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1、ETI 309-Introduction to Contemporary Western LiteratureLiterary Theory I: Formalism and StructuralismWhat is Literary Theory?oThe body of ideas and methods used in the practical reading of literature; a description of the underlying principles (the tools) by which we attempt to understand literature
2、oLiterary theory nformulates the relationship between author and work ndevelops the significance of race, class, and gender for literary study, both from the standpoint of the biography of the author and an analysis of their thematic presence within texts noffers varying approaches for understanding
3、 the role of historical context in interpretation as well as the relevance of the linguistic and unconscious elements of the textLiterary Theoryo Literary (also designated as critical, or cultural) theory can be understood as the set of concepts and intellectual assumptions on which rests the work o
4、f explaining or interpreting literary textso It refers to any principles derived from internal analysis of literary textso Modern literary theory began to emerge gradually in Europe in the 19th centuryTraditional Literary CriticismoTraditional literary criticism tended to track influence, establish
5、the canon of major writers in the literary periods, and clarify historical contexts and allusions within the text.oLiterary biography was, and it still is, an important interpretive method.oThe key unifying feature of traditional literary criticism was the consensus within the academy as to the both
6、 literary canon and the aims and purposes of literature.oWhat literature is, why we read literature and what we read were questions that subsequent movement in literary theory were to raise.Russian FormalismoAn interpretive approach that emerged in Russia during WWI and spread to Europe after WWII o
7、A group of Russian linguists and critics argued that everything from rhyme patterns in poetry to narrative strategies in fiction should be the primary concern of literary studyoThe Formalists claimed that study of literature should have a scientific basis through objective analysis of the motifs, de
8、vices, techniques and other functions that comprise the literary workRussian FormalismoThe Formalists placed great importance on the literariness of texts (qualities that distinguished the literary from other kinds of writing)oNeither author nor context was essential for the Formalists; it was the e
9、ntire narrative that spoke, and form was an essential component of the contentoThe approach, which emphasizes literary form and the study of literary devices within the text, shares some similarities with Anglo-American New Criticism and French StructuralismRussian Formalismo Formalist theory may be
10、 roughly divided into two areas of inquiry: nSemiotic, seeing the text as a series of strategies and devices intended to defamiliarize the readers approach to literature nMimesis, investigating the laws of literary evolutiono Formalist analysis of literary texts is often a close and detailed examina
11、tion of such features as specific tropes of language, or metrical patternsRussian FormalismoThe Formalist method of reading is concerned with ndescribing the procedures and techniques of a literary work (e.g. narration and plot construction in fiction or the use of rhyme, rhythm, euphony, and allite
12、ration in poetry) nbeing alert to how texts disrupt our expectations by using language in new waysoThree important formalistic contributions to Literary Studies: nThe belief in a distinction between poetic language and ordinary language, nThe importance of defamiliarization, a concept which has not
13、yet outlived its usefulness, nThe distinction between fabula and sjuet.Formalism oHow does the work use imagery to develop its own symbols? (i.e. making a certain road stand for death by constant association)oWhat is the quality of the works organic unity “.the working together of all the parts to m
14、ake an inseparable whole.“ ? (i.e. does how the work is put together reflect what it is?) oHow are the various parts of the work interconnected? oHow do paradox, irony, ambiguity, and tension work in the text? oHow do these parts and their collective whole contribute to or not contribute to the aest
15、hetic quality of the work? oWhat does the form of the work say about its content? oIs there a central or focal passage that can be said to sum up the entirety of the work? o oHow do the rhythms and/or rhyme schemes of a poem contribute to the meaning or effect of the piece?StructuralismoAn intellect
16、ual movement which began in France in the 1950s, and imported to England in the 1970s, attaining widespread influence oIts essence is the belief that things could not be understood in isolationthey have to be seen in the context of the larger structures they are a part ofoIt initially relied on the ideas of Saussure who regarded the signifier (words, marks, symbols) as arbitrary and unrelated to the concept, the signSt
