Session 1: Introduction to Literary and Cultural Studies PDF

Grundkurs II: Introduction to Literary and Cultural Studies © Uni Münster – Jan Lehmann Leopold Lippert Session 1: April 10  Session 1: “Genre and Close Reading” Itinerary Today we will...

Grundkurs II: Introduction to Literary and Cultural Studies © Uni Münster – Jan Lehmann Leopold Lippert Session 1: April 10  Session 1: “Genre and Close Reading” Itinerary Today we will talk about logistics and organizational matters and explore… v the definition of genre v the differences between literal language and figurative language v close reading and how we can practice it ‹No.› 1  Session 1: “Genre and Close Reading” Examination Ø Your exam will consist of two question formats: multiple choice and open questions. - Multiple choice questions will mainly focus on formal aspects such as terminology, techniques, and devices, whereas open questions will ask you to perform analysis similar to what you will have learned in the classroom. Ø General reading list for Bachelor BK and 2-Fach Bachelor students (Primary school and HRSGE students are exempt) Ø Exam date: Monday, 22.07.2024, 10:00-12:00. Monday , 23 09 2024.. ‹No.› 10  Session 1: “Genre and Close Reading” ~ Genre––What is it? Greek γένος (genos), Latin genus, root gener-: race, kind Old French gendre; French genre first used in English in 1770 (OED) replaced the Germanic / Old English word “kind” (“kinds of literature”), which was in use since c. 1000 in the sense - die sich durch gemeinsame Eigenschaften unterscheiden of “a class of individuals or objects distinguished by attributes possessed in common; a genus or species; also, in a vaguer sense: a sort, variety, or description. (= L. genus.)” (OED, 13.a) process of grouping items in natural genre (categoriting animals - = /similarity characteristics , & philosophy based on shared has semantic origins and affinity with categorization in natural philosophy (genus) categorization concept of genus (poematos genera) was first applied to literature in Ars Grammatica of Diomedes Grammaticus Ars Grammatica of Diomedes Grammaticus (late 4th century) late 4th century Ars Grammatica of Diomedes Grammations practice of grouping individual texts into distinct categories, called genres - Ars Grammatica of Diomedes descrises Antike Grammaticns neu designates the history of literary classifications from antiquity to present Ars Grammatica of Diomedes Grammaticus ‹No.› 11 antiquity antiquity antiquity antiquity  Session 1: “Genre and Close Reading” into Subdivision Genre––What is it? susgenres Contemporary division of genres Subdivision into subgenres (Nünning and Nünning 31) ‹No.› 12  Session 1: “Genre and Close Reading” Different Approaches to Genre arise naturally as natural form genres from features common eachwith own conventions , as systems but interacting/influencing each other as listings > - as a way to organize and find books as classification > - based on shared characteristics not natural as constructed, artificial, biased => not natural criterias used , to define genres are influenced by preferences/prejudices; can be shaped by social norms and values as family resemblances > - Works within genre resemble each other in multiple , so metimes overlapping ways ‹No.› 13  Session 1: “Genre and Close Reading” v Genre––What is it? To which genre does Citizen belong? Why? What function(s) does Rankine’s addition, “An American Lyric,” on the title page serve? What literary genres do you know already? - ‹No.› 14  Citizen-genre -book-length poem (primary genre : poetry), structured as collection of poems (themes race, identity , social injustice) - contains characteristics of prose poetry and , visual art also autobiographical elements personal critical commentary - + , Title An : American Lyric - frames book within context of American culture and identity "lyric" > - emphasis on book's engagement with musicality/rhythm of language - Poetry  Session 1: “Genre and Close Reading” ~ Reading—How? Select four answers to the question, “What should a reader be in order to be a good reader?”: 1. The reader should belong to a book club. 2. The reader should identify himself or herself with the hero or heroine. 3. The reader should concentrate on the socio-economic angle. 4. The reader should prefer a story with action and dialogue to one with none. 5. The reader should have seen the book in a movie. 6. The reader should be a budding author. 7. The reader should have imagination. 8. The reader should have memory. 9. The reader should have a dictionary. 10. The reader should have some artistic sense. VLADIMIR NABOKOV, “Good Readers and Good Writers” (1948) ‹No.› 15  Session 1: “Genre and Close Reading” w Reading—How? Ø Moving beyond a discussion about ‘good’ and ‘bad’ readers, our focus is rather on ”how” we perform reading. Ø As students of literature, we read literature with specific methods we have acquired during our training and studies. Some of these methods are: Surface reading (Best & Marcus) focus > - without delling on examination content , deeper/hidden meaning into Close but not deep (Love) detailed of text's language structure, without deeper > - and contextual interpretation Reading with the grain (Bewes) interpreting > - accordingtext understand to coherence intentions , author's and apparent meanings Distant reading (Moretti) understanding literature by examining particular > - not but by texts, analysing of massive amount data Not reading (Poletti et al) focus > - gaps and adsences in texts on Reparative reading (Sedgwick) finding text's value and significance from perspective of hope positive aspects of > - a , a text chealing) ‹No.