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3150 BCE
The epopee in the Egyptian literature.
Their literature highlights the simbolysm, religiosity, the idea of death and their attempts to overcome it. They used to decorate temples and houses with their writings. They also tried a new method for writing through papyrus. To help the deceased to cross to the afterlife, the Egyptians made several prayers so they could arrive to their destiny without problems. These prayers are found in The Book of the Dead. -
1800 BCE
Epopee in Mesopotamian literature.
In Mesopotamia, the Sumerians made a phonographic writing (the letters represented a specific sound). Their literature had great spiritual unity and one of the most important works of this period is the Epic of Gilgamesh that is considered the oldest epic. -
1700 BCE
The epopee in Assyrian-Babylonian literature.
The texts produced by the Assyrian-Babylonian culture were related to myths, historical interpretations or letters (a text addressed to someone else in where the author advised or taught something). What stands out here are the historical interpretations where there is usually a warrior king who conquers using cruelty. Campos (1946) comments that this culture had four different kinds of historical compositions:Annals, Militaru Stories, Fastos and Relations. -
600 BCE
Classical epic (Greeks and Latins).
The beginnings of the Greek epic are the bucolic themes: pastoral poems and songs. Although no one knows for sure if the Iliad and the Odyssey belong to a single author, it has been agreed that the author was Homer. The Aeneid was the text of the Romans that was trying to emulate the great adventures of the Greeks, in which Romans praises to Rome and its emperor. Being the conquerors of the world in that time, they thought they could make a text at the level of the Iliad and the Odyssey. -
500 BCE
The epopee in Chinese literature.
One of the greatest aspects of Chinese literature was the philosophy and wisdom that it’s displayed. The philosopher Confucius (551-479 BC) praised the traditions reformed Chinese customs through his compositions. You can see he praised Chinese in his composition called The Thirteen Classics. Below is a fragment of Confucius composition for you to analyze -
400 BCE
The epopee in Indian literature.
Hindu literature is full of imagination and symbolism, which were reflected in its religious context, mixed with myths and legends. The world they present is magical, mystical and full of values such as justice and goodness. Life on earth is only temporary; the important thing is what happens after death. Its two major epics are the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. -
110
The epopee in Ebrew literature.
Hebrew people are heavily influenced by The Bible. According to Fournier and Gonzalez (2002), The Bible is a mixture of historical source and story passed down from one generation to another. Representing the religious responsibility and showing a series of rules and moral teachings. It is divided into Old Testament (life before Christ) and New Testament (Christ's life and what happens after death). The Old Testament is classified in several books: Historical, Poetic, Prophetic, Wisdom. -
476
Songs in the Middle Ages (476-1453)
In the Middle Ages the genre that proliferated was the epic, written and verbal. The heroes were exalted and the glorious nations felt anxious to hear the adventures of his characters. At this time, epopees were called songs of heroic deeds, referring to the stories that spoke of a heroic theme. Important Works: The Poem of the Cid, The Song of the Nibelungs, The Song of Roland. -
1400
Renaissance, transition between the Middle Ages and the modern age. (1400-1600)
At this stage the man tries to get rid of religion, the painting become a tool for philosophical proposals. William Shakespeare (1564-1616) writed plays marked by themes such as love, hate, greed, jealousy, evil, justice, and revenge among others. His works can be classified into different categories: tragedy (Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet), comedy (A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Merchant of Venice) and historical dramas (Henry IV, Henry VIII, Richard III). -
1530
Latin- American writers before the Romanticism (1530-1690)
Alonso de Ercilla (1532-1594) with The Araucaniad (La Araucana).
Bernardo de Balbuena (1558-1627) with Mexico's Grandeur.
Gutierre de Cetina (1520-1557) with the poem Madrigal.
Juan Luis de Alarcón (1580-1639) exalt human values and are against lying.
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1651-1695) one of the most important writers of Mexico, her more important composition is Reply to Sister Philotea. -
1547
Spanish Golden Age at the Baroque period (1547-1680)
Spain began to have a crisis, made to arose a powerful literary movement. The topics of the texts would be more popular and appealing, but also have depth and pessimism. Don Quixote and Miguel de Cervantes was a principal work of the period.Also highlight the presence of one of the most important dramatists: Lope de Vega with some important works like El maestro de danzar and Fuenteovejuna. In poetry two movements appeared: Culteranismo and Conceptismo. -
Romanticism, the movement that reacted against the Neoclassicism, a movement that was popular in Europe and began after the death of Louis XIV (1715).
