1. Write your own opinion on the relationship between history and literature (it must be written more than four paragraphs.
Literature is a reflection or representation of real life. According to Semi (1989: 43), literature is an imitation or integration of reality with the imagination of the author.
According to Teew (1988: 247), the reality written by the author is a reality that occurred in the past, present, and future. The use of past reality or history in literature can give birth to historical literary works. Place of occurrence, figures, events in history used by writers to write his work. From that fact, fiction is born. According to Kuntowijoyo (1987: 27), the use of facts in literature has a purpose, namely:
Trying to translate historical events in imaginary language with a view to understanding historical events according to the author's ability.
Literary works can be a means for authors to convey thoughts, feelings and responses regarding a historical event.
Like historical works, literary works can be the re-creation of an event according to the author's knowledge and imagination.
In literary works that make historical events as material, the three roles of symbols can be one. Each difference is only in the degree of interference and motivation of the author as a way of understanding, for example, the level of historical events as actuality or the level of facticity, will be higher than the level of the author's imagination. In works in the form of transportation, the two elements are the same level. And in literature as a way of creation, the level of actuality or facticity is lower than the imagination of the author.
Not a few literary works that consciously try to raise facts or factual events, so that it seems closer to the sociological picture or like really want to raise historical facts.
Mahayana (2005: 361), explained, if the literary work raised more historical facts, not a few people who treat it as a historical work. Therefore, in some respects, the nature of literature is often considered not very different from the nature of history or even the same as history, however the world in literary works does not always bring up past events. But given the literary and historical works, both are sourced from events or past experiences that have occurred, the literary and historical works place themselves as works that record events. Then it becomes a document or record about a person, building, event, or anything related to the past.
Considering that the world of literary works is an imitation (mimeis) of events that occur in everyday life (imatitation of reality), literary works are documents that record past realities according to observations, observations and subjective thoughts of the author. In this case, as Junus (1981: 72-75) said, the notion of literary works as a reflection of reality, is not merely reporting reality itself, but reporting reality that has become the author's thought. Thus, reality exists for the benefit of thought itself.
In accordance with the assumption of Mahayana (2005: 361) that a literary work is an author's creation that can not be separated from imaginative creations, then the view that literary works as documents of reality, must be interpreted as reality that has undergone a process of settling in the author's thought. In this case, the author's experience that has gone through the process of observation, contemplation, appreciation and evaluation, is then covered in such a way by the power of imagination. The result is a reflection of imaginative reality.
Historical events as raw materials are processed differently by historical writings and by literary works. According to Kuntowijoyo (1987: 130), in historical writing, the raw material for historical events has been processed through certain procedures. From historical sources, historians must carry out criticism, interpretation and synthesis until they are able to present a historical reconstruction. Literary works have another approach, historical events can be the starting point for a literary work, become raw material, but do not need to be accounted for in advance. Historical events, situations, events, actions are simply taken from the treasury of accepted history for things from the past or from the common sense for contemporary events. Critical procedures, interpretations and synthesis, are not required by writers.
Compared to historians, writers actually have more free space when they want to express their evaluation of the past. As said Mahayana (2005: 362-363), subjectively, writers can interpret and interpret historical facts or events according to their interests. He can also convey other alternatives behind historical events. So, the writer can just make the facts and historical events as the background of his creative work, but he can also use the facts and historical events to convey his critical notes or to reveal events that might escape historical records.
In literary writing, history is not only ornamental but structural, meaning that history is not only present as an ornament so that the story is interesting, but it also operates a priori (main) in all the work of reconstructing history.
Historical novels were born as intellectual and literary answers to the problems of an age using the past as a reflection. Historical novels do not need to make the main character's historical figures or historical figures as their characters. Historical reality appears in historical novels, according to Georg Lukacs (in Kuntowijoyo, 1987: 133), in which there are:
Historical authenticity, namely the quality of inner life, morality, heroism, the ability to sacrifice, determination, and so on, which is unique to an age.
Historical faithfulnes (historical loyalty), namely historical necessities based on the actual socio-economic basis of the people.