› 16  Session 1: “Genre and Close Reading” ~ Close Reading—How? In this seminar, we will practice close reading as methodology. In close reading, we: use of images/tropes/ directStraightforward hidden man an , I Ø pay attention to vocabulary—their complexity, level of abstraction, literal or figurative; word order , pause break , phrasing or Ø study the syntax and the rhythm of sentences, as well as their length, caesuras, run-ons, etc.; offer marked by punctuation ↳ two or more independent phrases improperly joined (e g without punctuation Ø look at how figurative language is employed—identify its instances—and think about what exactly.. they do in the larger text; Ø think about how a given text is composed formally, and how the text’s form might influence the way we read it; Ø notice the text’s intertextuality––is the text in conversation with or does it make references to other texts, historical events, people? ‹No.› 17  Session 1: “Genre and Close Reading” Close Reading—How? ~ Ø Do not rush! Be patient with the text and spend as much time as possible with it. kommentieren Ø Talk to the text! Ask questions, annotate it, comment in the margins. Ø Construct! Establish connections between your findings. Ø Historicize! Do not consider the text only through a 21st-century perspective; situate your text also within its original context. Ø Synthesize! Bring together your findings into a coherent argument/claim. interconnect ‹No.› 18  Session 1: “Genre and Close Reading” “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe rhetorical question uncompletres Exclamatio capital letters repetitio “TRUE! nervous, very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why WILL you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses, not destroyed, - - not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How then am I mad? figurative language Hearken! and observe how healthily, how calmly, I can tell you the whole story. Exclamatio parallelism It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain, but, once conceived, it haunted me day and night. Object there was none. Passion there was none. I - - loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire. I think it was his eye! Yes, it was this! One of his eyes - - parallelism resembled that of a vultureTaesura a pale blue eye with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me my blood ran cold, and so by degrees, very gradually, I made up my Geier pause = mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye for ever. , shorstentences Now this is the point. You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded—with what Verheimlichung caution—with what foresight, with what dissimulation, I went to work! I was never kinder to the old man than during the whole week before I killed him. And every night about midnight I turned the latch of his door and opened it oh, so gently! And then, when I had made an opening sufficient for my head, I put in a dark lantern all closed, closed so that no light shone out, and then I thrust in my head. Oh, you would have laughed to see how cunningly I thrust it in! I moved it slowly, very, very slowly, so that I might not disturb the old man's sleep. It took me an hour to place my whole head within the opening so far that I could see him as he lay upon his bed. Ha! would a madman have been so wise as this? And then when my head was well in the room I undid the lantern cautiously— oh, so cautiously—cautiously (for the hinges creaked), I undid it just so much that a single thin ray fell upon the vulture eye. And this I did for seven long nights, every night just at midnight, but I found the eye always closed, and so it was impossible to do the work, for it was not the old man who vexed me but his Evil Eye. And every morning, when the day broke, I went boldly into the chamber and spoke courageously to him, calling him by name in a hearty tone, and - inquiring how he had passed the night.” corrotated positive like caltiously slowly , ‹No.› 19 words  Session 1: “Genre and Close Reading” “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe “TRUE! nervous, very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why WILL you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses, not destroyed, not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How then am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily, how calmly, I can tell you the whole story. Think-pair-share: It is impossible to say howØfirst the idea entered my brain, but, once conceived, it haunted me day and night. Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire. I think it was his eye! Yes, it was this! One of his eyes Re-read the passage resembled that of a vulture a pale blue eye with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me my blood ran cold, and so by degrees, very gradually, I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid Highlight, myself of theand underline, eye annotate for ever. (keep in mind the aspects of close reading) Now this is the point. You fancy me mad.isMadmen What going on knowinnothing. But you should have seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded—with what this passage? caution—with what foresight, with what dissimulation, I went to work! I was never kinder to the old man than during the whole week before I killed him. And every night about midnight You havethe I turned 10latch minutes. of his door and opened it oh, so gently! And then, when I had made an opening sufficient for my head, I put in a dark lantern all closed, closed so that no light shone out, and then I thrust in my head. Oh, you would have laughed to see how cunningly I thrust it in! I moved it slowly, very, very slowly, so that I might not disturb the old man's sleep. It took me an hour to place my whole head within the opening so far that I could see him as he lay upon his bed. Ha! would a madman have been so wise as this? And then when my head was well in the room I undid the lantern cautiously— oh, so cautiously—cautiously (for the hinges creaked), I undid it just so much that a single thin ray fell upon the vulture eye. And this I did for seven long nights, every night just at midnight, but I found the eye always closed, and so it was impossible to do the work, for it was not the old man who vexed me but his Evil Eye. And every morning, when the day broke, I went boldly into the chamber and spoke courageously to him, calling him by name in a hearty tone, and inquiring how he had passed the night.” ‹No.› 20  Session 1: “Genre and Close Reading” “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe “TRUE! nervous, very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why WILL you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses, not destroyed, not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How then am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily, how calmly, I can tell you the whole story. It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain, but, once conceived, it haunted me day and night. Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire. I think it was his eye! Yes, it was this! One of his eyes resembled that of a vulture—a pale blue eye with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me my blood ran cold, and so by degrees, very gradually, I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye for ever. Now this is the point. You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded—with what caution—with what foresight, with what dissimulation, I went to work! I was never kinder to the old man than during the whole week before I killed him. And every night about midnight I turned the latch of his door and opened it oh, so gently! And then, when I had made an opening sufficient for my head, I put in a dark lantern all closed, closed so that no light shone out, and then I thrust in my head. Oh, you would have laughed to see how cunningly I thrust it in! I moved it slowly, very, very slowly, so that I might not disturb the old man's sleep. It took me an hour to place my whole head within the opening so far that I could see him as he lay upon his bed. Ha! would a madman have been so wise as this? And then when my head was well in the room I undid the lantern cautiously—oh, so cautiously—cautiously (for the hinges creaked), I undid it just so much that a single thin ray fell upon the vulture eye. And this I did for seven long nights, every night just at midnight, but I found the eye always closed, and so it was impossible to do the work, for it was not the old man who vexed me but his Evil Eye. And every morning, when the day broke, I went boldly into the chamber and spoke courageously to him, calling him by name in a hearty tone, and inquiring how he had passed the night.” ‹No.› 21  Session 1: “Genre and Close Reading” “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe dire “TRUE! nervous, very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why WILL you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses, not destroyed, not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How then am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily, how calmly, I can tell you the whole story. It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain, but, once conceived, it haunted me day and night. Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire. I think it was his eye! Yes, it was this! One of his eyes resembled that of a vulture—a pale blue eye with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me my blood ran cold, and so by degrees, very gradually, I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye for ever. Now this is the point. You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded—with what caution—with what foresight, with what dissimulation, I went to work! I was never kinder to the old man than during the whole week before I killed him. And every night about midnight I turned the latch of his door and opened it oh, so gently! And then, when I had made an opening sufficient for my head, I put in a dark lantern all closed, closed so that no light shone out, and then I thrust in my head. Oh, you would have laughed to see how cunningly I thrust it in! I moved it slowly, very, very slowly, so that I might not disturb the old man's sleep. It took me an hour to place my whole head within the opening so far that I could see him as he lay upon his bed. Ha! would a madman have been so wise as this? And then when my head was well in the room I undid the lantern cautiously—oh, so cautiously—cautiously (for the hinges creaked), I undid it just so much that a single thin ray fell upon the vulture eye. And this I did for seven long nights, every night just at midnight, but I found the eye always closed, and so it was impossible to do the work, for it was not the old man who vexed me but his Evil Eye. And every morning, when the day broke, I went boldly into the chamber and spoke courageously to him, calling him by name in a hearty tone, and inquiring how he had passed the night.” ‹No.