SEMANTIC COUNTERPOINT AND THE POETRY OF GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS

2007 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-119
Author(s):  
Dennis Sobolev
Keyword(s):  
Literary Criticism ◽  
Cultural Theory ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Literary Text ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Critical Studies ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
Alternative Approach ◽  
Practical Criticism

IT IS WELL KNOWN that both traditional, historically orientated, literary criticism and new-critical studies were inseparable from a belief in the “unity” of meaning – a belief in the existence, below the multicolored surface of the literary text, of a single semantic center, which unifies the text and turns it into an “organic whole.” Similarly, Russian Formalists and Prague Structuralists, though critical of the notion of the “organic whole” and its use in art criticism by the Neo-Romantics and the Symbolists, never questioned the alleged semantic unity of the literary text. An alternative approach to the problem of meaning was developed in the early books of Michel Foucault and conceptualized in his Archeology of Knowledge; he described meaning as “dispersal” and “dissemination.” A little later, in Dissemination and On Grammatology, Jacques Derrida radicalized Foucault's position by questioning the existence of clear-cut boundaries for Foucault's semantic “dissemination,” and he applied this notion in both philosophy and literary criticism. The resultant polemics between the two major approaches to the problem of the organization of meaning in the literary text caused the extreme polarization of literary studies; moreover, this polemics was often based on the tacit assumption that there exist only these two possibilities of the formal description of such organization: it should be described as either “unity” or “dissemination.” At the same time, from the logical, a priori, point of view, these terms describe only the poles of possible organization of meaning; moreover, practical criticism tends to show that both pure “unity” of meaning and its pure “dissemination” are very rarely found in literary texts. Thus, it seems to me, that those scholars who work in the field of literary criticism and cultural theory should attempt to create more complex and more precise models of the organization of meaning, which will transcend the dichotomy of “unity” and “dissemination.” One of these such models, the model of “semantic counterpoint,” is described and exemplified in this paper.

Bleibende Aufgaben einer phänomenologischen Literaturtheorie

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 265-273
Author(s):  
Eckhard Lobsien
Keyword(s):  
Literary Theory ◽  
Literary Text ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Radical Theory ◽  
Theory Of Reading ◽  
Phenomenological Point

Abstract What sort of object is a literary text? From a phenomenological point of view - phenomenology considered as both a radical theory of reading and a theory of radical reading - a range of answers arise, many of them tinged with deconstructive momentum. This paper aims at pointing out some basic issues in reading literary texts, offering ten theses on the enduring tasks of phenomenological literary theory.

scholarly journals Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Meet Edward II

2003 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boldizsár Fejérvári
Keyword(s):  
Literary Criticism ◽  
Literary Text ◽  
Human Behaviour ◽  
The Other ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Symbiotic Relationship ◽  
The Real ◽  
Edward Ii

It is a common fashion in literary criticism, or 'Lit Crit,' to treat reality, human behaviour, communication, and everything else as though they were 'texts to be read.' This paper proposes to go the other way: it interprets literature (or, more precisely, one literary text, Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead) as a part of reality in which several other layers of the real combine, such as linguistics, science, or other literary texts, most notably Hamlet. While Edward II is not generally considered a direct source for Stoppard's play, this paper shows how, in the wider perspective of 'interreality,' Marlowe's tragedy might interact with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. At the same time it is proved that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, contrary to the critical conception of many, is not a parasitic work 'feeding off' Elizabethan playwrights, but a play that enters a symbiotic relationship with its host (as defined by Hillis Miller).

The role of stylistics in Japan: A pedagogical perspective

2012 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 226-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masayuki Teranishi ◽  
Aiko Saito ◽  
Kiyo Sakamoto ◽  
Masako Nasu
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Literary Criticism ◽  
Teaching Method ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
English Studies ◽  
History Of ◽  
Efl Students

This article surveys the history of English studies and education in Japan, paying special attention to the role of literary texts and stylistics. Firstly, the role of literature and stylistics in Japan is discussed from a pedagogical point of view, including both English as a foreign language and Japanese as a native language. Secondly, the way in which stylistics has contributed to literary criticism in the country is examined, with reference to the history of literary stylistics since 1980. Finally, this article considers further applications of stylistics to language study in Japan, offering two examples: analysis of thought presentation in Yukio Mishima’s Megami (2006[1955]), and the teaching of an English poem and a Japanese haiku to Japanese EFL students. The overall aim of this article is to demonstrate that literature as language teaching material and stylistics as a critical and teaching method are significant not only in understanding English, but also in appreciating our own native language if it is not English.

The Empirical Study of Literature. How Empirical can it be?

1989 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dieter Freundlieb
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Study ◽  
Literary Criticism ◽  
Text Comprehension ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Significant Part ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Empirical Science ◽  
Moral Issues ◽  
Constructive Process ◽  
Ideological Background

This article addresses some of the problems of an empirical study of literature resulting from the fact that it cannot, qua empirical science, engage in the evaluation of literary texts and the moral issues those texts exemplify as well as the further fact (if it is a fact) that statements about textual meanings in the context of literary interpretations are not empirically true or false. Traditional interpretive literary criticism has always played a significant part in the reproduction and modification of culture. From this point of view, an empirical science of literature must appear severely limited. However, it can be argued that such an empirical study of literature can show that interpretation is necessarily a constructive process and therefore always, to a large extent, determined by (often ideological) background assumptions. An empirical study of literature would make interpretation one of its objects of study and explanation. Such investigations would further our understanding of processes of text comprehension in general, but it would also allow us to reconstruct the background assumptions guiding traditional interpretations.

