You should read the entire introduction, and you will be responsible for major ideas from it on our next exam. Your blog response for September 24 should include four substantial and substantive paragraphs as follows. Remember that detailed questions can be part of your response. Give yourself 2-4 hours for this assignment.
Although it is clear that the Dark Ages were not so dark and ignorant as we often portray them to be, there is nevertheless a wide gulf of disconnect between the medieval period and the eras that follow, in which modern times are rooted. The cultural and intellectual movements that make up the Renaissance, which in turn influenced Humanism, are much more comfortable to study. Perhaps the Renaissance and Humanism are more credible, because they were responses to “works from classical Greece and Rome” (467). While the Dark Ages have less relevance to the times preceding and following, classical and Renaissance thought are still in effect today.
Wales, Scotland, and Ireland
The term British arose after “the accession of King James VI/I brought a de facto union of England and Scotland” (466). Does this mean then, that works written in Scotland after this date are included in our anthology of British literature? Politics can influence thought and culture, but it seems more appropriate to define British literature based on when the literature of the four nations began to interact in a historically relevant way. If “the Welsh language does not seem to have been threatened… despite English incursions,” and if “Irish resentment of and resistance to English colonial policies would continue far into the future,” it does not seem likely that their literature was cohesive (475, 477).
Elizabeth I and Gender
Elizabeth I is an interesting paradox. On one hand, “men tended… to think of her as manly,” but on the other, she was “an icon of female virtues” (479, 480). Her male colleagues would have approved of her more if she had married, yet in their eyes a King “would have brought a diminution of [her] authority” (480). Her political advisor’s “sleight-of-hand” with legal jargon must have been highly and widely effective; I would have thought that the Elizabethan paradox would have sparked a theme of confusion over irreconcilable forces in the literature written during her rule (480). Several centuries later, when England’s socioeconomic structure is mangled by the Industrial Revolution, the literature of the period does address this theme. For example, Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” is about the mental gymnastics of accepting that two opposing entities can be housed in one body.
Literature in Prose and the Development of Print Culture
This section quickly brought up two questions about the evolution of English and rhetorical culture. First, did Gutenburg’s printing press in 1476 and the invention of moveable type cause a decrease in oral tradition? Today, film is taking the place of books, in terms of how society shares stories. Before books, the primary way of sharing stories was by word of mouth. Furthermore, what was lost when stories were created to be written? With film, we lose some analysis of literary devices that can be done only by looking at the text. Before stories were written, they could be changed easier; maybe they were more fluid and imaginative. Second, when and how did the transition from Middle English to Latin occur in Britain? At the beginning of the 1400’s, Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe thought it best to write in Old English. Less than a hundred years later, Latin takes center stage. My guess is that Christianity is the cause, since Latin is the language of Christianity. Religion became prominent with all the political attention it received, and the printing press increased the availability of the Bible.
The English Language
The printing press gradually resulted in “the standardization of spelling,” and the standardization of pronunciation soon followed (515). What was the effect of this conformity on the British psyche, and which social themes encouraged unifying the language? Was Britain able to feel more united than it had before? When people have a better ability to communicate with more people, they gain more knowledge and can then increase their power. Ideas and counterarguments are spread faster. It is easier to find similarities with others. Judging by the emerging strength of the British Empire during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the conformity of language did not inspire negative connotations, but fostered pride and confidence in the nation.
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