Literature of B (English) Language Area - level 1 3200-L2-0LBA1

The aim of the class is to outline the history of English literature from the Old English period to the 17th c. Commonwealth and Restoration, with a focus on the history, social conditions and art of these periods; to present a discussion of the output of leading writers; to analyse and interpret selected literary works as evidence of cultural development and the worldview current in the periods in question.

I. OLD ENGLISH PERIOD

CULTURAL CONTEXT: the pre-Celtic peoples; the Celts; the Romans; Christianisation of the British Isles; material culture of the period (Celtic art; Roman colonisation); culture and the beliefs of the German peoples; pagan and Christian elements combined in culture; devastation of the country and damage to learning caused by Viking raids; cultural development in the reign of Alfred the Great; everyday life in England in the early Middle Ages

LITERARY PHENOMENA: prosody of alliterative poetry; Caedmonian revolution; OE Christian poetry; Cynewulf: the first poet known by name; cult of the Holy Cross; OE prose

DISCUSSED TEXTS: pre-Christian OE poetry: “Widsith”, “Deor’s Lament”; the epic poem: “Beowulf” (excerpts); Caedmon: “Hymn”; Cynewulf: “Dream of the Rood”; Venerable Bede, Alfred the Great (selected excerpts)

II. MIDDLE ENGLISH PERIOD

CULTURAL CONTEXT: Norman invasion 1066; cultural transformations and linguistic changes resulting from the domination of Norman French; chivalric culture

LITERARY PHENOMENA: early ME poetry; love lyric and religious poetry; allegorical narrative; early ME prose; the flourishing of ME poetry; narration types in “Canterbury Tales”; chivalric romance; medieval folk ballads

DISCUSSED TEXTS: Layamon’s “Brut” (excerpts); “The Pearl” (excerpts); Geoffrey Chaucer: excerpts from the General Prologue to “Canterbury Tales”; a selected tale; “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”;

III. THE RENAISSANCE

CULTURAL CONTEXT: the Tudor dynasty; the Reformation; dissolution of the monasteries; development of dramatic forms from Antiquity to the Middle Ages

LITERARY PHENOMENA: development of the sonnet as a lyrical form; mystery, miracle and morality plays; early Elizabethan tragedy; revenge tragedy; the building of an Elizabethan theatre (The Globe); development of comedy; a play: text – performance – film adaptation

DISCUSSED TEXTS: sonnets by Wyatt, Spenser, Shakespeare; “Everyman” (fragments); Christopher Marlowe: “Doctor Faustus” (excerpts); Shakespeare: selected play

IV. THE BAROQUE

CULTURAL CONTEXT: the Stuart dynasty; Charles I as art collector; the impact of great geographical and scientific discoveries on 17th-century worldview

LITERARY PHENOMENA: the first English literary school: the Sons of Ben; Cavalier poets; metaphysical poets

DISCUSSED TEXTS: selected poems by Ben Jonson, Robert Herrick, John Suckling, Richard Lovelace; selected poems by John Donne, George Herbert, Andrew Marvell

V. THE COMMONWEALTH AND THE RESTORATION

CULTURAL CONTEXT: Puritanism; Cromwell’s Protectorate; culture of the Restoration; development of the Enlightenment aesthetics

LITERARY PHENOMENA: John Milton’s Christian epic; Restoration comedy; “The Age of Dryden” – the satire and critical essay; 17th-century prose

DISCUSSED TEXTS: Milton: “Paradise Lost” (selected fragments), “L’Allegro”, „Il Penseroso” (excerpts), sonnets; John Dryden: “McFlecknoe”, “An Essay on Dramatic Poesy” (excerpts); John Bunyan: “Pilgrim’s Progress” (excerpt);

Student’s workload:
Contact hours (in-class): 30
Individual work:
- Reading assigned materials: 20 hrs.
- Preparation for exam: 5 hrs.
Total individual work: 25 hrs.

If classroom learning is impossible, the workshop will be conducted with the help of distance communication tools, most probably Google Meet and others recommended by the University.