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INTRODUCTION TO LITERARY THEORY
Doc. PhDr.Stanislav Kolář, Dr.
The concept of literature
Literature:
-in broadest sense it is everything in print, in narrower sense it is imaginative writing
-body of the text considered literary in the particular place at particular time
-higly valued kind of writing
What makes work literary - Criteria:
A)fictionality – opposition between imaginative and non- imaginative
en. e.g Bacon, Dunn, Ruskin – without fictionality
am. e.g. puritans – against drama or fun, destructed attention from God, theatre is sin, did not write novels, romans, did write only journals, travel books, diary, but not fiction.
B)factual
e.g. Bible in higly factual but also has artistic qualities, for atteist is it like fiction
e.g Comic book, fictional, no artistic qualities (Spiderman, Hulk...)
Art Spiegelman – Maus – it was graffic novel, comic book with artistic qualities and it was about holocoust, the story set in Auschwitz (Osvienczim, ) where jews were mice, german cats, french were rats and americans dogs.
Puculiar use of language – in literature is special organization of language, especially in poetry
-language draws intention to itself
-literature highlights language – Viktor Skhlovsky – Defamilization, making langugage unfamiliar, lots of aesthetic forms
-literature makes language strange
Literary language devices – sound, imatury, rhytm, special syntax, metre, rhytm, various narrative techniques
The definition that the literature is everything in print is not always true, because we have folklore (fairy- tales, songs), which is also considered as part of literature, but not printed, only told by retelling stories over years.
General division of literature
NON FICTION – informative, information, more objective
FICTION – artistic, emotion, subjective (prose, poetry, drama – in narrow sense)
FACTION - (essays) something between fiction and non – fiction
Function of literature
COGNITIVE FUNCTION – literature enriches your knowledge, it brings you information from various fields of sciences. It´s because literature is influenced by reality, but sometimes reality is influenced by literature.
Heriet Beecher- Stowe : Uncle Tom´s cabin – during slavery happening in civil war in USA, about cruelty of slavery, black slaves before war, anti-slavery feelings, which radicalized american people.
Oliver Wendell Holmes : The old Ironsides – poem about battleship USS Constitution, this ship was actually made of wood, but it was so good in fight, that is was said that the the sides of the ship were made of iron (Ironsides). After publishing this poem, they repaired the ruin of this ship, because the poem criticised ruin of The Ironsides.
Upton Sinclair : The Jungle – describe poor conditions of workers from Eastern Europe, immigrants settled down in Chicago, when Theodore Roosvelt read this book, he decided to check out situation personally and decided to improve it, so it reflects reality.
AESTHETIC FUNCTION – provokes positive or negative feelings or sentiment emotions, it can also irritates you, not only for pleasure.
ETHIC FUNCTION – it contents morals, it treats moral questions, it provokes moral attitudes to reader.
- all of these functions represent, and if some part is emphasized too much, it´s not good for book or poem. E.g. If too much cognitive function, than boring book. If too much ethic function – moralistic book.
SOCIAL AND POLITICAL FUNCTION - if too much political, than propaganda.
MIMETIC FUNCTION – literature imitates reality
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LITERARY BRANCHES
Literary theory – forms, categories, criteria, kinds
Literary history – follows the historical development in the literature
Literary criticism – analyzes, estimates, evaluates literary work, uses knowledge of both first two branches
THE BASIC ELEMENTS OF FICTION
Fiction is defined as prosaic imaginative narrative writing. Narratology – explores narrative methods
PLOT, CHARACTERS, SETTING, POINT OF VIEW, THEME
A) PLOT – Aristotele firstly emphasizes the role of plot, good narrative part should have the beginning, the middle and the end.
Plot vs Story
Plot (sižet) – how the story is told, artistic arrangement of events, certain pattern of events based on selection.
Story (fabula) – succesion of events, what happened
Plotting – process of converting story the plot, certain pattern of events. Selection of individual episodes, events, sequence of related actions, which must form unity.
Saul Bellow : Hezog – has chaotic plot, about university profesor, who was schizofrenic, has chaotic way of thinking. The chaotic way of thinking represents thinking of modern people influenced by world overcrowded by information.
