Week Five Flashcards
Alienation (or Estrangement) of Labor
Labor kills the worker in many ways; the more the worker puts time and energy into making a product, the more valuable the product becomes and the closer to death the worker gets. Worse, the more effort put into creating a valuable product, the more valuable it becomes, even more so than the worker. In order for the factory owner to make more money, they pay the worker just enough to survive, go to work and keep make=ing products that debase their existence. Ultimately the worker exists to just to make products that, in the end, are separated from (and perceived as more valuable than) their own lives
Point of View
“Point of view” refers to the perspective the narrator holds in relation to the events of the story. The three primary points of view arefirst person (“I went to the store”);second person, (“You went to the store”);andthird person (“He went to the store”). Each point of view creates a different experience for the reader, because different types/amounts of information are available to the reader about the story’s events and characters based on who is doing the telling, and how.
Primary Characters (in a narrative)
In narrative (incl. theater & film) the primary characters are usually: 1) the protagonist–the main “hero” of the story, who may still have many flaws); 2) the antagonist–the person (or situation) that prevents the protagonist from accomplishing their goal; and 3) A foil (or ordinary figure) who functions as another perspective, often introduced to help the author reveal attributes of the protagonist (or antagonist) that might not otherwise be obvious, and to propel the narrative forward
(Narrative) Archetypes
An archetype is a nearly-universal, easily recognizable figure in literature, folklore, culture, and/or storytelling. Examples include “the self-sacrificing mother,” “the wise father,” “the hero-savior,” “the diabolical and wicked enemy,” “the damsel in distress,” etc.
The Picaresque
The picaresque novel originated in Medieval Spain, and likely has more ancient roots in African and possibly Asian literatures. The first iterations were written by elite figures—usually monks—to critique and instruct the lower classes to stay in their proper places, that is, to not aspire to upward mobility or any forbidden pleasures. Later iterations, up to the present, sometimes celebrate (or at least cultivate sympathy for) the picaro(protagonist), and also use various forms of satire/ irony to critique institutions of power. Usually, picaresque narratives involve the picaro—the ruffian (anti)hero of the narrative—traveling away from home in search of something better, only to endure misfortune after misfortune until they return home, having learned their lesson. While the picaresque thus offers ideological closure by resolving the drama (with the protagonist recognizing/accepting the status quo), the literary work has already succeeded in levying its critique of institutions/people in power, which undermines/mocks this clean narrative ending (often via excessive, ironic proclamations by the picaro that they have reformed themselves and learned a lesson).
Picaro
The picaro is the protagonist of the picaresque novel. They are distinguished for their underclass origins and trappings, and often have crude/uncultured dispositions. Sometimes, these figures–despite their unsavory background–are depicted as underclass heroes (e.g., convict revolutionary, outlaw rebel, “Robin Hood”, etc.); this usually involves a narrative transformation away from the picaresque, and into a TESTIMONIO narrative
The Bildungsroman
The bildungsroman is a “coming-of-age” narrative, usually a work of fiction. It chronicles the life of a youth, often an unreliable narrator and naïve to life, as they evolve from wayward youngsters into upstanding members of society. However, sometimes these novels have a counterhegemonic resonance, and chronicle a youth’s distaste for society (e.g., Huckleberry Finn is both a Bildungsroman and a picaresque novel), or realization that the system is unjust and cruel (e.g., Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man is a Bildungsroman, picaresque, AND a testimonio)
Farmworker Literature
Farmworker literature is a specific type of “proletarian literature,” grounding itself in rural agricultural settings with a farmworker protagonist (as opposed to an industrial factory worker, a union organizer, etc). Most farmworker literature chronicles the exploitation and alienation of labor in farm labor, as well as the unique challenges faced by a population that is largely ignored, devalued, and criminalized for ambivalent legal status/transient living situations.
Proletarian Literature (or “the proletarian novel”)
The proletarian novel usually focuses on an industrial worker (or sometimes out-of-work) protagonist. This novel usually is teleological–that is, it has a set structure in which the worker gains class consciousness, and ultimately joins with other workers to subvert and defeat the evil bosses and owners. However, there are many variations that involve more nuanced and complex renderings of the working class/ industrialized labor (e.g., Bertolt Brecht’s plays, which present us with unsavory protagonists who do not always win their struggles against oppression), or contain elements of dark humor/irony (ex: Boots Riley’s music & filmography career champions the working class while being scathingly critical of corporate “white collar” crime and state violence)
Concientización (“political awakening”)
Concientización, or political awakening, is associated with testimonial & proletarian literature. These texts usually involve a praxis-theory-praxis dialectic in which the narrator describes their experiences, then introduces episodes in which they meditate on their errors pursuant to corrective action, which is then followed by the next action in which they try out a new plan. This structure repeats, and the reader is taken on a journey of political education in which they learn about the struggles of the people in the narrator’s world, the circumstances and complexities surrounding it, and the ethics of their struggle–all pursuant to motivating the reader to understand/become an ally, and in some cases join the struggle for collective liberation.
