/kloc-The European Enlightenment in the 0/8th century was a huge collision between conservative feudal forces and emerging bourgeois values. Britain established a constitutional monarchy through the bourgeois revolution and started the industrial revolution in the 1960s. There is a conflict between the remaining feudal forces and the emerging industrial bourgeoisie, and empirical philosophy prevails. After the death of Louis XIV, France, once the most powerful country in Europe, began to fall into endless social contradictions; The industrial revolution, which came later than Britain, greatly intensified the bourgeoisie's determination to oppose absolute monarchy, and the enlightenment thought was more radical than Britain, which eventually gave birth to the French Revolution of 1789. Under the influence of the "Thirty Years' War" in the17th century, Germany still divided hundreds of small countries, and its economy lagged far behind Britain and France. German intellectuals, deeply influenced by French and British intellectuals, are committed to spreading enlightenment ideas and calling for national unity and self-improvement. Under such a social and historical background, the Enlightenment was born and spread rapidly, forming a powerful torrent throughout Europe.
The empiricism philosophy of British philosopher Locke and the rationalism philosophy of French philosopher Descartes are the two theoretical sources of the Enlightenment.
As a part of the Enlightenment, the Enlightenment literature takes "rational worship" as its core, advocates worshipping "natural rationality" and opposes autocratic monarchy. Reflected in literature, everyone advocates individual freedom, returning to nature, advocating enlightened monarchy or constitutional monarchy, advocating the development of industry and commerce, free economic competition and so on. /kloc-French classical literature in the 0/7th century still occupies a certain position in the Enlightenment, but it did not produce great works. Although many writers still write in the form of classicism, their ideological connotation has gone far beyond the scope of classicism.
Generally speaking, the anti-kingship and anti-church thoughts in enlightenment literature are somewhat similar to those in Renaissance literature, but more radical. Because it is rooted in the soil of enlightenment, enlightenment literature has stronger characteristics of philosophical speculation and political economy. Enlightenment literature does not pursue lofty style, but mainly focuses on civilians in the citizen class. In genre, it is not limited to poetry and drama, but widely used in various genres, among which novels are the most developed, which laid a good foundation for the prosperity of realistic novels in the19th century. It can be said that the transition of European literature from "poetic era" to "prose era" was completed in the stage of enlightenment literature.
First of all, Britain
English literature flourished in the18th century. Classical literature was very powerful at the beginning of the century, such as Alexander? Pop (1688- 1744) has always been in a leading position in the literary world. It was not until the 20th century that enlightened writers formally entered the literary world. Because Britain established an enlightened constitutional monarchy earlier, British enlightenment literature did not have a strong political or critical color, and mainly promoted bourgeois values, overseas colonization and Puritanism. /kloc-English literature in the 0 th and 8 th centuries is usually called "Augustus literature", which is usually orthodox in form and more lively and humorous than French and German literature.
Daniel? Defoe (1661-1731) is one of the pioneers of English novels. His enlightenment thought is moderate, but it is still a major backwash to classical literature. His masterpieces Robinson Crusoe and Captain singleton are well-known and spread the idea of overseas colonization by describing the stories of young people from the middle and lower classes of society. Irish Jonathan? Swift (1667- 1745) is much more radical than Defoe, and his Gulliver's Travels is world-famous. The novel is full of irony, which makes a comprehensive mockery of British society through the protagonist's experiences in the journey. Swift usually exaggerates the object of satire to the point of cruelty or even absurdity. Black humor literature born in the United States in the 20th century, with Swift as its originator.
The 1930s and 1950s of 18 were the heyday of English novels. Samuel? Richardson is a pioneer of English family novels. His famous work Clarissa, with middle-class women and maids as the main characters, pays attention to marriage, family and moral issues, and is very good at depicting the subtle changes of characters' psychology and feelings. He is a pioneer of English sad literature. Henry. Fielding (1707- 1754) is the most accomplished English novelist in the 8th century. His masterpiece Tom? Jones is a large novel of 18 and the most enlightening novel in English literature of 18 century. Tom? Jones's moral core is the principle of "aristocratic virtue", criticizing the hypocritical civilization of aristocratic society and advocating the establishment of new "natural morality". This novel has a great influence on English literature. Romantic and realist writers in the19th century highly admire it, and its exquisite and meticulous structure has reached a shocking level. In addition, important writers in this period include Tobila? Smollett (172 1 year-177 1 year), whose vagrant novels are widely welcomed by the bottom of society.
