Introduction To Literary Studies PDF

Introduction to Literary Studies Dr. Jan D. Kucharzewski Name Tags Course Materials Course Materials Course Materials Structure of the Module Lecture Tutorial Lecture vs. Seminar Seminar: Smaller groups (ca. 20 students), discussion based, interacti...

Introduction to Literary Studies Dr. Jan D. Kucharzewski Name Tags Course Materials Course Materials Course Materials Structure of the Module Lecture Tutorial Lecture vs. Seminar Seminar: Smaller groups (ca. 20 students), discussion based, interactive Lecture: Larger groups (up to several hundreds), old school “Frontalunterricht,” i.e. somebody talking at you (or even worse: reading out a script) for 90 minutes Seminars usually focus on specialized knowledge/topics, lectures usually cover the foundational knowledge of a discipline Your responsibility to take notes and consolidate your knowledge (nobody is going to listen for you) This course: Mixture of seminar-style interaction and lecture-style mansplaining Tutorials A service for rst semester students to cope with the novelty of academic work Conducted by advanced students who aced this very lecture and who wrote excellent exams (i.e. they know all the tricks) Hands-on approach to the texts and topics covered in the lecture Didactically much more productive than the lecture alone Not meant to compensate for not attending the lecture or not reading the texts. The tutors are not your proxies in the lecture. If you don’t come prepared to the tutorials, the tutors are free to cancel sessions If you don’t bring questions to the tutorials, you are not paying attention to the lecture Tutorials Lea May (PG1) ➡ Wednesday 8:30-10:00 am (005; L9,6) Maja Häcker (PG2/PG10) ➡ Thursday 3:30-5:00 pm (309; B6) ➡ Tuesday 3:30-5:00 pm (206; L10) Hanna Lechner (PG3/PG7) ➡ Monday 3:30-5:00 pm (405; B6) ➡ Tuesday 5:15-6:45 pm (005; L9,6) fi Shocker Studying “English” is not learning English. You need to learn English in order to study “English.” Anglistik/“English” A degree in “English” consists of the four components… ‣ British Studies (English Literature and Cultural Studies) ‣ American Studies (American Literature and Cultural Studies) ‣ Linguistics (History, Structure, and Use of the English language) ‣ Language Skills (Academic writing and register) Studying “English” means reading. A lot. A degree in English is a basically a degree in literary studies, cultural studies, and linguistics. This is true even if you study English as part of a teacher education program Syllabus Syllabus Syllabus Final Exam December 20th (time tba) In class exam Grade average: 2,7-3,7 Fail rate: ca. 25% Only one redo (except for WiPäd) Failing the exam a second will result in a “Zwangsexmatrikulation” and you won’t be able to study “English” at another university in Germany Structure of the Exam 44 pts (22 to pass) 1 pt = 2 minutes 9 questions ➡ “What is literature?” (5 pts) ➡ “Cultural Studies” (5 pts) ➡ “Literary History” (5 pts) ➡ “Poetry” (5 pts) ➡ “Drama” (6 pts + 5 pts) ➡ “Narrative” (4 pts +4 pts) ➡ Heart of Darkness (5 pts) Grading Curve 22-23: 4.0 24-25: 3.7 26-27: 3.3 28–29: 3.0 30-32: 2.7 33-34: 2.3 35-36: 2.0 37-38: 1.7 39-41: 1.3 42-44: 1.0 Structure of the Exam 44 pts (22 to pass) 1 pt = 2 minutes 9 questions ➡ “What is literature?” (5 pts) ➡ “Cultural Studies” (5 pts) ➡ “Literary History” (5 pts) ➡ “Poetry” (5 pts) ➡ “Drama” (6 pts + 5 pts) ➡ “Narrative” (4 pts +4 pts) ➡ Heart of Darkness (5 pts)  Grading Curve 22-23: 4.0 24-25: 3.7 26-27: 3.3 28–29: 3.0 30-32: 2.7 33-34: 2.3 35-36: 2.0 37-38: 1.7 39-41: 1.3 42-44: 1.0 Lecture Survival Guide This is an open form and interactive lecture (no script, no dates to memorize, no numbers to crunch) Literature and culture cannot be approached through standardized formats The exam will be in line with the lecture (no cramming etc.) In order to pass the exam, you will have to pay attention to the lecture and keep up with the reading You will be examined for comprehension not for reproducing The exam will assume full knowledge of the texts included in the reader as well as of the three books (Klarer, Hwang, Conrad) Lecture Survival Guide What is a “conceit” in poetry? (2 pts.) Lecture Survival Guide Explain why the central conceit of William Cullen Bryant’s poem “To an American Painter Departing for Europe” accentuates a central tension in nineteenth century American literature. (5 pts) Lecture Survival Guide You will keep asking: “How can I prepare for the exam?” And I will keep telling you: “Do the reading, attend the lecture and the tutorials. Ask questions, engage with the materials.” This sounds anticlimactic, but many of you will struggle with that Have empathy with your future selves: Either you can keep up with the lecture and the reading assignments on a weekly basis or you will spend the last weeks of the semester reading all the texts and trying to remember what was said about them in the lecture FAQs Unless there’s a veri able scheduling con ict with another mandatory course, you cannot switch lectures. Commuting, side jobs, or a general ennui on Fridays do not count as legitimate reasons. The same goes for the tutorials. You can only switch if the tutorial you have been assigned to con icts with another class in your course program. Please don’t approach the tutors about switching classes but reach out to me. I have to ensure a fair distribution of workload between the tutorials and the tutors can also not change your registration in Portal2. fi fl FAQs Attending this lecture while being enrolled in the other lecture is possible, but your exam will still be graded by Dr. Glomb. 1-2 questions (i.e. 4-10 points) in the nal exam might be speci c to the lecture you are of cially enrolled in. Unlike in seminars, we do not keep attendance in lectures. You don’t have to inform me about absences and you can miss as many sessions as you please. However, it is your own responsibility (not the responsibility of the tutors) to catch up with the sessions you have missed. Attendance, Attitude, and Punctuality Because attending the lecture is voluntary, attending the lecture means attending the lecture. If you just need a place to sit, hang out, update TikTok, or have a nice snack, there are much better options I will operate under the assumption that you are in this auditorium to listen to the lecture, contribute some excellent insights, take excessive notes, and marvel at the over-ambitious slide presentations That also means that I tend to get exasperated if your and my understanding of attendance, attitude, and punctuality do not line up. Time is relative, except for Thursdays at 1:45 pm. What is Literature? fi fi What is Literature? (2011) Terry Eagleton, “What is Literature?” Terry Eagleton, “What is Literature?” “Fact” vs. “Fiction”? (2011) Terry Eagleton, “What is Literature?” “Fact” vs. “Fiction”? (1965) Literature as Non-Pragmatic Discourse Pragmatics: Branch of linguistics that examines how the use of language (i.e. discourse) is depended on context (“Could you please open the window.”) Non-pragmatic discourse: A use of language that has no immediate function or purpose Literature as “non-pragmatic discourse”: Literature has no function beyond being literature Aestheticism (art for the sake of art) Literary text vs. political speech E.L. James, Fifty Shades of Grey (2011) I scowl with frustration at myself in the mirror. Damn my hair—it just won’t behave, and damn Katherine Kavanagh for being ill and subjecting me to this ordeal. I should be studying for my final exams, which are next week, yet here I am trying to brush my hair into submission. I must not sleep with it wet. I must not sleep with it wet. Reciting this mantra several times, I attempt, once more, to bring it under control with the brush. I roll my eyes in exasperation and gaze at the pale, brown-haired girl with blue eyes too big for her face staring back at me, and give up. Martin Luther King, “I Have a Dream” (1963) I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self- evident: that all men are created equal.’ I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Russian Formalism Literature: Marked by a speci c use of language (“Organized violence committed on ordinary speech”) fi Samuel R. Delany, Dhalgren (1975) to wound the autumnal city. So howled out for the world to give him a name. The in-dark answered with wind. All you know I know: careening astronauts and bank clerks glancing at the clock before lunch; actresses cowling at light-ringed mirrors and freight elevator operators grinding a thumbful of grease on a steel handle; student riots; know that dark women in bodegas shook their heads last week because in six months prices have risen outlandishly; how coffee tastes after you've held it in your mouth, cold, a whole minute. A whole minute he squatted, pebbles clutched with his left foot (the bare one), listening to his breath sound tumble down the ledges. The morning aches for the purple water A wet cave blows bubbles in fermented sorrow. Heaven