Questions about historical development within literature: for example, the history of a particular literary theme or idea, or of literature in a particular country or context. For questions about real-world history as it relates to literature, use [historical-context] instead. For questions about publication dates of specific works or editions, use [textual-history].

Use this tag for questions about historical development within literature. Example questions might be:

  • asking for the first literary work to use a particular theme or idea;
  • asking about how a literary theme or idea developed, perhaps in relation to a specific work;
  • asking about the development of literature in a particular country or context;
  • asking about the literary aspects of intellectual movements such as Romanticism or the Renaissance;
  • etc.

For questions about real-world historical events as they relate to literature, use the tag instead.

For questions about when an individual work first appeared or about revisions to that work over time, use .