Structuralism and Literary Criticism: Gerard Genette

Being a structuralist critic i will look to the linguistics and anthropology. Structuralist criticism aims at forming a poetics or the science of literature from a study of literary works. It also is an approach to analyzing the narrative material by examining the underlying invariant structure.

Being a structuralist critic i will try to find the novelty in the work of art.

Structuralism is the name given to Saussure’s approach to language as a system of relationship. But it is applied also to the study of philosophy, literature and other sciences of humanity.

Concepts of Genette's Narratology with examples.

order :- in this the storyline of the event is focused. how things happen and how it went to the end. 

 we can take the example of movie URI where the story starts from the beginning and then gradually thigs went on.

1. Terrorist attacked on URI Army Camp

2. A Team was built for strick

3. Training and secrecy of the team

4. Strick on the terrorist camp

5. returning to the nation.

Frequency :- The separation between an event and its narration allows several possibilities.

An event can occur once and be narrated once.

In the 

An event can occur n times and be narrated once.

An event can occur once and be narrated n times

In the movie Dhamal the search of 10 Crore Rupees is narrated So many time and at the end they find the Bag of money.

An event can occur n times and be narrated n times 

Duration :-The separation between an event and its narration means that there is discourse time and Narrative time. in many Bollywood movies we see this kind of narrative style.

Voice :- Voice is concerned with who narrates, and from where. This can be split four ways. In the movie Bunty Aur Bubbly from the starting the story in narrated by the police inspector. Some times we see God is narating the story.

Mood :- narrative mood is dependent on the 'distance' and 'perspective' of the narrator, and like music, narrative mood has predominant patterns. It is related to voice.

Distance of the narrator changes with narrated speech, transposed speech and reported speech.

Perspective of the narrator is called focalization. Narratives can be non-focalized, internally focalized or externally focalized.

In the movie Bunty Aur Bubbly from the starting the story in narrated by the police inspector's perspective of catching them.

Northrop Frye: The Archetypes of Literature

            Northrop Frye, in full Herman Northrop Frye, (born July 14, 1912, Sherbrooke, Que., Can.—died Jan. 23, 1991, Toronto, Ont.), Canadian educator and literary critic who wrote much on Canadian literature and culture and became best known as one of the most important literary theorists of the 20th century.
          Frye was educated at the University of Toronto, where he studied philosophy and then theology, and he was ordained a minister in the United Church of Canada in 1936. He then received a scholarship to do postgraduate work at Merton College, Oxford. He returned to Canada in 1939 and taught at Victoria College, University of Toronto. Frye became chairman of the English department there in 1952 and served as principal (1959–67) and chancellor (1978–91) of the college. He gave lectures and taught throughout the United States and Great Britain and around the world.
              In 1947 he published Fearful Symmetry: A Study of William Blake, which was a sweeping and erudite study of Blake’s visionary symbolism and established the groundwork for his engagement with literary theory. In Anatomy of Criticism (1957) he challenged the hegemony of the New Criticism by emphasizing the modes and genres of literary texts. Rather than analyze the language of individual works of literature, as the New Critics did, Frye stressed the larger or deeper imaginative patterns from which all literary works are constructed and the recurring importance of literature’s underlying archetypes.
            In later works Frye supplemented the examination of archetype and genre with practical criticism; he studied T.S. Eliot (1963), John Milton’s epics (1965), Shakespearean comedy (1965) and tragedy (1967), and English Romanticism (1968). The Stubborn Structure: Essays on Criticism and Society appeared in 1970, and The Great Code: The Bible and Literature, a study of the mythology and structure of the Bible, was published in 1982. Frye’s other critical works—The Well-Tempered Critic (1963), The Secular Scripture: A Study of the Structure of Romance (1976), Northrop Frye on Shakespeare (1986), and Words with Power: Being a Second Study of “The Bible and Literature” (1990)—similarly emphasize symbols and group myths in literature and the systematic classification of literary symbols, genres, and criticism.    ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA 
 

1.   What is Archetypal Criticism? What does the archetypal critic do?

 ANS :-  Archetypal Criticism is which throws the light on all the connections of the past with the
  contemporary time and works.Archetypal it self means the original form of something which we can see in today's time and can make a bridge to understand that particular symbol, theme, character, images. Archetypal critic will see the all the human experiences which are connected through literature and this experiences are expressed again and again by using the same pattern through time and space.

