Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Submitted By:
Malik Faraz Subhani
Class:
BS ENG-VI(Repeater)
Roll NO.
14
Subject:
History of Eng-Literature-I
Topic:
General Introduction and main genre of
Middle Ages
Submitted To:
Mam. Uzma Farooq
It is true that before the Norman Conquest the Anglo-Saxons had a body of native literature
distinctly superior to any European vernacular. But one cannot deny that the Normans came to
their land when they greatly needed an external stimulus. The Conquest effected a wholesome
awakening of national life. The people were suddenly inspired by a new vision of a greater
future. They became united in a common hope. In course of time the Anglo-Saxons lost their
initial hostility to the new comers, and all became part and parcel of one nation.
The Normans not only brought with them soldiers and artisans and traders, they also imported
scholars to revive knowledge, chroniclers to record memorable events, minstrels to celebrate
victories, or sing of adventure and love.
The great difference between the two periods—Anglo-Saxon period and Anglo-Norman
period, is marked by the disappearance of the old English poetry. There is nothing during the
Anglo-Norman period like Beowulf or Fall of the Angels. The later religious poetry has little in it
to recall the finished art of Cynewulf. Anglo-Saxon poetry, whether derived from heathendom or
from the Church, has ideas and manners of its own; it comes to perfection, and then it dies away.
It seems that Anglo-Saxon poetry grows to rich maturity, and then disappears, as with the new
forms of language and under new influences, the poetical education started again, and so the
poetry of the Anglo-Norman period has nothing in common the Anglo-Saxon poetry.
The most obvious change in literary expression appears in the vehicle employed. For
centuries Latin had been more or less spoken or written by the clergy in England. The Conquest
which led to the reinvigoration of the monasteries and the tightening of the ties with Rome,
determined its more extensive use. Still more important, as a result of foreign sentiment in court
and castle, it caused writings in the English vernacular to be disregarded, and established French
as the natural speech of the cultivated and the high-born. The clergy insisted on the use of Latin,
the nobility on the use of French; no one of influence saw the utility of English as a means of
perpetuating thought, and for nearly three centuries very few works appeared in the native
tongue.
In spite of the English language having been thrown into the background, some works were
composed in it, though they echoed in the main the sentiments and tastes of the French writers,
as French then was the supreme arbiter of European literary style. Another striking characteristic
of medieval literature is its general anonymity. Of the many who wrote the names of but few are
recorded, and of the history of these few we have only the most meagre details. It was because
originality was deplored as a fault, and independence of treatment was a heinous offence in their
eyes.