What is

English
Literature?
Anthony Burgess
Priscila A. Borges Ferreira

CRÍTI
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LIT A
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 English Literature
► “English literature is literature
written in English.” (Burgess, 1989,
p. 9)
► “[…] the ‘English’ of ‘English
literature’ refers not to a nation but
to a language.” (Burgess, 1989, p.
9)
► “Literature is an art which exploits
language, English literature is an
art which exploits the English
British
British Isles
Isles language. But is not just an English
art. It is international, and Chinese,
Malays, Africans, Indians reading
this book may well one day
themselves contribute to English
Literature.” (Burgess, 1989, Diogo
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But...

► […] ‘international’
concept of English
Literature belongs to the
present and the future,
and our main concern is
with the past.
(Burgess, 1989, p. 9)

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The English
Literature
features
By Burgess (1989)

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Geography
► “[...] to the writer,
geography, seems to be
more important than history,
and it is the geography of
England that is perpetually
reflected in its literature.”
(Burgess, 1989, p. 9-10).
► England is an island.
► Cold, stormy sea.
► Mountains, lakes and rivers.
► Its climate.
► The Christian year.
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English character

► “English climate is responsible for

the English character: the English
are colder rather than hot-
blooded, temperate rather than
fiery, active because of the need
to keep warm, philosophical
under difficulties because – so an
unkind person said –if you can
stand the English climate you can
stand anything.” (Burgess, 1989,
p. 11)

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Conservative versus
innovation
► Conservative
► Dislike changing
► Independent
► Jealous of freedom
► Contradictions: conservative
society = explains the eccentrics
and the rebels
► Mad
► English Literature is ‘formless’

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 III. The Seasons
“When icicles hang by the
wall”

William Shakespeare
(1564–1616)

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From “Love’s Labor ’s Lost,” Act V. Sc. 2.
WHEN icicles hang by the wall,
And Dick the shepherd blows his nail,
And Tom bears logs into the hall,
And milk comes frozen home in pail,
When blood is nipped, and ways be foul, 5
Then nightly sings the staring owl,
To-whoo;
To-whit, to-whoo, a merry note,
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.
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From “Love’s Labor ’s Lost,” Act V. Sc. 2.
When all aloud the wind doth blow, 10
And coughing drowns the parson’s saw,
And birds sit brooding in the snow,
And Marian’s nose looks red and raw,
When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl,
Then nightly sings the staring owl, 15
To-whoo;
To-whit, to-whoo, a merry note,
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.
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 English
Language

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ANGLO-SAXON ENGLAND

Old English
English language is the result of the
gradual fusion of the germanic
dialects spoken by the Angles,
Saxons and Jutes. The early form of
English is called Old English.
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ANGLO-SAXON ENGLAND

Old English had a

particular type of
alphabet: the Futhark
(or Futhork).

The letters of the

alphabet were called
Runes, from the English
‘Rûn’ (secret) and ‘Runa’
(magician). Old English had cases and
(The Franks Casket, c. 700) inflections. The spelling and
the pronunciation of Old
English are so different from
present-day English that,
except for a few words, make
it virtually incomprehensible
to a modern reader. Diogo
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 ANGLO-SAXON ENGLAND

Old English words have different origins:

• The bulk of Old English vocabulary come from the Anglo-

Saxon dialects, which gave ‘everyday words’
• Latin had little influence in the first instance (the main
evidence is in city names), but it introduced new words after
the advent of Christianity. Most English words connected to
the Christian religion and liturgy come from Latin
• The Viking raids too left a mark in the language. Many terms
connected to war have a Scandinavian origin

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 428 — 1100: Old English
(Anglo-Saxon) Period
► All anonymous, mostly oral
poetry; little has survived
► Poetry does not rhyme;
alliteration is the central
principle
► Beowulf (~800), a heroic epic in
alliterative verse
► Beowulf is the oldest
surviving epic in English
literature
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 1350 — 1500: Middle English Period
The Canterbury Tales (Middle
English: Tales of Caunterbury) is a
collection of 24 stories that runs to over
17,000 lines written in Middle English
by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and
1400. The tales (mostly written in
verse, although some are in prose) are
presented as part of a story-telling
contest by a group of pilgrims as they
travel together on a journey from
London to Canterbury to visit the shrine
of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury
Cathedral. The prize for this contest is
a free meal at the Tabard Inn at
Southwark on their return.
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 1500 — 1660: The Renaissance (in England;
1607 - 1780 is considered the "Colonial"
period in America)

► Elizabethan Age: Under Elizabeth

I (1558-1603), England becomes
the dominant
► English drama flourishes
(Shakespeare, Christopher
Marlowe, Ben Jonson)
► Shakespeare (1564-1616)
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Thanks
!