Local color (state of place) is a faithful description of physical conditions, procedures, equipment, etc., historical novels help facilitate the appreciation of history.
2. How does the renaissance change the literary characteristics in English literature?
The Renaissance had a major influence on English literature. In prose, the first writer to show off the influence of the Renaissance was Desiderius Erasmus. He wrote The Praise of Folly which shows the extraordinary influence of the Renaissance. Tucker said in this case, "This is the best expression in the literature about the attacks carried out by Ox for the reformer on the medieval system." Another important prose writer who was influenced by the Renaissance was Sir Thomas More. His Utopia was considered a "prologue to the Renaissance" by Legouis. Bacon also demonstrated the extraordinary influence of the Renaissance. The Novum Organum is a good example of this.
In the poem, Sir Thomas Wyatt and Earl of Surrey are regarded as pioneering poets who showed remarkable influence of the Renaissance in their work. They revived Petracrh's love poem where her lover suffered a lot at the hands of her lover. In such poetry, the lover is shown as a servant to his lover. He was truly at the mercy of his lover. His heart was shown as told by his lover because of the way the show was indifferent. In addition, Sir Thomas Wyatt introduced sonnets to English literature, while the Earl of Surrey introduced blank poetry in English poetry. Sir Thomas Wyatt followed the French and Italian patterns. Most of his sonets follow the Petrarch convention.
In drama, Gorboduc and Ralph Roister Doister are the first important plays that show quite a lot of classical drama influence. They were written by Greek playwrights such as Sophocles, Aeschylus and Europidas. Roman dramas such as Seneca also exerted influence on many English dramas. Although, University Wits does not follow the classical rules in their drama, but they can not escape from it. What they produce, of course, the tone of classicism
3. Choose one poet and one prose-writer who have strong influence in modernism, and explain their influence to other poet or writer in English literature.
Thomas Stearns Eliot was born in St. Thomas Louis, Missouri, United States, on September 26, 1888. He came from a respectable family in his city, his father was a businessman and his mother was a poet.
Eliot is known as an intelligent person, so he studied at some of the world's best schools, such as Harvard, Sorbonne, and Oxford. Then, he decided to settle in London in 1915, and chose to become a British citizen in 1927.
Around 1915-1919, Eliot pursued various types of professions, ranging from teachers, bank employees, and assistant editors of the literary magazine, The Egoist.
Since childhood, Eliot had been interested in the world of literature, especially poetry writing like his mother.
T.S.'s first collection of poems Eliot in 1917, titled 'Prufrock and Other Obsevations', contained poems in free poetry using modern parables that were quite different from other works of the time.
His works try to describe the life of people in big cities with various problems.
He also often uses contemporary language and parables, which at that time were not used by any poet when writing his poetry.
In a poem entitled 'The Waste Land' in 1922, Eliot gave a picture of the sterility of modern society that was different from societies of the past. His long poetry is one of the works that bridges the entry of poet's modernism.
In the 1920s, Eliot expanded his work to various subjects such as culture and religion. In his 1920 essay, The Sacred Wood, he argues that literary critics must have a strong sensitivity to history so that they can judge literary works from various perspectives so as to avoid unnecessary judgments.
The writer also believes that every poet must be able to see the environment around him to avoid subjectivity in his work.
Apart from being the founder and editor of The Criterion magazine (1922-1939), Eliot was instrumental in forming a literary forum, which would later be filled by renowned contemporary writers. He is considered a pioneer for the modern movement in English poetry.
T.S.'s best work Eliot, according to some critics, was entitled Four Quartets, published in 1943. During the 1930s, Eliot graced each of his works with language that was full of parables and grappled with major themes such as the meaning of time and redemption.
Not only that, he is also known as a play writer, who succeeded with his first work, 'The Cocktail Party' in 1949. His work contains comedy that explores the meaning of salvation.
After that, he wrote several other plays, but the most famous is the Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, in 1939. His play is a poem book for children.
4. Find one of the literary works which influenced by modernism (you must give good arguments and evidences from the work).