     2. What is Frye trying prove by giving an analogy of ' Physics to Nature' and 'Criticism to Literature'?
   ANS :- To understand this theory of  'Physics to Nature' and 'Criticism to Literature' we have to look at the image which will help us to understand well.

                  Now, as we can see that Frye took four seasons and gave them archetype of comedic and tragic from the literature. then again he subdivided in two parts Comedy and Romance for the comedic; Tragedy and satire(or ironic) for the tragic.

•  Comedy is aligned with spring because the genre of comedy is characterized by the birth of the hero, revival and resurrection. Also, spring symbolizes the defeat of winter and darkness.

·        Romance and summer are paired together because summer is the culmination of life in the seasonal calendar, and the romance genre culminates with some sort of triumph, usually a marriage.

·        Autumn is the dying stage of the seasonal calendar, which parallels the tragedy genre because it is, (above all), known for the “fall” or demise of the protagonist.

·        Satire is metonymized[2] with winter on the grounds that satire is a “dark” genre. Satire is a disillusioned and mocking form of the three other genres. It is noted for its darkness, dissolution, the return of chaos, and the defeat of the heroic figure 

   3. Share your views of Criticism as an organised body of knowledge. Mention relation of literature with history and philosophy.

Ans :-  " Literature is central division of humanities flanked on one side by history and other side by philosophy."
 

these two are the most important point for literature because most of the literature is derived by some historical events and from philosophy the work of art gets idea.

  4. Briefly explain inductive method with illustration of Shakespeare's Hamlet's Grave Digger's scene
   Ans :- Inductive mathod ls taking one thing in centre and connecting it with many other things. if we take the example of gravedigger scene when Hamlet picks up man skull in his hand and wonders if that skull is of Alexandr or not. in this he connects his own time with the historical figure which we can look with the Inductive mathod.

    5. Brief explain deductive method with reference to an analogy to Music, Painting, rhythm and pattern. Give examples of the outcome of deductive method.

Ans :- Deductive mathod means that connecting so many things in to one. like we can look at the sunset, when someone talks about sunset in a story we can interpret it in many way. it may be mean the actual sun which sets in the west in evening, it may be means ones life in going to end. it may be means that am opportunity is going from someone's hand a big loss in business.

we can take some music and rhymes also because many time music and rhyemr doesn't mean the same we can connect many things with is from the out side.

   6 .Refer to the Indian seasonal grid (below). If you can, please read small Gujarati or Hindi or English poem from the archetypal approach and apply Indian seasonal grid in the interpretation. 

Ans :- India has Seasons in 6 parts. which we call

1.Spring
2.Summer
3.Monsoon
4.Autumn
5.Pre-Winter
6.Winter

here is a poem which can be seen with the archetypal view.