Generating, weaving and curating: disciplinary processes for reading literary text

2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Todd Reynolds ◽  
Leslie S. Rush ◽  
Jodi Patrick Holschuh ◽  
Jodi P. Lampi
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Literary Text ◽  
Disciplinary Literacy ◽  
The Body ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Reading Processes ◽  
Novices And Experts ◽  
First Year College Students

Purpose The purposes of this study is to expand on previous work in English language arts (ELA) disciplinary literacy and to unpack literary text reading processes across three different participant groups. Design/methodology/approach The authors recruited literary scholars and first-year college students to read literary texts aloud and voice their thoughts. Transcripts were collaboratively coded and analyzed using a priori and emergent coding. Findings This study presents the findings in two ways. First, this study grouped the codes into four categories, namely, background knowledge, comprehension, disciplinary knowledge and building an interpretation. This described the differences in frequencies among the participants’ strategy use. Next, to more fully describe how participants read literary texts, this study presents the data using three processes, namely, generating, weaving and curating. These findings indicate a continuum of strategies and processes used by participants. Practical implications The study suggests using the ELA heuristic for instruction, which includes moving students beyond generating and weaving by asking them to do their own interpretive work of curation. This potential roadmap for instruction avoids a deficit mindset for students by recommending low-stakes opportunities that meet students where they are as they build their capacity for interpretive moves. Originality/value The findings help the field to gain an understanding of what novices and experts do when they read literary text, including both strategies and processes. This study also provide an ELA heuristic that has instructional implications. This study adds to the body of knowledge for disciplinary literacy in ELA in both theoretical and practical ways.

THE LINGUO-COGNITIVE ASPECT OF EKPHRASTIC REFERENCES IN A LITERARY TEXT (BASED ON THE WORKS BY D. RUBINA AND M. ATWOOD)

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-79
Author(s):  
Polina I. GAVIN ◽  
Olga B. PONOMAREVA
Keyword(s):  
Literary Criticism ◽  
English Language ◽  
Literary Text ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Main Character ◽  
Cognitive Analysis ◽  
Resonance Model ◽  
Art Object ◽  
Literary Device ◽  
Visual Construction

The following article explores ekphrasis as a literary device in the context of the Russian and English language literary texts. The phenomenon of ekphrasis is regarded to be a relatively researched area in the literary criticism. However, the majority of the existing research focuses on the visual representations in the verbal medium, thereby neglecting the aspect of the reader’s possible interpretation of an ekphrastic description and its stylistic expression in a literary text. Thus, the aim of this article is to identify the specific language patterns constructing ekphrastic references in the Russian and English language literary texts by conducting a comparative linguo-cognitive analysis of ekphrastic intertextual references in Dina Rubina’s ‘On the Sunny Side of the Street’ (2006) and Margaret Atwood’s ‘Cat’s Eye’ (1988). The research is based on the comparative linguo-cognitive analysis combining the following cognitive poetic techniques: the ‘figure — ground’ dichotomy, the model of literary resonance, and the narrative interrelation theory. The analysis of the figure-ground relations in ekphrastic descriptions has shown that the main character takes the figure position and becomes a pronounced attractor, thereby exerting an affective influence on the reader’s perception. The application of the literary resonance model confirms this claim by identifying typical semantic, syntactic and stylistic features (attractors) of the character in the analysed ekphrastic passages. The comparison of an ekphrastic description to a passage which it is based on has revealed the characteristic parallelism of their syntactic and semantic patterns. In part, parallel constructions contain specific intertextual references that create links to an art object, thus actualising the representation of a picture in the reader’s perception. A comparative linguo-cognitive analysis of ekphrastic references in Russian and English literary texts has shown the possible intratextuality of ekphrastic references, which establish the relationships between plots within the narrative. Additionally, in both literary texts, ekphrastic references imitate the visual construction of an object of art at the semantic, syntactic and textual levels and, as a result, accentuate the metaphorical realisation of the presented artefact.

scholarly journals A Rhetorical Approach to Critical Reading of Literary Texts

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 39
Author(s):  
Hong Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Literary Text ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Theoretical Ground ◽  
Critical Reading ◽  
Rhetorical Situation ◽  
Literary Reading ◽  
Rhetorical Features ◽  
Individual Interpretation ◽  
Literary Instruction

