Definitions Flashcards
Literary Theories
Definition of ‘literature’
- broad vs. narrow
- normative vs. descriptive
- extrinsic vs. intrinsic
literary communication system
Sender/Author -> Message/Code/Literary
Text-> Receiver/Reader
the 6 functions of language
- emotive (addresser) - state something “wow!”
- conative (addressee) - motivate to do something “go away!”
- phatic (medium of contact) - establishing communication “Hello? Can your hear me?”
- poetic (message) - focus on the message “Black and white”
- metalingual (code) - language can be (non-) verbal expressive “An apple is a fruit”
- referential (context/subject) “the earth is round”
Literal vs. Figurative
literal: actual example
figurative: metaphorical example to show your meaning
Denotative vs. Connotative
denotation: actual meaning of the word
connotation: the association made with the word
Example: snake
denotation: snake (meaning of the word)
connotation: devil/poisonous
Literary Periods according to Nünning (11)
500-1150 Old English Period
1150-1500 Middle English Period
1500-1649 Renaissance
1649-1660 Commonwealth
1660- 1700 Restoration
1700-1780 Neo-Classicism and Enlightenment
1780-1837 Romantic Period
1837-1901 Victorian Period
1901-1914 Edwardian Period
1914-1945 Modernism
since 1945 Post-War and Postmodernism
Intertextuality
interconnectivness of texts
- complex
(Literary) History
43, 1066, 1215, 1558, 1588
43 - Roman Conquest
1066 - Norman Conquest
1215 - First Constitution
1558 - Elizabethan Age begins
1588 - Defeat of the Spanish
(Literary) History
1603, 1620, 1642, 1688, 1707
1603 - James I becomes King
1620 - Mayflower arrives in America
1642 - First English Civil War
1688 - Glorious Revolution
1707 - England & Scotland uniteed
Discourse vs. story
Discourse: How is the story told?
Story: What is told in the story?
Taxonomy
Science of classification
- Literary History and Periodization
- Genres
- Stylistic Devices
- Languages
- Nationality
- Gender
Genre
three main genres:
- Drama (comedy, tragedy, history play,…)
- Narrative (short story, novel, fairytale,…)
- Poetry (sonnet, ballad, ode,…)
Paradigmatic/Syntagmatic
(Dichotomie)
paradigmatic: exchangeability of (linguistic) elements
syntagmatic: compability of elements
Nature and characteristics of Poetry (6)
tendency towards:
- relative brevity (mostly short)
- compression of thoughts
- musicality
- structural and phonological complexity
- morphological and syntactic complexity
- deviation from everyday language
Structural Elements
(Poetry)
stanza, verse, …
Stylistic Devices (poetry)
- phonological devices (rhyme, metre, alliteration,…)
- syntactic devices (parallelism,…)
- Morphological devices (anaphora,…)
- semantic devices (simile, metaphor,…)
Phonological figures
Alliteration: following words starting with the same letter/sound
Rhyme: a consonance between all phonemes following the last stressed vowel
Sull/perfect/true Rhyme: exact consonance of phonemes in the rhyming syllables
Rhyme schemes
rhyming couplets (aa bb cc)
cross rhyme (abab cdcd)
embracing rhyme (abba cddc)
chain rhyme (aba bcb cdc)
tail rhyme (aab ccb)
Stanzas
Poetry
couplets (2 lines)
Tercets
Quatrain
Quintet
sestet
Septet
Octave (8 lines)
syntactic figures
poetry
Ellipsis = words being left out of a sentence, but it is still understandable
Inversion = reversal of normal word order
Parallelism = Succession of sentences of same structure
morphological figures
Poetry
Anaphora = repitition of words at the beginning of successive clauses
Epiphora = Repitition of words at the end of successive clauses
semantic figures
most significant:
- Metaphor
- Simile
- Metonymy
- Synecdoche
=> all types of metaphors but specialized versions
Metaphor
- something stands for something else
“Eye of heaven” = the sun
Metonymy
something casually/logically connected stands for something else
- “The pen (writing) is mightier than the sword (war)”
Synechdoche
a metonymy but a part stands for the whole
- Sail -> ship
- Motor -> car
- Hands -> workers
Simile
comparison that is shown by the use of “like”, “as”,…
- Thou art like a toad, ugly and venomous.”
communication model poetry
Intra textual lvl = Characters & story (fictive speaker, lyric persona -> subject matter of speech -> fictive addressee)
Extra textual lvl = Narrative Transmission (real-author; real-reader)
Lyric Persona/
Lyrical “I”
fictive speaker in the text (not the real author)
Lyric “Thou”
fictive addressee in the text (not the real reader)
Explicit vs. Implicit
Poetry
Explicit: direct, fully stated, clearly perceptible, feelings and thoughts -> ouvert
Implicit: hidden, indirect, does not appear as an indfividualized lyric persona -> covert
English vs. Italian sonnett
English: Shakespeare
- 3 quatrains 1 couplet
- abab cdcd gg
- volta before climax in couplet
Italian: Petrach
- 1 octave a sestet
- abba abba cdccdc
- colta after octave
=> two typical features of a sonnett:
14 lines
Subject: love, beauty
Volta
Poetry
turn of thought within a sonnett/poem
plot vs. story
Narrative
Plot = squence of events + cause (causality)
Story = sequence of events (chronology)
Examples:
plot: “the king died and then the queen died of grief”
story: “the king died.”
