Early modern literature

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The

18th century literature), or early modern literature, succeeds Medieval literature, and in Europe in particular Renaissance literature
.

In Europe, the Early Modern period lasts roughly from 1550 to 1750, spanning the

Mughal era lasts until the establishment of the British Raj in 1857. The Ottoman Empire underwent various attempts of modernization from 1828 (Tanzimat
).

Chinese literature of the Qing dynasty remains mostly unaffected by European influence, and effects of modernization that would lead up to the New Culture Movement became apparent only from the Late Qing period in the 1890s.

Europe

Further information:
French literature of the 17th century

A new spirit of science and investigation in Europe was part of a general upheaval in human understanding, which began with the discovery of the New World in 1492 and continues through the subsequent centuries, even up to the present day.

The form of writing now commonplace across the world—the

modern novel
became established as a form there first had to be a transitional stage when "novelty" began to appear in the style of the epic poem.

Plays for entertainment (as opposed to religious enlightenment) returned to Europe's stages in the early modern period.

en travesti
) but that would change, first in France and then in England too, by the end of the 17th century.

The earliest work considered an opera in the sense the work is usually understood dates from around 1597. It is Dafne, (now lost) written by Jacopo Peri for an elite circle of literate Florentine humanists who gathered as the "Camerata".

chivalric romance), in that the novel form would be the direct result of poking fun at a collection of heroic folk legends. This is fully in keeping with the spirit of the age of enlightenment which began from about this time and delighted in giving a satirical twist to the stories and ideas of the past. It is worth noting that this trend toward satirising previous writings was only made possible by the printing press. Without the invention of mass-produced copies of a book it would not be possible to assume the reader will have seen the earlier work and will thus understand the references within the text. In the 18th century Daniel Defoe and Jonathan Swift
wrote famous novels.

The 16th century saw outstanding

epic poems of Torquato Tasso and Luís de Camões. Later the most well-known poets were Juana Inés de la Cruz, John Milton and Alexander Pope. In turn Jean de La Fontaine and Charles Perrault are appreciated for their fables
.

Ottoman Empire

Main article:
Ottoman literature
Further information:
Poetry of the Ottoman Empire

The two primary streams of Ottoman written literature are poetry and

romance, short story, or novel
(though analogous genres did, to some extent, exist in both the Turkish folk tradition and in Divan poetry).

Ottoman Divan poetry was a highly ritualized and symbolic art form. From the Persian poetry that largely inspired it, it inherited a wealth of symbols whose meanings and interrelationships—both of similitude (مراعات نظير mura'ât-i nazîr / تناسب tenâsüb) and opposition (تضاد tezâd)—were more or less prescribed.

Until the 19th century, Ottoman prose never managed to develop to the extent that contemporary Divan poetry did. A large part of the reason for this was that much prose was expected to adhere to the rules of sec' (سجع, also transliterated as seci), or rhymed prose,[1] a type of writing descended from the Arabic saj' and which prescribed that between each adjective and noun in a sentence, there must be a rhyme.

Nevertheless, there was a tradition of prose in the literature of the time. This tradition was exclusively nonfictional in nature—the fiction tradition was limited to narrative poetry.[2]

Persia

Further information: Persian literature

Regarding the tradition of Persian love poetry during the Safavid era, Persian historian Ehsan Yarshater notes, "As a rule, the beloved is not a woman, but a young man. In the early centuries of Islam, the raids into Central Asia produced many young slaves. Slaves were also bought or received as gifts. They were made to serve as pages at court or in the households of the affluent, or as soldiers and bodyguards. Young men, slaves or not, also, served wine at banquets and receptions, and the more gifted among them could play music and maintain a cultivated conversation. It was love toward young pages, soldiers, or novices in trades and professions which was the subject of lyrical introductions to panegyrics from the beginning of Persian poetry, and of the ghazal."[3]

After the 15th century, the Indian style of Persian poetry (sometimes also called Isfahani or Safavi styles) took over. This style has its roots in the

Nand Lal Goya
.

India

Further information:
Literature of the Kingdom of Mysore

Dakkhini or Urdu, the latter showing heavy Persian influence
. The earliest examples of
Amir Khusro
's lines. More developed forms of Khariboli can be seen in some mediocre literature produced in early 18th century. Examples are Chand Chhand Varnan Ki Mahima by Gangabhatt, Yogavashishtha by Ramprasad Niranjani, Gora-Badal ki katha by Jatmal, Mandovar ka varnan by Anonymous, a translation of Ravishenacharya's Jain Padmapuran by Daulatram (dated 1824).

China

Further information: Chinese literature

Japan

Further information: Japanese literature

Literature during the largely peaceful Edo Period, in large part to the rise of the working and middle classes in the new capital of Edo (modern Tokyo), developed forms of popular drama which would later evolve into kabuki. The

36 Views of Mount Fuji
.

Many genres of literature made their début during the Edo Period, helped by a rising literacy rate among the growing population of townspeople, as well as the development of lending libraries. Although there was a

Shui hu zhuan. Two yomihon masterpieces were written by Ueda Akinari
: Ugetsu monogatari and Harusame monogatari.

See also

References

  1. ^ Belge, 389
  2. ^ One apparent exception was the Muhayyelât (مخيّلات "Fancies") of Ali Aziz Efendi of Crete, a collection of stories of the fantastic that was written in 1796, though not published until 1867.
  3. ^ Yar-Shater, Ehsan. 1986. Persian Poetry in the Timurid and Safavid Periods, Cambridge History of Iran. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp.973-974. 1986
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