Literature Notes PDF

1.​ What is Literature? - Summary - Definition & Purpose of Literary Studies * Literary Studies nicht Literary Criticism * Concerned with interpretation, analysis, and understanding - What is Literature? imaginative writing, attention to itself, differs from normal use * Literature is not easi...

1.​ What is Literature? - Summary - Definition & Purpose of Literary Studies * Literary Studies nicht Literary Criticism * Concerned with interpretation, analysis, and understanding - What is Literature? imaginative writing, attention to itself, differs from normal use * Literature is not easily defined-depends on context & perception * Language use and its literary context define whether a text is literature - Markers of Literariness (Jonathan Culler) 1. Foregrounding of language (linguistic patterning) 2. Integration of language (interrelation of form & meaning) 3. Fictionality (open to interpretation, textualization) 4. Aesthetic object (nicht nur inhalt, auch form schön, changing form kann auch inhalt ) 5. Intertextuality & self-reflexivity (relation to other texts,draws attention to its own nature as a text, rather than simply telling a story) merkmale self reflexivity breaking 4 wall, acknowledge audience, reminding that book or play - Analysis of Literary Texts * Elements: Narrator, characters, setting, plot, narrative techniques * Poetics vs. factual writing (literature differs from history/journalism) - Fiction & Its Definition * Invented stories (novels, short stories, etc.) vs. factual representation * Hayden White: All written discourse is both cognitive and mimetic - Literary History * Not an objective representation but a constructed model * Influenced by historical & ideological perspectives * Metaphor: Literature as a map (representation of past texts) - The Literary Canon (liste wichtiger werke) * Framework for studying literature * Selective, biased, conservative ("dead white men") * Offers insights but limits diversity 2.Summary of Key Points from “Poetic Language” Lecture ### Summary of the Lecture: Poetic Language and Literary Theory 1. **Saussure’s Theory of Language**: - **Langue vs. Parole**: Saussure distinguishes between *langue* (the system of language) and *parole* (individual speech acts). Language is a system of signs, and meaning arises from the differences between signs rather than from any inherent connection between words and objects. - **The Sign**: A linguistic sign consists of a *signifier* (the sound or written form) and a *signified* (the concept). The relationship between the two is **arbitrary**, meaning it is based on convention rather than any natural connection. - **Arbitrariness and Linearity**: Language is linear (words follow one another in time) and arbitrary (the connection between signifier and signified is not natural but conventional). synchronic vs diachronic perspective (language at spec. moment vs change across time) 2. **Structural Semantics and Isotopy**: - **Isotopy**: A concept introduced by Algirdas Julien Greimas, isotopy refers to the repetition of semantic traits that create a coherent meaning in a text. - **Lexemes and Semes**: A *lexeme* is a lexical unit (e.g., a word), while a *seme* is the smallest unit of meaning. Repetition of semes creates isotopies, which help in interpreting texts. 3. **Roman Jakobson’s Poetic Function**: - **Poetic Function**: Jakobson identifies six functions of language, with the *poetic function* focusing on the message itself. In poetry, the poetic function dominates, drawing attention to the form and structure of the language. - **Equivalence and Combination**: The poetic function projects the principle of equivalence (similarity) from the axis of selection (choosing words) into the axis of combination (arranging words). This creates patterns of repetition and parallelism what is poetic function? The poetic function of language, as defined by Roman Jakobson, focuses on the aesthetic and structural qualities of a text rather than just its meaning. It emphasizes form, rhythm, sound patterns, and figurative language to create artistic effects. This function is dominant in poetry and literature, where devices like metaphor, rhyme, and parallelism enhance expression. Ultimately, the poetic function draws attention to language itself, making it more impactful and open to multiple interpretations. 4. **Russian Formalism and Defamiliarization**: - **Defamiliarization**: Russian Formalists, particularly Viktor Shklovsky, argued that literary language is distinguished by its use of formal devices that “make strange” (*ostranenie*) everyday language. This process of defamiliarization forces readers to perceive the world in new ways. - **Text-Intrinsic Approach**: Formalists focus on the form and structure of texts rather than their content or context, emphasizing the autonomy of literary language. 