Chapter 2:

EUROPEAN LITERATURE
GLOBAL CURRENTS IN WORLD LITERATURE
(LIT2)
 Introduction to European Literature

European literature refers to the

literature of Europe. European literature
includes literature in many languages;
among the most important of the
modern written works are those in Europe
English, Spanish, French, Dutch, Polish, 19,450000

German, Italian, Modern Greek, Czech

and Russian and works by the
Scandinavians and Irish. Important
classical and medieval traditions are
those in Ancient Greek, Latin, Old Norse
, Medieval French and the Italian Tuscan
dialect of the renaissance.
European Literature is also known
as Western Literature
The Divisions of European Literature

Ancient Literature
This covers the five ancient civilizations of Babylonia, Assyria, Egypt,
Greece, and Rome including the culture of the Israelites in Palestine—each
came into contact with one or more of the others not necessarily in order
but essentially by the influence each exerted over the others.

Influential works of the Ancient Literature include but not limited to:
The Epic of Gilgamesh – the world’s oldest epic
The Code of Hammurabi – the world’s first codified law
The Book of the Dead – the compilation of Egyptian pantheon, rituals
The Divisions of European Literature

Medieval Literature
The Fall of the Roman Empire marked the beginning of the Medieval or Middle
Ages. Also known as Dark Ages, due to the prevailing conditions during this
period, barbarian invasion and Muslim conquests marked this era. Wars,
famine, plagues and decline in culture and learning.

Popular Books during this period:

King Arthur – Geoffrey of Monmouth
Canterbury Tales – Geoffrey Chaucer
Beowulf – Anglo-Saxon tradition
The Divisions of European Literature

Renaissance Literature
The term Renaissance (rebirth or revival) is given to the historical period in
Europe that succeeded the Middle Ages. This period marked the reawakening of
a new spirit of intellectual and artistic inquiry, which was the dominant feature
of this political, religious, and philosophical phenomenon, was essentially a
revival of the spirit of ancient Greece and Rome.

Influential people during this period:

Johannes Gutenberg – invented the movable type printing press
Desiderius Erasmus – initiated the Humanism Movement
Martin Luther – initiated the Reformation in Europe
Christopher Columbus – discovered the New World (the Americas)
Christopher Marlowe – wrote Doctor Faustus
The Divisions of European Literature

17th Century Literature

The 17th century was a period of unceasing disturbance and violent storms, no
less in literature than in politics and society.
Known as Age of Reason.

Some monumental European masterpieces were written during this period

including but are not limited to:
Discourse on Methods – Rene Descartes
Pensees – Blaise Pascal
Complete Essays – Francis Bacon
Leviathan – Thomas Hobbes
The Divisions of European Literature

18th Century Literature

The 18th century was marked by two main impulses: reason and passion. The
respect paid to reason was shown in pursuit of order, symmetry, decorum, and
scientific knowledge. The cultivation of the feelings stimulated philanthropy,
exaltation of personal relationships, religious fervor, and the cult of sentiment,
or sensibility.

World-class masterpieces were written during this period. Some of them

include:
Robinson Crusoe – Daniel Defoe
A Tale of the Tub – Jonathan Swift
An Essay on Understanding – Alexander Pope
The Divisions of European Literature

19th Century Literature

The 19th century was one of the most vital and interesting periods of all. This
period has special interest as the formative era from which many modern
literary conditions and tendencies derived. Influences that had their origins or
were in development in this period – Romanticism, Symbolism, Realism.

The literary giants who stood out during this period include:
William Wordsworth – Lyrical Ballads
Samuel Taylor Coleridge – Rime of the Ancient Mariner
John Keats – Ode to Psyche
Percy Bysshe Shelley – Ode to the West Wind
The Divisions of European Literature

20th Century Literature

The 20th century features an interest in the unconscious and the irrational was
reflected in their work and that of others of about this time. This period
marked an increasing sense of crisis and urgency, doubts as to the 19th
century’s faith in the psychological stability of the individual personality, and
a deep questioning of all philosophical or religious solutions to human
problems.

