Bell

1. Bell • Ideal reader- one who understands all the nuances, terminology and structure of the text. • Reception theory- the current readers personal response applied to what has been historically accepted as correct by contemporary critics as well as modern ones. • Horizons of expectations- what a reader reasonably expects to happen based upon historical/cultural knowledge of the genre/setting/characters of the work.

2. Pride and Prejudice Literary Criticism

3. Jane Austen 1775-1817 • Regency England • Lower end upper class family • Novels reflective of her society- satire • 6 complete novels, one unfinished work, one epistolary work.

4. Novels • Sense and Sensibility • Pride and Prejudice • Mansfield Park • Emma • Northanger Abbey- Gothic • Persuasion • Sanditon- Unfinished • Juvenilia- before 1787

5. The Bennet Sisters • Jane • Elizabeth • Mary • Katherine • Lydia

6. Jane • “Miss Bennet” • Beautiful • Hopelessly good hearted • Impeccably proper

7. Elizabeth • “Lizzie” • Highly intelligent • Sarcastic • Independent • “the Heroine” • Papa’s favorite

8. Mary • Studious but not smart • “Musical” • Nerdy • Plain • Opinionated • Religious? • Note the odd resemblance to someone you know….

9. Katherine • “Kitty” • Often “forgets herself” • Lydia’s sidekick • Boy crazy

10. Lydia • Youngest • Trouble maker • Mama’s favorite • Loves to match • Causes scandal

11. Fitzwilliam Darcy • Wealthy • Not tilted • Connexions • “arrogant” • Pemberly

12. Charles Bingley • Not so wealthy • Good natured • Swayed by Darcy • Netherfield

13. George Wickham • Soldier • Squanders $ • Charming Liar • Manipulator • Son of Darcy’s steward

14. William Collins • Minister • Heir to Longbourne • Creates conflict/humor • Self-important • Long-winded • Unattractive

15. Charlotte Lucas • Spinster • Plain • Neighbor/Friend to Lizzie • Titled parents

16. Lady Catherine De Bourgh • Tilted in her own right • Bossy/overbearing • Rosings Park

17. Anne de Bourgh • Sickly? • Betrothed? • Victim?

18. Caroline Bingley and Louisa Hurst • Heiress 20k • SINGLE! • Married to old guy

19. Mr. and Mrs. Bennet • 2000k a year • Longbourne • Entailment • Indulgent

20. Bell- copy and give an example • Cannon- the collected works of an author or a tradition • Ambiguity- when a word in everyday speech has different meanings • Transactional- the text acts as a stimulus for eliciting various thoughts, experiences and ideas from a reader.

21. Schools of Literary Criticism • Formalism- “New Criticism” • Reader Response • Feminist Criticism • Marxist Criticism • New Historicism • Structuralism and Deconstruction • Cultural/Sociological Criticism

22. Formalism/ New Criticism • Starts in Russia 1915 • Poetics- analysis of linguistic and structural form • Devices used not the content or subject matter • Language used in the text- not in reference to era

23. Defamiliarization- make the strange familiar • Foregrounding- What stands out? (structure, imagery, syntax, rhyme scheme, paradox)

24. New Criticism- The Americans… created a process • Significance of the title? • What words need definition? Root bases? History? • Patterns in the text? • Allusions? • Symbols, images and figures of speech? Connections? • Tone? POV? • Identify and analyze the chief paradox or irony in the text. How can it be supported?

25. Reader Response • Identify the implied and ideal readers. • Identify horizons of expectations. • Be subjective- analyze your response in comparison to your interpretation.

26. Bell • Dialectic- logical argumentation using conflicting ideas or propositions. • Hamartia- the mistake of the tragic hero that leads to downfall • Noetic- the subjective qualities of authors as exhibited in their works.

27. Feminist • Is the author male or female? • Narrator male or female? • Identify gender roles • Are the female characters protagonists or secondary characters? • What stereotypes are present? • Author’s attitude toward women/men? • Cultural/ linguistical imagery? • Frequency of speech of each gender?