5. **Structuralism**: - **Texts as Dynamic Systems**: systems of interrelated elements, where literary effects arise from the interplay between foregrounded (striking) features and backgrounded (familiar) elements. This approach incorporates insights from linguistics and semiotics. #### Application to Literature: - **Shakespeare’s *As You Like It***: The monologue “All the world’s a stage” is analyzed for its use of isotopy, where life is metaphorically linked to a theatrical performance, creating a complex web of meanings. - **Edgar Allan Poe’s *The Raven***: The poem exemplifies the poetic function through its use of repetition, parallelism, and sound patterns, drawing attention to the form of the language. - **Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s *The Yellow Wall-paper***: The story is analyzed for its formal features, such as semantic oppositions (e.g., male/female, ordinary/queer) and self-reflexivity, which highlight the protagonist’s psychological state and the constraints of domesticity. how do we arrive at meaning in a text? To arrive at meaning in a text, we analyze the relationship between signifiers (words) and signifieds (concepts), as proposed by Saussure, recognizing that meaning arises from differences within the language system. Structural semantics, through isotopy, identifies repeated semantic patterns that create coherence, as seen in metaphors like Shakespeare’s “All the world’s a stage.” Roman Jakobson’s poetic function highlights how literary texts use repetition and equivalence to draw attention to their form, shaping meaning. Finally, reader-response theories, like Iser’s indeterminacy, emphasize that readers actively fill in textual gaps, making meaning a collaborative process between text and reader. 3. Summary of the Lecture: Gender as an Analytical Category in Literary Studies text and context historical reality, author oriented, text oriented, reader oriented, other texts as context how do text and context interact?Text and context interact through the interplay of internal and external elements that shape meaning. Internally, the text’s formal features (e.g., structure, language, and narrative techniques) create patterns and coherence, as seen in Saussure’s signifier-signified relationship and Jakobson’s poetic function. Externally, historical, cultural, and social contexts influence how a text is produced and received, as highlighted in postcolonial theory and reception studies. Together, these elements create a dynamic relationship where the text reflects and responds to its context, while the context informs and enriches the text’s interpretation. #### Key Themes and Theories: 1. **Gender Studies and Feminism**: - Gender Studies emerged in the late 1960s and 1970s, critiquing androcentrism and hierarchical gender structures. It initially focused on women but expanded to include masculinity, transgender issues, and intersectionality (race, class, ability). - Feminist literary criticism examines the gender bias in authorship, canon formation, and the cultural embeddedness of gender in meaning production. It also explores the "anxiety of authorship" faced by women writers, contrasting with the male "anxiety of influence." Gender is an important category in literary studies because it reveals how power structures and social norms shape both the creation and interpretation of texts. It allows us to analyze how gender roles, identities, and relationships are represented, challenged, or reinforced in literature, as seen in works like Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wall-paper. Gender studies also highlight the marginalization of women and LGBTQ+ voices, offering insights into historical and cultural contexts. By examining gender, we uncover how literature reflects and influences societal attitudes, contributing to broader discussions about equality and identity. helps identifying themes and motives, the short story -short, reason economic, novels from uk available came in for practical reasons merkmale: unity of impression (presents single experience), moment of crisis (focus single character in single episode), Symmetry of design (conflict an solution) 4. Here is the summary of the lecture “Poetry I: Prosody and the Lyrical I” in text form, formatted similarly to the previous ones: Summary of Key Points from “Poetry I: Prosody and the Lyrical I” Lecture ​ ​ Poetry vs. Prose: ​ ​ Poetry is characterized by brevity, rhythm, rhyme, and stanza structures, reduction (not long epic poem), repetitions, suggestive imagery, etc ​ ​ It often features a lyrical persona (Lyrical I), suggestive imagery, and aesthetic self-referentiality. ​ ​ Some modern poetry, such as free verse, deviates from traditional forms. ​ ​ The Lyrical I (Das lyrische Ich): ​ ​ The speaker in a poem is not necessarily the author. ​ ​ Narrative poetry tells a story (e.g., epics, ballads), while lyric poetry focuses on emotions and impressions. ​ ​ Prosody & Versification: ​ ​ Prosody studies metre, rhythm, rhyme, and stanza structures in poetry. ​ ​ Versification is the technical practice of composing verse. ​ ​ Rhyme and Rhythm: partial identity between sound segments ​ ​ Rhyme creates sound patterns (e.g., perfect rhyme, slant rhyme, eye rhyme). ​ ​ Rhythm refers to patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables. blank verse: metrical line without rhyme, eye/visual rhyme: purely orthography, enjabment: syntactic units stretch along verse endings ​ ​ Metre (Metrum): Traditional patterns of rhythm, such as iambic pentameter. number of stressed syllables ​ ​ Functions of Rhyme: ​ 1.