Introduction to Literature

1. Introduction to Literature

2. Why do we read?

3. Information Fun

4. But is all fiction literature?

6. Literature is concerned with the content and the form, in other words not only the story but the way it is written.

7. What is literature?

8. Literature: A body of written works. The name is often applied to those imaginative works of poetry and prose distinguished by the intentions of their authors and the excellence of their execution. (Encyclopedia Britannica, Micropedia)

9. Literature: The collective writings proper to any language or nations. The term literature is site of ideological conflict; it may refer to those canonical works in the genres, ie., traditional works considered to be artistic or it may also refer to the total sum of writings, including letters, memoirs, comics, historical writings, etc. (adapted from the Cambridge Encyclopedia)

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11. Literature: An intimate experience of an author carefully expressed in concrete images through the use of structure, imaginative style and luxurious metaphors. It is not practical or logical communication, but an aesthetic experience. Anderson Imbert, Enrique (1992) Teoría y técnica del cuento, Barcelona, Editorial Ariel

12. Literature: A collection of writings, which reflect the experience of class struggle in a society. The history of literature is, therefore, a reflection on changing material, economic and social conditions in that society. See: Marx, Karl and Engels, Freidrich, Communism: The production of the form of intercourse itself, in Rice, Philip and Waugh Patricia (2001) Modern literary theory: A reader (4th Ed), London, Arnold

13. “Thus is revealed the total existence of writing: a text is made up of multiple writings, drawn from many cultures and entering into mutual relations of dialogue, parody, contestation, but there is one place where this multiplicity is focussed and that place is the reader, not ......... the author.” From Barthes, Roland, The death of the author, in Rice, Philip and Waugh Patricia (2001) Modern literary theory: A reader (4th Ed), London, Arnold

14. LITERATURE • All writing in prose and poetry having permanent value, excellent format, an imaginative or critical characteristic, and heightened emotional effect.

15. Literature • Literature is referred to as the entirety of written expression, with the restriction that not every written document can be categorized as literature in the more exact sense of the word. (Klarer p.1)

16. LITERATURE • Etymologically: the Latin word “litteratura” is derived from “littera” (letter), which is the smallest element of alphabetical writing. • The word text is related to “textile” and can be translated as “fabric”: just as single threads form a fabric, so words and sentences form a meaningful and coherent text.

17. LITERATURE • Literature or text as cultural and historical phenomena and to investigate the conditions of their production and reception.

18. Pre historic painting in the cave wall

19. The Beginning of Literature • Not only pictorial but Acoustic • Spoken words  Signs • Oral traditions • Integral Parts of Literature

20. Before writing developed as a system of signs, whether pictographs or alphabets, “texts” were passed on orally. • The predecessor of literary expression, called “oral poetry,” • In 21st century, Audio-literature and the lyrics of songs display the acoustic features of literary phenomena through the medium of radio and other sound carriers.

21. In the Middle Ages the visual component of writing was highly privileged in such forms as richly decorated handwritten manuscripts, the arrival of the modern age - along with the invention of the printing press- made the visual element disappear or reduced it to a few illustrations in the text.

22. Only in DRAMA  union between the spoken word and visual expression • DRAMA, which is viewed as literature, combines the acoustic and the visual elements. • The symbiosis of word and image culminates in FILM.

23. FILM is interesting for textual studies, since word and picture are recorded and, as in a book, can be looked up at any time. • Methods of literary and textual criticism are, therefore, frequently applied to the cinema and acoustic media.

24. Computer hypertexts and networks/ the Internet are the latest hybrids of the textual and various media  writing is linked to sounds, pictures or even video clips within an interdependent network. • The written medium is obviously the main concern in the study of literature or texts  the stage, painting, film, music or even computer networks.

25. GENRE • A Genre is a French word meaning “type” or “kind” of literature.

26. Genre • The genres of literature we will study are poetry, drama, fiction (short story, non-fiction, and novel) and film.

27. Prose and Poetry • Prose and poetry are two kinds of writing formats in standard American English.

28. Prose • Prose is straight writing in paragraph form (e.g. newspaper, novels, magazines).

29. Poetry • Poetry is a particular arrangement of words on a page for heightened emotional effect.

30. Fiction and Nonfiction • All writing falls into one of these two categories: • Fiction • Nonfiction

31. Fiction Fiction is not true. It is drawn from the imagination of the author.

32. Nonfiction • Nonfiction is true. It is based on real events or facts.

33. LITERARY GENRES • Fiction • Ancient: Fables, Tales • Modern: Novels & Short Stories • Poetry • Drama • Biography and Autobiography • The Essay • Film

34. A Fable • The Oak and the Reeds A VERY LARGE OAK was uprooted by the wind and thrown across a stream. It fell among some Reeds, which it thus addressed: "I wonder how you, who are so light and weak, are not entirely crushed by these strong winds." They replied, "You fight and contend with the wind, and consequently you are destroyed; while we on the contrary bend before the least breath of air, and therefore remain unbroken, and escape." Stoop to conquer.

35. Fiction • Ancient: Fables, Tales • Not Realistic • No details • Quick and simple plots • Nonhuman characters • They aim at a quick and simple moral (lesson)

36. Modern Fiction (Men in The Sun) • It was not too uncomfortable riding on the back of the huge lorry. Although the sun was pouring its inferno down on them without any respite, the breeze that they felt because of the lorry’s speed lessened the intensity of the heat. Abu Qais had climbed up on top with Marwan, and they sat side by side on the edge of the tank. They had drawn lots, and it was Assad’s turn to sit beside the driver-----------

37. Modern Fiction • Novels & Short Stories • Verisimilitude: Realistic (life-like) presentation of events • Real (human characters) • Minute details • Not reality but an illusion of reality • Modern fiction is the genre of the Middle Class. The Industrial Revolution created the Middle Class and the novel became the new form of literature which represented the difficulties encountering Middle Class people.

38. History, Biography/Autobiography & Fiction • History: an objective presentation of reality • Biography/Autobiography: a subjective presentation of reality. • Fiction: An illusion of reality.

39. Elements of Fiction • Plot • Characters • Narrator’s Point of view • Symbolism • Atmosphere • Language • Style • Irony • Time and Place • Themes

40. Plot • Plot: A plot in fiction is the arrangement of events in a story. It has an exposition, a conflict (complication of events and a conclusion), and a resolution. Plots differ with reference to the above arrangements. For example: there are stories which do not have a climax or a resolution. The arrangement of the parts of the plot is the writer’s choice

41. Characters • There are Flat and Round characters. • A Round character: a major character (usually the protagonist) who experiences change. • A Flat character: a minor character

42. Narrator Narrator’s point of view: First Person Third Person: A Narrator can also be: Omniscient Partially omniscient Objective Dramatic

43. POINT OF VIEW SECTION

44. Point of View • a term used to describe the way in which the reader is presented with the story; also defined as the vantage point from which the author presents the story.

45. Point of View • I. First Person point of view (Uses personal pronouns: I, me, mine, we, us, our) - the narrator is the main character who tells his/her own story.

46. Point of View • II. Third Person point of view (Uses personal pronouns: he, she, it, they, them, etc.) - This narrator is an outside narrator.

47. Third Person Point of View • A. Third Person: Objective • This narrator is like a news reporter. He tells us the facts only. He cannot enter into the thoughts of the characters.

48. Third Person Point of View • B. Third Person: Limited • This narrator can see into the mind of only one character.

49. Third Person Point of View • C. Third Person: Omniscient • This narrator can relate the thoughts of all the characters.

50. Objective Point of View • The objective point of view is the point of view from a distanced, informational perspective, as in a news report.