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courtly love

(Encyclopedia)courtly love, philosophy of love and code of lovemaking that flourished in France and England during the Middle Ages. Although its origins are obscure, it probably derived from the works of Ovid, vari...

Bjørnson, Bjørnstjerne

(Encyclopedia)Bjørnson, Bjørnstjerne byörnˈstyĕrnə byörnˈsōn [key], 1832–1910, Norwegian writer and political leader, one of the major figures of Norwegian literature. He was an influential journalist, w...

expressionism

(Encyclopedia)expressionism, term used to describe works of art and literature in which the representation of reality is distorted to communicate an inner vision. The expressionist transforms nature rather than imi...

Ferlinghetti, Lawrence

(Encyclopedia)Ferlinghetti, Lawrence fûrˈlĭng-gĕtˈē [key], 1919–2021, American author and publisher, b. Yonkers, N.Y, ...

Bunyan, John

(Encyclopedia)Bunyan, John bŭnˈyən [key], 1628–88, English author, b. Elstow, Bedfordshire. After a brief period at the village free school, Bunyan learned the tinker's trade, which he followed intermittently ...

Middle Ages

(Encyclopedia)Middle Ages, period in Western European history that followed the disintegration of the West Roman Empire in the 4th and 5th cent. and lasted into the 15th cent., i.e., into the period of the Renaissa...

French language

(Encyclopedia)CEE French language, member of the Romance group of the Italic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages (see Romance languages). It is spoken as a first language by more than 70 million p...

fabliau

(Encyclopedia)fabliau, plural fabliaux both: fäblēōˈ [key], short comic, often bawdy tale in verse that deals realistically and satirically with middle-class or lower-class characters. Fabliaux were often direc...

Feijoo, Benito Jerónimo

(Encyclopedia)Feijoo, Benito Jerónimo: bānēˈtō hārōˈnēmō fāēhōˈō [key], 1676–1764, Spanish Benedictine scholar and critic, abbot at Oviedo, Asturias. Feijoo led in bringing the Enlightenment to Spa...

Hyde, Douglas

(Encyclopedia)Hyde, Douglas, 1860–1949, Irish scholar and political leader. He was largely responsible for the revival of the Irish language and literature through his founding of the Gaelic League in 1893. After...