​ Euphony: Enhances the musical quality of a poem. ​ 2.​ Elevation: Marks poetic language as special. ​ 3.​ Mnemonics: Makes poetry easier to remember. ​ 4.​ Structuring: Defines line and stanza endings. ​ 5.​ Semantics: Creates emphasis through contrast or connection. ​ ​ Types of Rhyme Schemes: ​ ​ Couplet (Paarreim, AA BB), Cross Rhyme (Kreuzreim, ABAB), Embracing Rhyme (Umarmender Reim, ABBA), Chain Rhyme (Kettenreim, ABA BCB CDC). ​ ​ Forms of Poetry: ​ ​ Villanelle: A fixed form with repeated refrains (aba und abaa ​ ​ Blank Verse: Unrhymed iambic pentameter (common in Shakespeare). ​ ​ Free Verse: Lacks a regular metre but may use repetition and parallelism (e.g., Walt Whitman). ​ ​ Scansion & Metrical Analysis: ​ ​ Scansion marks stressed and unstressed syllables to analyze metre. ​ ​ Different metrical feet include iamb (unstressed-stressed), trochee (stressed-unstressed), dactyl (stressed-unstressed-unstressed), anapaest (unstressed-unstressed-stressed). ​ ​ Key Examples Discussed: ​ ​ Key Questions for Review: ​ ​ What is the role of the speaker in a poem? voice or persone through which the poems ideas emotions and perspectives are conveyed, not author, ​ ​ How do rhyme, rhythm, and metre enhance our understanding of poetry? structural and emotional depth, musicality and flow, memorability and engaging, aestethic quality, setting moods or tones deepen readers connection 5. Here is the summary of the lecture “Poetry II: Sonnets” in text form, formatted like the previous ones: ​ ​ Definition and Origins: ​ ​ A sonnet is a 14-line poem written in iambic pentameter with a fixed rhyme scheme. ​ ​ Originated in Italy, introduced to England by Sir Thomas Wyatt in the 16th century. ​ ​ Used by many major poets as a structured but flexible form for love poetry, philosophical reflections, and social commentary. ​ ​ Types of Sonnets: ​ ​ Petrarchan (Italian) Sonnet: ​ ​ Divided into an octave (8 lines) and sestet (6 lines). ​ ​ The volta (turn) occurs at line 9, shifting the argument or theme. ​ ​ Shakespearean (English) Sonnet: ​ ​ Organized into three quatrains (4 lines each) and a final rhyming couplet. ​ ​ The volta usually occurs at line 12, followed by a summarizing or epigrammatic conclusion. ​ ​ Spenserian Sonnet: ​ ​ A variation with a more interwoven rhyme scheme. ​ ​ Key Examples Discussed: ​ ​ William Shakespeare, Sonnet 130 (“My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun”) ​ ​ A parody of traditional love sonnets, rejecting exaggerated beauty comparisons. ​ ​ John Milton, “When I Consider How My Light Is Spent” ​ ​ A reflective poem on blindness and divine purpose. ​ ​ Figures of Speech in Sonnets: ​ ​ Metaphor: ​ ​ Compares two unrelated things by assuming an identity between them (e.g., “The road of life”). ​ ​ Key components: tenor (subject being described) and vehicle (the figurative term applied). ​ ​ Simile: ​ ​ A comparison using “like” or “as” (e.g., “Life is like a journey”). ​ ​ Metonymy: ​ ​ Replaces a word with something closely associated with it (e.g., “The White House” for the U.S. government). ​ ​ Synecdoche: ​ ​ A part represents the whole (e.g., “All hands on deck” for sailors). ​ ​ Key Questions for Review: ​ ​ How does the structure of different types of sonnets affect their interpretation? by shaping the flow of ideas and emotional impactThe Petrarchan sonnet divides into an octave and sestet, often presenting a problem or tension in the first eight lines and a resolution in the final six, guiding the reader through a thematic shift. The Shakespearean sonnet, with its three quatrains and a final couplet, allows for a more gradual development of ideas, culminating in a concise conclusion or twist. These structural differences influence how themes like love, time, or mortality are explored, emphasizing contrasts, resolutions, or dramatic turns that shape the reader’s understanding and emotional response. ​ ​ How does metaphor differ from simile in connecting ideas? simile like as, connects through comparison more clearer but less intense whereas metaphor paints a picture, directly equates one thing with another deeper intrinsic connection more vivid, Let me know if you need any modifications or further explanations! 6. Here is the summary of the lecture “Drama I: Dramatic Speech and the Structure of Dramatic Texts” in text form, following the same format as before: ​ ​ Definition and Origins: ​ ​ Drama (Greek: dran, “to act”) refers to literature intended for performance. ​ ​ Theatre (Greek: theatron, “observing place”) place for performance ​ ​ Text vs. Performance: ​ ​ A dramatic text (script) consists of: ​ ​ Primary text (Haupttext): The spoken dialogue. ​ ​ Secondary text (Nebentext): Stage directions, setting descriptions. ​ ​ A performance includes additional non-verbal elements (gestures, facial expressions, costumes, set design, lighting, sound). ​ ​ Structure of Dramatic Texts: ​ ​ No narrator (except in ancient Greek Chorus). ​ ​ Dialogue-driven: Characters interact directly. ​ ​ Monologue & Soliloquy: ​ ​ Monologue: A character speaks at length, expressing inner thoughts. (no inner thoughts) addressed to nobody ​ ​ Soliloquy: A monologue delivered alone on stage (selbstgespräch) plurimedial: seeing hearing smelling etc, nonverbal codes (expression of body, costume) collective and ephemeral process(no performance like the one before) ​ ​ Aside: A character speaks to the audience or another character without others on stage hearing. ​ ​ Key Dramatic Speech Elements: ​ ​ Messenger Report (Botenbericht): Describes events that happened offstage. ​ ​ Teichoscopy (Mauerschau): A character describes events happening offstage in real-time. ​ ​ Stichomythia: Rapid line-by-line dialogue exchange for dramatic tension. ​ ​ Classical Dramatic Structure: ​ ​ Aristotle’s Three Unities: ​ 1.