ऋतुएं आती जाती हैं

जीवन का पाठ सिखाती हैं,

परिवर्तन ही जीवन है

बात ये हमें बताती हैं

ऋतुएं आती जाती हैं

जीवन का पाठ सिखाती हैं।

सबसे पहले बसंत जो आये

रंग बिरंगे फूल खिलाये

महका के सारी बगिया को

कुदरत अपने रंग दिखाए,

इसी तरह बन जाओ तुम भी

फिर हासिल कर सकते हो कुछ भी

हुनर को अपने काम में लाओ

फिर दुनिया में तुम छा जाओ,

जो सब के मन को भा जाए

वही विजय कहलाती है

ऋतुएं आती जाती हैं

जीवन का पाठ सिखाती हैं।

फिर है ऋतू बरखा की आती

धूप से मारों को है बचाती

करती है ये बात निराली

चारों ओर करे हरियाली,

जीवन में जब इसी तरह से

बुरा वक़्त कभी आता है

कोशिश कर लो तुम कितनी भी

लेकिन वो दूर न जाता है,

मिलती हैं खुशियाँ फिर इक दिन

मेहनत अपनी रंग लाती है

ऋतुएं आती जाती हैं

जीवन का पाठ सिखाती हैं।

सर्दियों का फिर आता मौसम

खुद को रखना पड़ता है गरम

चाहने से ये दूर न जाए

बचने का करना पड़ता उपाय,

मुसीबत जब कोई सिर पे पड़ी हो

मिलता न हो कोई हल

सबर और संतोष से फिर

अपना काटो तुम पल-पल,

परेशानी है दूर हो जाती

समय के साथ जब ये जाती है

ऋतुएं आती जाती हैं

जीवन का पाठ सिखाती हैं।

इसी सीख से अब तुम सब

जीवन अपना जिया करो

फल की इच्छा न करके

मेहनत तुम सब किया करो,

ऋतुओं की भांति है जीवन

कि ये ऋतुएं अपनी साथी हैं

ऋतुएं आती जाती हैं

जीवन का पाठ सिखाती हैं।

 in this poem we can see the archetypes of spring as something which relates with being something new in life and achieve your goals. then the season of heat comes which we have to overcome by doing things which are hard for us. and the season of monsoon tells us to stay calm and solve our problems with calm nature.

 

I A Richards: The Figurative Language

   
    I.A. Richards, in full Ivor Armstrong Richards, (born Feb. 26, 1893, Sandbach, Cheshire, Eng.—died Sept. 7, 1979, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire), English critic, poet, and teacher who was highly influential in developing a new way of reading poetrythat led to the New Criticism and that also influenced some forms of reader-response criticism.

       Richards was educated at Magdalene College, Cambridge, and was a lecturer in English and moral sciences there from 1922 to 1929. In that period he wrote three of his most influential books: The Meaning of Meaning (1923; with C.K. Ogden), a pioneer work on semantics; and Principles of Literary Criticism (1924) and Practical Criticism (1929), companion volumes that he used to develop his critical method. The latter two were based on experimental pedagogy: Richards would give students poems in which the titles and authors’ names had been removed and then use their responses for further development of their “close reading” skills. Richards is best known for advancing the close reading of literature and for articulating the theoretical principles upon which these skills lead to “practical criticism,” a method of increasing readers’ analytic powers.

         During the 1930s, Richards spent much of his time developing Basic English, a system originated by Ogden that employed only 850 words; Richards believed a universally intelligible language would help to bring about international understanding. He took Basic English to China as a visiting professor at Tsing Hua University (1929-30) and as director of the Orthological Institute of China (1936-38). In 1942 he published a version of Plato’s Republic in Basic English. He became professor of English at Harvard University in 1939, working mainly in primary education, and emeritus professor there in 1963. His speculative and theoretical works include Science and Poetry (1926; revised as Poetries and Sciences, 1970), Mencius on the Mind(1932), Coleridge on Imagination (1934), The Philosophy of Rhetoric (1936), Speculative Instruments (1955), Beyond (1974), Poetries(1974), and Complementarities (1976). His verse has been collected in Internal Colloquies (1971) and New and Selected Poems (1978). 

A student of psychology and philosophyalong with literary forms, Richards concluded that poetry performs a therapeutic function by coordinating a variety of human impulses into an aesthetic whole, helping both the writer and the reader maintain their psychological well-being. He valued a “poetry of inclusion” that was able to contain the widest variety of warring tensions and oppositions.

          Below i am sharing some of the India song lyrics which we will try to see with the scope of Richard's critical points like figurative language, paradox in language and problematizing the words in given work of art

First we will try to look at one gazal sung by Jagjit Singh - koi fariyad from the movie TUM BIN. 

