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.
 The 21st century got under way, history remained the outstanding concern of English literature. Although contemporary
issues such as global warming and international conflicts (especially the Second Persian Gulf War and its aftermath)
received attention, writers were still more disposed to look back.

The more ambitious novelists to emerge during this period—contained chapters that envisage future eras ravaged by malign
technology and climactic and nuclear devastation.

The imitation of earlier literary styles and techniques. There was a marked vogue for pastiche and revisionary Victorian
novels (of which Michel Faber’s The Crimson Petal and the White [2002] was a prominent example). McEwan’s Atonement
(2001) worked masterly variations on the 1930s fictional procedures of authors such as Elizabeth Bowen. In Saturday (2005),
the model of Virginia Woolf’s fictional presentation of a war-shadowed day in London in Mrs. Dalloway (1925) stood behind
McEwan’s vivid depiction of that city on Feb. 15, 2003, a day of mass demonstrations against the impending war in Iraq.
Heaney continued to revisit the rural world of his youth in the poetry collections Electric Light (2001) and District and
Circle (2006)

Reexamining and reworking classic texts, a striking instance of which was The Burial at Thebes (2004), which infused
Sophocles’ Antigone with contemporary resonances. Although they had entered into a new millennium, writers seemed to
find greater imaginative stimulus in the past than in the present and the future.
I. Ancient Literature and Medieval Literature (800 BC–1500 AD)
• Literature created in the ancient period (800 BC–500 AD) was mostly influenced by
Greco-Roman culture, which became the basis for the Western literature that we know
today. The intellectual and philosophical studies made by the Greeks and the Romans are
the foundation of European literature.
• The Greeks introduced all major kinds of literature: tragedy, comedy, epic, history,
biography, prose narrative, lyric, and satire. The earliest forms of these were oral in
nature. The Romans also adapted the literary forms the Greeks produced.
• Oral epics became material for Homer’s The Iliad and The Odyssey, which expressed the
values and imagination of the Western humanity and were also used by the Greeks as
models for conduct. The Iliad narrates the Trojan War and the siege of Troy; The Odyssey,
which is a sequel to The Iliad, recounts the journey of Odysseus at the end of the war. A
common theme in Homer’s two epics is the quest for glory that is earned through a
heroic battle. The Greeks called this kleos, which means “renown” or “glory.”
• Medieval literature refers to works produced during the Middle Ages (500 AD–1500). This period marked the emergence of
three dominant cultures: Christianity, Islam, and the Germanic invaders.
• Two characteristics of medieval literature are its focus on different religious beliefs and its concern on the use of physical
force. Religious values were not universal, and some traditions were in direct conflict with each other. For example, the epic
poem Beowulf is a mix of Christianity and Germanic paganism.
• Below are some information about some works of medieval literature:
• a. Beowulf
« Beowulf was set in Denmark, the land of Danes and Sweden, the land of Geats. It was a supernatural tale
inspired by historical events. Beowulf, the hero of the story, was described as having a hand grip equivalent to
the strength of 30 men, which enabled him to slay monsters.
« Just like other heroic poems, Beowulf exhibited brutality, a common characteristic of its time when raids
and
bloody battles between tribes are a part of life.
b. La Chanson de Roland
« La Chanson de Roland is an Old French epic poem translated as The Song of Roland in English. The probable
author of the poem was Turold, a Norman poet whose name was introduced in the poem’s last line.
« The themes of medieval epics center on deeds or heroic figures. La Chanson de Roland is considered the
earliest and greatest chanson de geste or French heroic poem.
c. Nibelungenlied
« The Nibelungenlied was a German epic poem, probably written in Austria during the early 13th century.
It has
themes of murder and revenge.
II. Renaissance and Enlightenment (1300–1800)
• Renaissance means rebirth. The Renaissance period (1300–1600) was marked by the rebirth of the Greco-
Roman literary tradition. Classical scholars, known as humanists, revived and translated ancient texts. The
humanists also used the Greek and Latin classics, along with traditional Christian thought, to teach people
about human life.
• The age of Enlightenment (1600–1800) was a byproduct of the renaissance that birthed humanism. Thinking
that they could be whatever they wanted to be, people proved it through scientific and industrial progress.
This period could be summed up as the celebration of different ideas. This made the cafés serve as the
unofficial center of this new movement, a place where people would read whatever literature available and
debate about their needs and desires as a community or a population.
