Literary movements are a way to divide literature into categories of similar philosophical, topical, or aesthetic features, as opposed to divisions by
genre
Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...
or period. Like other categorizations, literary movements provide language for comparing and discussing literary works. These terms are helpful for
curricula
In education, a curriculum (; : curriculums or curricula ) is the totality of student experiences that occur in an educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view of the student's experi ...
or
anthologies.
Some of these movements (such as Dada and Beat) were defined by the members themselves, while other terms (for example, the metaphysical poets) emerged decades or centuries after the periods in question. Further, some movements are well defined and distinct, while others, like expressionism, are nebulous and overlap with other definitions. Because of these differences, literary movements are often a point of contention between scholars.
Table
This is a tablelist of
modern literary movements: that is, movements after the
Renaissance literature. Ordering is approximate, as there is considerable overlap. Notable authors ordering is predominantly by precedence.
See also
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List of poetry groups and movements
Poetry groups and movements or schools may be self-identified by the poets that form them or defined by critics who see unifying characteristics of a body of work by more than one poet. To be a 'school' a group of poets must share a common style o ...
References
Main sources
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{{Portal bar, Literature
Movements
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