By the middle of the18th century, the British industrial revolution had begun, rural farmers were increasingly bankrupt, and the polarization between the rich and the poor in cities was intensified, and a new literary style "sad literature" came into being. Generally speaking, "sad literature" is regarded as a tributary of enlightenment literature, and it is also a reflection of enlightenment thought and the weakness of petty bourgeoisie in urban and rural England. In creation, it emphasizes feelings and feelings, and pays attention to rendering the inner pain and misfortune of the characters.
The representative figures of sentimental literature are Lawrence? Stein (17 13- 1768), whose novel Sad Travel is the origin of sad literature. Oliver from Ireland? Goethe Smith (1728- 1774)' s novel Pastor wakefield and long poem Abandoned Village are the most successful works of sentimental literature. In the field of poetry, there is a "graveyard poetry school", and Elegy of the Cemetery, the representative figure of Gray (1716-1771), is a rare masterpiece in English poetry.
Because the British Parliament passed the Drama Review Act in 1737, the development of drama was restricted. Fielding became famous for his political satires at first, and then he was forced to turn to novel writing. The works with high achievements in the play include Goethe Smith's Bowing Down for Courtship and Richard Smith? Xie Lidan's School of Rumors (175 1- 1876) was also staged in Britain.
Second, France
France is the birthplace of the Enlightenment and the main position of the Enlightenment. Many French enlightenment thinkers are writers themselves, so French enlightenment literature is much more radical than Britain, with a strong philosophical foundation and profound political and economic implications. The editors of the once famous Encyclopedia School are all learned people, who have profound attainments in philosophy, literature and history. The works of these scholars and writers, whether critical or philosophical, are better than the enlightenment literature of other countries.
Vagrant novels prevailed in France at the beginning of18th century. This literary style, which originated in Spain, was widely circulated at the bottom of society, which opened the prelude to enlightenment literature. Allen? Rene. Le Sage (1668- 1747) is the most accomplished wandering novelist. His representative works include the lame devil and Jill? Brass or something.
Montesquieu and Voltaire are the representative writers of French enlightenment literature in the first half of the18th century. Montesquieu was the first truly enlightened writer in France. His theoretical work "On the Spirit of Law" promoted the legal system to the first place in the political life of the country, and demonstrated the theory of separation of powers in detail, which became a masterpiece on the theory of the state in the world. His epistolary novel Persian Letters is the first famous philosophical novel of enlightenment. Voltaire (1694- 1778) was the most famous writer during the French Enlightenment. He advocated that literature and art should serve the social improvement and publicize the enlightenment thought, but he also emphasized that it should abide by the classical laws. His most valuable literary works are 26 short and medium-length philosophical novels, including Such a World, Chadiger, Naive Man and Honest Man. Voltaire is good at satire. Byron once praised him as "like a gust of wind, blowing at will, uprooting everything, sometimes making a fool of yourself and sometimes shaking the throne."
/kloc-In the mid-8th century, Montesquieu and Voltaire continued their activities, and a new generation of writers Diderot and Rousseau entered the literary world with a more radical attitude, pushing French enlightenment literature to the peak.
Deni? Diderot (17 13- 1784) is the backbone of French enlightenment literature and the leader of "Encyclopedia School". He is knowledgeable and has made great achievements in philosophy, literature, literary theory and other fields. In drama creation, he put forward the concept of "drama" for the first time, and personally created the famous dramas "illegitimate child", "head of the family" and "being a good person or a bad person" which are still being staged today. In addition, Diderot also developed the genre of dialogue novels, and created masterpieces with fresh styles such as Ramo's nephew and Jacques and his master, which promoted the development of enlightenment thought. Jean-Jacob Rousseau (17 12- 1778) was the most outstanding French thinker and writer in the18th century. His thoughts reflected the tendency of radical democrats in the Enlightenment, and he was the pioneer of romantic literature in19th century. In his early years, Rousseau made friends with Diderot and wrote articles for Encyclopedia. His literary creation is mainly concentrated in the later period. Rousseau was very prolific, with plays and novels as his main works. His best works include New Love Lois, Emile, Confessions and so on. These works criticize the old world from the perspective of "nature worship" philosophy and advocate shaping new people with enlightenment. Rousseau's works had an earthquake-like influence all over Europe, so that after the publication of Emile in 1762, the feudal forces all over Europe jointly set off a wave of anti-Rousseau. The new trend of Rousseau's works has developed into a surging romantic literature in the19th century.
