Literary Theory, Genres, and Key Concepts

Posted on Apr 28, 2025 in Philology

Structuralism and Poststructuralism

• Structuralism:
  • Language structures thought (Saussurean linguistics).
  • Key concepts: signifier (word) and signified (concept).
  • Focuses on universal structures (e.g., myths, binaries).
  • Meaning is stable, based on differences within a system.
• Poststructuralism:
  • Critiques Structuralism’s stability of meaning (Derrida).
  • Meaning is fluid and context-dependent (deconstruction).
  • Challenges binary oppositions (e.g., good vs. evil).
  • Emphasizes power, knowledge (Foucault), and intertextuality (Barthes).

Distinction Between Signifier and Signified (Saussure)

• Signifier: The form (e.g., word or sound).
• Signified: The concept or meaning attached to the signifier.
• Together: They form the sign, but the relationship is arbitrary and based on social conventions.

Derrida’s Deconstruction Theory

• Focuses on the instability of meaning in texts.
• Critiques binary oppositions (e.g., male/female).
• Argues meaning arises through differance (delayed and differing interpretations).
• Challenges the hierarchy in language and texts.

Ireland as a Postcolonial Country in Translations

• Explores the cultural impact of British colonization.
• Themes: language erasure (Gaelic vs. English), identity loss, and cultural resistance.
• Characters in Brian Friel’s play reflects the tension between preserving Irish heritage and adapting to colonial dominance.

Three Phases of Women’s Literature (Showalter)

1. Feminine Phase: Imitation of male-dominated literary norms.
   • Example: Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre.
2. Feminist Phase: Open critique of patriarchy.
   • Example: Kate Chopin’s The Awakening.
3. Female Phase: Exploration of female identity and experience.
   • Example: Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own.

Limitations of Literature as Non-Pragmatic Discourse

• Literature isn’t purely functional (non-pragmatic), but it reflects societal, cultural, and political contexts.
• It conveys symbolic meanings, emotions, and critiques of power structures.

Post-Colonial Criticism

• Analyzes literature from colonized societies.
• Focuses on identity, cultural hybridity, and resistance to imperial narratives (Edward Said’s Orientalism).
• Highlights how colonial discourse marginalizes “the other.”

Terry Eagleton’s Statements

• Literature is a social construct influenced by ideology.
• Questions the idea of “universal” literary value.
• Argues that criticism should consider history, politics, and power dynamics in texts.

Derrida’s Statements

• There is no fixed meaning; texts are open to infinite interpretations (deconstruction).
• Language shapes thought but is unstable.
• Challenges hierarchies in language and philosophy (e.g., speech over writing).

Characteristics of “New Woman” Literature

• Emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
• Features women challenging traditional roles (marriage, motherhood).
• Themes: independence, education, professional ambitions, and sexual freedom.
• Example: Chopin’s The Awakening.

Genres and Subgenres in Literature

• Genres: Narrative, Poetry, Drama.
• Narrative: Novels, short stories, novellas (e.g., Heart of Darkness).
• Poetry: Lyric, epic, narrative (e.g., Dylan Thomas’s A Refusal to Mourn).
• Drama: Tragedy, comedy, farce (e.g., Translations by Brian Friel).

Elements of Narrative Texts

Narrative texts are prose that tells a story through characters, plot, and setting, often exploring themes and events.

Subgenres of Narrative Texts

1. Novel: Long, complex stories with multiple characters and plots (e.g., Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen).
2. Short Story: Brief narratives focusing on a single event or theme (e.g., The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe).
3. Novella: Mid-length narratives between a novel and short story (e.g., The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka).

Key Elements of Narrative

1. Plot: Sequence of events in a story (e.g., exposition, climax, resolution).
2. Characters: Protagonists, antagonists, and secondary characters.
3. Setting: Time and place where the story occurs.
4. Point of View: Perspective (first-person, third-person, omniscient, etc.).
5. Theme: Central idea or message.
6. Conflict: Internal (emotional) or external (against others/society).
7. Structure: Chronological, fragmented, or nonlinear narrative.

Example: Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad.

Elements of Poetry

Poetry is a condensed, rhythmic form of writing that uses figurative language and imagery to evoke emotions and ideas.

Subgenres of Poetry

1. Lyric Poetry: Expresses personal emotions or thoughts (e.g., Sonnet 18 by Shakespeare).
2. Epic Poetry: Long, narrative poems about heroic deeds (e.g., The Iliad by Homer).
3. Narrative Poetry: Tells a story through verse (e.g., The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe).
4. Free Verse: Poetry without a fixed rhyme or meter (e.g., A Refusal to Mourn by Dylan Thomas).

Key Elements of Poetry

1. Form: Structure (e.g., sonnet, free verse, haiku).
2. Meter and Rhythm: Patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables.
3. Imagery: Vivid, sensory descriptions.
4. Rhyme: End rhyme, internal rhyme, or lack thereof (free verse).
5. Figurative Language: Metaphor, simile, personification, etc.
6. Sound Devices: Alliteration, assonance, onomatopoeia.
7. Tone and Mood: Emotional atmosphere.

Example: A Refusal to Mourn by Dylan Thomas.

Elements of Drama

Drama is a literary genre intended for performance, combining dialogue and stage directions to depict conflict, emotions, and actions through characters.

