Defining Literature Flashcards
What are the most important factors in written communication?
- author of a work
- text produced by the author
- Addressee/reader to whom the text is addressed
What are the six functions of language by Roman Jakobson?
- Emotive, expressive funciton
- Conative function
- Referential function
- Phatic function
- Metalingual function
- Poetic function
Derived from the relationship between an act of linguistic communication and the various factors in the communication process
What is the emotive, expressive function?
- associated with addresser
- conveying his attitude towards the object
addresser (emotive, expressive) - message - addressee
What is the conative function?
- directed towards the addressee
- aims to influence the opinions and behaviour of the recipient
addresser - message - addressee (cognative)
What is the referential function?
- denotes the relationship of a message
conveying information about the world
subject of the message
What is the phatic function?
- related to the channel of communication
- establishment and maintenance of communicative contact between the addresser and the addressee
medium of contact (of a message)
What is the metalingual function?
refers to the way in which the linguistic code is thematized/highlighted
code of a message
What is the poetic function?
based on a reflexive reference made within a message to its own form or structure
message itself
Written communication is usually characterized by a time lag between production and reception
-> the text is the medium and the addressee has no opportunity to influence the addresser directly (no facial expressions)
What is the literary institution/literary system?
social sphere in which literary texts are written
How can the literary system be described/who is in there?
network of relations consisting of
- literary texts
- authors
- publishers
- readers
- critics
- mediaters
What is a sphere of society/literary system and what are its roles?
communication system
- production
- mediation
- reception
- processing/criticism
What are the constituents of the literary communication model?
- Addresser
- Message
- Channel
- Addressee
- Code
- Context
Author (addresser) produces a literary text (message) -> basis of the medium (channel) via which the message reaches the reader (addressee). Addressee must share a common language and similar generic conventions (code). Literary contexts most often have references to a historical/contemporary reality (context).
What does the Model of literary communication show?
difference between literature as a textual/symbolic system and literature as a social system
What is considered Literature?
ensemble of texts classified as “literary”, if they fulfill certain criteria & symbolic system characterized by certain aesthetic features and differs from texts in other social systems (economic, legal, academic, …) but it’s more a concept -> ‘Literaturbegriffe’
Literature is all written communication
Literature has always been subject to historical change & varies considerably from one cultural context to the next -> historical transition
What are the most important concepts of Literature?
textual (werkästhetische) vs. contextual (kontextbezogene Ansätze)
we all determine literature, we all do it, we all perform it
What are criteria of the concepts of Literature?
- Quantitive criterion (narrow vs. broad definition): fiction, poetry, drama but also essays, articles, autobiographies
- Qualitative criterion (high literature vs. popular/pattern literature): non-stereotypical vs. stereotypical
What is mimesis?
Greek: imitation/creation, imitating the real world
literary theory
reader is aware of this, not perceived as lying
What is poesis?
Greek: the making/fantasy, emphasizes that literature creates independent models of reality with specifically literary tools -> “how literary texts transform the knowledge, experiences, values and norms of the period in which its based”
Reality and literary texts are in dynamic interplay.
What is Fictionality?
= to form, invent; fabricated or imaginative nature of the worlds presented in literary texts
textual
What is textual & contextual?
- Textual focuses on the language and the content -> Fictionality, Literariness, Poeticity
- Contextual focuses on society -> Social Practice
cognitive view
What does Literariness/Poeticity do?
- Literature uses a special language and textual features
- language and textual features want to be acknowledged (poetic function)
- Content: Tropes, stereotypes, archetypes -> intertextuality)
- creates recognizable patterns -> readers have assumptions about literary texts
textual
What are paratextual signs?
- Title/subtitle
- Subdivisions of the text
- Generic terms (novel, comedy)
- Legal disclaimers
What are contextual signs?
- Communication situation (theatre visit, poetry reading)
- Signals relating to publishing process
- External presentation of a book
What can be signals for Fictionality?
- Extra-textual reality
- High degree of ambiguity
- Inclusion of allusions
- Representation of consciousness
- Monological speech
What does contextual social practice do?
- it’s based on societal agreement & historically conditioned -> issue of power
- literature is connected to institutions (publishers, bookstores, ..) -> construction of a view
- recognizable markers of literature: genre, covers, author names, ..
Literature is a form of ..?
improvisation/simulation -> a highly productive cognitive mode -> narratives as a way to understand the world
Simulation, cognitive improvisation e.g. predicting, planning, alternative scenarios, what-ifs
What does phylogenetic mean?
development of humanity
What does ontogenetic mean?
development of one person
What is Literary Criticism concerned with?
all areas of literary fields
- author
- text
- reader
- context
-> uses specific theories, models, tools and terms
2 main components: analysis & interpretation
What is meaning?
function or effect of text in relation to its context ->
- meaning of textual element vs. meaning of entire text
- dynamic meaning (cognitive change while reading) vs. static meaning (retroactive look at what happened)
What is Intersubjectivity?
Nachvollziehbarkeit/not objectivity ->
- textual evidence
- contextual, historical data
- Ethos of Science
What are the three main genres + their subcategories?
- lyric texts (ode, sonnet)
- dramatic texts (tragedy, comedy)
- narrative texts (epic, fairytale, novella, fable, short story, novel)
novel can be divided into crime novel, historical novel & Bildungsroman
What is a genre?
group of literary works that share significant characteristics in terms of content, form and/or function
genre system is subject to historical change
