Dr. Vijayalayan's Literature Notes

    Introduction       Modernism is a blanket term that refers to a wide variety of international movements, which took place in the arts starting from the closing years of the 19 th century till the culmination of the second world war. Some prominent movements in this regard include symbolism, imagism, surrealism, expressionism and impressionism. Though all modernist movements were unique in their own ways, a common denominator that united them was that they were all avantgarde in scope. This is to say, they exhibited a strong reactionary stance against traditional forms and methods of producing art, in favour of new and experimental means of artistic creation. The years between the two world wars is generally regarded as the high point of modernism.   Causal Factors       Many factors contributed to the development of modernism. Among these four conceptual factors are particularly noteworthy. These are the theory of...

The Middle English Period (1066-1400)       The true history of English poetry may be said to begin only in the second half of the 14 th century with the poetical works of Geoffrey Chaucer. Does this mean that no poetry was written in England prior to this period? Not so, the anonymous epic Beowulf was apparently written during the 9 th century, which is in fact more than a century before the Normans conquered England. There are specific reasons as to why we consider Chaucer as the first formal poet in England, and his poetry as marking the inception of the grand history of English poetry. However, in order to understand these reasons in their proper perspective, we need to familiarize ourselves with the social situation that prevailed in England during what is generally known as the middle English period. The middle English period begins in the year 1066 when the Normans captured power from the Saxons by their victory at the Battle of Hastings. Normans were ...