​ Unity of Action: One central plot, few or no subplots. ​ 2.​ Unity of Time: Events occur within 24 hours. ​ 3.​ Unity of Place: The action happens in a single location. ​ Catharsis: According to Aristotle, tragedy should purge emotions of pity and fear effect of purgation or purification.Dramatic arc (Five-Act Structure): ​ Freytag’s Pyramid ​ 1.​ Exposition: Introduction of characters and setting. ​ 2.​ Rising Action: Conflict develops. ​ 3.​ Climax: The turning point of the story. ​ 4.​ Falling Action: Consequences unfold. ​ 5.​ Dénouement/Catastrophe: Resolution or tragedy. BUT 20th cent: being changed/ challanged ​ ​ Key Questions for Review: ​ ​ How does the speech situation in drama differ from other types of literature? you have direct dialougue and only things like monolougues or soliquatiy aloow an insight into the characters mind. The speech is written to be performed and to be spoken rather than read silently. this emphasizes the tone, gestures, and delivery and makes the non verbal elements so important ​ ​ What different models exist to explain the structure of drama? Aristotles three unities, freytags pyramid 7. ### Summary of the Lecture: Drama II – Staging and Performance 1. **Staging and Performance**: - **Theatre as an Event**: Theatre is understood as a live, ephemeral event that engages audiences physically, intellectually, and emotionally. Each performance is part of an ongoing dialogue between the play-text and its reception history. - **Stage Forms**: ancient Greek amphitheatres , medieval pageants ,Renaissance apron stages and modern proscenium arch theatres. - **20th Century Theatre**: rise of open forms of theatre, Bertolt Brecht’s *epic theatre*, which uses alienation effects distance the audience from the characters, and Samuel Beckett’s *Theatre of the Absurd*, rejects traditional plot structures and realistic settings to reflect the absurdity of human existence.. **Characterization in Drama**: - **Flat vs. Round Characters**: flat characters (types) and round characters (individuals). Flat characters are often representative of social or psychological types, while round characters are multi-dimensional and resemble real human beings. - **Techniques of Characterization**: developed through dialogue, actions, physical appearance, and commentary by other characters. In *Waiting for Godot*, the characters are largely flat, representing universal human traits rather than individualized personalities. **Dismantling of Dramatic Structures**: - *Waiting for Godot* dismantles traditional dramatic structures by eliminating a clear plot, meaningful action, and resolution. The play’s minimalistic staging, with a bare stage and few props, emphasizes the emptiness and futility of the characters’ existence. - Despite the lack of traditional structure, the play retains remnants of meaning, such as the allusion to the two thieves crucified alongside Christ, which invites interpretations of guilt, redemption, and human suffering. questions: how do open forms of theater differ from more traditional dramatic structures? the stage is surrounded by the audience and with the proscenium more like we know today, classic 4 wall unlike older forms, where audience almost part of the play How do notions of character and forms of characterisation inform the understanding of a play? character shape the plays themes conflicts and audience engagement direct descriptions reveal personality motives flat and round characters help interpret the plays deeper meaning. 8. This lecture 1. **Intertextuality**: - **Definition**: Intertextuality refers to the ways in which texts reference, borrow from, or respond to other texts. It highlights the idea that no text exists in isolation; all texts are part of a larger network of textual relationships. deconstruction: meaning itself highly insatiable,radicalization of structurist thoughts, highlights arbitrary relationship no outside text doesnt mean no meaning but multiple meanings beyond binary focus: instability, rhetoric, intertextuality, author decentered (death of author) postmodern: deconstructive shaped postmodern/experim. lit., highlights ambiguity and fragmentation, challanges trad. originality, authenticity and causality(eg parody(mocking), pastiche(praising), metafiction(self reflective status fiction)) - **Gérard Genette’s Categories**: Genette categorizes intertextual relationships into: - **Intertextuality**: Direct references like quotes, allusions, or plagiarism. - **Paratextuality**: References to titles, prefaces, or other paratextual elements. - **Metatextuality**: Critical or commentary-based references to other texts. - **Hypertextuality**: Transformative relationships, such as adaptations, parodies, or sequels. - **Architextuality**: References to genre conventions. - **Julia Kristeva’s View**: Kristeva emphasizes the horizontal (author-reader) and vertical (text-pretext) dimensions of intertextuality, suggesting that every text is a response to previous texts. 