?Introduction to Literary Theory
Introduction to literary theory
Theory
Kind of speculation, it’s analytical
Interdisciplinary discourse (debate) with effects outside an original discipline (Culler)
Critique of common sense, of concept taken as natural
What is literature?
Elusive term (always changing)
Modern sense – 200 yrs old
Prior to 1800 literature was „memorized“ not interpreted
In fiction the relation of what speaker say to what authors think is always a mater of interpretation
Dictionary: imaginative or creative writing, especially of recognized artistic value
‘Literariness’of non-literary phenomenon
Nonliterary text which have a literary qualities (e.g. history, his. Narrative)
Everyday language – figurative language (metaphors…)
Advertisement, newspaper, magazines, leaflets
Seems the best if we limit it to the art of literature, to imaginative literature = imaginative writing
Non-imaginative writing employs logical abstractions
Imaginative writing employs artistic images
Criteria – content and form considering aesthetic principles and semantic characteristic of language
Lit. as the foregrounding language – lit is a speech act of textual event that elictics certain hinds of attention
Functions – mimetic (imitation), aesthetic, didactic, entertaining, social, ideological…
Genre – refers to 1 of the 3 classical lit. forms of: fiction/prose/prose fiction, drama, poerty first novel: Crusoe
Text type – refers to written document: instruction manual, sermons, obituaries, ad texts, catalogues, scientific/scholar writing
Discourse – learned discussion, spoken or written, on a philosophical, political, lit., religious topic - related to treatise
Literary scholarship
Lit. history- historical development of lit from past to present (development)
Lit. criticism- analyses content and form of creative lit (interpretation)
Lit. theory-
Approaches:
Text- philology, rhetoric, formalism, structuralism, new criticism, semiotics, deconstruction
Author- biographical and
Theory
Kind of speculation, it’s analytical
Interdisciplinary discourse (debate) with effects outside an original discipline (Culler)
Critique of common sense, of concept taken as natural
What is literature?
Elusive term (always changing)
Modern sense – 200 yrs old
Prior to 1800 literature was „memorized“ not interpreted
In fiction the relation of what speaker say to what authors think is always a mater of interpretation
Dictionary: imaginative or creative writing, especially of recognized artistic value
‘Literariness’of non-literary phenomenon
Nonliterary text which have a literary qualities (e.g. history, his. Narrative)
Everyday language – figurative language (metaphors…)
Advertisement, newspaper, magazines, leaflets
Seems the best if we limit it to the art of literature, to imaginative literature = imaginative writing
Non-imaginative writing employs logical abstractions
Imaginative writing employs artistic images
Criteria – content and form considering aesthetic principles and semantic characteristic of language
Lit. as the foregrounding language – lit is a speech act of textual event that elictics certain hinds of attention
Functions – mimetic (imitation), aesthetic, didactic, entertaining, social, ideological…
Genre – refers to 1 of the 3 classical lit. forms of: fiction/prose/prose fiction, drama, poerty first novel: Crusoe
Text type – refers to written document: instruction manual, sermons, obituaries, ad texts, catalogues, scientific/scholar writing
Discourse – learned discussion, spoken or written, on a philosophical, political, lit., religious topic - related to treatise
Literary scholarship
Lit. history- historical development of lit from past to present (development)
Lit. criticism- analyses content and form of creative lit (interpretation)
Lit. theory-
Approaches:
Text- philology, rhetoric, formalism, structuralism, new criticism, semiotics, deconstruction
Author- biographical and