› 22  attempting to prove Session 1: “Genre and Close Reading” sanity “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe “TRUE! nervous, very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why WILL you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses, not destroyed, not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How then am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily, how calmly, I can tell you the whole story. It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain, but, once conceived, it haunted me day and night. Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire. I think it was his eye! Yes, it was this! One of his eyes resembled that of a vulture—a pale blue eye with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me my blood ran cold, and so by degrees, very gradually, I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye for ever. Now this is the point. You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded—with what caution—with what foresight, with what dissimulation, I went to work! I was never kinder to the old man than during the whole week before I killed him. And every night about midnight I turned the latch of his door and opened it oh, so gently! And then, when I had made an opening sufficient for my head, I put in a dark lantern all closed, closed so that no light shone out, and then I thrust in my head. Oh, you would have laughed to see how cunningly I thrust it in! I moved it slowly, very, very slowly, so that I might not disturb the old man's sleep. It took me an hour to place my whole head within the opening so far that I could see him as he lay upon his bed. Ha! would a madman have been so wise as this? And then when my head was well in the room I undid the lantern cautiously—oh, so cautiously—cautiously (for the hinges creaked), I undid it just so much that a single thin ray fell upon the vulture eye. And this I did for seven long nights, every night just at midnight, but I found the eye always closed, and so it was impossible to do the work, for it was not the old man who vexed me but his Evil Eye. And every morning, when the day broke, I went boldly into the chamber and spoke courageously to him, calling him by name in a hearty tone, and inquiring how he had passed the night.” ‹No.› 23  , ational Session 1: “Genre and Close Reading” tone : convers Obsessive , nervous ~ “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe “TRUE! nervous, very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why WILL you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses, not destroyed, not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How then am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily, how calmly, I can tell you the whole story. It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain, but, once conceived, it haunted me day and night. Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had Tensions: never love andgiven hate,methe insult. modesFor his gold I had of relating tono desire. the I think it was his eye! Yes, it was this! One of his old man eyes resembled that of a vulture—a pale blue eye with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me my blood ran cold, and so by degrees, very gradually, I made Tone: and up my mind to take the life of the old man, Conversational, thus rid myself of thenervous, obsessive eye for ever. Obsessive thoughts and acts Now this is the point. You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded—with what caution—with what foresight, with what dissimulation, I went to work! Madness, according to theI was never kinder narrator, by wayto of thecontrast old man than during the whole week before I killed him. And every night about midnight I turned the latch of his door and opened it oh, so gently! And then, when I had made an opening sufficient for my head, I put in a Attempting light dark lantern all closed, closed so that no shone out,to and prove thensanity I thrust in my head. Oh, you would have laughed to see how cunningly I thrust it in! I moved it slowly, very, very slowly, so that I Symbol: might notold disturb theblue man’s old man's eye sleep. It took me an hour to place my whole head within the opening so far that I could see him as he lay upon his bed. Ha! would a madman have been so wise as this? And then when my head was well in the room I undid the lantern cautiously—oh, so cautiously—cautiously (for the hinges creaked), I undid it just so much that a single thin ray fell upon the vulture eye. And this I did for seven long nights, every night just at midnight, but I found the eye always closed, and so it was impossible to do the work, for it was not the old man who vexed me but his Evil Eye. And every morning, when the day broke, I went boldly into the chamber and spoke courageously to him, calling him by name in a hearty tone, and inquiring how he had passed the night.” ‹No.› 24 For next week: Ø Read the chapter, “Poetry” (pp. 21–64), from Michael Meyer English and American Literatures (Library Handapparat). Ø After you finished reading “Poetry,” complete on ExamWeb “Analyzing Poetry” self-assessment tests to train your knowledge. Ø (Re-)Read William Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 116” and Claude McKay’s “America.” Ø Complete the “Worksheet: Tropes and Figures of Speech” at home and bring your answers to class.