2. **Intermediality**: - **Definition**: Intermediality refers to the relationships between different media, such as text and image, or text and sound. - **Siegfried J. Schmidt’s Media System**: Media systems consist of four components: semiotic communication, media technology, social systems, and media products. 3. **Adaptation**: - **Definition**: Adaptation involves the transformation of a text from one medium to another (e.g., novel to film) or within the same medium (e.g., a modern retelling of a classic story). to be second is not to be secondary or inferior can hav eidfferent endings, characters, (repitition with variation) - **Three Dimensions of Adaptation**: 1. **Formal Entity**: The adaptation as a product, acknowledging its relationship to the original. 2. **Process of Creation**: The creative and interpretive act of adapting a text. shorting, prolonging etc  3. **Process of Reception**: How audiences engage with and interpret the adaptation in relation to the original. 4. **Erasure Poetry**: - **Definition**: Erasure poetry is a form of found poetry where a poet takes an existing text and erases or obscures parts of it to create a new work. It is a form of radical intertextuality that can be used for collaboration or confrontation with the original text. - **Example**: Tracy K. Smith’s *“Declaration”* erases parts of the U.S. Declaration of Independence to highlight themes of oppression and resistance. questions: what is intertextuality and how can you distinguish different degrees of intertextuality? the relationship between different works of literature that can be distinguished in telling, showing and interacting with the stories. it can also be based on explicitness and intentionality of the reference to the work. How does the process of adaptation work and why is it more than simply a bad copy of and original text? There are different kinds of adaptations ranging from a retelling that is similar to translation and paraphrasing to a deeper and more detailed story that is vaguely connected to the original work. Characters and plot do not have top be the same.. it is an repetition with variation. Thats also the reason why it does not particularly has to be an copy pr bad copy of the original. there can be more elements in the adaptation that make the new work valuable. 9. ### Summary of the Lecture: Prose I – Narratology 1. **Narratology**: - **Definition**: Narratology is a structuralist approach to analyzing narratives, focusing on how stories are constructed and mediated rather than their interpretation. It examines the **mediacy** of narration, or how stories are conveyed through a mediating narrator. - **Communication Systems**: - **External Communication**: Between the empirical author and the actual reader. - **Internal Communication**: Between the fictional narrator and the fictional addressee. - **Fictional Communication**: Between characters within the story. 2. **Franz K. Stanzel’s Narrative Situations**: - Stanzel identifies three primary narrative situations: 1. **First-Person Narrator**: The narrator is a character within the story, sharing the characters’ world 2. **Authorial Narrator**: An omniscient narrator who exists outside the story world but can access characters’ thoughts and actions 3. **Figural Narrative Situation**: The story is told through the perspective of a character (the **reflector**), but in the third person, creating an illusion of immediacy - **Continuum of Narration**: Stanzel’s model is a continuum rather than fixed categories, with overlapping features between the three narrative situations. 3 principal conditions person, perspective and mode 3. **Telling vs. Showing**: - **Telling**: The narrator summarizes or reports events, thoughts, and speech (e.g., “Mary pondered her next move”).  - **Showing**: The narrative presents events, thoughts, and speech directly, creating the illusion of witnessing them (e.g., free indirect discourse or interior monologue). - **Free Indirect Discourse**: A blend of narrator and character voices, often used to represent a character’s thoughts without direct quotation (e.g., “What on earth should she do now?”). 