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martes, 16 de agosto de 2016
Presentation on Literary Genres and Forms
Now you have access to the slides on Literary Genres and Literary Forms.
Enjoy
The Importance of Historicism and Context in Literature
Literature
is part of our cultural heritage, and that can enrich everyone's lives in many
ways. Literary works can be entertaining, beautiful, funny, tragic, informative
or meaningful. They take us beyond the limited experience of our lives to show
us the lives of others, giving us experiences we may not face in our own lives.
It leads us intellectually and emotionally, and deepens our understanding of
our history, society and our individual lives. This connection between people
and literature works both ways: as literature affects people, people affect
literature. History plays a fundamental role in shaping literature: every
novel, play or poem one reads is influenced by the political context in which
it is written, the people that the author knows and the wider society that
frames the entire work. How can we even consider reading literature without
understanding the work through its historical context?
Roland Barthes, in The Death of the Author, acknowledges that an author is always a product of his time: the author 'can only imitate a gesture that is always anterior, never original'. Historicism argues that literature is a product of its age and the meaning of a text can only be discovered by fitting it around other discourses from the same period. The author writes only what he or she has learnt from that particular time in history, and the messages their work conveys are inextricably linked to the society in which it is written. Literature tells us about contextual society, widening what literature is: while formalists judge strict literary work on its aesthetic value, historicism results in literary and non-literary texts being given equal weight, unbiased and aware of all aspects surrounding a work. Consequently, Darwinian pieces on evolution may be compared alongside Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde in order to gain a deeper understanding of the Victorian age.
One can gain a much wider and deeper understanding through looking at a piece from a historicist perspective. Although this may leave a little less room for interpretation, contextual exploration allows one to comprehend certain ideas that may not have been clear if one did not consider the time in which the text was written. For example, how can we fully read, examine and appreciate Orwell's works, such as Animal Farm and 1984, without considering the extreme political events that shaped twentieth-century society and Orwell's ideology? The allegory of Animal Farm is rendered pointless without considering Russia before and during the Stalin era, and any reading of 1984 is enhanced by an understanding of the politics of Europe and Orwell's personal experiences in Spain. Similarly, the feminist socialist writer Caroyl Churchill’s work feels somewhat irrelevant without the context of the Thatcher years. It was undoubtedly a successful exploration of the time, however, by formalist standards, we should disregard it as bad literature as it has lost relevance in needing its contextual setting to be understood.
In great writing from the past we find ancestors, and we not only see the country and the people as they were, but we also soak up the climate of the times through the language, characters, tones and settings. Chaucer is a brilliant social commentator, and his works provide one of the reliable sources of knowledge of medieval society that we have. Through it, we learn a lot about the estates in medieval society. If we were to read The Canterbury Tales from a purely formalist viewpoint, we would disregard this rich source of art and knowledge.
Literature allows us to understand the political, cultural and philosophical movements and ideas that dominated particular cultures at a particular times. In Shelley's Frankenstein, for example, we learn about the trepidation concerning man's overreaching ambition and the battle between science and nature that dominated Victorian Britain. This alone should prove that context is imperative in determining the meaning of a literary text. When one ignores context, one many completely disregard a particular influence or aspect of the text and consequently the true sense of the piece will be missed. It is possible to develop meaning from literature without context, but context can still be used on the same piece to create a different outcome. It is important to explore context, but not necessarily vital.
Knowing more about the context of composition will make you read a text differently. You may be looking for evidence to support any hypotheses you have about the author. For example, if you knew that Franz Kafka had a difficult relationship with his father, this will influence your interpretation of The Metamorphosis.
Taken from: http://www.thinkib.net/englishalanglit/page/11054/context-of-composition
Roland Barthes, in The Death of the Author, acknowledges that an author is always a product of his time: the author 'can only imitate a gesture that is always anterior, never original'. Historicism argues that literature is a product of its age and the meaning of a text can only be discovered by fitting it around other discourses from the same period. The author writes only what he or she has learnt from that particular time in history, and the messages their work conveys are inextricably linked to the society in which it is written. Literature tells us about contextual society, widening what literature is: while formalists judge strict literary work on its aesthetic value, historicism results in literary and non-literary texts being given equal weight, unbiased and aware of all aspects surrounding a work. Consequently, Darwinian pieces on evolution may be compared alongside Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde in order to gain a deeper understanding of the Victorian age.
