English Social and Cultural History: An Introductory Guide and Glossary

542 Pages·2019·2.221 MB·English

by  Bibhash Choudhury

ENGLISH SOCIAL AND
CULTURAL HISTORY
An Introductory Guide and Glossary
Bibhash Choudhury
Associate Professor, Department of English
Gauhati University
Guwahati
New Delhi-110001
2010
ENGLISH SOCIAL AND CULTURAL HISTORY: An Introductory Guide and
Glossary
Bibhash Choudhury
© 2005 by PHI Learning Private Limited, New Delhi. All rights reserved. No part of this
book may be reproduced in any form, by mimeograph or any other means, without
permission in writing from the publisher.
ISBN-978-81-203-2849-5
The export rights of this book are vested solely with the publisher.
Seventh Printing . . . . . . August, 2010
Published by Asoke K. Ghosh, PHI Learning Private Limited, M-97, Connaught Circus,
New Delhi-110001 and Printed by Mudrak, 30-A, Patparganj, Delhi-110091.
To
Harekrishna Deka and Ranjit Kumar Dev Goswami
for showing me the way
Contents
Preface
1. FROM THE MEDIEVAL TO THE
RENAISSANCE
Medieval Life and Religion
The Church and Medieval Life
Faith and Daily Life in Medieval England
Towns and Villages in Medieval England
Towns in Medieval England
Life in the Villages
Feudalism
Definition and Scope
Origin and Development
The Conquest of 1066 and Feudalism in England
The Social Impact of Feudalism
The English Manorial System and Medieval Agriculture
The English Manorial System
Manorialism and Agriculture in Medieval England
The Black Death and Its Aftermath
The Black Death
The Impact of Black Death
Wycliffe and the Lollards
The Peasants’ Revolt
Medieval Drama and Literature
Medieval English Theatre
Medieval Romance and the ‘Matters’ of Romance
Fabliau, Lyric, Dream Allegory and Ballad
Chaucer, Gower and Langland
Caxton and the Printing Revolution
The Early History of Printing
Caxton and Printing in England
The Impact of Printing
The Renaissance
The Idea of the Renaissance
Renaissance in Italy
Painting and Sculpture in Renaissance Italy
The Renaissance in the North
Renaissance Humanism
Capitalism and Trade
Exploration and Discovery
The Beginnings of Colonialism
The Reformation
The Context of the Reformation
The Bible and the Reformation
Reformation in Europe
Reformation in England
Elizabethan Theatre
The Elizabethan Theatre and Stage
Marlowe and the University Wits
Shakespeare and Jonson
Webster and Early Stuart Drama
Literature in Renaissance England
Early Tudor Poetry and Wyatt and Surrey
Spenser and Contemporary Elizabethan Poetry
The Elizabethan Sonnet Tradition
Elizabethan Prose
The Metaphysical Poets
Glossary
2. IN TRANSITION: FROM THE RESTORATION
TO THE AGE OF REASON
The Restoration Period
The Context of the Restoration
Restoration Theatre
Seventeenth Century Prose: Sprat, Clarendon, and Dryden
Milton
Women’s Writing in the Seventeenth Century
Restoration Court Culture
Scientific Rationalism and the Enlightenment
The Intellectual Context of the Scientific Revolution
The Scientific Revolution in Europe
Enlightenment Ideas and Philosophy
British Enlightenment
Major Themes of the Enlightenment
Enlightenment Radicalism and the State of Women
The Basic Features of the Enlightenment
Enlightenment and Contemporary Culture
Scientific Thought and Rationalism
Art and Literature in the Age of Reason
Augustanism
Poetry in the Neo-Classical Age: Dryden, Pope, Thomson, and Johnson
Defoe and the Rise of the Novel
Samuel Johnson’s Circle and Literary Culture
Glossary
3. ENGLISH SOCIETY AND CULTURE IN THE
NINETEENTH CENTURY
Romanticism
The Context of Romanticism
Romantic Poetry
The Novel in the Romantic Period
Romantic Prose
The Industrial Revolution
The Context of the Industrial Revolution
The Growth of Industry in England
The Condition of the Working Class in Industrial England
Urbanisation
Darwinism
Darwin and the Theory of Evolution
Social Darwinism
Darwinism and English Literature
The Consolidation of the British Empire
The First British Empire and Colonial Expansion
The Second British Empire
The Triumph of Imperialism
Empire and Ideology
Democracy and Nationalism
The Growth of Nationalism and Democracy
Democracy and Victorian Society
Victorianism and Contemporary Society
Victorianism
Religion in Victorian Society
Women’s Lives in the Victorian Age
Victorian Literature
The Victorian Novel
Poetry in the Victorian Age
Victorian Prose
Glossary
4. FROM THE MODERN TO THE POSTMODERN:
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY AND BEYOND
The Crisis of Empire and Decolonisation
Modernism
The Context of Modernism
Modern Fiction
Modern Poetry
Modern Art
Modern Drama
The Rise of English
Postcolonialism and Literatures in English
Defining Postcolonialism
Literature in a Postcolonial world
Urbanisation and Lifestyles
Urbanisation
Marriage, Divorce and Family Life
Literature and Culture in the Postmodern World
The Context of Postmodernism
Post-War English Fiction
The Cultural Turn in Literary Studies
Post-War English Poetry
Theatre in Post-War England
Media and the Entertainment Industry
British Cinema
British Television
Pop Music
Aspects of Contemporary Culture and Society
Popular Culture
Globalisation
Terrorism and the New World Order
Immigration 2
Feminism and Gender Issues