4. **Frame Narrative and Embedded Narrative**: - **Frame Narrative**: A story within a story, where an outer narrative introduces and contextualizes an inner narrative - **Embedded Narrative**: The inner story, which is often the main focus 6. **Speech and Thought Representation**: - **Direct Speech/Thought**: The character’s exact words or thoughts are quoted - **Indirect Speech/Thought**: The narrator reports the character’s words or thoughts - **Free Indirect Discourse**: A blend of narrator and character voices, often used to represent a character’s thoughts without direct quotation ( - **Interior Monologue/Stream of Consciousness**: Direct representation of a character’s thoughts, often fragmented and without mediation questions: Both authorial and figural narrative situation use the third person pronoun. According to stenzel, how do they differ in terms of the mode of mediation? the authorial narrator is so to say neutral. it kwows everything and can look into the future and past as well as knowing everything not just about the main character, the figural narrative situation on th either hand takls about the situation from the eyes of a character, thus not being neutral anymore. its still the third person and might appear as if the narrator is all knowing but in fact they only know what the character they see through knows what is the difference between showing and telling in prose writing? showing refers to the impression of being shown the events of the story or that t hey witness them. Telling on the other hand results ijn the reader feeling that they are told about the events in the story.. ‘Showing’ is the supposedly direct presentation of events and conversations, the narrator seeming to disappear (as in drama) and the reader being left to draw his own conclusions from what he ‘sees’ and ‘hears’. ‘Telling’, on the other hand, is a presentation mediated by the narrator who, instead of directly and dramatically exhibiting events and conversations, talks about them, sums them up, etc.” (Rimmon-Kenan 10. ### Summary of the Lecture: Prose II – Time in Narrative Fiction Rimmonn kenan level of analysis story→ events, text/discourse→ verbal represent, narration →act of telling or writing who speaks(narration) vs who sees (focalization)# diegetic(TELLING) mimetic( SHOWING) 1. **Narrative Levels and Narrators**: position of narrator in relations to story - **Narrative Levels**: Narratives can exist on different levels: - **Extradiegetic**: The primary narrative level (e.g., the main story). - **Intradiegetic**: A secondary narrative level (e.g., a story within a story). - **Types of Narrators**: - **Heterodiegetic**: A narrator who is not a character in the story (e.g., an omniscient narrator). - **Homodiegetic**: A narrator who is a character in the story (e.g., a first-person narrator). - **Autodiegetic**: A narrator who tells their own story (a subset of homodiegetic narration). - **Degree of Perceptibility**: - **Covert Narrator**: A narrator who remains hidden, simply reporting events without commentary. - **Overt Narrator**: A narrator who is visible, offering commentary, judgments, or guiding the reader’s interpretation. 2. **Focalization**: - **Definition**: perspective through which the narrative is presented. It is distinct from narration (who speaks) and involves **who sees** or perceives the events. for example, the narrator can be the grown self while the focalizer is the narrator as child - **Types of Focalization**: - **Internal Focalization**: The narrative is filtered through the perspective of only one character narrator knowledge = character knowledge ​ ​ fixed ​ ​ variable ​ ​ multiple - **External Focalization**: The narrative is limited to external observations, without access to characters’ thoughts or feelings. narrator knowledge < characters knowledge - **Zero Focalization**: The narrator has unrestricted knowledge of the story world, including characters’ thoughts and future events (often associated with omniscient narration). narrator knowledge> characters knowledge position subject external or internal in story (narrator focalizer or character focalizer) object without or within within a story can be fixed, variable or multiple focalizations degree of persistence perceptual facet (sight hearing smell, space time) psychological facet(mind and emotions, knowledge memory etc, objective vs subjective) ideological facet (whose norms) 3. **Speech and Thought Representation**: **Free Indirect Discourse (FID)**: A technique that blends the narrator’s voice with the character’s thoughts or speech, creating a sense of immediacy. 4. **Time in Narrative**: - **Story-Time vs. Discourse-Time**:  - **Story-Time**: The chronological sequence of events in the story. - **Discourse-Time**: The time it takes to narrate those events (e.g., the length of the text or the time it takes to read). - **Order**: The sequence of events in the narrative can differ from the chronological order of the story. Techniques include: - **Analepsis (Flashback)**: A shift to an earlier point in the story. - **Prolepsis (Flashforward)**: A shift to a future point in the story. - **Duration**: The relationship between the time it takes for events to occur in the story and the time it takes to narrate them. Techniques include: - **Summary**: A quick overview of events (story-time > discourse-time). - **Scene**: A detailed, moment-by-moment account (story-time = discourse-time). - **Ellipsis**: The omission of events (story-time > discourse-time). - **Frequency**: How often events are narrated: - **Singulative**: Telling once what happened once. - **Repetitive**: Telling multiple times what happened once. - **Iterative**: Telling once what happened multiple times. questions: what is the difference between narration and focalization? Narration refers to who tells the story (the narrator), while focalization refers to who sees or perceives the events (the perspective through which the story is filtered). Narration is about the voice, while focalization is about the point of view, which can belong to a character or an external observer.e the narrator sees and experiences the story through the eyes of a character What is the difference between story time and discourse time in narrative fiction? story time is the chronological sequence of the events in the story while discourse time is the time it takes to narrate those events 11. ### Summary of the Lecture: The Problem of Interpretation – Hermeneutics ### Key Themes and Theories: 1. **Hermeneutics**: - **Definition**: Hermeneutics is the theory of interpretation, originally developed for biblical exegesis but later expanded to include the interpretation of literary texts. It addresses questions such as the **determinacy of meaning**, the role of the **author’s intention**, and the **historical relativity of meaning**. general understanding of texts - **Hermeneutic Circle**: Understanding a text involves a circular process where the whole informs the parts and vice versa. This means that our interpretation of a text is shaped by our preconceptions, which are then modified by the text itself. - **Reception Theory**: A branch of hermeneutics that focuses on how readers interact with texts. Wolfgang Iser’s concept of **indeterminacy** (Unbestimmtheit) is central to this approach, suggesting that gaps or blanks in the text activate the reader’s imagination and contribute to the creation of meaning. 2. **Reader-Response Criticism**:  - **Indeterminacy**: Iser argues that literary texts contain **gaps** or **blanks** that readers must fill in, making the act of reading an active process of meaning-making. These gaps are not flaws but essential elements that engage the reader’s imagination. - **Implied Reader**: The text constructs an **implied reader** who is invited to participate in the creation of meaning. This reader is not a real person but a role that the text invites its audience to assume. - **Text-Reader Interaction**: Meaning is not fixed within the text but emerges from the interaction between the text and the reader. This challenges traditional notions of a single, authoritative interpretation. indeterminacies or gapy/blanks are not defects!! but basic aesthetik elements 3. **Poststructuralism and Postmodern Literature**: - **struction of Meaning**: Poststructuralist thought, influenced by theorists like Jacques Derrida, challenges the idea of fixed meanings and stable identities. In literature, this is reflected in texts that play with ambiguity, fragmentation, and multiple interpretations. - **Gender and Identity**: Postmodern literature often structs binary notions of gender and identity, presenting characters and narratives that resist easy categorization questions:According to Iser, how does indeterminacy activate readers?the gaps and ambiguities require the reader's active participation to fill in the meaning. due to the uncertainty the readers are forced to engage with the text by interpreting, imagining or making connections. reading becomes more dynamic and the reader is the co creator of meaning rather than a passive recipient. what are strategies of deconstructing meaning in (postmodern) literature? through intertextuality, metafiction and unstable narration, challenging fixed interpretations. by disrupting the narrative it reveals the instability of language and meaning forcing readers to engage critically 12. ### Summary of the Lecture: Postcolonial 1. **Postcolonial Studies**: - **Definition**: Postcolonial theory examines the effects of colonialism on cultures, identities, and literatures, both during and after colonial rule. It critiques Eurocentric perspectives and seeks to decolonize knowledge production. - **Temporal and Epistemological Dimensions**: The term "postcolonial" refers both to the period after colonialism and to the intellectual movement that seeks to move beyond colonial ideologies. - **Key Figures**: Frantz Fanon, Edward Said, Homi Bhabha, Gayatri Spivak, and Trinh T. Minh-ha are central to postcolonial theory. 2. **Writing Back**: - **The Empire Writes Back**: Postcolonial literature often "writes back" to colonial narratives, challenging the dominance of Eurocentric perspectives and reclaiming cultural identities. - **Aimé Césaire**: A key figure in the **Negritude** movement, Césaire’s work, such as *A Tempest* (an adaptation of Shakespeare’s *The Tempest*), reinterprets colonial narratives from a postcolonial perspective. In *A Tempest*, Caliban becomes a symbol of resistance against colonial oppression, and Prospero is depicted as a totalitarian ruler. - **Language and Identity**: Postcolonial writers often use **abrogation** (rejecting the authority of colonial language) and **appropriation** (reclaiming and transforming colonial language) to assert their cultural identities. 