Events
narrative
- smallest unit of story/plot
- are actions that change a given situation in the story
- peoples action forward brings about change
- not always equally important
Story time vs. Discours time
Narrative
story time: time it takes to narrate (time that passes in the story)
discourse time: time covered by the narrated event (time that it takes me to read the story)
Time Analysis
Narrative
3 aspects: duration, order, frequency
Time Analysis : Duration
Narrative
story time = st / discourse time = dt
Summary: dt < st
Scene: dt = st
Stretch: dt > st
Elipsis: no dt vs. only st
pause: only dt. vs. no st
Time Analysis: Order
Narrative
chronological vs. anachronological
- flash back
- flash forward
Time Analysis: Frequency
Narrative
Singulative: event happens once
Repetitive: Event happens once, but is referred to various times
Herative = Event happens multiple times
Point of view
Narrative
- external vs. internal
- Narrator vs. Character
Modes of Representation
Narrative
Showing (mimesis): little or no narrational mediation, overtness or presence (no narrator)
Telling (diegesis): Narrator in overt control of action presentation
Representation of Events
Narrative
mimetic
- direct discourse
- free indirect discourse
- indirect discourse
- report/summary
- comment
diegetic
Representation of Consciousness
Narrative
‘purely’ mimetic
- free direct discourse
- direct discourse
- free indirect discourse
- indirect discourse
- diegetic summary
‘purely’ diegetic
Examples
Direct Discourse
Indirect Discourse
Free Indirect Discourse
Direct Discourse: “She said, “I love Literary Studies”
Indirect Discourse: She said that she loved Literary Studies.
Free Indirect Discourse: She loved Literary Studies.
Narrative Situation (Stanzel)
Narrative
- 1st person
- Authorial
- Figural
1st person Narrator
- involved in the story
- “narrating I”/”experiencing I”
- involved as protagonist (I-as-protagonist) or peripheral character (I-as-witness)
- narrative situation: limited
-> no insight into the thoughts/feelings of the other characters
Authorial Narrator
- situated outside the world of characters (god-like view)
- present themselves as fictive individuals (by comments, moral judgements, etc. on events)
- typical features: flashforwards, generalisations
- narrative situation: unlimited
-> omniscience (insight into the internal processes of all characters and familiarity with their thoughts and feelings
-> omnipresence (invisible and fictive presence in all places where characters are alone, as well as presence in several locations at the same time)
-> able to see the entire course of narrative events in the past, present and future
Figural Narrator
- generally recedes so far, that the narrative transmissions are barely noticable
- narrated world is presented from the perspective of a character who is involved in the action -> ‘reflector’
- gives the reader the impression of having a direct insight into the thoughts and feelings of characters
- internal perspective -> doesn’t have the ability to see the entire course of events (like authorial narrator)
Genette’s Structuralist Taxonomy
Narrative voice
narrative voice: Who speaks?
extradiegetic: first level narrator
intradiegetic: no first level narrator
(diegetic: telling extra: outside intra: inside)
heterodiegetic: narrator is not part of the story
autodiegetic: narrator is part of the story and protagonist
homodiegetic: narrator part of the story but not protagonist
(hetero: different auto: self homo: same)
-> two terms needed to analyse the narrative voice
Genette’s Structuralist Taxonomy
Focalization
Focalization: who sees? -> can change within a story
internal: observer knows as much as character(s)
external: observer knows less than character(s)
Short Story Theory (E.A.Poe)
Narrative
unity of plot
length/time
totality of Tone
limitation of place
=> unity of effect
How to write a Short Story?
- choose desired impression
- pick a climax
- consider length, tone
- pick a place
- determine necessary events
=> unity of effect
William Shakespeare
1564-1616
- most important/popular author
Types/Genres of Drama
most popular:
- comedy
- tragedy
- history
Comedy
Drama
- happy end
- mostly ends in marriage
Tragedy
Drama
- sad/bad end
- mostly ends in death
History
Drama
- not really popular
Richard III
which genre?
- complicated to put into one genre
-> it is a play about history and historical characters
-> but in a book it is called “The tragedy of Richard III”
Drama to Theatre
Author <-> Dramatic text <-> Reader
Theatre/Apparatus <-> Performance Text <-> Audience
Communication Model Narrative Texts
Levels of Communication
- extra-textual Level of Communication: empirical author -> empirical reader
- intra-textual level of communication I + II: Internal Communication System: character communication
How does drama compensate for the lack of mediator?
