EUROPEAN

LITERATURE
• EUROPEAN LITERATURE REFERS TO THE LITERATURE OF EUROPE.
EUROPEAN LITERATURE INCLUDES LITERATURE IN MANY
LANGUAGES; AMONG THE MOST IMPORTANT OF THE MODERN
WRITTEN WORKS ARE THOSE IN ENGLISH, SPANISH, FRENCH,
DUTCH, POLISH, GERMAN, ITALIAN, MODERN GREEK, CZECH,
RUSSIAN, BOSNIAN AND WORKS BY THE SCANDINAVIANS AND
IRISH.
• IMPORTANT CLASSICAL AND MEDIEVAL TRADITIONS ARE THOSE IN
LATIN, ANCIENT GREEK, OLD NORSE, MEDIEVAL FRENCH AND THE
ITALIAN TUSCAN DIALECT OF THE RENAISSANCE.
IN COLLOQUIAL SPEECH, EUROPEAN LITERATURE OFTEN IS USED AS
A SYNONYM FOR WESTERN LITERATURE.
EUROPEAN LITERATURE IS A PART OF WORLD LITERATURE.
 LITERARY GENRES

• GENRES IN EUROPEAN LITERATURE (R9033)

• THE NOVEL AND NARRATIVE THEORY.
• THE SHORT STORY OR NOVELLA.
• WOMEN'S WRITING.
• (AUTO)BIOGRAPHY.
• TRANSLATION AS A GENRE.
• 'FACTION' (THE BLURRING OF FACT AND FICTION)
• THE DETECTIVE NOVEL.
 SOME TRADITIONS

• 1. THE CARNIVAL OF VENICE THE CARNIVAL OF VENICE- IF YOU ARE

LOOKING FOR FESTIVALS IN EUROPE FEATURING ELABORATE
MASKS, THE CARNIVAL OF VENICE IS THE PLACE TO BE. ALTHOUGH
THE FESTIVAL HAS ROOTS THAT ARE A MILLENNIUM OLD, THE
MODERN VERSION ONLY BEGAN IN 1979 AS AN EFFORT TO
REVIVE THE CULTURE OF THIS GREAT CITY.
• TODAY, ALMOST 3 MILLION PEOPLE ATTEND THIS 20-DAYS LONG
BIGGEST FESTIVALS IN EUROPE IN MARCH OF ENDLESS PARTIES
AND EVENTS ACROSS THE CITY. THERE IS A WATER PARADE,
COMPETITIONS INSPIRED FROM OLD VENETIAN TRADITIONS, A
GRAND BALL, AND A POPULARITY CONTEST FOR BEST MASK
DESIGN.
• 2. ST. PATRICK’S DAY
• THE DAY OF ST. PATRICK, THE PATRON SAINT OF THE CATHOLIC
NATION OF IRELAND, ST. PATRICK’S DAY HAS OLD ROOTS. IT IS
CELEBRATED ON 17TH MARCH EVERY YEAR AS IT MARKS THE
ARRIVAL OF CHRISTIANITY INTO IRELAND AND IS CONSIDERED ONE
OF THE BEST SPRING FESTIVALS IN EUROPE. OVER TIME, IT HAS
EVOLVED INTO A CELEBRATION OF IRISH CULTURE.
• MARKED MOST DISTINCTLY BY THE COLOR GREEN OF THE
SHAMROCK, IT INCLUDES PARADES AND OTHER REVELRIES,
PARTICULARLY IN DUBLIN WHERE THE IRISH VOLUNTEERS MARCH.
ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR FESTIVALS IN EUROPE, IT IS ALSO
OFTEN CALLED THE FESTIVAL OF ALCOHOL AS THE LENTIL
PROHIBITIONS ON ALCOHOL END ON THIS DAY.
• 3. MASLENITSA
• MASLENITSA IS ONE OF THE FAMOUS UPCOMING CULTURAL
FESTIVALS IN EUROPE 2019 AND INVOLVES RELIGIOUS CARNIVALS
FROM THE SLAVIC TRADITIONS OF EASTERN EUROPE. CELEBRATED
EIGHT WEEKS BEFORE EASTERN EASTER, IT HAS BEEN ONE OF THE
OLDEST FESTIVALS IN EUROPE IN MARCH. DURING THE WEEK OF
THE FESTIVAL, MEAT, CHEESE, AND OTHER DAIRY ARE PERMITTED FOR
ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS
• THE TRADITIONS OF THE FESTIVAL ARE CENTERED SO MUCH
AROUND THIS RELAXATION OF THE BAN THAT THE FESTIVAL IS
OFTEN CALLED THE CHEESE FARE WEEK OR THE CREPE WEEK. ONE
OF THE LARGEST FESTIVALS IN EUROPE, THE PREPARATION OF
CREPES IN THIS FEST CREATES A BUZZ ALL AROUND THE TOWN.
 SOME FORMS OF LITERATURE

• ANCIENT LITERATURE

• THIS COVERS THE FIVE ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS

OF BABYLONIA, ASSYRIA, EGYPT, GREECE, AND ROME
INCLUDING THE CULTURE OF THE ISRAELITES IN PALESTINE—EACH
CAME INTO CONTACT WITH ONE OR MORE OF THE OTHERS NOT
NECESSARILY IN ORDER BUT ESSENTIALLY BY THE INFLUENCE EACH
EXERTED OVER THE OTHERS.
• MEDIEVAL LITERATURE

• THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE MARKED THE BEGINNING OF THE

MEDIEVAL OR MIDDLE AGES. ALSO KNOWN AS DARK AGES, DUE
TO THE PREVAILING CONDITIONS DURING THIS PERIOD,
BARBARIAN INVASION AND MUSLIM CONQUESTS MARKED THIS
ERA. WARS, FAMINE, PLAGUES AND DECLINE IN CULTURE AND
LEARNING.
• RENAISSANCE LITERATURE

• THE TERM RENAISSANCE (REBIRTH OR REVIVAL) IS GIVEN TO THE

HISTORICAL PERIOD IN EUROPE THAT SUCCEEDED THE MIDDLE
AGES. THIS PERIOD MARKED THE REAWAKENING OF A NEW SPIRIT
OF INTELLECTUAL AND ARTISTIC INQUIRY, WHICH WAS THE
DOMINANT FEATURE OF THIS POLITICAL, RELIGIOUS, AND
PHILOSOPHICAL PHENOMENON, WAS ESSENTIALLY A REVIVAL OF
THE SPIRIT OF ANCIENT GREECE AND ROME.
 EXAMPLES

• THE STRANGER (BY: ALBERT CAMUS )

• THE METAMORPHOSIS (BY: FRANZ KHAFKA )
• THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING (BY: MILAN KUNDERA)
• THE TRIAL (BY: FRANZ KHAFKA )
• THE LITTLE PRINCE (BY: ANTOINE DE SAINT)