Literary Studies Exam PDF

Literary studies exam Culler - what is literature -​ the meaning of the concept depends on time and space change of meaning over time 1.​ Literature as the foregrounding of language 2.​ Literature as the integration of language 3.​ Literature as Fiction 4.​ Literature as aes...

Literary studies exam Culler - what is literature -​ the meaning of the concept depends on time and space change of meaning over time 1.​ Literature as the foregrounding of language 2.​ Literature as the integration of language 3.​ Literature as Fiction 4.​ Literature as aesthetic object 5.​ Literature as intertextual and /or self-reflexive construct -​ All 5 characteristics are optional Poetry Defining poetry -​ James Dowthwaite's article "Persona: Its Meaning and Significance" examines the concept of the lyric persona in poetry and its theoretical implications. -​ Definition of Persona: -​ The persona is not just a "mask" but acts as the "human face" of a poetic text. -​ It mediates between the empirical author and the finished work, creating a fictional space for poetic expression. -​ -​ Functions of the Persona: -​ Liberates poetry from being tied to the author’s personal identity. -​ Allows for multiple voices, perspectives, and formal innovations in poetry. -​ -​ Theoretical Shift: -​ Moves focus away from traditional subjectivity and the lyrical "I." -​ Redefines the relationship between author, speaker, and text by emphasizing the persona as an aesthetic and cognitive construct. -​ -​ Applications Across Traditions: -​ The concept is applied to diverse poetic traditions, from Old English poetry like The Seafarer to modern experimental works. -​ The persona serves as a "laboratory" for exploring pronouns, form, and themes in poetry. -​ Significance: -​ Dowthwaite’s framework offers a fresh perspective on poetic theory. -​ It addresses complexities of authorship and representation in literary studies by focusing on the persona rather than subjectivity. Dramatic monologue Gabriella Hartvig's chapter "The Dramatic Monologue" in An Introduction to Poetic Forms provides an analysis of this poetic form, focusing on its defining characteristics and its distinction from other forms of poetry. Key points include: ​ Definition: The dramatic monologue is a poetic form in which a single speaker addresses a silent listener, revealing their character, emotions, and circumstances through their speech. ​ Formal Features: ​ It combines elements of drama and lyric poetry. ​ The speaker is distinct from the poet, creating a fictional persona. ​ The monologue often includes implied interaction with an audience or listener. ​ Purpose and Effect: ​ It allows for deep psychological exploration of the speaker's character. ​ The form encourages readers to infer meaning from what is said and unsaid, fostering engagement with the subtext. ​ Historical Context: ​ Popularized during the Victorian era, particularly by poets like Robert Browning (My Last Duchess), who used it to explore complex moral and social issues. Hartvig's discussion emphasizes the dramatic monologue's unique ability to blend narrative, character study, and poetic expression. Poetic language syntax Consonance ​ Consonance is the congruence of consonants short of alliteration ​ It is a repetition of two or more consonants with a change in the intervening vowel Assonance ​ Assonance is congruence between vowel sounds Onomatopoeia ​ Onomatopoeia uses words to imitate sounds Rhetorical Figures ​ Rhetorical figures contribute to form and effects in poems, as well as dramatic, narrative, and non-fictional texts ​ Analysis employs terms dating back to Antiquity ​ Categories can be based on the dimension of language  Morphological Figures ​ Phonological figures operate on the level of sounds, and morphological figures work on the level of words and word formation Syntactic Figures ​ Syntactic figures are employed on the sentence structure level (syntax) Semantic Figures ​ Semantic figures concern the meanings of words or expressions Pragmatic Figures ​ Pragmatic figures involve language use Coherence ​ Rhetorical figures contribute to a poem's coherence, like speech, metric, stanzaic structure, and sound patterns ​ Poems rely on coherence due to their limited characters or plot Word Repetition ​ Repetitions and recurrences occur on phonological and linguistic levels ​ The repetition of morphemes, words, groups of words, sentence components, and sentences are described as morphological figures Sonnets Petrarchan sonnet -​ Conventionalized form of courting of a man of a woman with higher social standing -​ Love must remain unfulfilled (for moral, social reasons) -​ Suppression of passion and development of self-consciousness of the poet -​ conventionalized speaker and addressee -​ Blazon: conventionalized beauty (lips=rubies, eyes=stars, hair=gold…) Italian sonnet -​ two quatrains (octave) and two tercets (sestett) -​ rhyming abab abab or abba abba and cde cde or cdc dcd English sonnet -​ (Thomas Wyatt; Earl of Surrey; William Shakespeare): -​ three quartets and a couplet of (mostly) jambic pentameter, rhyming -​ abab cdcd efef gg -​ abba cddc effe gg English sonnet -​ variation of one thesis (or two positions) in three steps (cf. the quartets), then a summary -​ or a surprising turn at the end (cf. the couplet) change of idealizing Petrarchan sonnet -​ into poems on bonding, love and (sexual) desire mainly in the (English) Renaissance -​ revival in British Romanticism (19th century, William Wordsworth) Narrative Voice -​ Heterodiegetic -​ Outside -​ Does not belong to the world of the characters -​ Homodiegetic Narrator -​ Inside -​ Belongs to the story world -​ Autodiegetic Narrator -​ tells the story of their own life -​ Story within a story: -​ Extradiegetic narrator -​ Narrator of the frame narrative -​ Often in the beginning and/or the end -​ Intradiegetic narrator -​ Narrator of the embedded narrative Focalisation - who sees, who feels? -​ zero focalisation -​ narrator > character -​ (”Übersicht” – the narrator knows/sees more than any character knows/sees) -​ internal focalisation -​ narrator ≈ character -​ (“Mitsicht” – the narrator knows/sees as much as one character sees/knows) -​ external focalisation -​ narrator < character -​ (“Außensicht” – the narrator knows/sees less than the character(s) sees/knows) -​ fixed focalisation -​ restricted to one perspective -​ variable focalisation -​ different scenes through different perspectives -​ multiple focalisation -​ one scene, different perspectives Drama Transmission of information -​ Internal communication -​ External communication -​ Congruent Information -​ Discrepant awareness (between characters / between audience and characters) -​ Dramatic irony (significance of characters words is only clear to the audience) Dramatic speech -​ Teichoscopy: “viewing from the walls” → synchronous discussion of events -​ Messenger report -​ Monologue: speech given by a single person to an audience -​ Aside: character on stage quickly addresses audience -​ Soliloquy: speech that a character gives to themselves → “Selbstgespräch” -​ Dialogue (dramatic characters) -​ present themselves directly to others -​ characterise other figures -​ characterise themselves indirectly through the content and -​ manner of their replies -​ exchange information -​ negotiate meanings and relationships in discussions or -​ quarrels -​ plan and perform actions -​ stichomythia (line-by-line exchange): passionate interaction -​ or reticence and alienation -​