ADAM BENEDICT E.

LOZADA

21ST CENTURY SUBJECT

Performance Task

Directions: Read the periods of European Literature- Just Pick 3 genre, elements, structure, traditions
and give 1 example.

1. Italian Renaissance Art (1400–1600)

The term Renaissance means rebirth and generally refers to this period’s revival of an interest
in classical antiquity, ancient literature, humanistic principles, and classical artistic styles.
Many textbooks contrast the interest in naturalism and humanism found in Renaissance art
with the more abstract style and otherworldly focus of medieval art.

A few main themes that can guide your discussion of all the major Italian Renaissance works
include: The revival of classical styles and ideas (specifically humanism), return to the
naturalistic style (3D objects and space), and the rising status of the individual (both artist and
patron).

Donatello’s David serves as a nice introduction to the Renaissance, because it signals the

growing interest in the medium, style, and subject of classical art but adapts this vocabulary to
Christian themes, as this religion was now the dominant one in Europe. It also shows artists
developing signature styles and, in Donatello’s case, pushing social boundaries.

This sculpture contrasts nicely with Romanesque and Gothic relief sculpture, which typically
decorated the portals of large cathedrals and of which there are a number of good examples
such as the jamb sculptures of Chartres Cathedral or Gislebertus’s Last Judgment over the
door of Saint Lazare Cathedral at Atun, France. An important point of contrast here is the fact
that earlier large-scale sculpture decorated architecture. As such, there was less danger of it
generating idol worship and violating the third commandment forbidding graven images. One
rarely finds life-sized, naturalistic sculpture in early Christian art or early medieval art. It was
not until the Renaissance, when Europe was firmly Christian and comfortably distanced from
pagan idols that naturalistic sculpture in the round made a large-scale comeback.

The homoerotic nature of this work—demonstrated most obviously by the way the feather from
the helmet of Goliath runs along David’s entire leg to his upper rear thigh—is always sure to
start a lively class discussion. I find this a good time to make (or reiterate) the point that
societies construct different ideas about gender, social roles, ideals of beauty, etc., and that
these aspects of a culture are in constant flux and we cannot apply our modern sensibilities to
our analysis of other cultures.

Donatello was intentionally pushing social boundaries here with his provocative pose and his
use of nudity—that is, his combination of a lack of clothing and the presence of boots and a
hat—in order to challenge his viewers. The fact that he revived the lost-wax bronze technique
was also very innovative for the time and enhances the sensuality of his surface texture.
Donatello was able to be so experimental, because he had the support and protection of the
Medici family, a wealthy and influential banking family that operated as the de facto rulers of
Florence and who saw themselves as great patrons of the arts.

Legend has it (Giorgio Vasari’s legend that is) that Brunelleschi and Donatello made a trip
down to Rome together, and each came back inspired by the art of classical antiquity. It is
evident that the Pantheon, discussed in a previous lecture on ancient Rome, directly inspired
 Brunelleschi’s dome for the Cathedral of Florence; however, because Italian Renaissance
artists did not have the same recipe for concrete, Brunelleschi needed to develop several key
innovative architectural techniques, such as: a double shell for the dome, a unique way of
laying the bricks so that they supported the following level of bricks, and a system of rings
holding the dome together. (For more specific descriptions of these see the above mentioned
resource from National Geographic.)

By comparing Brunelleschi’s Dome with Chartres Cathedral or another Gothic cathedral, students can see
the difference between Gothic architecture’s ethereal, diaphanous, and vertical nature and the
architecture of the Renaissance, which was inspired by an ancient Roman example and expresses the
ideas of an architecture that is firmly grounded in the earthly world by responding to gravity and the need
for solid support. Other references to classical architecture include the use of columns, minimal
decoration, symmetry, and rationalized proportions. This work is also illustrative of the rising status of
the artist, because Brunelleschi had to win the commission through a competition. His ideas were his
own—he kept them secret until he was awarded the victory—and his victory brought with it fame and
celebrity.

