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POPULAR CULTURE IN THE RENAISSANCE

A Prismatic Perceptions ProjectRobin MedeirosLast update 11.9.00

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POPULAR CULTURE IN THE RENAISSANCE

Purpose Definitions of

culture

Art Dance Fashion Festivals

Literature Music Recreation Religion Theatre

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PURPOSE The purposes of this project are to:

Provide students with a model for thesis statements, outlines, research papers, and the MLA citation format (parenthetical and works cited).

Consider definitions of Popular Culture Discuss various modes of Popular

Culture in the Renaissance

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THESIS STATEMENT

The study of popular culture is a 20th Century phenomenon. However by examining popular culture in the Renaissance, we can achieve a greater understanding of this historical period, as well as those who lived during this time.

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CONCEPTS OF CULTURE

Definition of terms (Storey) What is culture? High culture Low culture Popular culture

NOTE: Provide examples

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ART Competitors Strengths Weaknesses

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DANCE Court vs. folk dances

Court dances Galliard Pavane

Folk dances

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FASHION

Clothing (Annenberg/CPB) Discuss requirements, benefits,

and issues of using new procedures

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FESTIVALS Carnivals

Parades Gambling

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LITERATUREORAL TRADITION

Folk humor Proverbs Songs Stories

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LITERATUREWRITTEN TRADITION

Literacy The Written Word Established Genres Ballads Plays

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LITERACY Great number of ordinary people had

some knowledge of book learning The world of work—seaman, merchants and

agents of landlords jobs required regular compilation or consultation of lists must know alphabet; possess rudiments of mathematics

Richard II (1391) Decreed any parent in the kingdom was free to

send their child to school, if they could find one Formal education

(Chamberlain)

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HISTORY OF THE WRITTEN WORD

Handwritten manuscripts Army of copiers (scriptorium) at centers of

learning; at each great court; monasteries Reproduction without plan Materials (parchment, vellum)

Due to cost, require recycling Vellum scraped down written over (palimpsest) Manuscripts lost forever

Archimedes palimpsest (Noel et al.)

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HISTORY OFTHE WRITTEN WORD

Problems Error through ignorance or negligence would

multiply with successive editions of the work “Establishing of the correct text” becomes a major

problem Demand for great works (e.g. The Bible) ensured

their continued existence Lesser known works

Fewer copies/ Lack of interest Disappear for years, if not forever As a result, people continued to struggle with

problems which had already been solved in different places and times

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HISTORY OFTHE WRITTEN WORD

Origins of Printing (Chamberlain) Opened channels of communication Work of the few swiftly available to the many Gutenberg (Rubenstein)

The development of movable type 1462--Civil War broke out in Maintz

Established printers settle throughout Europe 1476--William Caxton established England’s

first printing press Earliest use print indulgences

(Chamberlain)

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LITERATUREWRITTEN TRADITION

Montaigne’s “poesie populaire” Ballads (Legends)

Chanson du Roland Orlando Furioso (Online Medieval &

Classical Library) (Bullfinch’s Mythology)

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LITERATUREWRITTEN TRADITION

Established Genres Fabliaux (Harvard College) Romance

Morte D’Arthur (Legends)

English folk songs Corpus Christi Carol

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LITERATUREWRITTEN TRADITION--

PLAYS Development of the vernacular

drama Mystery Plays (Harvard College)

Full-text—Twycross Four surviving cycles Present the whole history of Mankind

from the beginning to the Last Judgment Selection of biblical episodes Center on the life and Passion of Christ

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LITERATUREWRITTEN TRADITION--

PLAYS Mystery Plays

Written by local clerics—uneven quality Joint ecclesiastical and municipal

enterprises The Wakefield Master is recognized as

the best author— 2 Shepherds play Part of the Wakefield Cycle (Britannica.com)

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LITERATUREWRITTEN TRADITION--

PLAYS Morality Plays

Allegorical dramas Subject not biblical history but “the life history

of an individual as typical ‘Humanism Genus’ or ‘Everyman’ (The Oxford Illustrated History of English Literature)

Two surviving examples Castle of Perservance--early 15th Century Everyman--translated from the Dutch, early 16th

Century (Luminarium)

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MUSIC Chansons

Chanson du Roland Ecclessiastical plainsong Minstrels Troubadours

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RECREATION Fighting Football Hunting Jousting Wrestling

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RELIGION High-level overview of progress

against schedule On-track in what areas Behind in what areas Ahead in what areas

Unexpected delays or issues

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WORKS CITED