17 th c . an introduction
DESCRIPTION
17 th c . an introduction. Mid-/late-seventeenth century. p eriod: 1630s-1680s (developing British empire; it we must work with periods and place -- “British” -- we need to think about empire ) political ideas and conflict: civil war & colonial expansion - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
17th c. an introduction
Mid-/late-seventeenth century
• period: 1630s-1680s (developing British empire; it we must work with periods and place -- “British” -- we need to think about empire )
• political ideas and conflict: civil war & colonial expansion
• institutions of science, medicine, technology• genres of media and literature• examples of events through which to read the
connections: plague & fire
Two end points to work from:
1649 – the execution of Charles I – regicide. Conflicts over theology and global and local economics; BUT also the function of the sovereign (“kingship”).
1692 – the beginning of the witchcraft trials in Salem, MA (the “colonies”).
• First English novel, Oroonoko ? • Broadsides and Ballads• Newspapers• Going viral: changing role and circulation of
images (within poetry and prose)
Traherne: I saw new worlds beneath the water lie, New people, and another sky.— Thomas Traherne, On Leaping over the Moon (NAEL 8, 1.1772)
Multiple pasts/presents
We don’t all have the same past/present…
Catastrophic events
Great plague of London, 166575,000 and 100,000 of London’s rapidly expanding population of about 460,000.
Great fire of London, September 2, 1666.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kbr4rQEfQtY&feature=related
