Periodization can be called almost the most fundamental component in the question of studying not only history, but also culture - things, in fact, interconnected. Without knowledge of the laws of the change of eras, it is almost impossible to build a full-fledged picture of the world.
The meaning of the concept
In the most literal sense, periodization is the division of something into time periods. As a rule, the term is used in the field of the study of philology, history or cultural studies. It is in the midst of scientific knowledge that it is most relevant and required.
It should be noted that with the obvious unambiguity of the meaning, the term periodization is a kind of system of systems. Within one division, the second and so on may exist, which contributes to the refinement, refinement and concretization of certain phenomena.
Types of Periodization
Since humanity has passed millennia in its evolution, it is not surprising that its existence is usually divided into time periods. Firstly, it greatly simplifies the understanding, and secondly, the study. Periodization is a kind of mixing facts into a specific system. In this case, we are talking about significant phenomena, events.
The simplest example of periodization can be called the separation of the time of human existence into our era and the period that existed 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.
World periodization will be more general than division into time periods of a specific 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 precisely the fundamental feature and hallmark.
Traditionally, the periodization of literature and most other forms of creativity includes antiquity, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, 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 simply be absent. For example, no one will dispute the existence of the Baroque period in the history of world music, but the era of enlightenment, which is 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 rather complicated.
The periodization of the development of one or another type of human activity, and humanity itself, as already mentioned, depends on two factors: historical events and characteristic features. To give a concrete example, the easiest way is to look at how periodization of literature is presented in the context of other arts.
Time frame
Opens the world culture the era of antiquity. Most researchers agree that this period lasted until the fifth century BC. In fact, for mankind this particular period can be called one of the most important - during the ancient period, the foundations of world philosophy, aesthetics and logic were laid. The poetics of Aristotle is still considered one of the most fundamental works. In addition, it was precisely this time that humanity owed an understanding of art as a reflection of reality - mimetic art.
The Odyssey, the Iliad, which laid the foundation of the world epic, appeared precisely in the era of antiquity.
In world cultural studies, it is this era that is commonly called the Dark Times. Firstly, at this time there was a process of the complete suppression of the cult of the body and art as such. The whole world was turned to religion, god, soul. The times of the Holy Inquisition, the witch hunt and the existence of exclusively texts related to the church. Since periodization is a rather mobile 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
A new period begins from 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 is one of the most colorful eras of world culture, the seventeenth - the beginning of the eighteenth century. The world in this era literally banked, mankind is aware of its helplessness before the cosmos, the transience of life, wonders about the meaning of existence. Beethoven and Bach, Rastrelli and Caravaggio, Milton and Luis de Gongora created during this period.
Classicism in most countries lasted from the seventeenth to the eighteenth century. This is the time of maximum adherence to antique patterns in art. The real kingdom of ordering, clear lines, uniform textures. In the literature, there is a strict division into high, medium and low genres. The formation of classic art owes much to the treatise of Nicolas Boileau. Racine, Cornell, Lomonosov, Lafontaine - these are the most famous representatives of the literature of classicism. In music, these are Haydn and Mozart.
Classicism was followed by the era of enlightenment, which lasted until the end of the eighteenth century. This is the real triumph of rationalism, the pursuit of comprehension and awareness, the triumph of human thought. Defoe, Swift, Fielding stood at this time on top of the aesthetic manifestation of thought.
Art twist
Romanticism, which replaced the Enlightenment in the eighteenth century, instantly entered into a discussion of guiding principles. This direction in art seeks, on the contrary, to break out of rationality, spiritualize human life, and proclaim the ideals of freedom. Byron, Hoffmann, the brothers Grimm, Heinrich Heine best reflected the characteristics of the era.
Realism, in turn, began to compete with romanticism, proclaiming a complete rejection of the fabulous, mysterious, invented by man. “Life, what it is” - this is the main postulate of the direction. Gustave Flaubert, Honore de Balzac, Stendhal and many others.
About the present and the future
In the future, literature and art developed, new directions appeared: modernism, postmodernism, avant-garde. The periodization of the development of human thought can last forever. It may contain more and more new branches, realities, components. It is always moving forward to the stars and the most mysterious depths. Comprehension and discovery of eternity.