...Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction ‘Jonathan Culler has always been about the best person around at explaining literary theory without oversimplifying it or treating it with polemical bias. Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction is an exemplary work in this genre.’ J. Hillis Miller, University of California, Irvine ‘An impressive and engaging feat of condensation . . . the avoidance of the usual plod through schools and approaches allows the reader to get straight to the heart of the crucial issue for many students, which is: why are they studying literary theory in the first place? . . . an engaging and lively book.’ Patricia Waugh, University of Durham Very Short Introductions are for anyone wanting a stimulating and accessible way in to a new subject. They are written by experts, and have been published in 15 languages worldwide. Very Short Introductions available from Oxford Paperbacks: ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY Julia Annas THE ANGLO-SAXON AGE John Blair ARCHAEOLOGY Paul Bahn ARISTOTLE Jonathan Barnes Augustine Henry Chadwick THE BIBLE John Riches Buddha Michael Carrithers BUDDHISM Damien Keown CLASSICS Mary Beard and John Henderson Continental Philosophy Simon Critchley Darwin Jonathan Howard DESCARTES Tom Sorell EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY BRITAIN Paul Langford The European Union John Pinder Freud Anthony Storr Galileo Stillman Drake Gandhi Bhikhu Parekh HEIDEGGER Michael Inwood HINDUISM Kim Knott HISTORY John H. Arnold HUME A. J...
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...Literary Theory and Schools of Criticism Introduction A very basic way of thinking about literary theory is that these ideas act as different lenses critics use to view and talk about art, literature, and even culture. These different lenses allow critics to consider works of art based on certain assumptions within that school of theory. The different lenses also allow critics to focus on particular aspects of a work they consider important. For example, if a critic is working with certain Marxist theories, s/he might focus on how the characters in a story interact based on their economic situation. If a critic is working with post-colonial theories, s/he might consider the same story but look at how characters from colonial powers (Britain, France, and even America) treat characters from, say, Africa or the Caribbean. Hopefully, after reading through and working with the resources in this area of the OWL, literary theory will become a little easier to understand and use. Disclaimer Please note that the schools of literary criticism and their explanations included here are by no means the only ways of distinguishing these separate areas of theory. Indeed, many critics use tools from two or more schools in their work. Some would define differently or greatly expand the (very) general statements given here. Our explanations are meant only as starting places for your own investigation into literary theory. We encourage you to use the list of scholars and works provided for each...
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...1. Formalism (also called New Criticism) a. Analysis based on the idea that the form of a piece of literature will echo or somehow illuminate its content. b. These two very similar approaches to literature involve a close reading of the text itself. Formalist and New Critics look only at the language and elements of the text, and disregard the context in which the text was written or received. c. The main thing to consider when approaching a work of literature from the formalist or new critic's point of view is to analyze how all the elements of the piece (plot, point of view, character, tone and style, symbolism, setting and theme) work together to create a certain effect on the reader. d. A formalist or new critic perspective demands lots of evidence from the primary source. When interpreting a text using this approach, you'll need to identify quotes and specific references that support your ideas about what the text is "saying" to the reader. 2. Marxism e. According to Marxists, and to other scholars in fact, literature reflects those social institutions out of which it emerges and is itself a social institution with a particular ideological function. Literature reflects class struggle and materialism: think how often the quest for wealth traditionally defines characters. So Marxists generally view literature "not as works created in accordance with timeless artistic criteria, but as 'products' of the economic and ideological determinants...
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...A study of reader-response theories, and some views on how the objectivity of the literary text is or is not distinguished from the subjectivity of the reader's response by Clarissa Lee Ai Ling In the academic study of literature very little attention has been paid to the ordinary reader, the subjective individual who reads a particular text. David S. Miall and Don Kuiken, in their paper The form of reading: Empirical studies of literariness state. Almost no professional attention is being paid to the ordinary reader, who continues to read for the pleasure of understanding the world of the text rather than for the development of a deconstructive or historicist perspective. The concerns that an ordinary reader seems likely to have about a literary text, such as its style, its narrative structure, or the reader's relation to the author, the impact on the reader's understanding or feelings - such concerns now seem of little interest. In this paper I should like to study a few kinds of reader and the subjectivity of their responses to the objectivity found within literary texts, quoting some views found within reader-response criticism. Before I begin, I should like to consider what is meant by the term 'literary text', and what is meant by the objectivity of it. According to Terry Eagleton, [1] the definition of 'literary', as advanced by the Russian formalists, (who included in their ranks are Viktor Shklovsky, Roman Jakobson, Osip Brik, Yury Tynyanov, Boris Eichenbaum...
