Introduction to Literature
HS2016
HS2016
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Cartes-fiches
Anticlimax
List of expressions culminating in an unexpectedly trivial/ludicrous element
Climax
gradual linguistic intensification
Periphrasis
description of an element by making reference to its characters
also: talking around, saying things in more words than necessary
e.g. the bleating kind (=sheep)
Hyperbole
use of excessive exaggeration
e.g. your suitcase weighs a ton!
Litotes
referring to an element or quality by negating its opposite
e.g. not untrue, not unkind
Sonnet
strict formal rules
stong argumentative pull
Dante, Petrarch, Shakespeare
theme: evanescence
realms of human life and nature linked by several metaphors
closing couplet: closes off and underlines main argument
Tropes
figures of similarity
Simile
one thing likened to another by means of comparative particle
e.g. my love is like a red red rose
Metaphor
comparison of two unlike things without an article
The assignment was a breeze
Conceit
comparison whose ingenuity is more striking than its justness, or, at least is more immediately striking
love is like an oil change
the broken heart is a damaged china pot
Metonymy
replacement of one term with another to which it is ontologically, logically or causally connected
e.g. sword - military
synecdoche
replacement of a part with a whole or vice versa
when we our sails (=ships) advance
could you give me a hand please?
Personification
concrete or abstract element presented as if it were alive or human
melancholy marked
allegory
transformation of an abstract concept into a concrete image, person or story
eg. Helvetia - switzerland
symbol
concrete object used to evoke more abstract meanings
crown -- monarchical power
white house-- president of the us
stage forms
classical amphitheatre
the jacobethan amphitheatre (shakespeare)
the restorian theatre (17,18th ct)
the 19th century proscenium arch theatre
the modern studio theatre
character
the figures presented to the audience in literary texts and films
main means of characterization
names
description
speech & manner of speaking
acts
interactions with and relation to others
Functions of description in literature
referential f
representational /experimental function
pseudo-objectivizing, interpretatice function
referential function
identification of real phenomenon or construction of fictions
phenomena within artistic /possible words
attribution of qualities to concrete phenomena
representational function
vivid representation
--> aesthetic illusion
pseudo-objectivizing /interpretative function
providing more or less objective facts rather than interpretations
aura of objectivity
psychological realism
more intended ambiguity than in classical realist texts
restricted knowledge of the world
Portrait of the Lady: subtle forms of behavior interpreted as signs of character
Intertextuality
variety of relationships between literary texts
broader understanding: Julia Kristeva: every text is a mosaic of quotations from other texts
more narrow understanding: Gérard Génette: only considers concrete and identifiable forms of intertextuality
Intermediality
relations between media, to medial interactions and interferences
e.g. text- film, text-music
media combination
several media brought together
e.g. graphic novels (text and image)
intermedial reference
various forms of evoking the presence of another medium
e.g. ekphrasis (verbal representation of visual representation )
e.g. painting being described by museum tour guide
Medial transposition
one medium transposed into another
film and stage adaptions
e.g. filmic adaptions of novels
tableau
characters on stage assume position of a painting
re-enactment of paintings, frozen moment
mute--> importance of body language
Remediation
representation of one medium within another (relationship old-new media)
defining feature of new digital media
e.g. radio in digital medium
Hypermediality
interactive features, less stable, traditional notions text , author and reader change
Censorship
political, moral, religious reasons
ezra pound: decanonisation of a poet
Roland Barthes: The death of the author
actual meaning of book is created by reader
author's intention doesn't matter
Foucault
real, historical author doesn't matter as a human being for understanding the text but that we use authorship as means of classifying literary texts
reviewing systems
journals
review sections in newspapers, magazines
radio /tv shows
online reviews
lay reviews
gate-keeping in literary criticism
channeling reader's attention given the abundance of new publications
book studies
importance of book as material object and commodity
Formalism
school /branch of structuralism with particular interest in literary forms (e.g. fairy tale)
structuralism
meaning is arbitrarily distributed to form