Some of the topnotch writers during this period include:

Joseph Conrad – Heart of Darkness
L. Frank Baum – Wizard of Oz
Rudyard Kipling – Jungle Book
Jack London – Call of the Wild
Henry James – The Golden Bowl
Background of the Authors in the Selected
Literary Pieces
 Horace
Quintus Horatius Flaccus, (December 8, 65
B.C.E. - November 27, 8 B.C.E.), known in the
English-speaking world as Horace, was the
leading Roman poet during the reign of
Augustus Caesar. Horace was known in his own
time primarily for his Odes, a series of poems
written in imitation of ancient Greek classics.
 Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (Russian: Лев Leo Tolstoy
Николаевич Толстой|18479204; most
appropriately used Liev Tolstoy; commonly
Leo Tolstoy in Anglophone countries) was a
Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and
short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays
and essays. His two most famous works, the
novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are
acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of
all time and a pinnacle of realist fiction. Many
consider Tolstoy to have been one of the
world's greatest novelists. Tolstoy is equally
known for his complicated and paradoxical
persona and for his extreme moralistic and
ascetic views, which he adopted after a moral
crisis and spiritual awakening in the 1870s,
after which he also became noted as a moral
thinker and social reformer.
 Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka was one of the major fiction writers
of the 20th century. He was born to a middle-
class German-speaking Jewish family in Prague,
Bohemia (presently the Czech Republic),
Austria–Hungary. His unique body of writing—
much of which is incomplete and which was
mainly published posthumously—is considered
to be among the most influential in Western
literature.
 Selected Literary Pieces From
Europe

Ode: Better To Live, Licinius by Horace

How much Land Does a Man Need by Leo
Tolstoy
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
 Poetry
Poetry, literature that evokes a concentrated
imaginative awareness of experience or a specific
emotional response through language chosen and
arranged for its meaning, sound, and rhythm.

Poem - a composition in verse, especially one that is characterized by

a highly developed artistic form and by the use of heightened
language and rhythm to express an intensely imaginative
interpretation of the subject.

What Is an Ode?
An ode is a short lyric poem that
praises an individual, an idea, or
an event. In ancient Greece, odes
were originally accompanied by
music—in fact, the word “ode”
comes from the Greek word
aeidein, which means to sing or
to chant. Odes are often
ceremonial, and formal in tone.
There are several different types
of odes, but they are all highly
structured and adhere to poetic
forms.
What Is the Structure of an Ode Poem?
An ode poem is traditionally divided
into three sections, or stanzas:
The strophe. In a Greek ode, the
strophe usually consists of two or more
lines repeated as a unit. In modern
usage, the term strophe can refer to any
group of verses that form a distinct unit
within a poem.
The antistrophe. The second section of
an ode is structured the same way as
the strophe, but typically offers a
thematic counterbalance.
The epode. This section or stanza
typically has a distinct meter and
length from the strophe and
antistrophe, and serves to summarize
or conclude the ideas of the ode.
There are three types of Ode Poem:
1. Pindaric Ode
2. Horatian Ode
3. Irregular Ode
 Ode: Better To Live, Licinius
Horace

It’s better to live, Licinius, neither

always pressing out on the deep nor, trembling
and cautious, hugging overly close to the
dangerous shoreline.

Whosoever cherishes the golden mean

safely avoids the squalor of a hovel
and discreetly keeps away from a palace
that excites envy.

Most often it’s the huge pine that is shaken

by the wind, and the highest towers that fall
the greatest fall, and the tops of mountains that
attract the lightning.
 Hopeful in adversity, apprehensive
in prosperity is the heart that prepares
well for either fate. Zeus brings the winter, but
also takes it back.

Even if times are bad, they won’t always be so:

for Apollo doesn’t always tense his bow,
but sometimes inspires the silent Muses.