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Plot structure (composition)
1)exposition, 2)rising action, 3)climax, 4)anticlimax, 5)conclusion
1)Exposition – introduces the scene (when, where, main characters), set the scene, introductory material
2)Rising Action – complication that leads to some conflict, certain event complicate situation, conflict between opposite forces (external forces –physical, internal forces - spiritual)
Conflicts:
Thomas Hardy : Tess of the D´urbevilles – about innocent, beatiful girl Tess, who was sexually abused by her cousin (Alec), he destroyed her life. Onother guy Angel had loved her deeply, but on the wedding night he found of she´s not avirgin and he left her. / conflict: Tess-Alec and Tess-Angel/
Emily Brönte : Wothering Heights – Yorkshire beatiful countryside /conflict between main character and society/
Theodore Dreiser: American Tragedy – Clyde Griffit is in conflict with the whole society. He is very poor and he wants to be rich. He has love affair with poor Roberta, who became pregnant. He decides to marry rich woman Sandra. Finally, Clyde is accused fo murder and sent to the death provided by electric chair. /conflict with society/
Graham Green : The heart of the Matter – Scobbie is very strong catholic believer living in Africa. He fell in love with awoman but he is already married. He could not marry this woman so he commit suicide. /conflict with idea/
3)Climax – point at which action stops rising and starts falling, moment of crisis, moment of greatest tension, charactere has to make achoice
William Styron : Sophie´s Choice –about polish girl who has survived concentration camp. Her choice –which children will die in gas chamber and which survives.
4)Anticlimax – (falling action, deneuement), resolution of major conflict, supring twist or term in the plot (untying of aknot, untaupting)
5)Conclusion – situation becomes stable. (bad ending, happy ending)
Endings : indefinite endings (open), definite endings (close)
Bernard Malamud :The German Refuge – jewish author,definitebad end story – about german journalist who emigrate to USA from GER and that saved his life. He had troubles with English. One student helps him with English learning, firstly, he was not very succesul, but finally he did it. Student wanted to congratulate to German refuge, but he found him dead in his house. He commited suicide. Student foud letter, in which the man explains, that his wife got killed.
Dan Brown : Da Vinci Code – american author,indefinite ending, because profesor Langon didn´t finally realised what or who sain´t grail actually is.
Structuring Devices:
1)Suspense (anticipation) – expectation of what is going to happen, provoke readers curiosity, reader is asking to himself what is going to happen, (serials, soap operas)
2)Suprise – unexpectevness, we did not expect something, out of expectation
3)Flashback – retrospection, some events from fictional past showsup in fictional present, character is remembering what happened in the past. William Faulkner used alot of flashbacks – you read what happened but you do not know why, but later you will realise.
4)Foreshadowing – hint, clue of events which will happen later, indication of events to come. In the beginning author show up what will happen so you can expect the story.
5)Minimalism – minimalists omit first two parts of the plot and reader is thrown into the middle of action, reader is involved into the story (Raymond Carver). Provokes fantasy, you have to think what happened in the story, cause we do not know the background.
Virginia Wolf – her stories are plotless, without action based on feelings
James Joyce – plot is not so important, but other elements are, action is not dynamic
John Barth – Lost in Funhouse – simple story about 4 july celebration, simple plot often interupted by authors complains, that he do not know how to finish the story, i tis writing in writing
B) CHARACTER– imagine person, but not necessary person (also animal), is connected with plot
Static Character – misfit character, not changing in the story or minor changes
Dynamic Character – is changing in the story, gone through certain development
V. Propp –(critic) – subject corresponds to character and plot to predicate
Protagonist – central character, main or key character
Antagonist – character, which is opposed to protagonist in the story
R.L.Stevenson : The Strange Case of Dr. Jackyll and Mr. Hyde – nobel Dr. Jackyll and bad character Mr. Hyde
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DYNAMIC character – go through certain developement, character is changing
Charles Dickens – AChristmas Carol - bad character change into possitive
STATIC character – go through no changes or only minor changes
ROUND character – fully developed character, complex personality and it is usually central character
FLAT character – not described in detail, usually one outstanding feature, minor character
STOCK character – type of flat character , fixed features,we can know its features in advance, stereotype - Washington Earning : Rip van Winkle- type ofmen who runs away his wife to pub, I.B.Singer: Gimpel the Fool – presets type of cuckold character (paroháč)
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Nomen Omen - we can gues name of the character from name before reading story
Philip Roth : The conversion of the Jesus -about boy who has aconflict with rabbi (židovský predstavený)- Ozzi Freeman vs Binder – Ozzy wants to be free from dogmatic rules, Ozzi has always unpleasant questions.