- through Dramtic Text (primary and secondary) and Theatrical Text
- Plurimediality
primary: what actors say on stage
secondary: everything that’s not spoken, helps organise the play
Plurimediality
- usage of a lot of different medias/codes
What is a chorus?
a character who is not part of the play is introduced to the audience
epic tendencies
Drama
character talks directly to the audience
“breaks” the fourth wall between external and internal communication
Codes and Channels of Theatre Communication
Channel: visual or acoustical
Code: verbal or non-verbal
Sender: Character or stage
acoustical & verbal -> linguistic or paralinguistic -> Character or stage
from text to play
Drama
Theatre/Acting Company: commissions the writer
Writer: writes the Foul Papers, then reviews these and makes a fair copy
Foul Paper/Fair Copy: given to Master of Revels
Master of Revels: censors the Performance (decides if it’ll be played/printed)
Theatre/Acting Company: performs the Play OR
Printer: prints the play/text as Quarto or Folio
Different Types of Speech
- Dialogical Speech
- Monological Speech
-> Monologue
-> Soliloguy - Asides
-> Monological Aside
-> Aside ad spectatores
-> Dialogical Aside
Dialogical Speech
two ore more characters talking to each other
Monological Speech
character talks for an extended amount of time, alone
- Monologue: character is NOT alone on the stage, other characters are there
- Soliloguy: character is alone on stage
Asides
character breaks out (i.e. to the audience)
- Monological aside
- Aside ad spectatores
- Dialogical aside (talks to one character and suddenly breaks out to talk to another [without the first character hearing him])
-> the character he originally talks to, doesnt hear him
Discrepant Awareness
Drama
- superior audience awareness (dramatic irony -> the reader/audience knows way more than most of the characters)
- inferior audience awareness
Figure conceptions
Drama
- static vs. dynamic
- one-dimensional vs. multidimensional
static vs. dynamic
Figure Conceptions (Drama)
static: character stays the same the whole time
dynamiic: characters views, etc. change/develop over time
one-dimensional vs. multidimensional
Figure Conceptions (Drama)
one-dimensional: there’s not much to the character
multidimensional: the character is more complex
Characterisation
(Drama)
- Figural (explicit) Character communication
- Figural (implicit) character’s presence
- Authorial
Figural (explicit) Character communication
Characterisation (Drama)
Self Commentary
- Monologue or
- Dialogue
Commentary by Others
- Monologue
-> before 1st appearance
-> after 1st appearance
- Dialogue
-> in praesentia
-> in absentia
Figural (implicit) Character’s Presence
Characterisation (Drama)
- non-verbal Characterisation
-> stature, facial expressions, mask, costume, setting - Verbal Characterisation
-> voice, rhetoric, register (dialect, jargon,…)
Authorial
Characterisation (Drama)
- Explicit
-> Paratexts, Speaking names (Names with a meanign, ex.: Severus Snape -> Snape - Snake Symbol of Slytherin) - Implicit
-> Contrasts and Parallels in the Configuration (i.e. form of texts)
–> high class characters speak in verses (Gedichtsform), low class characters speak in prose (Blockabsatz)
Exposition
(Drama)
- transmission of information to do with the events and situations from the past that determine the dramatic present
-> referential function (mostly related to the context of a message)
Dramatic Introduction
(Drama)
- used to simulate the audience’s attention and to attune it to the fictional world of the drama
-> phatic function
-> example: a chorus (not part of the play) introduces the fictional world
Isolated vs. Integrated Exposition/Dramatic Introduction
isolated: not part of the play/Characters
integrated: a character of the play
monological vs. dialogical exposition/dramatic introduction?
monological: character(person talks alone
dialogical: character/person talks with someone else
Classical 5-Act Structure Drama
G. Freytag
- Act: Exposition
- Act: Rising Action (complication)
- Act: Climax and peripeteia (reversal)
- Act: Falling Action (unravelling/untying)
- Act: catastrophe or denoument
Dramatic Conventions and concepts
Aristotle’s Unities
- Unity of Action
- Unity of Time
- Unity of Place
=> not all plays stick to these unities
Unity of Action
Aristotle
- every part is important to the outcome and effect of the play
Unity of Time
Aristotle
- a play can’t cover more than a day
Unity of Place
Aristotle
- idealy only one place
-> you can’t switch between several places during a play
Aristotle’s Conception of Tragedy
- usually has a tragic hero
-> a man whose character is generally good, whose misfortune is brought about not by vice or depravity but by some error
Classical Conception according to Aristoteles
- hubris
- hamartia
- peripeteia
- anagnorisis
- catharis
hubris
Classical Conception Aristoteles
- refers to the tragic hero at the beginning of the play
-> over-confident
hamartia
Classical Conception Aristoteles
- translates to: tragic flaws
-> hero has some ‘mistakes’
peripeteia
Classical Conception Aristoteles
- at some point of the play there’s a reversal of fortune
anagnorisis
Classical Conception Aristoteles
- change from ignorance to knowledge of own downfall
catharis
Classical Conception Aristoteles
- when reading a Tragedy we experience pity and fear
-> through thi: purification of these emotions