Subgenres of Drama

1. Tragedy: Serious plays with a somber tone and downfall of the protagonist (e.g., Hamlet by Shakespeare).
2. Comedy: Light-hearted plays with humorous themes and happy endings (e.g., A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Shakespeare).
3. Farce: Exaggerated, absurd comedy for entertainment (e.g., The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde).
4. History Play: Focuses on historical figures or events (e.g., Henry V by Shakespeare).

Key Elements of Drama

1. Dialogue: Spoken exchanges between characters.
2. Stage Directions: Instructions for actors and set design.
3. Characters: Protagonists, antagonists, and chorus (if applicable).
4. Plot: Divided into acts and scenes, including rising action and climax.
5. Setting: Time and place of action, often described in stage directions.
6. Conflict: Drives the story forward, both internal and external.
7. Themes: Explored through action, dialogue, and symbolism.

Example: Translations by Brian Friel.

Differences Between Fiction and Poetry

1. Form and Structure:
   • Fiction: Written in prose, organized into sentences and paragraphs. It often includes longer works like novels or shorter forms like short stories.
   • Poetry: Written in verse, often with line breaks, rhythm, and sometimes rhyme.
2. Language:
   • Fiction: Uses straightforward language to narrate a story or describe events.
   • Poetry: Employs figurative language, imagery, and sound devices (e.g., alliteration, assonance) to evoke emotions and create layered meanings.
3. Purpose:
   • Fiction: Focuses on storytelling, character development, and plot progression.
   • Poetry: Focuses on expressing emotions, ideas, or reflections, often in a condensed and symbolic form.
4. Length:
   • Fiction: Generally longer, allowing for detailed world-building and character arcs.
   • Poetry: Usually shorter and more concise, emphasizing intensity and brevity.
5. Example:
   • Fiction: Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad—narrates Marlow’s journey into the Congo.
   • Poetry: A Refusal to Mourn by Dylan Thomas—uses lyrical language to reflect on death and renewal.

Dylan Thomas’s Poem: A Refusal to Mourn…

This poem, written in 1945, reflects the devastation of World War II, particularly the London Blitz. Dylan Thomas (Welsh poet) uses rich imagery and lyrical language to explore themes of death, renewal, and human connection to nature. Influenced by Romanticism, the poem denies conventional mourning and emphasizes the cyclical nature of life and death, drawing from Christian, Jewish, and pagan traditions.

The Awakening by Kate Chopin

Published in 1899, The Awakening is set in Louisiana and explores a woman’s struggle for independence against societal norms. Influenced by the fin de siècle era and “New Woman” literature, it critiques Victorian ideals of motherhood and marriage. The novel bridges 19th-century realism and modernist themes, addressing taboo topics like female desire and autonomy. Initially censured, it was rediscovered in the 1970s by feminist critics.

Translations by Brian Friel

Written in 1980, Translations is set in 19th-century Ireland during British colonization. The play examines cultural erasure, focusing on the replacement of Irish place names with English ones. Through its characters, Friel critiques colonial power, the loss of language and identity, and the tensions between tradition and progress. It serves as a powerful metaphor for Ireland’s postcolonial struggle for cultural preservation.

The Awakening as Turn-of-the-Century Novel

The Awakening (1899) by Kate Chopin is considered a turn-of-the-century novel because it captures the cultural and social transitions of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It critiques Victorian gender roles, particularly the restrictive expectations of women as wives and mothers, and aligns with the “New Woman” movement advocating female independence. Bridging 19th-century realism and early modernism, the novel explores themes of autonomy, desire, and rebellion against societal norms, reflecting the transformative spirit of the era.

Russian Formalism

• Focus: Emphasizes the form of a literary text over content, arguing that the structure and devices of a work (such as narrative techniques, rhythm, or symbolism) are central to its meaning.
• Key Concepts:
  • Defamiliarization: A technique that makes the ordinary appear strange, making readers pay closer attention to the details.
  • Literariness: What makes a work a “literary” work is its use of distinctive formal features (like metaphors, rhythm, or plot structures) that separate it from everyday language.
• Main Figures: Viktor Shklovsky, Roman Jakobson.

Marxism

• Focus: Literature is seen as a reflection of material conditions and social class structures. It examines how economic power dynamics, class struggle, and ideology shape literary production and consumption.
• Key Concepts:
  • Base and Superstructure: The economic base (mode of production) shapes the cultural and political superstructure (ideas, art, law).
  • Class Struggle: Literature often reflects the interests and ideologies of dominant classes, but it can also serve as a tool for social change.
• Main Figures: Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Georg Lukács, Terry Eagleton.

Queer Theory

• Focus: Challenges traditional notions of gender and sexuality, focusing on the fluidity and social construction of these identities. It critiques fixed categories like “gay,” “lesbian,” “heterosexual,” and “male/female” as limiting and reductive.
• Key Concepts:
  • Sexuality as a Social Construct: Queer theory argues that identities related to sexuality and gender are constructed by societal norms, not biologically determined.
  • Subversion of Norms: A focus on disrupting heteronormative and patriarchal systems, celebrating alternative sexualities and identities.
• Main Figures: Judith Butler, Michel Foucault, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick.

Each theory offers a different lens for understanding texts, focusing on formal features, social context, or identity constructions, respectively.