A Chronology of Western Literary Periods and Movements

Dating Terminology:

• Christian Terms: BC (Before Christ), AD (Anno Domini)
• Secular Terms: BCE (Before the Common Era), CE (Common Era)

I. The Classical Period (1200 BC - 455 AD)

A. Homeric or Heroic Period (1200 - 800 BC)

B. Classical Greek Period (800 - 200 BC)

C. Classical Roman Period (200 BC - 455 AD)

D. Patristic Period (70 AD - 455 AD)

II. The Medieval Period (428 - 1450)

A. The Old English (Anglo-Saxon) Period (428 - 1066)

B. The Middle English Period (1066 - 1450)

III. The Renaissance and Reformation Period (1485 - 1649)

A. Early Tudor Period (1485 - 1558)

B. Elizabethan Period (1558 - 1603)

This period marks the works of William Shakespeare.

C. Jacobean Period (1603 - 1625)

D. Caroline Age (1625 - 1649)

IV. The Enlightenment (Neoclassical) Period (1660 - 1790)

Known also as The Age of Reason.

A. Restoration Period (1660 - 1700)

B. The Augustan Age (1700 - 1750)

C. The Age of Johnson (1750 - 1790)

V. The Romantic Period (1790 - 1830)

Key Romantic writers include Coleridge, Blake, Keats, and Shelley in Britain, and Johann von Goethe in Germany.

In America, this period is mirrored in the Transcendental Period (approximately 1830 - 1850).

Gothic writings (1790 - 1890) overlap significantly with both the Romantic and Victorian periods.

Characteristics of Romanticism in English Literature

1. Imagination and Creativity
2. The Beauty of Nature
3. Individualism and Solitude
4. Romantic Love

VI. The Victorian Period (1832 - 1901)

Notable British writers include Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Robert Browning, Charles Dickens, and the Brontë sisters.

Key Literary Movements within the Victorian Period

A. Naturalism

A literary movement that emphasizes observation and the scientific method in the fictional portrayal of reality.

B. Realism

Writers describe story elements (such as setting, characters, and themes) without using elaborate imagery or figurative language.

VII. The Modern Period (1914 - 1945)

Characteristics of Modernist Literature

1. Individualism
2. Experimentation
3. Absurdity
4. Symbolism
5. Formalism

VIII. The Postmodern Period (1945 - Present)

Themes in 21st Century Literature

1. Identity
2. History and Memory
3. Technology
4. Intertextuality

Newer Genres in the 21st Century

1. Illustrated Novels
2. Digi-Fiction
3. Manga
4. Doodle Fiction
5. Cell Phone Novel