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...had challenged the formalist and New Critical assertion of the objectivity of the text. But it was not until the 1970s that a number of critics at the University of Constance in Germany, the Constance School, began to formulate a systematic reader-response or “reception” theory. The leading members of this school were Wolfgang Iser and Hans Robert Jauss. Such phenomenological theories deal with the important role of the reader in the overall structure of any given literary text. The reader plays a great role in shaping how the work will be understood and what meanings it will have. Each new generation and each new group of readers in a new setting brings to a literary work different code for understanding it. Does writing require reading? What does reading do for writing that writing cannot do for itself? Different schools have different answers, but for phenomenology of literature, the answer is YES. Reading is ontological requirement for writing. Since writing in itself is not complete and indeterminate, it ontologically requires reading completement. So, reading, as prof.A.V.Ashok, from EFLU, defined, is “the compeletization of incomplete textured meaning into actualized meaning”. Text, for realistic theory of reading, is nearly getting written, the text exists as a body of complete meaning. In other words, a text exists in the fullness of its meaning for writing does not support rules for the...
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...Interpretation and Bridging Gaps In his approach to Reader-Response criticism, Wolfgang Iser stands between subjectivity and objectivity. For him, literary texts do not have one final meaning; nor are they open to as many meanings as there are readers. Iser’s two major books, The Implied Reader (1974) and The Act of Reading (1978), have continued to be sold and reprinted; he has also published an abundance of more recent articles. Iser distinguishes literary texts from non-literary ones and presents us with a phenomenology of reading that has significant implications for literary interpretation. He draws a distinction between literature and non-literature in the book titled: The Act of Reading: A Theory of Aesthetic Response and says: “Literary texts do not contain a referential meaning; if they did, they would not be literature.” Iser’s primary concern is the relationship between the text and its readers. According to Iser, the literary text has a ‘potential’, and ‘the structure of the text allows for different ways’ of fulfilling its ‘potential’. (qtd. The Act of Reading, 13) I believe that to achieve this effect, the literary text conceals as it reveals. The presence of holes or gaps in the text invites the reader to fill in the gaps, but the reader’s activity is guided and molded by that what is revealed. Iser’s blanks come with his points of suspended connectability between segments of the text. (qtd. The Act of Reading, 13) He focuses on the role of the reader...
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...In “Literary Film Adaptations as Educational Text” by Arne Engelstad, the main argument in this article is to discuss the process of turning novels into movies. This article is addressed to people who are interested in why so many different novels are inverted into to movies. The essay’s main focus is to determine how literary film adaptations are useful for educational texts. This essay relies on multiple pieces of evidence. As the essay states there are three major reasons for adaptation which are, the bestseller argument, which means it is a good profit to make a movie off of an already bestselling book. Also, the prestige involved in the film’s close relationship to literature. Last, is that the best story is often found between the covers of a novel. These three major reasons for adaptation are facts. Other pieces of evidence include, the four steps after you have read the novel and then seen the film adaptation of it. The first step is to compare the two discourses on a strictly narrative level. Second, is to study the results from verbal to visual representation. Third, to figure out if the film tried to developed similarities to the novel that we not transferable, and finally to collect all of the film’s main theme or themes compared to the novel. These four steps are an example of experimental data. The reason why you should study film adaptation in class is because it offers an insight into the nature of expression through words and pictures, as well as, to stimulate...