Here are examples of literary works during this period:
a. Much Ado About Nothing
« This was considered as one of Shakespeare’s best comedies and was probably written
between 1598 and 1599. It was first printed as a quarto or a booklet in 1600 and reprinted in 1623 as a
part of Shakespeare’s first folio. This play infused humor on serious topics like honor, shame, and court
politics.
 b. Paradise Lost
« This is an epic poem about the Fall of Man, where John Milton, the writer,
made Adam, Eve, Satan, and God his characters. It started with Satan’s realizing
that he was in hell and making his plan to spite God through Adam and Eve. The
story went on as it was in the Bible. Satan tricked Eve into eating the fruit, and
Adam also took a bite. They got banished from paradise and had to endure
suffering such as labor pains, sickness, and death.
c. Gulliver’s Travels
« In this novel by Jonathan Swift, Gulliver traveled on four separate voyages
and encountered different types of societies each time. Each journey is a
metaphor for different aspects of British society that the author wanted to
criticize.
 III. Romanticism and Realism (1800–1920)
• Romanticism is a literary movement against the aristocratic culture that started in the late 18th century. Romanticism uplifts
the characters from humble backgrounds or the common man and places importance on imagination and emotion. The
works of early Romantics were seen as absurd and fantastic. It was the next generation of romantics who will prove
creativity and imagination can well blend with reality and composure. “For Novalis, imagination was able to restore the
animistic feeling of oneness with the universe that was destroyed by 200 years of mechanistic thinking and rational
philosophizing.” (Travers 2001)
• Realism, in contrast with romanticism, was the representation of reality. While romanticism beautifies the ugly, realism
presents the truth with all its flaws. It strives to present things as accurate and with the least subjectivity as possible. It
greatly focused on the fidelity of facts.
• Here are some literary works written during this time:
a. Debit and Credit
This German novel by Gustav Freytag was translated into almost all of the European languages. The novel
celebrates the solid bourgeois qualities of the German merchants as well as the relationships between the characters
and their work. It tackles the great problem of the century, the interaction of modern industrialism in the social life
during that time.
b. “The World Is Too Much With Us”
Romanticism is characterized by the appreciation of nature, and this was presented by William Wordsworth
in this poem. He wrote against the consumerism that came with the industrial revolution during his time because
earning and spending made people insensitive to the beauty of nature.
 IV. Modernism and Postmodernism (1920–Present)
• Modernism began in the early twentieth century through roughly 1965. This period was marked by sudden
changes in man’s perspective of the world. The First World War caused the formation of a new literary
movement. There was a greater demand for all sorts of literature because of the higher literacy rate; however, it
was quickly supplied by the popular press. The refined intellectuals looked upon the new popular literature
with scorn.
• Stream of consciousness is a technique in which a character’s thoughts and feelings are written in an
uninterrupted flow (foregoing literary devices such as description and dialogue). A famous example of this is
Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway. An unreliable narrator is a technique in point of view in which the speaker may
or may not know that his or her version of events is not entirely true. A contemporary example of this is Kazuo
Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day.
• Postmodernism (1965–Present) shows a crisis of identity of the human being in ethnicity and sexuality, as well
as the struggle for social and cultural acceptance in a hypocritical society. Postmodern literary work does not
pretend to be new and original; rather, it juxtaposes the old and the new to contextualize it in the readers’
minds.
• Postmodernism is characterized by the use of paradox (self-contradictory statement), fragmentation
(incompleteness whether in form or in content), and the unreliable narrator. Following the atrocities
committed in World War II, literature produced during this time also resisted the dogma of the traditions
preceding it, particularly the periods of Enlightenment and Modernism.
• Here are some literary works written during this time:
a. The Great Gatsby
« This novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald digs more into his characters than the plot. Character development
plays a vital role in this novel. Symbolism and a fragmented way of narrating are how the author eases
the hard delivery of truths to the reader. The narrator, Nick, said, “I was within and without,
simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.” This quote still resounds to
the present day as it did at the time the novel was written. The lives of the characters are reflected in
that quote, and ironically, their life was full of a variety of repetitive things that exhausted them.
b. Waiting for Godot
« This play by Samuel Beckett is about two hobos waiting for Godot by a sickly looking tree. The setting
could best be interpreted as the place without Godot. It is also where the hobos contemplated and
argued about hanging themselves. The hobos could be viewed as a symbolism of the thieves by Jesus’
side on the cross as well as every person in the world and Godot as a symbolism for God. Like a circle,
the action of the play also presents something that keeps on going and is without an end. The tragedy
of the story is in the fact that the hobos are unable to wait for Godot and the fact that Godot will not
arrive.
