that important texts appear first in verse form. After a discussion of the history of literature, we’ll move on to medieval philosophical texts.
The early medieval period saw the emergence of a philosophical allegory in Latin West. Authors such as Bernard Silvestris assimilated the works of classical antiquity and fashioned a fictional story out of them. Their Cosmographia, for example, tells of the creation of the world in which Nature asked Noys to bring order to prime matter. These works trace the evolution of the material world and man.
Literary genres
There are a number of literary genres in the history of literature. Tragedies, for example, are a sub-genre of lyric literature. These works are often written with themes that have remained the same from time immemorial, making them relatable to readers of all ages. Tragedies can also be considered “classical,” a genre that was created during the Middle Ages.
Fictional works can take the form of fairy tales, science fiction, or poetry. The genres can be categorized by the subjects they address, and often deal with mystery and intrigue. Other genres include historical fiction and folklore. A fairy tale is generally for children, while a history novel involves a character experiencing tragedy. In either genre, the main characters experience dread. A literary genre is associated with an author throughout their career, even though they may write anything that satirizes society.
The novel is a literary genre, which is longer than a short story. The main purpose of a novel is to entertain readers. Fictional novels can focus on themes like love, death, and friendship. Other forms of fiction, such as poetry, include historical accounts and autobiographies. There are also literary genres that appeal to popular tastes. Dramatic works, such as plays, are primarily designed for stage performance. William Shakespeare is perhaps the most famous drama author, but modern works include A Streetcar Named Desire and A Raisin in the Sun.
Authorship as a profession
While early nineteenth-century authors complained of being slaves to book publishers and book trades, the practice of authorship as a profession has historically been more welcoming to women. The perception that authorship as a profession was a high-class, emerging profession reflected anxieties about the changing nature of the industrial world. Women were often seen as more deserving of authorship than men and enjoyed far greater success.
While the image of the starving artist has long been a staple of artistic movements, individual rights and freedom have always been central to the human spirit. Authorship became a profession after English literature became an academic discipline in the twentieth century, when aspiring writers went to universities to study English and hope to find a job as a teacher. This model of authorship still exists today. It has evolved to be a lucrative endeavor for many writers, but it has remained largely a cottage industry for those who can’t afford the high-pressure job.
The economics of authorship in the history of literature were another contributing factor. Women writers were largely middle-class whites who were able to support their families through their writing. While male authors were largely independent of publishing, women entered the world of business with publishers, hoping that their works would be presented in the best light possible for the general public. Women maintained relationships with their publishers, offering advice on printing, marketing, and distribution. This also showed that women understood the literary world and the marketplace.
Economics of literary form
The Economics of Literary Form in the History of Literature offers an interesting interdisciplinary approach to the relationship between economics and literary texts. This book explores how economic ideas influence the writing, circulation, and analysis of literary texts. It also highlights the way in which economics intersects with American literature. Although this study is not a comprehensive history of economic thought, it does shed new light on the relationship between literature and the economy.
Economic theory also sheds light on how the production of literary works is related to the production of money and credit. A novel is both a form of debt and wealth, and a commodity in search of a buyer. Brantlinger traces the relationship between the evolution of literary forms and public debt, and the rise of British nationalism and imperialism. The growth of the national debt in the eighteenth century was directly linked to British nationalism and imperialism. The price of paper remained high, even during Napoleonic wars.
Economic criticism of literature has a long history. The first wave of economic criticism emerged in the late 1970s and early 1980s, while a second wave developed during the 1990s fueled by New Historicism and the make-it-new imperative of scholarly publications. However, these criticisms differ in the types of questions they attempt to answer. If the purpose of literary criticism is to increase understanding and appreciation of literature, it is a valid field of study.
Censorship
The censorship of books has many different manifestations. In the 1980s, for example, a London school district decided to remove Beatrix Potter books from classrooms because they depicted “middle-class” rabbits. In 1947, Alabama’s State Textbook Committee recommended that Anne Frank’s Het Achterhuis be removed from classrooms because it contained references to teen sexuality. As a result, the books were banned from school libraries.
In the past, censorship of books took the form of a congregation voting on whether a book was indecent or obscene. The deciding board would need a four-to-one majority to ban a book. It would analyze the problematic content in detail and make a decision based on that criteria. In the present, however, most books are banned from classrooms, as the authors of controversial books are often forced to leave the country.
In the modern world, censorship has become a defining feature of print culture. Its emergence coincides with the development of media technologies and literacy. The relationship between censorship and literature is complicated by the fact that both are unstable and changeable. Censorship in the history of literature has evolved and transformed in parallel to this development. It has also become the most persistent antagonist in literary history.
Authors as anonymous ghosts
A history of authors as anonymous ghosts begins in the seventeenth century. Some of the earliest works are ghost stories, while others have been hoaxes. These ghost stories were largely unpublished and largely unnoticed until the nineteenth century, when a new generation of writers started releasing works under anonymous names. Today, anonymous ghost stories remain an important part of popular literature, despite their fame. But how do we define them?
One of the first and most enduring questions is what constitutes an anonymous author. Anonymity is a permeable disguise that distances the veridical author from the veridical person while holding the veridical connection. In other words, anonymous authors reveal their own fictiveness, and in doing so they illustrate how authorship in fiction and nonfiction is a complex process. Authors who remain anonymous are, in a sense, rewriting the rules of authorship.