dances to frozen outhouses, Thus the sunset shines like a wanderer’s rapture. Russian Formalism “The orange juice tastes divine. It’s thirst-quenching and refreshing.” Tautology: needless repetition of an idea, statement, or word Hyperbole: exaggeration (2011) Russian Formalism “I eye Christian’s toothbrush. It would be like having him in my mouth. Hmm…” Analogy: The comparison of two pairs which supposedly have the same relationship (Brushing teeth = fellatio?) (2011) Russian Formalism “Now I know what all the fuss is about. Two orgasms… coming apart at the seams, like the spin cycle on a washing machine, wow.” Analogy Sie “löste sich am Saum auf wie der Schleudergang einer Waschmaschine.” 🧐 (2011) What is Literature? The text clearly employs literary devices (metaphors, analogies, tautologies etc.), but their implementation is not always internally consistent or aesthetically enriching Does this mean that the text can conclusively be de ned as “literature” or not? (2011) fi What is Literature? The text clearly employs literary devices (metaphors, analogies, tautologies etc.), but their implementation is not always internally consistent or aesthetically enriching Does this mean that the text can conclusively be de ned as “literature” or not? (2011) What is Literature? Difference between text and literature? Are all texts literature? Is all literature text? Texts 👦👴🚗⌚ 🌊1⃣1⃣ 👨✈🍆🐋 👰👭👭🍛💩 fi Films and Novels 👦👴🚗⌚ 🌊1⃣1⃣ 👨✈🍆🐋 👰👭👭🍛💩 Hermeneutics: Interpretation is interaction 👦👴🚗⌚ 🌊1⃣1⃣ 👨✈🍆🐋 👰👭👭🍛💩 Hermeneutic Circle Hermeneutics: Interpretation is interaction 👦👴🚗⌚ 🌊1⃣1⃣ 👦👴🚗⌚ 👨✈🍆🐋 👰👭👭🍛💩 Hermeneutic Circle Hermeneutics: Interpretation is interaction 👦👴🚗⌚ 🌊1⃣1⃣ 👦👴🚗⌚ Title of a lm 👨✈🍆🐋 👰👭👭🍛💩 Hermeneutic Circle Hermeneutics: Interpretation is interaction 👦👴🚗⌚ 🌊1⃣1⃣ TITLE OF 👦👴🚗⌚ A FILM 👨✈🍆🐋 👰👭👭🍛💩 Hermeneutic Circle Hermeneutics: Interpretation is interaction 👦👴🚗⌚ 🌊1⃣1⃣ TITLE OF 👦👴🚗⌚ A FILM 🌊1⃣1⃣ 👨✈🍆🐋 👰👭👭🍛💩 Hermeneutic Circle fi Hermeneutics: Interpretation is interaction 👦👴🚗⌚ 🌊1⃣1⃣ HISTORY 👨✈🍆🐋 👰👭👭🍛💩 Hermeneutic Circle Hermeneutics: Interpretation is interaction HISTORY Hermeneutic Circle Hermeneutics: Interpretation is interaction THEORY Hermeneutic Circle Hermeneutics: Interpretation is interaction PSYCHOANALYSIS Hermeneutic Circle Hermeneutics: Interpretation is interaction FEMINISM Hermeneutic Circle Hermeneutics: Interpretation is interaction RACE THEORY Hermeneutic Circle Hermeneutics: Interpretation is interaction MARXISM Hermeneutic Circle Implications of the Hermeneutic Circle A text is not a stable entity with a xed and de nite meaning The meaning of a text emerges from the interaction between the reader and the text Interpreting a text is contingent upon context (i.e. different contexts = different interpretations) Theory is a way of creating contexts for productive and plausible interpretations There are no “right" or “wrong” interpretations per se, just interpretations that are more plausible and consistent within a chosen context This applies to any kind of text, not just texts that are categorized as “literature” Texts fi Texts Texts What is Literature? “Charge only GP NiMH batteries in GP PowerBank 4 in pair(s). Both AA and AAA size batteries cannot be charged at the same time. Insert GP NiMH batteries into GP PowerBank 4 according to the battery polarity. Avoid reverse charging. Directly plug GP PowerBank 4 into its corresponding AC power outlet for charging. The green LED indicators will remain on during charging. Only when the charger is unplugged or the batteries are removed, the indicators will switch off.” What is Literature? “During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country; and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House […]. I know not how it was — but, with the rst glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit.” Edgar Allan Poe, “The Fall of the House of Usher” (1839) “During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country; and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House […]. I know not how it was - but, with the rst glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit.” What is Literature? Text = Organized system of signs All literature is text, not all texts are literature Literature = a type of text that follows certain conventions which mark it as “literary” These conventions are culturally constructed and are often indicative of larger social, political, economic issues What is Literature? When we ask the question “Is Fifty Shades of Grey