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...Country Lovers ENG 125: Introduction to Literature Shatara Williams Instructor: January Pearson May 27, 2013 COUNTRY LOVERS Nadine Gordimer wrote Country Lovers in 1975. This story is about a prohibited relationship between an African American girl and a Caucasian boy on a South African farm. (Clugston, 2010) Years ago a relationship between two people of the opposite ethnic group was frowned upon. I am going to explain why this story caught my interest, explain the reader response method, and I plan to assess the story I chose using the reader response method. I chose Country Lovers by Nadine Gordimer because I love romance and mystery stories that are full of suspense and drama. Country Lovers is one of those short stories that have romance, suspense, and drama. Thebedi and Paulus are the main characters in this story. Thebedi and Paulus grew up together on Paulus father farm. (Gordimer, 1975) Thebedi and Paulus were childhood friends who flirtation leads to them to have a sexual relationship. (Gordimer, 1975) This story is full of suspense, drama, and romance. Thebedi had gotten pregnant from Paulus but she never told him. (Gordimer, 1975) She married another man he was a member of her tribe in South Africa. (Gordimer, 1975)When Paulus returned, he found out that she had married another man and had a baby. (Gordimer, 1975) The baby that Thebedi gave birth too was Paulus baby. (Gordimer, 1975) Paulus did not know that Thebedi daughter was his. (Gordimer...
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...found it hard to relate, he “saw little that could resemble his experience”. An interest in reading had started sparked to form in Gerald after he had read “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”. He was intrigued to learn that there had been a disagreement over the true ending of the book. He was tasked with discussing the ending of the book with his classmates and there he found his confidence. Discussing books made Gerald go back, re-read books and discover things he hadn’t noticed before and to view his literature from different points of view. Gerald later on recalls that it was the “critical conversation” he needed, that held him back from fully accessing literary text. Leaving Gerald alone with just the literature wouldn’t allow him to get “deeper” or more into the text, instead its different interpretations and theories that allowed one to truly immerse themselves in literature. Response: Gerald’s story was one I found very interesting a relatable. As a younger student I often discarded the books I was assigned to read and instead was fascinated by comics. Similar to Gerald all that changed when in high school I was introduced to the Socratic Seminar. During these seminars we discussed our interpretations and thoughts on our assigned reading, causing a room...
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... In Poulet’s A Phenomenology of Reading, he asserts that in a sense the reader, by reading and thinking about a text, creates the text. When the reader reads a text, his consciousness unites with the consciousness of the author, and their ideas combine and transform the text from a “dead object”, or objective words on a page, into a living, dynamic work. In other words, Poulet gives the reader license to provide his own reasonable interpretation of a text, because the reader is the author’s partner in creating the text. This is especially true with regards to John Ashbery’s “Farm Implements and Rutabagas in a Landscape”, where a straightforward explanation of the poem is almost impossible. Therefore, in accordance with Poulet’s literary theory, I would like to unite my consciousness with Ashbery’s and provide my own interpretation of the poem: the poem is not meant to be understood. Upon reading the poem, the reader is immediately confronted with numerous questions. Who is sending the messages in the first and third stanzas? What do they mean? What is all the scratching about? Why is Swee’pea sad? Why is Popeye shooting green thunderbolts, and what is he laughing about at the end of the poem? These are merely questions about the plot of the poem, but there are also several technical questions. For example, in line 23 the thunder is described as loving. Since when does thunder have emotions? These are some of the questions I faced upon examining the poem. ...
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...its audience, the novel follows two scholars as they discover an illicit, nineteenth century love affair between famous poets. Possession explores the relationship a body of work can have with its audience, whether it be used as an escape or a means to shift one’s perspective. It demonstrates that while reading is an experience that leads to growth, it should not consume one’s life. Critics study literature in order to create, analyze, interpret, and evaluate the content that is hidden within its pages. Often times, these criticisms are read by scholars, who become experts on a certain author’s work or a subset of a genre by specializing their studies. In Possession, the protagonists Roland Michell and Maud Bailey are twentieth century literary scholars of ninetieth century poets Randolph Henry Ash and Christabel LaMotte, respectively. Through their knowledge and outstanding dedication to their subjects, Maud and Roland uncover and then dissect the secret love affair of Ash and LaMotte that not only scandalizes the poets’ lives but also defines a love that is unknown and rare to them. Subsequently, the scholars’ lives and perspectives change as they search for more evidence of this truth. The novel opens by claiming the London Library to be “alive with history” (Byatt 4) so as to contrast it with the decline England has for its history by “allowing its heritage to be exported” (Su).Decline is also present in Roland’s professional and personal life. He is not accomplishing much...
