However, cross-cultural influence flowed in both directions. By the late 19th century, a new mass society had emerged defined by consumerism, expanding literacy, and new forms of leisure. The Industrial Revolution created a division of social classes based on new criteria of capital and labor. Starting in the 15th century, European thinkers began developing new methods for arriving at objective truth — substituting these methods for appeals to traditional authorities — and then gradually moved away from belief in absolute truths to increasingly subjective interpretations of reality. Demographic growth spurred social change in the 18th century. In the late 19th century, the scale and pace of conquest intensified because of asymmetries in military technology, communications, and national rivalries among the Great Powers. https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/68.Best_European_Literature While most early modern Europeans continued to rely on religious authority and ancient texts for their knowledge of the world and as a standard of value, an increasing number argued that direct inquiry (philosophical and scientific) was the principal way to formulate truths and representations of reality. Discuss the time divisions of European literature; and 3. In the mid–20th century, the rise of the United States as an economic and military power, two world wars, and the four-decades-long Cold War led to a decolonization movement that diminished Europe’s economic and diplomatic place in the world. Appreciate the influence of European literature today. At the completion of this topic, the students must be able to: 1. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1991. pp. 160-212. In conquered territories, Europeans established new administrative, legal, and cultural institutions, and restructured colonial economies to meet European needs. The revolutionary emphasis on liberty galvanized many excluded groups to take an active role in politics, and the language of natural rights spurred the development of movements of equality, such as feminism and the end of feudalism and serfdom. In the romance, complex themes of love, loyalty, and personal integrity were united with a quest for spiritual truth, an amalgam that was represented in every major western European literature of the time. * What were the causes and consequences of economic and social inequality? European literature of the 18th century refers to literature (poetry, drama, satire, and novels) produced in Europe during this period. The use of “race” as a primary category for differentiating peoples coincided with the expansion of slavery, as Europeans sought a work force for overseas plantations; this categorization helped Europeans justify the slave system. The poor were viewed as objects of charity or dangerous idlers requiring social control, such as disciplinary measures or confinement. After World War II, the welfare state emerged in Western Europe with more support for families, choices in reproduction, and state-sponsored health care. The Complete Greek Tragedies. As Thomas Jefferson noted, the permanent moving forward of the boundaries and the idea of growth and multiplication enhanced the feeling of unfailing progress: "However our present interests may restrain us within our limits, it is impossible not to look forward to distant times, when our rapid multiplication will expand itself. E-mail Citation » This book is an exploration of trends in African literature and its European legacies. Market demands generated the increasingly mechanized production of goods through the technology of the Industrial Revolution. Focus upon the motive of generational conflict. The following links, organized by literary period, are to the library's catalog for works by author, title, literary movement, type of work, etc. Beginning in the 19th century and accelerating in the 20th, European artists and intellectuals, along with a portion of the educated public, rejected absolute paradigms (whether idealist or scientific), replacing them with relative and subjective ones, as exemplified by existential philosophy, modern art, and postmodernist ideas and culture. Council of Europe member states have made strong commitments to the effective realisation of gender equality agenda both through the implementation of standards and through measures and activities in six priority areas. ... Read more. . Literary modernism, or modernist literature, originated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, mainly in Europe and North America, and is characterized by a self-conscious break with traditional ways of writing, in both poetry and prose fiction.Modernists experimented with literary form and expression, as exemplified by Ezra Pound's maxim to "Make it new." London: Longman, 1980. Create your own unique website with customizable templates. Economic recovery brought new consumer choices and popular culture. He simply observed the physical world and, The folkloric tradition was so popular because people were able to relate to it. INTERACTION OF EUROPE AND THE WORLD (INT) Motivated … Antigone. Prosperity was never equally distributed, either geographically or by social class, and despite the wonders of the railroad and airplane, poverty never disappeared. 2020, https://www.paperdue.com/essay/major-themes-in-european-literature-104780, sixteen illustrate the major theme of this text which is how changes in the macro environment affect individual firms and industries through the microeconomic factors of demand, production, cost and profitability. Men and especially women of all estates followed closely prescribed norms. "Major Themes In European Literature" (2013, January 10) Retrieved December 21, 2020, from https://www.paperdue.com/essay/major-themes-in-european-literature-104780, "Major Themes In European Literature" 10 January 2013. The Protestant Reformation placed new emphasis on the individual’s direct relationship to God and the role of women in the family as mothers and assistants in religious instruction and schooling, while excluding them from clerical roles. Whatever the motivations, these explorations created new, complex trade systems that profoundly affected European prosperity, patterns of consumption, commercial competition, and national rivalries. Quite often, … Between the wars Soviet communism theoretically endorsed equality, yet women often performed double duty as laborers and mothers, while kulaks were considered enemies of the state and thus liquidated. 10-76. The military revolution of the early modern period forced states to find new and better sources of revenue, and it spurred the expansion of state control over political and economic functions. Modernist writers broke new ground by experimenting with new forms and themes. * What roles have traditional sources of authority (church and classical antiquity) played in the creation and transmission of knowledge? The Enlightenment brought a new emphasis on childhood as a stage of life, and the ideal of companionate marriage began to compete with arranged marriages. Electronic Inspiration LLC. Industrialization generated unprecedented levels of material prosperity for some Europeans, particularly during the Second Industrial Revolution (1850–1914), when an outburst of new technologies ushered Europe into modern mass society. * How have encounters between Europe and the world shaped European culture, politics, and society? The ThemeTracker below shows where, and to what degree, the theme of The European Old World vs. the American New World appears in each chapter of The Portrait of a Lady. On the other hand, fascist regimes re-emphasized a domestic role for women and created states based on a mythical racial identity. The motivations for these enterprises were complex and have been the subject of much historical debate.