Koyi Fariyaad Tere Dil Mein Dabi Ho Jaise
Koyi Fariyaad Tere Dil Mein Dabi Ho Jaise
Tune Aankhon Se Koyi Baat Kahi Ho Jaise
Jaagte Jaagte Ek Umar Kati Ho Jaise
Jaagte Jaagte Ek Umar Kati Ho Jaise
Jaan Baaki Hai Magar Saans Ruki Ho Jaise

Jaanta Hoon Aapko Sahare Ki Zarurat Nahin
Main Sirf Saath Dene Aaya Hoon

Har Mulaakat Pe Mehsoos Yehi Hota Hai
Har Mulaakat Pe Mehsoos Yehi Hota Hai
Mujhse Kuch Teri Nazar Pooch Rahi Ho Jaise

Raah Chalte Huye Aksar Yeh Ghumaan Hota Hai
Raah Chalte Huye Aksar Yeh Ghumaan Hota Hai
Woh Nazar Chupke Mujhe Dekh Rahi Ho Jaise
Woh Nazar Chupke Mujhe Dekh Rahi Ho Jaise

Ek Lamhein Mein Simat Aaya Hai Sadiyon Ka Safar
Ek Lamhein Mein Simat Aaya Hai Sadiyon Ka Safar
Zindagi Tej Bahut Tej Chali Ho Jaise
Zindagi Tej Bahut Tej Chali Ho Jaise

Iss Tarah Pehron Tujhe Sochta Rahta Hoon Main
Iss Tarah Pehron Tujhe Sochta Rahta Hoon Main
Meri Har Saans Tere Naam Likhi Ho Jaise
Meri Har Saans Tere Naam Likhi Ho Jaise

Koyi Fariyaad Tere Dil Mein Dabi Ho Jaise
Tune Aankhon Se Koyi Baat Kahi Ho Jaise
Jaagte Jaagte Ek Umar Kati Ho Jaise
Jaan Baaki Hai Magar Saans Ruki Ho Jaise

          Lyrics of the gazal are crafted very well. the gazal starts as the male singer is singing and thinking within the mind about the female character and her sorrow and pain. from the very first line we can see the figurative language for some complain which she has in her mind but if we take the meaning literary it means that there is some complain which is stuck in her heart, when we take the line literally we can problematize the line. then we can see all this in the fourth line which means a time of ones entire life is passed while he/she is awaken. we can understand the hidden massage that the one is in a deep thinking or in a deep griff. while thinking the other side one person can not stay awake for more than 11 days (scientifically proven). First line of 4th stanza is one of the most apt for our study. it says that a journey of centuries shrink and comes in a moment.in this the lyricist tries to say that,' the memories of so many days rushes to to the mind in fraction of seconds.the following line connects with that the memories rushed in the mind is like life went on so fast and the recollection of memories came.so from this illustration we can connect the theory.


          The second song is Bol na halke halke from movie Jhoom barabar Jhoom sung by Rahat Fateh ali khan & Mahalakshami iyer.

धागे तोड़ लाओ चाँदनी से नूर के
घूंघट ही बना लो रोशनी से नूर के
शर्मा गयी तो आगोश में लो
साँसों से उलझी रहे मेरी सांसें
बोल ना हलके-हलके, बोल ना हलके-हलके,
होंठ से हलके-हलके, बोल ना हलके

आ नींद का सौदा करें, इक ख्वाब दें, इक ख्वाब लें
इक ख्वाब तो आँखों में है, इक चाँद के तकिये तलें
कितने दिनों से ये आसमान भी सोया नहीं है, इसको सुला दें
बोल ना हलके हलके...

उम्र लगी कहते हुए, दो लफ्ज़ थे इक बात थी
वो इक दिन सौ साल का, सौ साल की वो रात थी
कैसा लगे जो चुप-चाप दोनों, पल-पल में पूरी सदियाँ बिता दें
बोल ना हलके हलके...

         This song is basically a romantic song which is a talk between a couple and their love for each-other.