When the straits are narrow, show yourself to be

undaunted and bold – yet wisely tuck your sails
when they’re swelled by too strong a following wind.
 Short Story
A short story is fictional work of prose that is shorter in length
than a novel. Edgar Allan Poe, in his essay "The Philosophy of
Composition," said that a short story should be read in one
sitting, anywhere from a half hour to two hours. In contemporary
fiction, a short story can range from 1,000 to 20,000 words.
HOW MUCH LAND DOES A MAN NEED
Short Story by Leo Tolstoy
Characters:

Pahom Elder Sister

- the Peasant, (wealthy)
“The main - Married to
protagonist on a tradesman
this story”
Younger Sister Lady or Land
Devil (poor) owner

“Antagonist” - “Pahom’s serve as the

wife or peasant’s
peasant manager.
wife”
Characters:

Simon Bashkirs
- He was - are
accused by nomadic
Pahom stealing Turkic
something to his tribe
land. Minor
Neighbors Characters
- Brother in law
Pahom is - Servant
irritated to his - Peasant who came by his
neighbors. home
- The broker
Setting: Farm Land
in Russia
 Story Time
(Summary of How Much Land Does A Man
Need by Leo Tolstoy
 Theme of the Story:
The theme of greed and temptation is very
conventional in the story. The way the narrative plot
shows how human really act when they are not
contented and wants more wealth and properties. Leo
Tolstoy brings an effective approach to imply that
greediness and temptation will not do good in your
life.
 Lesson of the Story:
The story shows that we must not let the greed,
corruption and temptation rule our life. We must be
thankful and know how to be contented to everything
that we received. If we know how to be contented,
you will appreciate all the things around you. And
you’ll know how is the feeling of happiness.
 Novella
A novella is a narrative work of prose fiction shorter in both
length and breadth than a novel, but longer than a short story.
Typically, novellas dramatize individual events, or a short series
of events, such as a day in the life, or an important turning point
in a character’s life. While novellas normally do not have specific
requirements in terms of length, the Science Fiction and Fantasy
Writers of America limit novellas to 60 to 130 pages, or 17,500 to
40,000 words.
 Difference Between Novella and Novel

The difference between Novel and Novella is that a novel is a

fictional story that is longer and has more word count, whereas,
a novella is a fictional piece of writing that is longer than a short
story and shorter than a novel, and also less complex as
compared to the novel.
 The Metamorphosis
A Novella by Franz Kafka
Characters:

GREGOR GRETE
SAMSA SAMSA
Protagonists Sister of the
protagonist

GREGOR’S GREGOR’S
FATHER MOTHER
Characters:

THE THE CHARWOMAN

MANAGER

THE THREE
THE MAID
LODGERS
 Setting: In an
apartment of Samsa's
family in an
unspecified city
 Story Time
(Summary of The Metamorphosis by Franz
Kafka)
 Theme of the Story:
The main Themes in The Metamorphosis are the burden of
responsibility, isolation and alienation, and sacrifice.
• The burden of responsibility: Before his transformation,
Gregor supports his family as a traveling salesman. Once freed of
that responsibility, Gregor starts to feel like a burden to his
family.
• Isolation and alienation: Gregor's physical
transformation isolates him completely, stripping him of his
humanity in the eyes of his family. Gregor's inability to
communicate further isolates him.
• Sacrifice: After his transformation, Gregor's family is
repulsed by him. He thinks of his death as a kind of sacrifice that
will allow them to move on with their lives.
 Message of the Story:

The Metamorphosis is a story about one man's obligations to his

family. Isolation and alienation are major themes in The
Metamorphosis. Gregor's physical transformation makes him a
creature, stripping him of his humanity in the eyes of his family.
Gregor's inability to communicate further isolates him.
 What inspired the author to write The Metamorphosis?

The author wrote this book to describe his life using metaphors in
an entertaining story. It shows his feelings towards his father,
towards his life, and also connects to readers that have similar
feelings about themselves.
 Lesson of the Story:

The lesson of The Metamorphosis is that doing nothing but

working to fulfill an obligation can isolate and dehumanize a
person. Gregor Samsa works so much to support his family that
he has no time to sleep, eat good food, or form intimate
relationships with anyone. Once he loses his ability to work, he
completely loses importance within his own family.
Thank you for listening!
Group 1 Anna Marie Cardenas
Jerson Caragan
Ian Ben Nanlabi
Liza Macaraeg
Jesselle Venterez
John Lester Giron

BSIT III-3