Periodization can be called perhaps the most fundamental component in the study of not only history, but also culture - things, in fact, interconnected. Without knowing the patterns of changing epochs, it is almost impossible to build a complete picture of the world.
Meaning of the concept
In the most direct sense, periodization is the division of something into time segments. As a rule, the term is used in the field of study of philology, history or cultural studies. It is in the environment of scientific knowledge that it is most relevant and obligatory.
It should be noted that with the explicit unambiguity of meaning, the term periodization is a kind of system of systems. Within one division, there may be a second one, and so on, which contributes to the detailing, clarification and concretization of certain phenomena.
Types of periodization
Since humanity has passed millennia in its evolution, it is not surprising that it is customary to divide its existence into time periods. Firstly, it greatly simplifies the understanding, and secondly, the study. Periodization is a kind of reduction of facts into a certain system. In this case, we are talking about significant phenomena, events.
The simplest example of periodization is the division of the time of human existence into our era and the period that was before it.
A more specific and accurate option is the periodization of centuries. It can be presented in two versions: strict compliance with time frames and division into centuries in accordance with cultural events. For example, the eighteenth century in literature will be significantly different from the calendar one.
World periodization will be more general than division into time periods of a particular country or even continent. In fact, this kind of systematization can be literary, aesthetic, historical and, as mentioned above, calendar.
Periodization in art
If you call a spade a spade, the periodization of literature or any other manifestation of art is a division into periods according to the characteristics of creativity. This is the fundamental feature and the hallmark.
Traditionally, the periodization of literature and most other types of creativity includes antiquity, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Baroque, classicism, enlightenment, romanticism, realism and modern times. Of course, this division can be called conditional, since in each of these periods one can find additional trends: sentimentalism, rococo, naturalism and others.
In art (painting, architecture), this division is mainly preserved, but some eras may simplyabsent. For example, no one will dispute the right of the existence of the baroque period in the history of world music, but the era of enlightenment, so obligatory for literature, was missed in the realm of sounds - this time period belongs entirely to classicism.
This largely determines the problems of periodization - discrepancies in the development of various types of art and the formation of statehood, and, accordingly, the world image of various countries. Due to this feature, the division into specific time periods seems to be quite difficult.
The periodization of the development of a particular type of human activity, and of humanity itself, as already mentioned, depends on two factors: historical events and characteristic features. To give a concrete example, the easiest way is to refer to how the periodization of literature is presented in the context of other arts.
Time Frame
The era of antiquity opens the world culture. Most researchers agree that this period lasted until the fifth century BC. In fact, for humanity, this particular period can be called one of the most important - during the ancient period, the foundations of world philosophy, aesthetics and logic are laid. Aristotle's poetics is still considered one of the most fundamental works. In addition, it is precisely this time that mankind owes the understanding of art as a reflection of reality - mimetic art.
"Odyssey", "Iliad", which laid the foundation of the world epic, appeared precisely in the eraantiquity.
In the world of cultural studies, this particular era is usually called the Dark Times. Firstly, at that time there was a process of complete suppression of the cult of the body and art as such. The whole world was turned to religion, to God, to the soul. The times of the Holy Inquisition, witch-hunts and the existence of exclusively texts related to the church. Since periodization is a rather flexible concept, there is an additional division into the early and late Middle Ages. The most famous figure of the period is considered to be Dante Alighieri, called the last poet of the Middle Ages and the first poet of the Renaissance.
New time
The new period begins in the fifteenth century AD and continues until the end of the sixteenth. Humanity is returning to the ideals of antiquity and anthropocentrism, abandoning the previous total theocentrism. The Renaissance gave the world Shakespeare, Petrarch, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo.
Baroque - one of the most colorful epochs of world culture, the seventeenth - the beginning of the eighteenth century. The world in this era literally tilted, humanity is aware of its helplessness in front of the cosmos, the transience of life, and is wondering about the meaning of existence. Beethoven and Bach, Rastrelli and Caravaggio, Milton and Luis de Gongora worked during this period.
Classicism in most countries continued from the seventeenth to the eighteenth century. This is the time of maximum adherence to ancient patterns in art. The real realm of ordering, clear lines, uniform textures. In literaturethere is a strict division into high, medium and low genres. The formation of classic art is largely due to the treatise of Nicolas Boileau. Racine, Corneille, Lomonosov, La Fontaine - these are the most famous representatives of the literature of classicism. In music, it's Haydn and Mozart.
Classicism was followed by the Age of Enlightenment, which lasted until the end of the eighteenth century. This is a real triumph of rationalism, the desire for comprehension and awareness, the triumph of human thought. Defoe, Swift, Fielding stood at that time at the pinnacle of the aesthetic manifestation of thought.
Art rotation
Romanticism, which replaced the Enlightenment in the eighteenth century, immediately entered into a discussion about guiding principles. This direction in art seeks, on the contrary, to escape from rationality, to spiritualize human life, to proclaim the ideals of freedom. Byron, Hoffmann, the Grimm brothers, Heinrich Heine best reflected the features of the era.
Realism, in turn, began to compete with romanticism, proclaiming a complete rejection of the fabulous, mysterious, invented by man. "Life as it is" - this is the main postulate of the direction. Gustave Flaubert, Honore de Balzac, Stendhal and many more.
About the present and the future
In the future, literature and art developed, new trends appeared: modernism, postmodernism, avant-garde. The periodization of the development of human thought can last indefinitely. It can contain more and more branches, realities, components. It's always moving forwardto the stars and the most mysterious depths. Comprehension and discovery of eternity.