         The first line of the song it self is highly figurative. it says tear down the thread of light from the moon light, than it goes as make veil of the light from sunlight. Than in forth line it goes as like breath of both are entangle with each-other. in seventh line it says that let us tread our sleep by giving each other one dream on ours. than in eighth line they made moon a pillow. From many days this sky hadn't took any sleep, let us make it sleep the following lines says this. and in the last stanza it says that, it took the time of many generation to tell tow words.that one day and night was of hundred years. how it feels when we both lives hundreds of years in fractions of seconds.  
         we can problematize  every line which we have just discussed. like there is no light which is in a form of thread then breath can't be entangled with each other. there is a point where they say that both lived hundred years in seconds. 

      Thus we can see figurative language paradox in language and problematizing the words in given work of art.


thank you.

Matthew Arnold - The Study of Poetry: Unit end activity

    Matthew Arnold, (born December 24, 1822, Laleham, Middlesex, England—died April 15, 1888, Liverpool), English Victorian poet and literary and social critic, noted especially for his classical attacks on the contemporary tastes and manners of the “Barbarians” (the aristocracy), the “Philistines” (the commercial middle class), and the “Populace.” He became the apostle of “culture” in such works as Culture and Anarchy (1869).

Life

Matthew was the eldest son of the renowned Thomas Arnold , who was appointed headmaster of Rugby School in 1828. Matthew entered Rugby (1837) and then attended Oxford as a scholar of Balliol College; there he won the Newdigate Prize with his poem Cromwell (1843) and was graduated with second-class honours in 1844. For Oxford Arnold retained an impassioned affection. His Oxford was the Oxford of john hennry newman  just about to be received into the Roman Catholic Church; and although Arnold’s own religious thought, like his father’s, was strongly liberal, Oxford and Newman always remained for him joint symbols of spiritual beauty and culture.

In 1847 Arnold became private secretary to Lord Lansdowne, who occupied a high cabinet post during Lord John Russell's Liberal ministries. And in 1851, in order to secure the income needed for his marriage (June 1851) with Frances Lucy Wightman, he accepted from Lansdowne an appointment as inspector of school. This was to be his routine occupation until within two years of his death. He engaged in incessant traveling throughout the British provinces and also several times was sent by the government to inquire into the state of education in France, Germany, Holland, and Switzerland. Two of his reports on schools abroad were reprinted as books, and his annual reports on schools at home attracted wide attention, written, as they were, in Arnold’s own urbane and civilized prose.

idea of Matthew Arnold which I found interesting and relevant in this times.

Arnold asserts that literature, and especially poetry, is "Criticism of Life". In poetry, this criticism of life must conform to the laws of poetic truth and poetic beauty. Truth and seriousness of matter, felicity and perfection of diction and manner, as are exhibited in the best poets, are what constitutes a criticism of life.

Poetry, says Arnold, interprets life in two ways: "Poetry is interpretative by having natural magic in it, and moral profundity". And to achieve this the poet must aim at high and excellent seriousness in all that he writes. This demand has two essential qualities. The first is the choice of excellent actions. The poet must choose those which most powerfully appeal to the great primary human feelings which subsist permanently in the race. The second essential is what Arnold calls the Grand Style - the perfection of form, choice of words, drawing its force directly from the matter which it conveys

These two ideas of him are relevant in our time from my opinion. Poetry is a way to describe life and events so it can be taken in a critical way to look in the depth of lives. Poetry should also be in reached with its poetic beauty and should reflect the true situations in ones life. this all points which are mentioned above by M. Arnold are still in our life and our culture so, we can relate this with today's time.

One idea of Matthew Arnold which I found out-of-date and irrelevant in this times.

Attaching paramount importance to poetry in his essay "The Study of Poetry", he regards the poet as seer. Without poetry, science is incomplete, and much of religion and philosophy would in future be replaced by poetry. Such, in his estimate, are the high destinies of poetry.

Arnold pointed out that without poetry science is incomplete. we can take that for granted but the lines afterwards are "Much of religion and philosophy would in future be replaced by poetry". - this idea is out -of-date today cause religion is everything and everywhere for many peoples thus there is or will be no chances of poetry over taking religion and philosophy.