Here you will find our graphical timeline representing literary periods & movements, as well as major events or authors from literature history. To learn more about specific eras you can browse back to our Literary Periods page.

Literary movements are marked by shared traits of style, subject, and literary genre. While literature predates this list of movements, literary movements began in the early modern period, well after the Renaissance.

Literary movements are a way to divide literature into categories of similar philosophical, topical, or aesthetic features, as opposed to divisions by genre or period. Like other categorizations, literary movements provide language for comparing and discussing literary works.

Literary periods are spans of time for literature that shares intellectual, linguistic, religious, and artistic influences. The following links, organized by literary period, are to the library's catalog for works by author, title, literary movement, type of work, etc.