what is Litterature Flashcards
What are the five markers of litterature (Jonathan Culler)
- Foregrounding of language (linguistic pattern)
- Intergration of language:
sometimes we understand litterature because it does something strange with the language or if it does not - Fictionality:
is de-referenzial, de-contextual (it leaves the works ealtion open to interpretation) - As an aesthetic object:
Often something aesthetically refreshing is the author using something conventional in a new way - Intertextual or self-reflexive construct
Intertextuality: a work exsist etween and among other texts
Self-reflexivity: novels is in some ways about novels
Analysis:
Explain termporal or spaical setting
Spatial = setting refers to the general place of a setting,
Temporal = time
Analysis
Who can be vague or present?
`Characters
explain:
1. truth of correspondence:
- Truth of coherence:
- in imaginative writing we need to have a relation to reality. So that all the impossible things bares enough resembles to reality so we understand what it means.
- Logically and asthetically connecting statements
Entpragmatisierung:
I am not looking for instruction (pragmatic text) but trying to understand what the litterature is trying to tell me
Suspension of disbelief
example: we get attached to characters - you suspend your natural logic
What is the canon or cannonlical texts
text that are commonly believed that people in English studies or school has to read.
what is:
Conservative tendency:
hint: refers to what kind of works are in the Cannon.
that the litterature was often choosen to fit the idea of “the dead white men”
Syncronic vs diacronic language
Syncronic: Language at at specific moment in timer
Diacronic: language change across time
who (kind of thinking) belives in understanding of signs as siginfier and signified
Structualist
Signafier and signified
the signafier: the sound image that is formed by a word
Example: tree is specified by its difference in sound from, tea, three, bee
The sounds immage porduced
The siginafied: the concept of metal images that comes from the sound, letter, word
Example: the concept of three similary is defined by not meaning, gras, bark, bush…
Binary Oppositions
Male female,
categorisation
Difference enables signification. Red - you do not mean blue or green, without diffrence (binary oppositions) you can not make meaning. A is not B.
Acording to structualism
language is Arbitrary but still knowable.
both the siginifier and siginified is conventional
explain:
They belive that the connection between eg. the signifier (three) and and signified the word three is random however still explanible (structure). You could have used another word.
Example of signified that is abitiary ( for eksample male and female)
A convention is for eksampmple that english uses the word three, or that they use spesific grammatical rules, which means these structues have been conventiolised
Is important to have a shared context = whatever you are saying the adresse have to understand
explain Conventionality:
the fact of following what is traditional or the way that something has been done for a long time
“Conventional poetry refers topoetry that adheres to traditional forms, such as sonnets, haikus, and rhymed verse.”
Saussures theory:
Name the three levels of signs
3 levels of the lin. sign
o language -> The ability to acquire speech
o langue -> The ruleset and system of a language (basically every
language)
o parole -> An individual manner of speech (dialects, sociolects)
Saussures theory:
explain the three levels of signs:
Language
langue
parole
o language -> The ability to acquire speech
o langue -> The ruleset and system of a language (basically every
language)
o parole -> An individual manner of speech (dialects, sociolects)
Explain the reletionship between siginfied and siginifier
Language is a web of signifiers (sounds) and signified (concepts)
The relation between signifiers and signify is not direct.
The word three does not relate to how a three actually looks (signified)
The relation between signifier and signified is arbitrary.
Structural semantics and lexical meanings
In the approaches labelled “Structural semantics” by cognitive linguists,wordmeanings, orlexical meaningscan be broken down into atomicsemantic features, which are in a way the distinctive properties of the meaning of a word.
E.g. Man
Semtaic features: Male, adult, human
structurallexical relations
Word concepts are related to each other by structurallexical relationslikesynonymy (a word that shares semantic features)
andantonymy.
what is a seme
Seme: the smallest unit of meaning
what is Isotopy
Sequences of exspressions that are semantically in sense of meaning
There is a semantic coherence.
bedeutungszusammenhang
An example of a sentence containing an isotopy isI drink some water. The two words drink and water share a seme (a reference to liquids), and this gives homogeneity to the sentence. This concept, introduced by Greimas in 1966 = ikke sikker om det her er rigtigt
Roman Jaction
the poetic funktion.
explain
Adresser(emotive)
Adresse(conative)
Context(referential)
Message (poetic)
Contact (phatic)
Code (metalingual)
The addresser is emotive (expressive)
Addressee -> conative (appellative) function (causes a specific association)
The Addressee is conative: when I ask a question you want an answer. For this the adresse needs to understand the language it self.
The addresser sends a message (via literature) to the Addressee. The adrosser expresses his feeling and thoughts therefor he is emotive.
The message
- needs context that is graspable for the addressee. This funtion is referential meaning it conveis information e.g Dogs are animals.
- It needs a verbalized code (language) that is understandable.
- It needs contact via a physical channeled a psychological connection.
The adresser will aim to maintain contact with the adresse with comments like, well, mm, you see (phatic) the phatic function is usedto establish a social connection without really communicating any meaningful information.
The message is poetic. If the target factor is the message itself the writer aims to modify the common use of words to creater an effect on the reader/adresse. It reflects on the structure of utterance (language for the sake of language)
or:
Code = shared language. This however changes with the culture, its always evolving.
The code is metalingual (think meta theater), because you are using language to talk about language itself.
You need a contact a which is a physical and psycological connection between the adresee and the adresser, enabling both to stay in contact (e.g. an email)
Contact will be phatic.
Explain the poetic function
Language that it set or oriented to the message itself. Language that is pirmarily concerned with itself, not the adressee.
It wants to fourground its own liguitics features:
Sounds, language, metaphores rather than meaning it proposes
In other words:
Language can be used not for cummunication or some other purpose of meaning, But just to be
Poetry is linguistic art for arts sake.
It has its own function in language.
It does not need to be justified by any other function of speech.
There is always an element of poetry thinking about itself.
Liguistic structure is foregrounded:
Ex: sofly sleeping I beheld the boy
explain language made strange
foregrounding = language made strange.
Defermiliazation. Therefor it would have a particular effect in you brain, that makes you think about it.
why is the opening line from C. Dickens foregrounding:
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
He uses parallelism, or the repetition of the same structure within a line, in order to make the opening memorable.
explain difference between
- Foreground:
- Background:
· Literary effects - interplay between
- Foreground: striking textual features
- Background: unremarkable and familiar elements
Explain formalism
In the 20th century
Focus on the role and function of form
Russian formalist - main goal was to analyze literariness to find out which qualities distinguishes literary text from one another.
So form becomes content
They started by looking at poetry, they said it was langauge made strange
Shklovshy: (formalism)
Litterary language are disnguised by the use of formal features calles devicses:
which:
- Syntax
- Metre
- Imagery
- Rhetoric
He calls the above ostraenie (defemination)
Similar to verfremdungseffekt
This is a text-intrinsic approach (form over content)
Explain structualism
- Dynamic sytems with certain features
- Incorporate influences:
- Linguistics (study of language)
- Semiotics (study of signs)
- Text is a structure (a system) of related elements
- Literary effects - interplay between
-7. Foreground: striking textual features - Background: unremarkable and familiar elements
