English A: Language and Literature Reading 1 Miss Dermont

What is literature? Not just anything using letters Meaning changes over time Entertainment or instruction? Definition: Highly developed use of language in that it is the stylized manipulation of language for larger effect (purpose) and/or affect (emotional response) Not just so-called ¨high art¨ Can also be tv shows, movies, graphic novels, etc

What is literature? For the most part in this course… Poetry Short stories Novels Graphic novels Plays Films Nonfiction texts

Historical Literary Study Greek philosophers Plato and Artistotle debated literature (poetry and drama) These philosphers introduced the concept of systematic literary criticism Debated philosophical concerns such as ¨truth¨, ¨beauty¨and ¨love¨ and literature as instruction on how to behave in civil society

18th and 19th century 18th century valued order, reason and appropriateness of literature 19th century literature begins to focus on the role of intuition and imagination, evolving better futures (result of political and social upheavels and revolutions) 19th century associated with Romanticism (beauty of nature, imaginitive encounters with the world)

19th century Romanticism The Solitary Reaper by William Wordsworth Behold her, single in the field, Yon solitary Highland Lass! Reaping and singing by herself; Stop here, or gently pass! Alone she cuts and binds the grain, And sings a melancholy strain; O listen! for the Vale profound Is overflowing with the sound.

19th Century Romanticism

Late 19th century Publications of Charles Darwin´s The Origin of Species in 1859 signals change from Romanticism to scientific determinism of the Victorian era Science is the answer to all questions Literary texts became objects of scientific study

New Criticism 20th century Text itself becomes main focus Focus on close reading with little to no concern for history, ideology, politics, or factors outside of the text Text is self-contained object that exists independently from outside forces including author

Reader-response criticism Becomes widely used in 1960s and 70s ¨Moves emphasis of textual analysis from a singular focus on the text to one where the reader works in concert with a text to produce an interpretation¨ The reader´s experience affects interpretation allowing for various readings that change over time and across cultures Interpretive communities have general trends of interpretations.

DISCUSS: What is more valuable DISCUSS: What is more valuable? New Criticism (focus purely on text) or Reader-response Criticism (readers experience affects interpretation)?

Review of Wed. Class Highly developed use of language in that it is the stylized manipulation of language for larger effect (purpose) and/or affect (emotional response) Poetry, short stories, novels, films, non-fiction, plays, etc. Literature reflects social and political climate 1700s: Literature values rules, order and appropriateness 1800s: Literature values human experience, imagination and awe of nature Early 1900s: New Criticism (focus on pure text) Later 1900s: Reader response criticism (readers´experiences and input are important in analyzing a text)

Critical Approaches Developed throughout 20th century as offsets of reader- response criticism Structuralism Post structuralism Marxism Feminism Post-colonialism Think of the critical approaches as LENSES through which you see literature

Structuralism Ferdinand de Saussure Before Saussure, it was commonly accepted that each word was related to a ¨thing¨ Saussaure claims all language is arbitrary and there is no inherent connection between a word and its referent We see the world for how it has been organized through our systems of naming-our language

Poststructuralism Continuing evolution of arbitrariness of language Because language is so arbitrary, we must manipulate language through a complex understanding of differences to make ourselves understood Language lacks absolute meaning More focus on readers´different perspectives

Feminism, Marxism, Post-colonialism Schools of literary criticism, lenses Marxist criticism: assumption that all texts contain subtexts which are extensions of historical and ideological conflict Root of conflict anchored in social class and economic differences

Feminist Criticism Interpreting women´s experience through literature Challenge patriarchical cultural values Uncover essential differences between men and women using literature

Postcolonial Criticism Approach to texts produces in colonized countries Offer a perspective on the clashes between cultures and suggestion for a possibiity of reconciliation or working across cultures

Critical Lens Activity Analyze the children´s book you are given using one of the following critical lenses: Marxist Criticism Feminist Criticism Post-colonial Criticism You will present your critical lens analysis to the class on Friday. You will have all of the class on Thursday to prepare your presentation. Presentations should be approximately 5 minutes long and all group members should participate.