Evolution of Western Literature
Table of Contents
Understanding Western Literature
Western literature, sometimes called European literature, is literature that is written in Indo-European languages and reflects the values and beliefs of the Western world. The tradition of Western writing covers a period of several thousand years, beginning with the ancient Greeks and Romans and continuing today.
Characteristics of European Literature
While there is a wide variety of topics and styles in Western, or European, literature, it is possible to identify three characteristics that are unique to Western literature:
- It is written in Indo-European languages. These languages include English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Russian, and Greek, as well as languages of regions connected to the European tradition by geography and/or culture.
- Its origins lie in the Graeco-Roman tradition, and it was later shaped by the spread of Christianity.
- It reflects the values and beliefs of the Western, or European, world as opposed to those of the Middle East and Asia.
Western literature: History:
The history of Western literature begins with the Classical Age around 500 BCE. It continues through the English Renaissance, which in the 16th century produced the most influential writer in Western literature, William Shakespeare. The following centuries were characterized by a number of different literary movements that eventually led to present-day Post-modernism.
Western Literature: Movements and Eras
Other than the three characteristics listed above, it is difficult to identify any characteristics that all of Western literature has in common. To understand the scope of western literature, it is necessary to look chronologically at the different Western literary periods.
Classical Age
Western literature begins with the ancient Greeks. The Golden Age of Greece lasted from around 500 BCE to 300 BCE, and it was centered in Athens. Western civilization itself originates at this time, for it was during the Golden Age that the concept of democracy, a cornerstone of Western culture, emerged. Western ideas about art, architecture, and science also originated at this time. The study of philosophy also emerged at this time. Through the writings of Plato and Aristotle, the world was introduced to the study of logic, ethics, and scientific inquiry.
Literature flourished during this time. The Greeks were ardent admirers of the theatre, particularly the tragedies of Sophocles. History as a written discipline also emerged with the writings of Herodotus.
The most famous writer of the Golden Age is Homer. Homer was a blind poet (who may or may not have been an actual person) who composed two great epic poems; The Iliad and The Odyssey.
After the decline of Greece and the rise of Rome, Western literature continued to thrive. The Romans took many of the traditions of Greece and adapted their own culture. Two of the most important Roman writers were Cicero, one of the first great writers of prose, and Virgil, author of the epic poem The Aeneid.
The period of history covered by the Greeks and the Romans is called both the Classical Age and the Graeco-Roman Period. This period shaped Western culture as we know it today. While one Graeco-Roman tradition, the belief in multiple gods (polytheism) has not survived, Western philosophy, science, art, architecture, and politics all show the influence of the Greeks and the Romans. The Greeks, in particular, introduced theatre, poetry, the epic, philosophical writing, scientific writing, and the writing of history. Their literary focus on the human condition, how we live and respond to our surroundings, is the foundation upon which all later Western literature depends.
 |
Medieval Period
The Medieval Period in Europe lasted between approximately the 5th and the 15th century CE. During this time, the influence of Christianity upon Western literature dramatically affected the literary traditions inherited from the Classical Age. The values and beliefs of Christianity permeated all literature.
New types of literature were introduced during this time, such as ballads, allegories, and plays that focused on Christian values. Ironically, one of the major surviving works of this period comes from a pagan, or non-Christian culture. The anonymous epic Beowulf was the first great work of English literature, and its depiction of epic heroes is still influential today.
One of the greatest writers of this period was also English. Geoffrey Chaucer's unfinished work The Canterbury Tales, is a collection of stories written within the framework of a group of pilgrims traveling together. Its true-to-life character descriptions of ordinary people were both revolutionary for the time and a blueprint for later writers.
The Italian writer Dante Alighieri, usually known as Dante, also made a major contribution to medieval literature with his Inferno, a poetic journey from life to Purgatory to Hell and finally to Paradise. It is an excellent example of both the focus on Christian values of the time and a reflection of Classical concepts.
 |
English Renaissance Era
The Renaissance is the name given to European culture and literature of the 14th to 16th centuries. This period saw a revival of interest in Graeco-Roman traditions as well as the emergence of nationalism and humanism, a focus on this life.
Western literature of the Renaissance first emerged in Italy. Giovanni Boccaccio's Decameron used the format of a collection of tales within a framework to produce what could be called the first prose short stories in the western canon. Nicolo Machiavelli's The Prince is one of the most cynical views of politics ever written.