Leaves of Grass
Poet: Walt Whitman
5. Explore the charachteristics of Egnlish literature in 20th century.
Juxtapotition (alignment), irony and satire are elements found in modern writing. The storytelling style that is most characteristic of modern writing is that it is often found in the first-person narrative style. Unlike the case with classic writing which has a beginning, middle, and end, modern writing is narrated in a complex style and usually ends with a hanging climax. This makes the reader confused with what they should take from the work.
Modern writing is usually very difficult to understand because of the many fragments and lack of conciseness of the writing. The flow is made in such a way that it looks complex and appears fragmented. A common theme that often becomes a reference in this period is the rejection of history, social systems and loneliness.
Bibliography
Long, William J. English Literature its History amd Significance for the
Life of English Speaking World. Project Gutenberg.
Davies, Hugh. “English Literature”. britannica.com. Feb 04, 2019.
https://www.britannica.com/art/English-literature.
Norton, David. A History of The English Bible as Literature. Cambridge, The Pitt Building,
2000.
Sommers, Jefrey. “The Renaissance Writers Who Shaped the Modern World”.
thoughtco.com. July 12, 2019. https://www.thoughtco.com/top-renaissance-writers-4156665.
Szalay, Jessie. “The Renaissance: The ‘Rebirth’ of Science & Culture”. livescience.com.
June 29, 2016. https://www.livescience.com/55230-renaissance.html.
Walt Whitman. poetryfoundation.org. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/walt-whitman
T.S.Eliot. poetryfoundation.org. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/t-s-eliot
Literature is a reflection or representation of real life. According to Semi (1989: 43), literature is an imitation or integration of reality with the imagination of the author.
According to Teew (1988: 247), the reality written by the author is a reality that occurred in the past, present, and future. The use of past reality or history in literature can give birth to historical literary works. Place of occurrence, figures, events in history used by writers to write his work. From that fact, fiction is born. According to Kuntowijoyo (1987: 27), the use of facts in literature has a purpose, namely:
Trying to translate historical events in imaginary language with a view to understanding historical events according to the author's ability.
Literary works can be a means for authors to convey thoughts, feelings and responses regarding a historical event.
Like historical works, literary works can be the re-creation of an event according to the author's knowledge and imagination.
In literary works that make historical events as material, the three roles of symbols can be one. Each difference is only in the degree of interference and motivation of the author as a way of understanding, for example, the level of historical events as actuality or the level of facticity, will be higher than the level of the author's imagination. In works in the form of transportation, the two elements are the same level. And in literature as a way of creation, the level of actuality or facticity is lower than the imagination of the author.
Not a few literary works that consciously try to raise facts or factual events, so that it seems closer to the sociological picture or like really want to raise historical facts.
Mahayana (2005: 361), explained, if the literary work raised more historical facts, not a few people who treat it as a historical work. Therefore, in some respects, the nature of literature is often considered not very different from the nature of history or even the same as history, however the world in literary works does not always bring up past events. But given the literary and historical works, both are sourced from events or past experiences that have occurred, the literary and historical works place themselves as works that record events. Then it becomes a document or record about a person, building, event, or anything related to the past.
Considering that the world of literary works is an imitation (mimeis) of events that occur in everyday life (imatitation of reality), literary works are documents that record past realities according to observations, observations and subjective thoughts of the author. In this case, as Junus (1981: 72-75) said, the notion of literary works as a reflection of reality, is not merely reporting reality itself, but reporting reality that has become the author's thought. Thus, reality exists for the benefit of thought itself.
In accordance with the assumption of Mahayana (2005: 361) that a literary work is an author's creation that can not be separated from imaginative creations, then the view that literary works as documents of reality, must be interpreted as reality that has undergone a process of settling in the author's thought. In this case, the author's experience that has gone through the process of observation, contemplation, appreciation and evaluation, is then covered in such a way by the power of imagination. The result is a reflection of imaginative reality.
