Home > English literature

• Literature from England written in the modern English language or its antecedents (such as Middle or Old English). (The rest of this article discusses this category.)
• Literature composed primarily in the English language by writers not from England; see articles on specific national and regional literatures, such as:
  • Irish literature
  • Anglo-Welsh literature
  • American literature
  • Scottish literature
  • Indian literature in English
  • Pakistani literature in English
  • Caribbean literature in English
  • Canadian literature
  • Australian literature
  • New Zealand literature
  • Literature of Southern Africa
  • Commonwealth literature

• The academic study of literature written in English: see English studies.

1 Genres

• PoetryThe history of English poetry stretches from the middle of the 7th century to the present day. Over this period, English poets have written some of the most enduring poems in European culture, and the language and its poetry have spread around the globe.
• DramaDrama was introduced to England from Europe by the Romans and auditoriums were constructed across the country for this purpose. By the medieval period, the mummers' plays had developed, a form of early street theatre associated with the Morris dance, conc
• NovelEarly novels in English See the article First novel in English. Romantic novel The Romantic period saw the first flowering of the English novel. The Romantic and the Gothic novel are closely related; both imagined almost-supernatural forces operating in n
• Essay
• Biography
• Letters
• Diaries

2 History

English literature emerged as a recognisable entity only in the medieval period, when the English language itself became distinct from the NormanThe Anglo-Norman language is the name given to the language spoken by the Anglo-Normans, the descendents of the Normans who ruled England following the conquest by William of Normandy in 1066. The Norman nobility spoke a langue d'oil called Norman. This b and Anglo-SaxonOld English (also called Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language which was spoken in England around the year 1000. It is a West Germanic language, and is therefore similar to Frisian and Old Saxon. It is also quite similar to Old Norse (and, dialects which preceded it. See also the article Old English poetryOld English poetry is based upon one system of verse construction which was used for all poems. The system consisted of five permutations on a base verse scheme; any one of the five types could be used in any verse. The system is founded upon accent, alli. The first great identifiable individual in English literature, the poet Geoffrey ChaucerChanticleer and the Fox at Ashby-de-la-Zouch castle Geoffrey Chaucer (ca. 1343- 1400) was an English author, philosopher, diplomat, and poet, and is best known and remembered as the author of The Canterbury Tales''. He is sometimes credited with being the, wrote the Canterbury Tales, a popular work of the period which readers still enjoy today.

Following the introduction of a printing press into the England by William Caxton in 1476, the Elizabethan era saw a great flourishing of literature, especially in the field of drama. William Shakespeare stands out in this period as a poet and playwright as yet unsurpassed.

The English novel did not become a popular form until the 18th century. Some readers suggest (erroneously) that Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe (1719) claims a place as the first novel in English.

The following two centuries continued a huge outpouring of literary production, including novels, poetry, and drama, all of which forms remain strong in the present-day English literary culture.

For information on the English language prior to the 16th century, see Middle English and Old English.