2. The Age of Enlightenment (1650-1800)

Time periods of the Enlightenment & their events:

 Early Enlightenment (1685-1739)- “The Enlightenment’s important 17th-century precursors

included the Englishmen Francis Bacon and Thomas Hobbes, the Frenchman Renee
Descartes and the key natural philosophers of the Scientific Revolution, including Galileo,
Kepler and Leibniz” (history.com).

 High Enlightenment (1730-1780)- “It was also a time of religious (and anti-religious)

innovation, as Christians sought to reposition their faith along rational lines and deists and
materialists argued that the universe seemed to determine its own course without God’s
intervention” (history.com).
 Late Enlightenment (1780-1815)- There was a vision to throw out the older authorities and
remake society.

3. Romanticism (1798-1870)
Romanticism (1798-1870)
 Literature that emphasized on imagination and emotions
 Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is another example of Romantic literature because it shows the
imagination of humans and the ideas that become extraordinary inventions and experiments.
 Famous Events: Louisiana Purchase and Industrial Revolution. These events promoted the
drive to think of new ideas and experiments while tapping into our human emotions.
 American Dream: People were building upon ideas and emotions in their lives, which
influenced book genres of terror and horror. One example is Tales of the Grotesque and
Arabesque by Edgar Allen Poe.

4. Realism/Naturalism (1850-1914)

Realism, Naturism and Modernism period is one of the most fascinating elements of African
American literature. Many of the writers of this period emphasize the harshness of African
American life in their work. These writers are simply unapologetic in the way they view life.
Writers of this period held that these three terms had outstanding differences. “Realism is a
window by which to view the lives of ordinary people; naturalism examines the most raw and
real variables of a culture while modernism is a contemporary form that allows artists to
experiment with new styles” (Hakutani 5). Harlem Renaissance preceded the entry of these
writers in literature scene, which happened between 1940 and 1960.

Important writers of this era include Melvin Tolson, Ann Perry, Ralph Ellison, Gwendolyn
Brooks, and Richard Wright among others. However, Richard Wright is the most important
figure of this period; actually, the other writers were said to have attended “Wright School.”

There are different reasons why these writers were said to have attended “Wright School.”
Firstly, Richard Wright came before any other writer of this period; he lived between 1908 and
1960. The other writers emulated Wright and bought his theories. Wright never accepted most
of the writings from Harlem Renaissance; therefore, he became a big critic of these writings.

The other writers that came after Wright held his believes and became critics of Harlem
Renaissance writings. This is the reason they were said to have attended “Wright School.”
Moreover, Wright concerned himself with exposing the challenges that were facing black
Americans in urban areas; something that the writers that came after him exposed and
analyzed further.

The description given to the writers of this age is accurate. For instance, Ralph Ellison, in his
book Invisible Man, talks of challenges that blacks were facing. The only difference between
Ralph’s work and that of Wright is that, “Ralph’s characters were articulate, educated, and self-
aware” (Hakutani 9).

Change of characters does not change theme; therefore, Ralph emulated Wright. Gwendolyn
Brook also touched on the challenges facing blacks through her poems. Her main agenda was
to call blacks into social and economic awareness, something that was conspicuously missing
during Harlem Renaissance. Maud Martha; one of Brooks’ outstanding poems is about life of a
young black woman from her birth to marriage exposing the challenges that she went through.

5. Victorian Period (1832-1901)

It was the time of the world’s first Industrial Revolution, political reform and social change, Charles
Dickens and Charles Darwin, a railway boom and the first telephone and telegraph. But the Victorian Era—the 63-
year period from 1837-1901 that marked the reign of England’s Queen Victoria—also saw a demise of rural life as
cities rapidly grew and expanded, long and regimented factory hours, the start of the Crimean War and Jack the
Ripper.
Victoria, who ascended the throne at age 18 following the death of her uncle, William IV, is Britain’s second-
longest reigning monarch (surpassed by Queen Elizabeth II). At just 4-feet-11-inches tall, her rule during one of
Britain’s greatest eras saw the country serving as the world’s biggest empire, with one-fourth of the global
population owing allegiance to the queen.
Here is a timeline of innovations and events that helped define the Victorian Era.
One of the first photographs for which Queen Victoria ever posed, circa 1854.
Aug. 1, 1834: The British empire abolishes slavery, and more than 800,000 slaves in the British Caribbean are freed.
The government provides damages to slave owners, but nothing to formerly enslaved people.
June 20, 1837: Queen Victoria takes the crown at the age of 18. The granddaughter of King George III, her father
died when she was just 8 months old, and her three uncles also died, putting her first in line as heir to the throne.
July 25, 1837: The first electric telegraph is sent between English inventor William Fothergill Cooke and scientist
Charles Wheatstone, who went on to found The Electric Telegraph Company.
May 8, 1838: The People’s Charter, the result of a political and social reform protest movement, calls for a more
democratic system including six points: the right to vote for men age 21 and older; no property qualification to run
for Parliament; annual elections; equal representation; payment for members of Parliament; and vote by secret
ballot.