Name of ironic meaning:
Toni Morrison :The Bluest Eye – character Pecola Breedlove – her name is used in ironic way, she is lonely and she is sexuallly abused by her father
Biblical names:
Herman Melville : Moby Dick – protagonist captain Ahab, they should have certain motivation behind their behaviour.
CHARACTERIZATION – (presentation)- the methods by which author developes character
a)indirect – show character through their behaviour and speech or they way of thinking
b)direct – describes character directly (appearance)
Central Character : protagonist, main character, key character – we have to distinct between character and hero:
Homer : Ullyses – protagonist Odysseus, hero
James Joyce : Ullyses – protagonist Leopold Bloom, not hero
C) SETTING – place and time of the story, background of the action
William Golding : Lord of the Flies –novel set on the island where plane crashed, place is more important than time, group of survived divided into good and evil, conflict happening during WW2 on isolated Island
Social Context – general environment of characters, certain social background
Nathaniel Hawthorne : The Scarlet Letter – 17 century, New England, shocking situation for puritan society when young married woman has achild with priest, she was executed
Naturalism – social and biological determanation
Tone – sometimes established by setting, it represents writers attitude to subject (humorous, ironic, critical...etc.)
D) POINT OF VIEW – perspective from which all events in the story is seen and narrated, matter of focus, question is : Who tells the story?
Focalisation - who tells the story
a)fixed foculisation – one narrator, fixed – Daniel Defoe : Robinson Crusoe
b)multiple foculisation – alternates, narrators are different in one story, popular by modern writers, William Faulkner : The sound and the Fury – each character narrated by somebody else
Mikhail Bakhtin – literaty critic, novel is foundamentaly polyphonic, novels based on dialogues, dialog in two or more characters
1)OMNISSION point of view – (third person) – his knowledge is unlimited. All Knowing Narrator – he is outside of the story, external view, certain objectivity flexible, wide scope. Has certain danger- it can limit author´s and readers imagination, Mark Twain – The adventures of Tom Sayer
2)LIMITED OMNISSION point of view–also third person, but from pespective of only one character, limited view of observation, but advantage is that it is more natural, closer to reality, authentic
3)FIRST PERSON point of view–author tells story in first person and from point of view of one protagonist, character. Limited observation, more natural.
Mark Twain – The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – first person point of view totally changes the character of the novel, Huck is narrator, Mark Twain invented completly new story language, which is very close to real life
4)OBJECTIVE point of view– (camera eye, view)author record only what is seen and what is heard, without comments, it is not so flexible, not interpretations of events, speed of objectivity, stories are very dynamic, knowledge is very limited, it depends on reality and dialogues.
Point of view vs Voice – point of view is who see the story (foculasor), voice is who tells the story (narrator)
E) THEME– central unyfiying idea about human experience, based on generalisation, central concept, literary work unity, message of the story
Motif– subordinate to theme, less general idea
NARRATIVE GENRES– based on certain features, qualities
FICTION:
LONG FICTION- NOVELS
A) HISTORICAL classification:
1)Picaresque – early form anovel of adventure, adventures are important, piccaro (spanish term for arch fellow), characters come from lower class, narrator is usually main character, very free structure, main character tends to be witty, funny, travels alot,Miguel Cervantes de Savedra :Don Quijote de la Mancha, Daniel Defoe :Moll Flanders, Henry Fielding : Tom Jones, Ralph Elison : Invisible Man, Jerzy Rosinsky : The Printed Bind – very brutal novel
2)Chivalric–main topic is chivalric (knight), knight who has to overcome lot of adventure, troubles of hero to win heart of lady, popular in 15th and 16th century, chivalry = life of knights, Thomas Malory : Le Morte de Arthur, Mark Twain : AConnecticut Yankee in King Arthur´s Court – one person woke up in medieval ages in King´s Arthur´s home.