One can gain a much wider and deeper understanding through looking at a piece from a historicist perspective. Although this may leave a little less room for interpretation, contextual exploration allows one to comprehend certain ideas that may not have been clear if one did not consider the time in which the text was written. For example, how can we fully read, examine and appreciate Orwell's works, such as Animal Farm and 1984, without considering the extreme political events that shaped twentieth-century society and Orwell's ideology? The allegory of Animal Farm is rendered pointless without considering Russia before and during the Stalin era, and any reading of 1984 is enhanced by an understanding of the politics of Europe and Orwell's personal experiences in Spain. Similarly, the feminist socialist writer Caroyl Churchill’s work feels somewhat irrelevant without the context of the Thatcher years. It was undoubtedly a successful exploration of the time, however, by formalist standards, we should disregard it as bad literature as it has lost relevance in needing its contextual setting to be understood.
In great writing from the past we find ancestors, and we not only see the country and the people as they were, but we also soak up the climate of the times through the language, characters, tones and settings. Chaucer is a brilliant social commentator, and his works provide one of the reliable sources of knowledge of medieval society that we have. Through it, we learn a lot about the estates in medieval society. If we were to read The Canterbury Tales from a purely formalist viewpoint, we would disregard this rich source of art and knowledge.
Literature allows us to understand the political, cultural and philosophical movements and ideas that dominated particular cultures at a particular times. In Shelley's Frankenstein, for example, we learn about the trepidation concerning man's overreaching ambition and the battle between science and nature that dominated Victorian Britain. This alone should prove that context is imperative in determining the meaning of a literary text. When one ignores context, one many completely disregard a particular influence or aspect of the text and consequently the true sense of the piece will be missed. It is possible to develop meaning from literature without context, but context can still be used on the same piece to create a different outcome. It is important to explore context, but not necessarily vital.
CONTEXT OF
COMPOSITION
If writers are influenced by their context, then we will have to learn
more about these contexts in order to understand their texts. Writers can be
influenced by the times in which they live, the place in which they write or
the families from which they come. These factors contribute to what we
call the 'context of composition'.
Knowing more about the context of composition will make you read a text differently. You may be looking for evidence to support any hypotheses you have about the author. For example, if you knew that Franz Kafka had a difficult relationship with his father, this will influence your interpretation of The Metamorphosis.
Taken from: http://www.thinkib.net/englishalanglit/page/11054/context-of-composition
lunes, 13 de junio de 2016
Characteristics
Greetings my fellow readers!
Remember last week's readings? The Story of an Hour, by Kate Chopin and The Canterville Ghost, by Oscar Wilde.
1. Can you recognize any of the characteristics for a short story in "The Story of an Hour"? Please, do list them.
2. Mention what characteristics of novels you noticed in the abstract of "The Canterville Ghost".
3. Share a bit of your opinion on both stories ;)
Remember last week's readings? The Story of an Hour, by Kate Chopin and The Canterville Ghost, by Oscar Wilde.
1. Can you recognize any of the characteristics for a short story in "The Story of an Hour"? Please, do list them.
2. Mention what characteristics of novels you noticed in the abstract of "The Canterville Ghost".
3. Share a bit of your opinion on both stories ;)
sábado, 11 de junio de 2016
Literary Forms (assignment #2)
Greetings again!
For the subject of literary forms, please watch the following video and take notes. You will be receiving a document on your emails to answer based on this content. Additional research is encouraged.
For the subject of literary forms, please watch the following video and take notes. You will be receiving a document on your emails to answer based on this content. Additional research is encouraged.
Welcome to our blog!
Greetings dear students!
Welcome to the blog for our class, Introduction to English Literature! This tool will prove useful for discussing the material and reading assignments, sharing interesting content and, in general, working in the class.
To start out web interaction, I want to encourage you to share your thoughts on this quote about teaching and reading in the comments section. I am sure you all have learned, at some point of other, about B.F. Skinner, but if you haven't, just click on his name up here and have a read.
Welcome to the blog for our class, Introduction to English Literature! This tool will prove useful for discussing the material and reading assignments, sharing interesting content and, in general, working in the class.
To start out web interaction, I want to encourage you to share your thoughts on this quote about teaching and reading in the comments section. I am sure you all have learned, at some point of other, about B.F. Skinner, but if you haven't, just click on his name up here and have a read.
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