Neoclassicism

British literature refers to literature associated with the United Kingdom, Isle of Man and Channel Islands. This includes literatures from England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. By far the largest part of British literature has been written in the English language, with English literature developing into a global phenomenon, because of its use in the former colonies of Britain. In addition the story of British literature involves writings in Anglo-Norman, Anglo Saxon, Cornish, Welsh and other languages. Literature in Northern Ireland includes writings in English, Irish and Ulster Scots. Irish writers have played an important part in the development of literature in England and Scotland, but though the whole of Ireland was politically part of the United Kingdom between January 1801 and December 1922, it is controversial to describe Irish literature as British. For some this includes works by authors from Northern Ireland. Also, because of the creation of the Republic of Ireland, the term the Isles is used instead of the British Isles.

Renaissance: 1500-1660

Renaissance is a French word which means “The Rebirth of Greek and Roman Tradition”. It was a cultural movement that spanned the period roughly from the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. Though availability of paper and the invention of metal movable type sped the dissemination of ideas from the later 15th century, the changes of the Renaissance were not uniformly experienced across Europe. Italian literary influences arrived in Britain: the sonnet form was introduced into English by Thomas Wyatt in the early 16th century, and developed by Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, (1516/1517 – 1547), who ...

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e) The important writers are introduced with their major works

f) A readable biography of every important writer, showing how he lived and worked, how he met success or failure, how he influenced his age, and how his age influenced him.

Tracing the evolution of literature through time scholars often group works from a certain timeframe together and label it as a period or movement. This section of The Literature Network aims to dissect these movements for the better understanding. The movements or periods were not mutually exclusive in their timeframes, they overlap, liberally. In some cases a single author can even be claimed by more than one movement. Classifying art, an art in itself, often ends up more fluid like this. Each introduction of a period includes a broad overview of the movement or period, examples of key works, and a list of major authors.