3)Gothic – restoring spirit of gothic times, revival of gothic, evokes horror and teror, mystery, suspense, end of the 18 th century and beginning of the 19th century, deep forests, remote castles and gloomy graveyards are evoking horor, character has dreamy visions, usually visions come through, weather usually windy, stromy, lightnings, very gothic vocubulary, Marry Shelley : Frankenstein, Ann Radcliff : The Mysteries of Udolpho, Charles Brown : Wieland
4)Sentimental – popular in the 18th century, concentrates on emotions and sentiments, Samuel Richardson : Pamela, Lawrence Sterne : Asentimental journey
5)Romantic – 18th and 19th century, escape from reality to primitive culture, nature, Walter Scott : Ivanhoe
6)Realisitic – 19th century, about true, typical life, reality, lot of objectivity, verisimilitude – imitate reality, Henry James, Charles Dickens, Jerome Salinger, John Steinbeck : The Grapes of Wrath
7)Naturalistic – people are victims of environment, social and biological determinism, Urban areas, cities, second half of 19th century, also called dirty realism, ugly features of our life (alcoholism, prostitute), Upton Sinclair : The Jungle – character is determined by society, but also environmentally, Jack London, Theodore Dreiser : American tragedy – main character is doing everything to become rich.
8)Existential – based on philosophy of existencionalism, not based on action, Allienation – basic theme, question of life, who Iam?, Albert Camus : Stranger, Richard Wright : Native son – afro american writer
B) Classification according to SUBJECT MATTER
1)historical novel – reconstruct the past, certain period and it´s spirit, Walter Scott : Wavelry, Ivanhoe – about history of Scotland, Robert Graves : IClaudius – from times of Roman Empire, William Styron : For Confession of Ned Turner – Ned Turner wrote memories in prison before he was executed because he led uprising of black slaves
2)psychological novel – psychological approach to characters, internal life of characters, psychic, many authors influenced by Sigmund Freud, authors like Henry James, James Joyce, Virginia Wolf, William Faulkner
3)utopian novel – type of fiction that describe ideal society, ideal world. Thomas More: Utopia, Francis Bacon : New Atlantis
4)dystopian novel – opposite of utopian novel, everything what is wrong in society, only negative feature, George Orwell – Nineteen Eighty-Four, Aldous Haxley – Abrave new world (alfa=elite, beta-gamma – others)
5)science – fiction novel – pupular literature based on scientific facts, themes, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clark, Kurt Vonnegut – he used fantasy elemets, fantasy is very far away from reality, fantastic world. J.R.R. Tolkien : Hobbit – not sci-fi, just fantasy
6)detective novel– pupular literature, crime than process to resolve it, Edgar Alan Poe :The golden Bug, Arthur Conan Doyle : Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie, Raymond Chandler
7)western novel–scene set in the wild american west, popular literature, frontier= line btw civilization and non-civilized Indian land. Colonizers always push the native people far to the west, hence western, Owen Wister:The Virginian
8)novel of adventure – emphasize danger, adventure, threat, Robert L. Stevenson : Treasure Island, Herman Melville : Omoo, Typee – names of canibals
9)university novel - from the university campus, the world of academia, Kingley Amis : Lucky Jim, David Lodge : Changing Places, in american terminology called campus novel, humorous, comic tone,
10) road novel– adventures on the road, also movies, Jack Karouac – On the Road
11) Novel of manners– habbits and costums of social groups described in details, social life of certain class, Jane Austeen – Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility
A) Classification according to TECHNIC OF COMPOSITION:
1)Epistolary novel– written in form of letters, epistel=poetic letter, epistolary nove does not have narrator and thanks to this can author depict theme from different point of views, S.Richardson: Pamela, Clarissa, Saul Below : Herzog, Alice Walker : The colour purple
2)Stream novel (novel river)–series, cycle of novels that present picture of of certain historical period. It presents this Picture through family or individual in chronological flow, it flows like river - distinction from historical novel.John Galsworthy – The Forsyte Sage