From a rhetorical point of view, reading is not an isolated process of absorbing the meaning of words in a text but a creative activity in which the reader constructs meaning through the symbolic exchange with the text in a particular situation. This study elaborates on the rhetorical features of literary texts through the lens of rhetorical situation, rhetorical purpose, and Aristotle’s three means of persuasion. It then illustrates how to approach a literary text rhetorically through the interpretation of Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street, shedding light on the development of critical reading in literary instruction. The study displays the literary text’s rhetoricity and demonstrates that the rhetorical approach enables the readers to explore the persuasive mechanism of a literary text, examine the sources the writer marshals to adapt to the audience and make their judgments based on the ethical, emotional, and logical proofs. Furthermore, the rhetorical approach to literary reading provides theoretical ground for a rhetorical mode of literary instruction, which directs our focus on the readers’ constructive role and creates more space for individual interpretation. In this way, a rhetorical approach to literary reading plays a significant role in developing student readers’ creativity, critical thinking, and rhetorical awareness both in reading and writing.

scholarly journals A Study of Feminist Stylistic Analysis of Language Issues of Gender Representation in Selected Literary text

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (43) ◽  
pp. 102-117
Author(s):  
Ali Abdulilah Gheni ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Feminist Criticism ◽  
Literary Text ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Gender Representation ◽  
Stylistic Analysis ◽  
Whole Number ◽  
The World

Stylistics is the analysis of the language of literary texts integrated within various approaches to create a framework of different devices that describe and distinct a particular work. Therefore, feminist stylistics relied on theories of feminist criticism tries to present a counter- image of a woman both in language use and society, to draw attention , raise awareness and change ways that gender represents. Feminist stylistic analysis is related not only to describe sexism in a text, but also to analyze the way that point of view, agency, metaphor, and transitivity choices are unanticipatedly and carefully connected to issues of gender(Mills,1995:1) The study tries to discuss matters of gender representation in stylistic analysis and how questions and messages of gender are deducted and exposed when reading and interpreting a text. Moreover, the concept of transitivity and how meaning is encoded and adopted by different patterns of transitivity will be analyzed and investigated. The study has shown that transitivity patterns are used as a device to analyze gender representation as well as to describe the ideational meaning which involves the experiential realization of the world. The results of the analysis of transitivity choices of the selected romantic scene have shown that the whole number of processes are nineteen, the female does five processes in her role as an actor, whereas male shows fourteen which are the highest number in his performance. The male appears to be the active participant agent who is conscious and in control of his action, whereas the female appears to be passive in her quality, volition and being affected or recipient actor. Also, it is seen that feminist analysis tries to create a new message and picture of woman position; this is depicted by the essential role of the readers' assumption and contextual factors of the text in the process of interpretation.

scholarly journals Translator’s notes as a form of linguistic localization of literary works (the case of D. Mitchell’s novels)

2020 ◽  
Vol 40 ◽  
pp. 34-54
Author(s):  
I.D. Volkova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
English Language ◽  
Translation Studies ◽  
Literary Text ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Original Text ◽  
Literary Works ◽  
Cloud Atlas

The purpose of the present article is to describe the significance of translator's notes from the point of view of localization of English works of fiction for Russian readership, as well as to identify the types of lexical units that become object of adaptation and the degree of their explication. The theoretical and methodological basis of this study is made up of the key provisions of translation studies, the study of linguistic localization and the study of literary discourse. Within the framework of the present research, a comparative analysis of the concepts of adaptation (pragmatic adaptation) and localization has been carried out to substantiate the advisability of using a new term to name culturally determined modifications of the original text. The characteristics of a literary text have been established, which make it possible to classify works of fiction as objects of localization. Content analysis of the English and Russian versions of the novels Cloud Atlas, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet and The Slade House by the British writer D. Mitchell has been carried out. The original English-language and translated Russian-language versions of the specified literary works are analyzed, in particular, a comparative analysis of the English-language lexical units and phrases, accompanied by translator's notes in the secondary texts, has been conducted. The advantages of notes as a form of localization of literary texts are indicated. They consist in the possibility of a more detailed and quick description of foreign cultural units in comparison with intra-text transformations.

scholarly journals PRE-TRANSLATION AND TRANSLATION ANALYSIS OF THE TEXT (BASED ON THE NOVEL “OLENIADA” BY I. ROZDOBUDKO)

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (11(79)) ◽  
pp. 177-180
Author(s):  
Olha Shum
Keyword(s):  
Literary Text ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
The Political ◽  
Original Text ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Translation Process ◽  
Translation Stage ◽  
Translation Analysis

The article examines peculiarities of the translation analysis of the literary text, in particular the pre-translation stage and translation itself on the example of the political and satirical novel “Oleniada” by I. Rozdobudko. Each researcher has their own point of view on the structure and stages of the translation process. The translation of any text is a long process, which consists of different stages depending on the purpose of the final product. Obtaining a quality adequate translation in the target language requires the translator to take a number of steps to study the author’s work, his or her individual features, genre, if it’s necessary to be an expert on the issues described in the original text – history, medicine, culture, geography, criminology, etc. The vast majority of scholars in the field of translation studies do not distinguish between pre-translation and translation analyzes of text, considering them to be inseparable from each other. Pre-translation analysis of a literary text has its own laws, according to which the dominant features of the work are studied (anthropocentrism, aesthetic information, fiction, imagery, etc.). We define the relevance and prospects of further research on this topic in the comparison of pre-translation analyzes of literary texts by different authors and different genres.

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