« The play is true to the postmodern style of incorporating past literary movements as well as other
influences from popular culture such as red-nosed circus clowns, traditional farce routines, and James
Joyce’s Finnegans Wake.
•Joanne Rowling known by her pen name J. K.
Rowling, is a British author, film producer,
television producer, screenwriter, and
philanthropist. She is best known for writing the
Harry Potter fantasy series, which has won
multiple awards and sold more than 500 million
copies, becoming the
best-selling book series in history.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was
released in 2007. Since then, Rowling has written
five books for adult readers: The Casual Vacancy
(2012) and—under the pseudonym Robert
Galbraith—the crime fiction Cormoran Strike
series, which consists of The Cuckoo's Calling
(2013), The Silkworm (2014), Career of Evil
(2015), and Lethal White (2018)
•Pauline Sara Jo Moyes (born 4 August 1969),
known professionally as Jojo Moyes, is an English
journalist and, since 2002, a romance novelist and
screenwriter. She is one of only a few authors to
have twice won the
Romantic Novel of the Year Award by the
Romantic Novelists' Association and has been
translated into twenty-eight languages. Her novels
being on the New York Times bestseller list at the
same time. Moyes would later write two sequels
starring Louisa Clark, the protagonist of Me Before
You: After You in 2015 and Still Me in 2018
•John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was an English fantasy
author and academic. Tolkien settled in England as a
child, going on to study at Exeter College. While teaching
at Oxford University, he published the popular fantasy
novels The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy
(2001) The works have had a devotedinternational fan
base and been adapted into award-winning blockbuster
films.
•The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) ...
•The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) ...
•The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) ...
•The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) ...
•The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)
•Erika Leonard known by her pen name E. L. James, is a
British author. She wrote the bestselling erotic romance
trilogy Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker, and
Fifty Shades Freed, along with the companion novels
Grey: Fifty Shades of Grey as Told by Christian and
Darker: Fifty Shades Darker as Told by Christian; the
Twilight fan fiction "Master of the Universe" that was the
basis for the Fifty Shades trilogy. In 2019 her first book to
not be a part of the Fifty Shades trilogy, The Mister, was
published, to negative critical reception. The Fifty Shades
novels have sold over 125 million copies worldwide, over
35 million copies in the United States and set the record in
the United Kingdom as the fastest selling paperback of all
time.
Perfect
Ed Sheeran
I found a love for me
Darling just dive right in
And follow my lead
Well I found a girl beautiful and sweet
I never knew you were the someone waiting for me
'Cause we were just kids when we fell in love
Not knowing what it was
I will not give you up this time
But darling, just kiss me slow, your heart is all I own
And in your eyes you're holding mine
Baby, I'm dancing in the dark with you between my arms
Barefoot on the grass, listening to our favorite song
When you said you looked a mess, I whispered underneath my
breath
But you heard it, darling, you look perfect tonight
Well I found a woman, stronger than anyone I know
She shares my dreams, I hope that someday I'll share her home
I found a love, to carry more than just my secrets
To carry…
The Little Prince is a 2015 English-
language French 3D animated
fantasy adventure family drama film
directed by Mark Osborne and
based on the
1943 novella of the same name by
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. The film
stars the voices of Jeff Bridges,
Rachel McAdams, Paul Rudd, Bud
Cort, Marion Cotillard, Benicio
del Toro, James Franco,
Ricky Gervais, Paul Giamatti, Riley
Osborne, Albert Brooks and
Mackenzie Foy. It is the first
adaptation as a full-length animated
feature of The Little Prince
What Happened to Monday (known
as Seven Sisters in Canada, France,
Spain, Portugal, Italy, Poland, Slovakia,
Hungary and Japan) is a 2017 dystopian
science fiction thriller film directed by
Tommy Wirkola and starring Noomi Rapace
, Glenn Close and Willem Dafoe. It was
written by Max Botkin and Kerry
Williamson. The film was released
theatrically in Europe and Asia and Netflix
bought the streaming rights to the film for
the United States as well as the U.K. and
Latin America.Netflix released the film on
August 18, 2017.