28. Marxist • Identify class structures. • Identify those in economic power • Identify class conflicts- who is being oppressed • What social conflicts are ignored? • What is the dominant ideology? • Does the main character support or resist the dominant ideology?

29. More Marxist • Is the narrator proletariat or bourgeoisie? • Whose story gets told in the text? Whose does not? • When and where was the text originally published? • Did the author have a specific intention for writing the work? • Who is the audience? Ideal reader? Virtual reader?

30. Bell • Hermeneutics- originally applied to biblical interpretation, but not applies to any formal approach to literary criticism. • Cathexes- a person’s instinctual and psychic energy • Paraprexes (Freudian Slips)- disguised truths or wants that make themselves known through unintentional mistakes of speech.

31. New Historicism (cultural poetics) • Rejection of long held stereotypes • History and literature are intertwined • Political power affects literature • What is written AND what is published/retained • Single significant moments in history • Social, cultural and political motives/bias of writer

32. What behaviors and modes of practice are supported by the work? • Why might readers of a specific time/place find this appealing? • Differences between reader values and the writer. • Whose freedoms are constrained by the work? • What about the author’s bio is pertinent? • What cultural/historical events surround the work?

33. Bell • Modernism- Victorian reflection on the material and psychological devastation of WWI and WWII. • Structuralism- overall unity and significance to forms of communication and social behavior. • Diachronic language study- how language changes over time- both sound and meaning. Comparisons made between multiple languages.

34. Structuralism and Deconstruction • Ferdinand Saussure- Father of linguistics • Emes- linguistic building blocks- alphabets • Phoneme- smallest meaningful sound in language • Grapheme- written symbols • Words are signs • Signifier- the word or tone • Signified- the concept

35. Structuralism • Find the binary opposites- how do they relate to each other? • Identify major and minor tensions- Choose the biggest one. • Identify any re-current themes • Identify any Mythemes - themes based on mythology • Identify how the text achieves meaning.

36. Deconstruction • Find the binary opposites. • Identify the ideas, concepts or values established by those binaries. • Reverse the elements and challenge the previously held value system. • How does this “dismantle” your original interpretation of the text? • Use at least 3 examples of binaries.

37. Bell • Orientalism- non-European stereotypes • Double consciousness- the perception of being abandoned by two cultures to which one belongs • Double-voicedness - the work draws upon two different cultures to which one belongs

38. Psychoanalytic- not a true school • Freud- wishful thinking and dreams play a significant role in the onset of neuroses. • Unresolved conflict creates neuroses= literary plots • Id-instinct and subconscious • Ego- rational, logical, awake • Superego- internal filter • These ideas may be applied/identified in your choice of analysis

39. Sociological/ Cultural • Argues against formalism. • Can a work be truly separate from the social context in which it was created? • What would Star Wars be without the Jedi? Yoda? Chewy? • Can a Klingon really fit in at Starfleet?

40. Post-colonialism • European colonialism did occur • The British empire was at the center • The conquerors dominated not only the land but the ideology of the colonized people • The effects are still being felt

41. Identify what happens when two cultures clash, which one sees itself as superior? • What does each culture value? Reject? • Who is the “other”? • Define the world views of the cultures • Is there resistance to the “superior”? • How does the “superior” culture affect the colonized?

42. How do the colonized view themselves?Describe the language of the cultures- similar? Different? Is one suppressed?How do things change or persist once the colonizers leave?

43. African-American • Is race evident? • Who is marginalized? What is their skin tone? • Who are the oppressors? By what means? • How is “Black” characterized? • What is the dominant hegemony?

44. African-American cont. • Are the marginalized characters aware of their oppression? • Who speaks for them? Are any marginalized through silence? • What ties are present to African culture and language?

45. Gender theory • How is gender defined? Masculinity? Femininity? • How is love defined between genders? • What is considered culturally appropriate/taboo? • Are there levels of acceptability? • Is there hypocrisy or deceit in the forbidden relationship? • How do people/cultures react to relationships that are outside the prescribed norms?