Hitler’s Teeth Reveal Nazi Dictator’s Cause of Death

5. Modernism (1870’s-1965)
Modernism, in the fine arts, a break with the past and the concurrent search for new forms of
expression. Modernism fostered a period of experimentation in the arts from the late 19th to
the mid-20th century, particularly in the years following World War I.

In an era characterized by industrialization, the nearly global adoption of capitalism,

rapid social change, and advances in science and the social sciences (e.g., Freudian theory),
Modernists felt a growing alienation incompatible with Victorian morality, optimism, and
convention. New ideas in psychology, philosophy, and political theory kindled a search for new
modes of expression.
The Modernist impulse is fueled in various literatures by industrialization
and urbanization and by the search for an authentic response to a much-changed world.
Although prewar works by Henry James, Joseph Conrad, and other writers are considered
Modernist, Modernism as a literary movement is typically associated with the period
after World War I. The enormity of the war had undermined humankind’s faith in the
foundations of Western society and culture, and postwar Modernist literature reflected a sense
of disillusionment and fragmentation. A primary theme of T.S. Eliot’s long poem The Waste
Land (1922), a seminal Modernist work, is the search for redemption and renewal in a sterile
and spiritually empty landscape. With its fragmentary images and obscure allusions, the poem
is typical of Modernism in requiring the reader to take an active role in interpreting the text.
Across the Atlantic, the publication of the Irish writer James Joyce’s Ulysses in 1922 was a
landmark event in the development of Modernist literature. Dense, lengthy, and controversial,
the novel details the events of one day in the life of three Dubliners through a technique known
as stream of consciousness, which commonly ignores orderly sentence structure and
incorporates fragments of thought in an attempt to capture the flow of characters’ mental
processes. Portions of the book were considered obscene, and Ulysses was banned for many
years in English-speaking countries. Other European Modernist authors whose works rejected
chronological and narrative continuity included Virginia Woolf, Marcel Proust, and the
American expatriate Gertrude Stein.

5. Post Modernism (1965)

The notable literary devices of postmodern literature are paradox, unreliable narrators,
unrealistic narratives, parody and dark humor. Most postmodern literature also rejects the
idea of a single theme or meaning, choosing instead to have many meanings or forgo theme
entirely. This rejection of theme and meaning is often because many of its authors and artists
fail to see a singular meaning in the broken, disastrous world around them. Instead, it often
enjoys poking fun at those who try to find meaning themselves.

Additionally, postmodern literature blurs the line between high and low art and genre, as
literary works frequently use intertextuality (referencing other literature, real or imagined,
within the work), metafiction (making readers aware of the fact that they are reading fiction)
and magical realism (a realistic narrative with an implausible supernatural or magical element
thrown in).

A Few Key Figures

Courtesy of Britannica.

Jorge Luis Borges was one of postmodernism’s earliest writers. Writing almost exclusively in
short stories, Borges’s work explored philosophical ideas and the boundaries of time and space,
all without leaving the reader with any sense of a key theme or meaning. One of his most
famous works is “Library of Babel,” a 1941 short story that describes a library full of everything
that has been and will ever be written (the idea of ‘everything that could ever happen has
happened’ is a very postmodern one) where visitors from all over come to try to find meaning.
Unsurprisingly, they never do.

Submitted by: Adam Benedict E. Lozada

Submitted to: Analie A. Tapia