literature?” (of course, it is), what we actually mean is “Is Fifty Shades of Grey good literature?” Literature is therefore often a concept that denotes certain ideas of “quality,” “relevance,” and “value” Why is this problematic? The Literary Canon Normative vs. Descriptive De nitions of Literature Paratext fi  PARATEXT Paratext Paratext The name of the author is part of the paratext and already provides an initial context for the reader (i.e. we would expect different things from a text authored by William Shakespeare and a text authored by E.L. James) Authorial Intention i.e. “Was will uns die Autorin damit sagen?” The Intention of the Author Thesis: “Franz Kafka had a problematic relationship with his father. Therefore Kafka‘s ction can be understood by considering the author’s patriarchal anxieties.” Thesis: “Stephen King must be a very violent person.” The Intentional Fallacy William K. Wimsatt & Monroe C. Beardsley, “The Intentional Fallacy” (1954) “Critical inquiries are not settled by consulting the oracle.” fi Authorial Intention Questions about authorial intention are problematic Not because an author does not intent for their text to mean something, but because we cannot reverse-engineer an author’s original intention from a text Text ≠ Author ≠ Narrator (Prose) / Speaker (Poetry) Authorial Intention i.e. “Was will uns die Autorin damit sagen?” Authorial Intention i.e. “Was will uns die Autorin der Text damit sagen?” Roland Barthes, “The Death of the Author” (1967) Roland Barthes (French philosopher, 1915-1980) Roland Barthes, “The Death of the Author” (1967) “it is language which speaks, not the author” “The birth of the reader must be at the cost of the death of the Author.” Terry Eagleton, “What is Literature?” “Criticism should dissociate art from mystery and concern itself with how literary texts actually worked: literature was not pseudo-religion or psychology or sociology but a particular organization of language. It had its own specific laws, structures and devices, which were to be studied in themselves rather than reduced to something else. The literary work was neither a vehicle for ideas, a reflection of social reality nor the incarnation or some transcendental truth: it was a material fact, whose functioning could be analysed rather as one could examine a machine. It was made of words, not of objects or feelings, and it was a mistake to see it as the expression of an authors mind.” Intertextuality Major Modes of Literary Criticism Biographical criticism (focuses on the author of a text; “exegesis”) Historical criticism (focuses on the context of textual production) New Criticism (focuses on the text itself; “close reading”) Structuralism (focuses on the underlying structures of a text) Post-Structuralism (focus on the inherent contradictions of a text; “deconstruction”) ➡ Feminist Criticism, Queer Criticism, Critical Race Theory etc. are often variations of structuralist and/or post-structuralist approaches Terry Eagleton, “What is Literature?” We have established that it is very dif cult to nd objective criteria for determining the ‘literariness’ of a text and that the notion of ‘authorial intention’ is not useful in this context Does all of this mean that literature is an entirely subjective category? Terry Eagleton, “What is Literature?” If it will not do to see literature as an ‘objective’, descriptive category, neither will it do to say that literature is just what people whimsically choose to call literature. For there is nothing at all whimsical about such kinds of value-judgement: they have their roots in deeper structures of belief which are as apparently unshakeable as the Empire State building. What we have uncovered so far, then, is not only that literature does not exist in the sense that insects do, and that the value-judgements by which it is constituted are historically variable, but that these value-judgements themselves have a close relation to social ideologies. They refer in the end not simply to private taste, but to the assumptions by which certain social groups exercise and maintain power over others. Next Week: Cultural Studies Cultural studies examines cultural productions (literature, lm, televisions and streaming shows, music, visual arts, video games, fashion, social media) as texts that can be read and analyzed for both overt and covert meanings and ideological positions. Cultural studies is about how (political, economic, social) power is maintained (and can be challenged) though cultural artifacts