Arguably the finest writer of the Renaissance, indeed the finest English writer ever, is the English playwright William Shakespeare. Shakespeare wrote some of the most famous plays ever written, like Hamlet, Macbeth, and Romeo and Juliet. Through his plays, he introduced the idea that literature can explore character in great depth. Through his tendency to just create a word or phrase to express his ideas, he also provided the English language with hundreds of words and phrases that are commonplace today. He may be considered the best writer in Western literature. He is certainly the most influential writer in Western literature.
 |
Golden Age
The Golden Age flourished in the 17th century in Spain during a time in which Spain was one of the most powerful countries in the Western world. One of the first novels in Western literature came from this period, Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. The character Don Quixote remains one of the most recognizable characters in Western literature.
 |
Enlightenment Era
The Enlightenment, also known as the Age of Reason or the Neoclassical Age, also flourished during the 17th century. It was a time of focus upon the prominence of logic and reason in both learning and literature. Science and philosophical reasoning came to the forefront as writers like Isaac Newton, John Locke, and Rene Descartes produced works that revolutionized the way we look at the world and introduced the importance of scientific inquiry into both the world around us and the nature of man himself and his place in society.
During the enlightenment, the French author Francois-Marie d'Arouet, better known as Voltaire, wrote his masterful comic novel Candide. Ideas of the Enlightenment were also behind the writing of the American Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson.
 |
Romanticism
The Age of Romanticism during the later 18th and early 19th centuries rejected nearly all of the values of the Enlightenment. Interest in reason and logic and man as a member of society were replaced by a reliance upon imagination and the freedom of the individual. Writers focused on a consideration of beauty, especially the beauty found within nature, and emotion. Writing tended to be sentimental and to focus on the spiritual nature of man.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's novel The Sorrows of Young Werther and his plays Faust Parts One and Two, constitute Germany's greatest contribution to the Romantic literary canon. Victor Hugo of France was also influential with his novels like Les Miserables.
The English Romantic poets were among the most outstanding writers of the period. William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Thomas Bysshe Shelley, William Keats, and George Gordon, Lord Byron wrote imaginative poetry that is still popular today. Shelley's wife, Mary Shelley, wrote one of the great gothic novels of all time, Frankenstein.
It is during the Romantic Period that American authors first appear to make significant contributions to the literary canon. Foremost among these was Edgar Allan Poe with his elegiac poetry; he was also the originator of the gothic short story and the detective short story.
 |
Victorianism
Victorianism is an English literary movement that lasted from approximately 1830 to 1900. It flourished during the reign of Queen Victoria during a time when the British Empire was the most powerful force in the Western world.
Victorian literature reflected society's emphasis on proper behavior, a general sense of optimism and a faith in the power of the moral message that literature could provide. Poets like Alfred Lord Tennyson were extremely popular. Robert Browning and his wife Elizabeth Barrett Browning were also popular poets.
This period saw the rise of the novel as an important form of literature. The novels Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and Wuthering Heights by her sister, Emily Bronte, combined new public interest in both realistic writing and in gothic literature.
The most significant Victorian writer was Charles Dickens. His novels such as Oliver Twist and Great Expectations were admired for their realistic depictions of Victorian society.
Another important author of the period was one of the most controversial writers. Charles Darwin's non-fiction work On the Origin of Species created an uproar with its introduction to the concept of evolution.
 |
To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member. Create your account
- Activities
- FAQs
Western Literary Canon: Further Exploration
This lesson introduced you to the concept of the western literary canon, which is an important concept that comes up constantly in the study of literature. Use the following prompts to explore this idea further.
Who Is Included?
A major issue with any attempt at creating a canon is that it will exclude important writers simply because there are too many to include and because all people have biases. Look at the authors included in this particular canon (which is just a brief example). Can you think of other major writers that should be included? Who are they? For example, consider women, writers of colour, writers in languages other than English who nonetheless are from Europe or North America, indigenous writers, and more. Write your own canon that includes writers that you think are important. Consider what each writer brings to literature.
Critical Reflection
What does a literary canon tell us about a particular culture's values and ideas? Think about the people you chose for the above prompt. Why do you think they may have been left out of this canon or other canons? How does the shaping of a canon contribute to forms of oppression, the maintenance of the status quo, and the perpetuation of some ideas at the expense of others? Write a critical essay answering one or more of these questions.
Positive Impact
Despite the potential problems with a literary canon, codifying literature can have positive impacts on a culture's understanding of their own place in the world and the perpetuation of important historical documents. Write a list of the positive effects of a literary canon and write a paragraph defending the concept of a canon and explaining why it is an important or necessary part of literary study.