This movement emphasizes the human being as an individual entity, like a person with emotions, strenghts and weaknesses. Death is a subject that is constantly present in novels. Imagination and subjectivity are more importan than reason. Humanity searches for freedom afer being tied for the rules of art and the three units of Aristotle. Some of the most importan compositions: Faust by Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Les Misérables by Victor Hugo and Rhymes by Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer. -
Romanticism, Realism and Naturalism in Latin America (1715-1850)
Romanticism appears in Argentina in 1839, some of his works are El matadero and La cauitiva.
Romanticism: Domingo Faustino Sarmiento (1811-1888) was born in San Juan, Argentina and his works are Facundo: Civilization and Barbarism and La defensa.
Realism: José López Portillo y Rojas (1850-1923): The precursors, The Mirror, and Quetzalcóatl.
Naturalism: Baldomero Lillo (1867-1923) with Sub terra and The Devil's Tunnel. -
North American literature with United States independence in 1776.
The first literary writings exalted patriotism and values was the Declaration of Independence. Some of the important early writers are Francis Hopkinson and Jeremy Belknap. The first works were written in a realistic way, with a bit of suspense and adventure. The writers wanted to create their own epic, there were poems and hymns about people like George Washington. Extraordinary Stories by Edgar Allan Poe, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain and Moby Dick by Herman Melville. -
Realism against Romanticism (1850).
A this time there were problems between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. It boomed also due to scientific discoveries and developments and pursued to represent reality by imitating it.It stays away from anything related to feelings, emotions and spirit. The representative authors of this movement are Honoré de Balzac, Gustave Flaubert, Charles Dickens, Stendhal, Benito Pérez Galdós and Juan Valera, among others. The Red and the Black and Marianela where important compositions. -
Naturalism (1870)
Started in France and had a strong impact in several European countries. Some authors categorize it as an exaggerated realism. The main author was Émile Zola.Life is conceived as deterministic, Pessimism regarding the fate of man in society, Descriptions of the settings and characters are very detailed based on observation, documentation and testing, uses scientific lexicon.
An important work is Nana, by Émile Zola. -
Modernismo (1885-1910)
Hispanic form of the universal crisis. The letters and the “spirit” started around 1885, the dissolution of the nineteenth century and its influences come from all over the world. The poet who started the movement was the Nicaraguan Rubén Darío. The principal genre was poetry without any rule. Talked about exotic subjects and innovatios.
Rubén Darío with the book Azul
Amado Nervo with wl Bachiller
José Juan Tablada with Al Sol y bajo la Luna. -
Science fiction, horror fiction and detective fiction.
The subgenres Science, Horror, Detective are born of fiction: they are the counterpart of realistic literature. These stories put the reader into extraordinary worlds that come to revolutionize the art and propose universe where creatures, monsters and murderers are willing to open to get into their minds. Fantastic Voyage by Jules Verne. Frankenstein by Mary Shelly. Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle. -
Generation of ‘98
A generation of writers who lived in Spain in the late Nineteenth century, called Generation of ‘98. The writers reacted to what was happening in his country and tried to put that feelings in their works. The types of mainstream were renovation or rebellion, politics, and social criticism.
Mist by Miguel de Unamuno, The Route of Don Quixote by José Martínez Ruiz, El árbol de la ciencia by Pío Baroja. -
Avant-Gard during the First and the Second World War (1914-1939)
Originated in Europe as an artistic and ideological rebellion. The new techniques were the stream of consciousness, interior monologue and Automatic writing, Cubism, expressionism realism, rayonism or suprematism, as these are movements that were more present in paintings. -
Latin American Boom
The first literary movement that emerged from Latin America and aroused worldwide.
A name that came thanks to the marketing, important writers Julio Cortazar, Carlos Fuentes, Gabriel García Márquez and Mario Vargas Llosa. The narrative is the favorite genre and reality is represented in a fantastic way. Use original and innovative and funny words.
Where the Air Is Clear, by Carlos Fuentes
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
Julio Cortazar's Hopscotch -
Postmodernism
Prominent writers of postmodernism are Italo Calvino, James Joyce, Don DeLillo, Thomas Pynchon, they choose topics related to daily life. Texts are written based on the black humor, parody, the grotesque and the absurdity.
Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
Ulysses, by James Joyce