Historical events as raw materials are processed differently by historical writings and by literary works. According to Kuntowijoyo (1987: 130), in historical writing, the raw material for historical events has been processed through certain procedures. From historical sources, historians must carry out criticism, interpretation and synthesis until they are able to present a historical reconstruction. Literary works have another approach, historical events can be the starting point for a literary work, become raw material, but do not need to be accounted for in advance. Historical events, situations, events, actions are simply taken from the treasury of accepted history for things from the past or from the common sense for contemporary events. Critical procedures, interpretations and synthesis, are not required by writers.
Compared to historians, writers actually have more free space when they want to express their evaluation of the past. As said Mahayana (2005: 362-363), subjectively, writers can interpret and interpret historical facts or events according to their interests. He can also convey other alternatives behind historical events. So, the writer can just make the facts and historical events as the background of his creative work, but he can also use the facts and historical events to convey his critical notes or to reveal events that might escape historical records.
In literary writing, history is not only ornamental but structural, meaning that history is not only present as an ornament so that the story is interesting, but it also operates a priori (main) in all the work of reconstructing history.
Historical novels were born as intellectual and literary answers to the problems of an age using the past as a reflection. Historical novels do not need to make the main character's historical figures or historical figures as their characters. Historical reality appears in historical novels, according to Georg Lukacs (in Kuntowijoyo, 1987: 133), in which there are:
Historical authenticity, namely the quality of inner life, morality, heroism, the ability to sacrifice, determination, and so on, which is unique to an age.
Historical faithfulnes (historical loyalty), namely historical necessities based on the actual socio-economic basis of the people.
Local color (state of place) is a faithful description of physical conditions, procedures, equipment, etc., historical novels help facilitate the appreciation of history.
2. How does the renaissance change the literary characteristics in English literature?
The Renaissance had a major influence on English literature. In prose, the first writer to show off the influence of the Renaissance was Desiderius Erasmus. He wrote The Praise of Folly which shows the extraordinary influence of the Renaissance. Tucker said in this case, "This is the best expression in the literature about the attacks carried out by Ox for the reformer on the medieval system." Another important prose writer who was influenced by the Renaissance was Sir Thomas More. His Utopia was considered a "prologue to the Renaissance" by Legouis. Bacon also demonstrated the extraordinary influence of the Renaissance. The Novum Organum is a good example of this.
In the poem, Sir Thomas Wyatt and Earl of Surrey are regarded as pioneering poets who showed remarkable influence of the Renaissance in their work. They revived Petracrh's love poem where her lover suffered a lot at the hands of her lover. In such poetry, the lover is shown as a servant to his lover. He was truly at the mercy of his lover. His heart was shown as told by his lover because of the way the show was indifferent. In addition, Sir Thomas Wyatt introduced sonnets to English literature, while the Earl of Surrey introduced blank poetry in English poetry. Sir Thomas Wyatt followed the French and Italian patterns. Most of his sonets follow the Petrarch convention.
In drama, Gorboduc and Ralph Roister Doister are the first important plays that show quite a lot of classical drama influence. They were written by Greek playwrights such as Sophocles, Aeschylus and Europidas. Roman dramas such as Seneca also exerted influence on many English dramas. Although, University Wits does not follow the classical rules in their drama, but they can not escape from it. What they produce, of course, the tone of classicism
3. Choose one poet and one prose-writer who have strong influence in modernism, and explain their influence to other poet or writer in English literature.
Thomas Stearns Eliot was born in St. Thomas Louis, Missouri, United States, on September 26, 1888. He came from a respectable family in his city, his father was a businessman and his mother was a poet.
Eliot is known as an intelligent person, so he studied at some of the world's best schools, such as Harvard, Sorbonne, and Oxford. Then, he decided to settle in London in 1915, and chose to become a British citizen in 1927.
Around 1915-1919, Eliot pursued various types of professions, ranging from teachers, bank employees, and assistant editors of the literary magazine, The Egoist.
Since childhood, Eliot had been interested in the world of literature, especially poetry writing like his mother.
T.S.'s first collection of poems Eliot in 1917, titled 'Prufrock and Other Obsevations', contained poems in free poetry using modern parables that were quite different from other works of the time.
His works try to describe the life of people in big cities with various problems.
He also often uses contemporary language and parables, which at that time were not used by any poet when writing his poetry.