Buel？ De? Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (1732- 1799) was the most accomplished playwright during the French Enlightenment. He advocated and developed Diderot's drama thought, and created the most outstanding civic dramas in the history of French drama, The Barber of Seville and The Wedding of Figaro, which caused great repercussions in France. King Louis XVI of France even banned the play, thinking that it would "destroy the Bastille".
Third, Germany
/kloc-Germany in the 0/8th century was also divided into hundreds of small states and imperial capitals, each of which was a small feudal country. The country is divided, wars between countries are frequent, and industry and agriculture lag far behind Britain and France. The bourgeoisie is weak, attached to the local small court, and does not have any revolutionary force. Nevertheless, under the influence of the Enlightenment in Britain and France, German intellectuals took the lead in awakening and made brilliant achievements in the fields of literature, music and philosophy. Different from Britain and France, which have a profound literary history, the primary purpose of German enlightenment literature is to change the historical weak situation of German literature and create national literature with modern significance, which also promotes the prosperity of German literary and artistic theory circles.
German enlightenment literature began in the 1920s, and the earliest representative figure was Gottschede, a professor at Leipzig University. He imitated the French classical theorist boileau's Poetics, wrote Critical Poetics for Germans, and actively translated French classical dramas, so as to change the common vulgar and inferior characteristics of German literature. By the middle of this century, German enlightenment literature began to prosper. Saint Gotha? Lessing (1729- 178 1) is the greatest figure in early German enlightenment literature and the founder of modern German literature. His aesthetic masterpiece "laocoon" and the collection of drama reviews "Hamburg Drama Review" laid the basic style of the development of modern German literature. In addition to his theoretical contributions, Lessing himself is also an outstanding playwright, and his civic drama Sarah? Miss Samson is the first citizen tragedy in the history of German literature. "Amelia? Galloti is also a well-known play. Lessing is good at absorbing nutrients from ancient Greek and Roman culture and applying them to the transformation of German literature.
The climax of German enlightenment literature was the hurricane movement that appeared in 1970s and 1980s. Most of the writers who participated in this German literary movement were young people from the civic class, and young Goethe and Schiller became the backbone of this movement. John? Wolfgang? Goethe (1749- 1832) is the greatest writer in German history and the leading literary master in the history of western literature. In the radical movement, he created a large number of plays and poems, expressing his spirit of resisting tyranny and yearning for freedom of thought. The epistolary novel Young Werther is the most valuable work in the wave movement, which has a far-reaching influence on later German literature. Friedrich? Schiller (1959- 1805) is another important figure in the surge movement, and his mass tragedy of citizens is the best embodiment of the surge movement spirit. Drama, robbers, conspiracy and love, and Tang? Carlos and others have caused widespread repercussions throughout Europe.
In the 1990s, the hurricane movement gradually ended, and Germany entered the so-called "classical literature era" (different from "classical literature" in the general sense). German literature in this period, together with German classical philosophy and classical music, formed a glorious period of German classical culture and jumped to the forefront of world cultural development. The main literary achievements of this period include the cooperation between Goethe and Schiller and Goethe's creation in his later years. After the French Revolution, Goethe and Schiller gradually broke away from the radical and romantic characteristics of their youth and began to create literary works with lofty style and rational content. Goethe crossed with Schiller in 1794, after which Schiller entered the second vigorous creative period and published wallenstein and William? Many excellent plays such as Tooy, and Goethe's most important achievement is the poetic novel Faust, which is one of the greatest works in the history of western literature.
Generally speaking, German literature after 1990s has been out of the category of "enlightenment". German literature in this period is characterized by solemnity, quietness, elegance and solemnity, and it is highly perfect and unified in both content and form, which means that Germany has finally established a real "German modern literature" like Britain and France.