One Direction (1D) are an English-Irish pop
boy band based in London, composed of Niall Horan
, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson;
former member Zayn Malik departed from the group
in 2015. The group signed with Simon Cowell's
record label Syco Records after forming and finishing
third in the seventh series of the British televised
singing competition The X Factor in 2010. Propelled
to global success by social media,[1][2][3] One
Direction's five albums, Up All Night (2011),
Take Me Home (2012), Midnight Memories (2013),
Four (2014), and Made in the A.M. (2015), topped
charts in most major markets, and generated hit
singles including "What Makes You Beautiful", "
Live While We're Young", "Best Song Ever", "
Story of My Life" and "Drag Me Down".
 Mr. Dursley, a well-off Englishman, notices strange happenings
on his way to work one day. That night, Albus Dumbledore, the
head of a wizardry academy called Hogwarts, meets Professor
HARRY McGonagall, who also teaches at Hogwarts, and a giant named
POTTER AND Hagrid outside the Dursley home. Dumbledore tells McGonagall
THE that someone named Voldemort has killed a Mr. and Mrs. Potter
SORCERER’S and tried unsuccessfully to kill their baby son, Harry.
Dumbledore leaves Harry with an explanatory note in a basket in
STONE front of the Dursley home.
BY J.K.
Ten years later, the Dursley household is dominated by the
ROWLING Dursley’s son,Dudley, who torments and bullies Harry. Dudley is
spoiled, while Harry is forced to sleep in a cupboard under the
stairs. At the zoo on Dudley’s birthday, the glass in front of a boa
constrictor exhibit disappears, frightening everyone. Harry is
later punished for this incident.
 Mysterious letters begin arriving for Harry. They worry Mr. Dursley, who tries
to keep them from Harry, but the letters keep arriving through every crack in
the house. Finally, he flees with his family to a secluded island shack on the eve
of Harry’s eleventh birthday. At midnight, they hear a large bang on the door
HARRY and Hagrid enters. Hagrid hands Harry an admissions letter to the Hogwarts
POTTER AND School of Witchcraft and Wizardy. Harry learns that the Dursleys have tried to
deny Harry’s wizardry all these years.
THE The next day, Hagrid takes Harry to London to shop for school supplies. First
SORCERER’S they go to the wizard bank, Gringotts, where Harry learns that his parents have
STONE left him a hefty supply of money. They shop on the wizard’s commercial street
known as Diagon Alley, where Harry is fitted for his school uniform. Harry buys
BY J.K. books, ingredients for potions, and, finally, a magic wand – the companion wand
ROWLING to the evil Voldemort’s.
A month later, Harry goes to the train station and catches his train to Hogwarts
on track nine and three quarters. On the train, Harry befriends other first-year
students like Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, a Muggle girl chosen to
attend Hogwarts. At school, the first- years take turns putting on the “Sorting
Hat” to find out in which residential house they will live. Harry fears being
assigned to the sinister Slytherin house, but he, Ron, and Hermione end up in
the noble Gryffindor house.
 As the school year gets underway, Harry discovers that his Potions professor,
Snape, does not like him. Hagrid reassures Harry that Snape has no reason to
dislike him. During their first flying lesson on broomsticks, the students are told
to stay grounded while the teacher takes an injured boy named Neville to the
HARRY hospital. Draco Malfoy, a Slytherin bully, snatches Neville’s prized toy and flies
POTTER AND off with it to the top of a tree. Harry flies after him. Malfoy throws the ball in
the air, and Harry speeds downward, making a spectacular catch. Professor
THE McGonagall witnesses this incident. Instead of punishing Harry, she commends
SORCERER’S that he play Quidditch, a much-loved game that resembles soccer played on
broomsticks, for Gryffindor. Later that day, Malfoy challenges Harry to a
STONE wizard’s duel at midnight. Malfoy doesn’t show up at the appointed place, and
BY J.K. Harry almost gets in trouble. While trying to hide, he accidentally discovers a
fierce three-headed dog guarding a trapdoor in the forbidden third-floor
ROWLING corridor.
On Halloween, a troll is found in the building. The students are all escorted back
to their dormitories, but Harry and Ron sneak off to find Hermione, who is
alone and unaware of the troll. Unwittingly, they lock the troll in the girl’s
bathroom along with Hermione. Together, they defeat the troll. Hermione tells a
lie to protect Harry and Ron from being punished. During Harry’s first
Quidditch match, his broom jerks out of control.