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...written and spoken forms. I have also known that things that are produced out of creative imagination can be referred as literary works which are the ones that comprise literature. Considering this description of what literature is, the coverage of literature seems very puzzling. If literary works are those produced out of creative imagining, then it would directly point to fictional works. But then, there are also non-fictional works that are considered literary. There are literary essays and novels that are non-fictional. Examples of these are those based on true stories. Thus, literature goes beyond just creative imagination. And also, one person may consider a work produced out of creativity while another person may not, so then can that work be considered literary? Another important factor to be taken with high regard in discussing literature is periods of time since people coming from different historical periods may have different perceptions on what they consider 'literature'. It is vital to tackle these questions since literature is present in our everyday life, though it is not consciously felt by many. Terry Eagleton, a literary critic and writer, had written in his essay 'What is Literature?', “What matters may not be where you came from but how people treat you”. He considered an individual's perception as a basis for a work to be considered literary. This point of him is very much agreeable since people from different places with different culture, gender, and beliefs...
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...story of Gene Forrester who struggles to come to grips with the guilt over his role in a traumatic event from his childhood. The novel, told as a flashback from the perspective of an adult Gene, looks back on his friendship with a private school classmate and Gene’s destructive feelings of jealousy, fear, and anger. Assignment Write a 3-5 page literary analysis that explores one of the attached essay topics. Structure You might want to think of a five-paragraph structure, but because of the length requirements, you may need to expand on that to adequately explore your topic. Intro: This should include a “hook,” background information, and a thesis. It should clearly lay out what you are going to discuss in your essay. Body: Provide analysis and supporting evidence. Mention several key events or moments from the novel. Include at least three carefully chosen quotes to help capture larger ideas from the novel. Blend them in with your own writing. Conclusion: Finalize your argument with final thoughts related to the main idea. Reminders: This is a literary essay so there should be no uses of “I” or “you.”Include an original title to capture interest. Requirements Your essay should have the following: ✓ A clear argument of opinion and purpose expressed in a thesis statement and introduction. ✓ Numerous accurate supporting details and events from the novel that directly back up...
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...Wolfgang Iser’s The Act of Reading: Implied Reader Wolfgang Iser’s The Act of Reading presents a list of the various types of readers possible when it comes to interpreting literary text. These readers have different interpretations of the text. These interpretations are affected by how the author appeals to each of the readers, either through the text itself or through the beliefs that the reader brings to the text. One reader Iser focuses on is the implied reader. After carefully examining what an implied reader is, Iser’s main assumptions about this role are easily noticeable. Iser’s implied reader allows the text to be broken down in such a way that the structured effects of a text can be described. Also, the implied reader allows for all predispositions to be mentioned so the text can achieve its meaning effectively. In fact, Iser says it best when he writes the implied reader “embodies all those predispositions necessary for a literary work to exercise its effect.” An implied reader is a part of the text. And this part is extremely imperative to the text. Iser himself states that this implied reader concept “designates a network of response- inviting structures, which impel the reader to grasp the text.” In other words, the implied reader is a backbone to a person reading the text. Without the implied reader, the text will have no sufficient value present. Iser’s implied reader also has structured acts which help...
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...the novel's condemnation of European is based on a definition of Africans as savages: beneath their veneer of civilization, the Europeans are, the novel tells us, as barbaric as the Africans. And indeed, Achebe notes, the novel portrays Africans as a pre-historic mass of frenzied, howling, incomprehensible barbarians..." (Tyson 374-375). In many works of literature, specifically those coming out of Africa, the Middle East, and the Indian Subcontinent, we meet characters that are struggling with their identities in the wake of colonization, or the establishment of colonies in another nation. The post-colonial theorist enters these texts through a specific critical lens, or a specific way of reading a text. That critical lens, post-colonial theory or post-colonialism, asks the reader to analyze and explain the effects that colonization and imperialism, or the extension of power into other nations, have on people...
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