This thesis explores the transformation of the English sonnet from its origins to contemporary postmodernist forms. The core of the thesis is a comparative analysis of selected sonneteers, namely William Shakespeare, John Keats, Gerard Manley Hopkins and Ted Berrigan. In the thesis, I use concrete examples of sonnets to examine formal changes and structural departures, as well as thematic renewal. In order to fully understand the literary form, the thesis also first outlines the historical development and introduces other key authors. A special chapter is devoted to a discussion of the possibilities and limits of the use of the English sonnet in Slovenian literature. The thesis reveals how the sonnet has adapted to different literary periods and artistic expressions, thus retaining its status as the most important literary form of Western poetry.
|