3. **Hybridity and Mimicry**: - **Homi Bhabha**: Bhabha’s concepts of **hybridity** and **mimicry** challenge the idea of pure, homogenous cultures. Hybridity refers to the mixing of cultures, while mimicry describes the ambivalent relationship between the colonizer and the colonized, where the colonized imitates the colonizer but never fully becomes the same. - **Third Space**: Bhabha introduces the idea of the **Third Space**, a liminal space where cultural meanings are negotiated and transformed. This space resists binary thinking and emphasizes the fluidity of identity. 4. **Afropolitanism**: - **Definition**: Afropolitanism refers to a global African identity that transcends national boundaries. Afropolitans are Africans of the world, often multilingual and multicultural, who navigate multiple cultural contexts. - **Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s *Americanah***: The novel explores the experiences of Ifemelu, a Nigerian woman who moves to the United States and later returns to Nigeria. Through Ifemelu’s blog, Adichie critiques American race relations and Eurocentric beauty standards, while also reflecting on the complexities of Afropolitan identity. 5. **Postcolonial Literatures in English**: - **Global Phenomenon**: Postcolonial literature is not limited to former colonies but is a global phenomenon, encompassing works from Africa, the Caribbean, South Asia, and diasporic communities in the Global North. - **Diverse Aesthetics**: Postcolonial literature does not adhere to a single aesthetic or genre but encompasses a wide range of styles and forms, from realist novels to experimental texts. 13. lecture on current trends ### Summary of the Lecture: Digital Humanities and the Return of Formalism. 1. **Close Reading**: - **Definition**: Close reading involves a detailed, analytical examination of a text’s language, structure, and form. It emphasizes the text itself rather than external contexts like authorial intent or reader response. - **New Criticism**: Close reading is closely associated with the **New Criticism** movement, which dominated literary studies in the mid-20th century. New Critics focused on the text’s intrinsic qualities, rejecting the **intentional fallacy** (focusing on the author’s intent) and the **affective fallacy** (focusing on the reader’s emotional response). - **Poststructuralist Influence**: While close reading remains a foundational skill, poststructuralist theories have challenged the idea of fixed meanings, emphasizing the **instability** and **ambiguity** of texts. 2. **Distant Reading**: - **Definition**: Coined by Franco Moretti, **distant reading** involves analyzing large datasets of texts using computational methods, rather than reading individual texts closely. This approach is particularly useful for identifying broad trends and patterns across vast literary corpora. - **Digital Humanities**: Distant reading is a key method in **Digital Humanities (DH)**, which combines traditional humanities research with computational tools like data visualization, text mining, and statistical analysis. - **Examples**: Projects like **DraCor** (Drama Corpora Project) use computational methods to analyze dramatic texts, creating networks of character interactions and other metadata. 3. **Surface Reading**: - **Definition**: Proposed by Stephen Best and Sharon Marcus, **surface reading** shifts focus from **symptomatic reading** (which seeks hidden meanings) to the **surface** of the text—what is immediately evident and perceptible. - **Critique of Symptomatic Reading**: Symptomatic reading, influenced by theorists like Fredric Jameson, seeks latent meanings beneath the surface (e.g., repressed ideologies or unconscious desires). Surface reading, by contrast, emphasizes **description** over **interpretation**. - **Application to *Beloved***: A surface reading of Toni Morrison’s *Beloved* focuses on the text’s descriptive power and its documentation of historical trauma, rather than delving into psychological or symbolic interpretations. 4. **Digital Humanities (DH)**: - **Definition**: DH is an interdisciplinary field that applies computational tools and methods to humanities research. It includes digitizing texts, analyzing large datasets, and creating digital editions of literary works. - **Examples**: - **DraCor**: A project that analyzes dramatic texts by creating networks of character interactions and other metadata. - **Graphic Novel Research**: Combines cognitive science, digital tools, and narratology to study graphic literature, focusing on both textual and visual elements. 5. **Return to Formalism**: - **Question**: Is there a return to formalist methods in literary studies after the dominance of poststructuralism? While poststructuralism emphasized the instability of meaning, recent trends suggest a renewed interest in the **formal qualities** of texts, particularly through digital methods and surface reading. Question: what methods of close Reading? Reading with Special attention,oriented on Form, structure and narrative technique What is Main idea behind surface Reading? Surface what is immediately Visible, understanable evident