In a poem entitled 'The Waste Land' in 1922, Eliot gave a picture of the sterility of modern society that was different from societies of the past. His long poetry is one of the works that bridges the entry of poet's modernism.
In the 1920s, Eliot expanded his work to various subjects such as culture and religion. In his 1920 essay, The Sacred Wood, he argues that literary critics must have a strong sensitivity to history so that they can judge literary works from various perspectives so as to avoid unnecessary judgments.
The writer also believes that every poet must be able to see the environment around him to avoid subjectivity in his work.
Apart from being the founder and editor of The Criterion magazine (1922-1939), Eliot was instrumental in forming a literary forum, which would later be filled by renowned contemporary writers. He is considered a pioneer for the modern movement in English poetry.
T.S.'s best work Eliot, according to some critics, was entitled Four Quartets, published in 1943. During the 1930s, Eliot graced each of his works with language that was full of parables and grappled with major themes such as the meaning of time and redemption.
Not only that, he is also known as a play writer, who succeeded with his first work, 'The Cocktail Party' in 1949. His work contains comedy that explores the meaning of salvation.
After that, he wrote several other plays, but the most famous is the Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, in 1939. His play is a poem book for children.
4. Find one of the literary works which influenced by modernism (you must give good arguments and evidences from the work).
Leaves of Grass
Poet: Walt Whitman
Date Published : June 1855Significant Poems: Song of Myself, I Sing The Body Electric, There Was A Child Went Forth.
Leaves of Grass, with its long and audacious preface written by Whitman, is the single most influential poetry book of the modern era. Whitman's power, originality and inclusiveness changed the way we look at the world and ourselves within it.
His poems are a deep exploration of the emerging American self yet they embrace the universal. Whitman's observations, both mundane and spiritual, reflected the growing strength and willpower of a nation.
'Here is the hospitality which forever indicates heroes...' he wrote.
Here is a man alive to all that's going on around him. No subject is beyond his poetic reach, no feelings neglected. From the taboo to the cutting edge, Whitman forces on with his energised narrative.
'The known universe has one complete lover and that is the greatest poet...'
The fresh, loose structures of his poems allowed readers new freedom. There were no obvious rhymes or plodding iambic pentameters, no genteel verse. Instead, Whitman offered straggling sentences of 20 words, driven by deep breaths. These sat alongside prose-like creations, inspired perhaps by certain books from the bible's old testament.
Whitman thought of himself as a cosmos, a phenomenon. His poems can sometimes overwhelm the reader but they never fail to rouse feeling and thought. Alone, he built the new poetic road as he forged ahead.
5. Explore the charachteristics of Egnlish literature in 20th century.
Juxtapotition (alignment), irony and satire are elements found in modern writing. The storytelling style that is most characteristic of modern writing is that it is often found in the first-person narrative style. Unlike the case with classic writing which has a beginning, middle, and end, modern writing is narrated in a complex style and usually ends with a hanging climax. This makes the reader confused with what they should take from the work.
Modern writing is usually very difficult to understand because of the many fragments and lack of conciseness of the writing. The flow is made in such a way that it looks complex and appears fragmented. A common theme that often becomes a reference in this period is the rejection of history, social systems and loneliness.
Bibliography
Long, William J. English Literature its History amd Significance for the
Life of English Speaking World. Project Gutenberg.
Davies, Hugh. “English Literature”. britannica.com. Feb 04, 2019.
https://www.britannica.com/art/English-literature.
Norton, David. A History of The English Bible as Literature. Cambridge, The Pitt Building,
2000.
Sommers, Jefrey. “The Renaissance Writers Who Shaped the Modern World”.
thoughtco.com. July 12, 2019. https://www.thoughtco.com/top-renaissance-writers-4156665.
Szalay, Jessie. “The Renaissance: The ‘Rebirth’ of Science & Culture”. livescience.com.
June 29, 2016. https://www.livescience.com/55230-renaissance.html.
Walt Whitman. poetryfoundation.org. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/walt-whitman
T.S.Eliot. poetryfoundation.org. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/t-s-eliot
