Enlightenment literature is literature with enlightenment thoughts as its content during the Enlightenment in the18th century. It is not only an important part of the Enlightenment, but also an important tool and ideological weapon of the Enlightenment.
Because most enlightenment thinkers are also enlightenment writers, they vigorously publicize bourgeois political thoughts and show the requirements of bourgeois reform of social system, so enlightenment literature has a distinct tendency and didacticism. First of all, it emphasizes the social function of literature, paying special attention to the significance of literary works in criticizing feudal system, religious superstition and improving people's moral literacy.
Secondly, enlightenment literature is democratic. At that time, bourgeois writers were striving for third-class literary status and trying to make literary works acceptable to the broad masses of the people. Therefore, they oppose the tendency of classical court and advocate that literature should be oriented to the broad masses of the people. Enlightenment writers emphasize the authenticity of their works, and their works are mostly based on real life, so their works are philosophical and analytical.
Literary style and representative figures
In order to publicize the enlightenment thought, the enlightenment writers also created many new literary forms, such as philosophical novels, dramas, epistolary novels, dialogue novels, lyric novels, educational novels and so on. However, the writers of enlightenment literature often do not pay attention to shaping the artistic image with distinctive personality, but take positive characters as their spokesmen, which makes the characters lack flesh and blood. This is most obvious in philosophical novels.
The typical representatives of enlightenment literature are Montesquieu, Voltaire, Diderot and Rousseau in France. They are all famous writers and thinkers. The representative writers of English enlightenment literature are Defoe, Swift and Fielding. Due to the different social and historical conditions, the enlightenment literature in European countries has its own development path and national characteristics.