U.37. Literary language. Literary genres. Literary criticism.

1. INTRODUCTION

• Literature emphasises

  • Expressive potential of language

  • Mirror to the human experience, critical thinking and empathy

• E.M. Foster: “Only connect”, literature connects people across time and space.

• LOMLOE.

  • Plurilingual, cultural competences, learn to learn, civic competence.

• Goal? To enrich students’ discourse competence, explore creativity, engage with texts on multiple levels.

2. Literary language

Difference between “literary language” and “everyday language”?

• Deliberate, original, careful

• Reader slows down, context

• Not limited to formal or elevated language. Colloquial.

2. Literary language

2.1.1. Top-down

• Higher-level contextual insights to predict or interpret “lower-level” language features.

• E.G. One starts analyzing the overall structure of a novel (plot, subplot, motifs) then proceeds to examine particular language choices and author’s intent.

• This can also be done across other works (comparative literature or comparative analysis)

2. Literary language

2.1.2. Bottom-up.

• Opposite. First start off with smaller features (e.g. specific sound patterns, grammatical choices), then grasping the whole picture.

• E.G. An analyst starts noticing a novelist’s unique use of adjectives or coined terms, then compares this with other works.

2. Literary language

2.2. Figurative language

• Enhances expression, invoking emotion or deepening comprehension.

• Figures of speech/rhetorical devices depart from literal meanings to create effects that can shape an argument and intensify meaning.

• Figures of thought (or tropes) vs. Figures of speech.

2. Literary language

2.2. Figurative language

2.2.1. Figures of thought (Tropes)

Pivotal in semantics and represent deviations from the primary meaning of words to introduce nuanced concepts.

2. Literary language

2.2. Figurative language. 2.2.1. Figures of thought (Tropes) . 2.2.1.1. Tropes that equate one thing with another.

• Analogy → Animal Farm’s comparison between farm animals and socio-political entities.

• Metaphor → Apply attributes of one concept to another without direct comparison, evoking vivid imagery “Time is a thief”.

• Metonymy → Substitutes a term to represent a whole of a thing. Hollywood.

• Personification → Giving human qualities to non-human entities. The thunder grumbled in protest.

• Simile → Explicit comparison using “like” or “as”: Her smile was like a breath of spring.

• Synecdoche → Representing a whole by a part: Hired hands (workers) / wheels (car)

2. Literary language

2.2. Figurative language. 2.2.1. Figures of thought (Tropes) . 2.2.1.2. Wordplay and puns.

• Onomatopoeia → words mimic sounds (E.A. Poe’s The Raven: "...suddenly there came a tapping, / As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door"

• Paronomasia (Pun) → Exploits wordplay through similar sounds with different meanings. Oscar Wilde’s quip “Work is the curse of the drinking classes”.

• Zeugma → Word governs two others with different meanings, adding humour or depth. (C.Dickens “Mr. Pickwick took his hat and his leave”)

2. Literary language

2.2. Figurative language. 2.2.1. Figures of thought (Tropes) . 2.2.1.3. Overstatement and understatement.

• Hyperbole → exageration “I told you a million times”

• Litotes → understatement that affirms by negating the opposite “It’s not bad” to mean “it’s good”

2. Literary language

2.2. Figurative language. 2.2.2. Figures of speech (Repetition-based)

THE THREE A’S:

• Alliteration → repetition of initial consonant. Poe’s “weak and weary” from The Raven

• Anaphora → repetition of a phrase or clause to build up intensity. “I have a dream” by MLK

• Assonance → repetition of vowel sounds inside words. "The rain in Spain stays mainly on the plain" (long 'a'), GBShaw’s adapted Pygmalion musical “My Fair Lady”

2. Literary language

2.2. Figurative language. 2.2.2. Figures of speech (Highlights differences)

• Antithesis → places opposite ideas side by side in a similar structure: “To err is human; to forgive, divine”.

• Chiasmus → reverses order of words and ideas (A→B; B→A) to create a mirror effect: JFK’s speech “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country”.

2. Literary language

2.2. Figurative language. 2.2.2. Figures of speech (Build-up and structure)

• Climax (Crescendo) → Arranging ideas to increase importance or intensity: “I came. I saw. I conquered” by Julius Caesar.

• Parallelism → Using same grammatical structure repeatedly: C. Dickens’ “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”

2. Literary language

2.2. Figurative language. 2.2.2. Figures of speech (Omission and interruption)

• Ellipsis → leaves out words that are understood “I like cake, and others, tea”.

• Parenthesis/Apposition → Inserts extra information into a sentence.

3. Literary genres

Origins

“Genre” originates from the French and means a recurring literary form.  Historically, genres were categorised into lyric, epic, and dramatic forms in ancient Greek and Roman times. Today, these are grouped into three principal categories: poetry, narrative, and drama.

3. Literary genres

3.1. Poetry

• Fiction in verse

• Distinguished from prose in its rhythmic and metrical structure

• Language flourishes and is heightened, aiming to evoke emotion

• Core unit? the LINE. Many lines together constitute a STANZA, and the types of stanzas depend on many things. (Couplets, quatrains…)

3. Literary genres

3.1. Poetry. Key forms.

• Elegy: expresses sorrow or grief The Wanderer (OE, Unknown)

• Song: primarily love and admiration. Shakespeare’s plays contain many songs.

• Sonnet: strict structural rules, explores love and beauty. Originated in 13thC Italy, it is a 14-line poem traditionally written in iambic pentameter with an intricate rhyme scheme. Shakespeare’s Sonnets.

• Ode: formal or ceremonial poem that celebrates a person, a thing, or event. John Keats’ Ode to a Nightingale.

• Satire: uses humour and rhyme to criticise, often exposing social follies or censorship. Alexander Pope’s The Rape of the Lock.

• Dramatic monologue

• Epitaph