 Hermione notices Snape staring at Harry and muttering a curse. She
concludes that he is jinxing Harry’s broom, and she sets Snape’s clothes
on fire. Harry regains control of the broom and makes a spectacular
play to win the Quidditch match.
HARRY
For Christmas, Harry receives his father’s invisibility cloak, and he
POTTER AND explores the school, unseen, late at night. He discovers the Mirror of
THE Erised, which displays the deepest desire of whoever looks in it. Harry
SORCERER’S looks in it and sees his parents alive. After Christmas, Harry, Ron, and
STONE Hermione, begin to unravel the mysterious connection between a break-
in at Gringotts and the three-headed guard dog. They learn that the dog
BY J.K. is guarding the Sorcerer’s Stone, which is capable of providing eternal
ROWLING life and unlimited wealth to its owner and belongs to Nicolas Flamel,
Dumbledore’s old partner.
 A few weeks later, Hagrid wins a dragon egg in a poker
game. Because it is illegal to own dragons, Harry, Ron,
and Hermione contact Ron’s older brother, who studies
HARRY dragons. They arrange to get rid of the dragon, Fluffy,
POTTER AND but get caught. Harry, Ron, and Hermione are severely
THE punished, and Gryffindor is docked 150 points.
SORCERER’S Furthermore, part of their punishment is to go into the
STONE enchanted forest with Hagrid to find out who has been
BY J.K. killing unicorns recently. In the forest, Harry comes upon
ROWLING a hooded man drinking unicorn blood. The man tries to
attack Harry, but Harry is rescued by a friendly centaur
who tells him that his assailant was Voldemort. Harry
also learns that it is Voldemort who has been trying to
steal the Sorcerer’s Stone.
 Harry decides that he must find the stone before Voldemort does.
He, Ron, and Hermione sneak off that night to the forbidden
third-floor corridor. They get past the guard dog and perform
HARRY many impressive feats as they get closer and closer to the stone.
POTTER AND Harry ultimately finds himself face to face with Quirrell, who
announces that Harry must die. Knowing that Harry desires to
THE find the stone, Quirrell puts Harry in front of the Mirror of
SORCERER’S Erised and makes him state what he sees. Harry sees himself with
STONE the stone in his pocket, and at that same moment he actually fells
BY J.K. it in his pocket. But he tells Quirrell that he sees something else. A
ROWLING voice tells Quirrell that the boy is lying and requests to speak to
Harry face to face. Quirrell removes his turban and reveals
Voldemort’s face on the back of his head. Voldemort, who is
inhabiting Quirrell’s body, instructs Quirrell to kill Harry, but
Quirrell is burned by contact with the boy. A struggle ensues and
Harry passes out.
 When Harry regains consciousness, he is in the hospital
with Dumbledore. Dumbledore explains that he saved
Harry from Quirrell just in time. He adds that he and
HARRY Flamel have decided to destroy the stone. Harry heads
POTTER AND down to the end-of-year banquet, where Slytherin is
THE celebrating its seventh consecutive win of the house
SORCERER’S championship cup. Dumbledore gets up and awards
STONE many last-minute points to Gryffindor for the feats of
BY J.K. Harry and his friends, winning the house cup for
ROWLING Gryffindor. Harry returns to London to spend the
summer with the Dursleys. ("Sparknotes: Harry Potter
And The Sorcerer’S Stone: Plot Overview" 2020)
ARCHETYPES ARE UNIVERSAL
SYMBOLS THAT
ENCAPSULATE THE
COLLECTIVELY-INHERITED
UNCONSCIOUS IDEA,
PATTERN OF THOUGHT,
IMAGE, ETC., THAT IS,
UNIVERSALLY PRESENT IN
PEOPLE. PSYCHOLOGIST
CARL GUSTAV JUNG
DESCRIBED SEVERAL
ARCHETYPES THAT ARE
BASED IN THE OBSERVATION
OF DIFFERING BUT
REPEATING PATTERNS OF
THOUGHT AND ACTION THAT
RE-APPEAR
TIME AND AGAIN ACROSS
PEOPLE, COUNTRIES AND
CONTINENTS
ACTIVITY: BASED ON THE
GIVEN INFORMATION ON
THE DIFFERENT
ARCHETYPES FOR
CHARACTERS, USE THE
TABLE BELOW TO SPECIFY
WHICH CHARACTER IN
HARRY POTTER AND THE
SORCERER’S STONE
SUBSCRIBES TO THE GIVEN
ARCHETYPE.