An Introduction to Literary Studies, 3rd Edition

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PERIODS OF LITERATURE

 

 

 

 

Literary history attempts to group various texts, based on similarities in structure, content, or narrative characteristics, and attribute them to a specific historical period. The following basic overview focuses primarily on English and American literature, but also weaves in movements, authors, and works of international significance from world literature, in order to provide a wider background. This chapter makes no claim to be complete and can only give a summary, not a concise list of all the works and authors that have shaped literature to this day.

Ancient world	3000 BC–AD 400
Old English	400–1066
Middle English	1066–1450
Renaissance and humanism	1450–1660
Colonial period	seventeenth and eighteenth ...