lit terms part 2

Apology

A formal defense or justification of a belief, idea, or work rather than an expression of regret/remorse.

Archaism

Use of outdated or old-fashioned language, style, or expressions. Writers may use it to create a historical feel or to mimic earlier literary traditions.

Archetype

Recurring symbol, character type, or theme that appears across different works and cultures.

Baroque

A style of artistic expression characterized by the use of complex forms, flamboyance, and juxtaposition of contrasting elements. It was prevalent in the 17th century.

Beast Fables

Short stories featuring animals that act like humans and convey moral lessons.

Belles-lettres

Refers to literary works valued for their aesthetic qualities rather than practical or informational content. It typically includes essays, poetry, and other refined writing.

Bibliography

A list of sources, such as books and articles, used or referenced in a work, providing publication details.

Bildungsroman

A coming-of-age novel that follows a character’s psychological and moral growth, usually tracing the journey from youth to adulthood.

Black Comedy

A style of humor that treats serious, dark, or taboo subjects in a humorous way, showcasing the absurdity and cruelty of the modern world.

Bombast

Overly inflated, grandiose, or pompous language often used to impress but can come across as exaggerated or insincere.

Cultural Studies

This approach examines how literature and other forms of media reflect, shape, and challenge social power structures and cultural identities. It focuses on issues such as class, race, gender, and ideology to understand how meaning is produced within a society. Scholars analyze both high and popular culture, treating them as equally important in revealing cultural values. The goal is to uncover how texts participate in systems of power and influence audiences.

Deconstruction

This approach analyzes texts by questioning the stability of meaning and revealing internal contradictions. It argues that language is inherently unstable, so meanings are never fixed or absolute. Readers closely examine how a text can undermine its own claims or produce multiple interpretations. The goal is to show that no single, definitive meaning can fully explain a work.

Parole

Focuses on the meanings and uses of words in communication. Emphasizes how culture, social status, and perspective can change the meanings of words because meaning is not static but dependent on context. Focuses on words/phrases within cultural communication rather than the rules or structure of words (langue).

Pentameter

Line with 5 metrical feet.

Persona

The “I” of the work, the speaker of the poem who expresses their opinions and perspective.

Plot

Pattern/Sequence of events within a narrative.

Poetaster

A unliked or disgraced writer who is considered unworthy of the title of poet due to lack of ability. Trivial or worthless verse is called poetastery.

POV

Perspective from which the story is told, can be 3rd person, 1st person, etc. 3rd person omniscient is when the outside narrator knows all details from all characters. 3rd person limited focuses on one or a few characters. 1st person means only one character is speaking and has no knowledge of the other character’s internal thoughts.

Postcolonial literature

Literature written from countries that were colonized by European powers and are now independent. Mostly countries from Africa, the Indian subcontinent and the Caribbean islands though some argue this category should include white-ex colonies like Ireland, the US, Canada, and Australia. Asks questions about ethnic and national identity after oppression.

Postmodernism

Modernism suggested a grand truth in life, whereas post-modernist argued that there is no universal experience but rather relative experiences separated by perspective. Argues that truth is not universal but local/dependent on individual experience. It’s very similar to post structuralism but tends to focus more on absurdism, subverting expectations, and blending traditional and new techniques in writing. 

Poststructuralism

Criticizes structuralism's tendency to universalize and ignore political issues. Suggests that duality is limited and that relationships as a whole are more complex with their own discrepancies and power dynamics. Questions a universal truth or experience and humanism, rather focusing on relative perspectives. 

Rhetorical question

A question that is not meant to be responded to because the answer is apparent. Rather, the question is meant to induce a sense of dramatic effect, coercion, or reflection.

Rising action

A segment in the plot that has built up to lead to the climax.

Rococo

An art style that came about in the middle of the 1700s in France, which features soft, intriguing designs that contrasted the Baroque period before it. It is also known as rocaille, a French word meaning “stone debris,” derived from the Middle French roquailles.

Romance

A literary genre that focuses heavily on the feeling of deep devotion that two characters have for one another.

Salon

An event hosted in a private venue where the arts were discussed to invoke intellectualism. Usually hosted by an influential woman in high society known as a 'salonnière', the social event emerged in France and Italy around the 17th and 18th centuries, during the Age of Enlightenment.

Sensibility

A literary term that transpired in the 18th century, where a piece of literature was meant to give an empathetic, emotional response instead of a detached, impassive response from the reader.

Sentimental novel

A novel meant to provoke a cathartic response. Many of these novels feature emotional moments, a sense of sacrifice, and deeply emotional romance.

Short story

A story that utilizes the same devices as a normal literary text, but is more brief and concise to give the maximum impact of the plot in only a few pages.

Solecism

An error that breaks the rules in standard grammar and sentence structure, usually through double negatives and mixed verbs. A literary example is in William Shakespeare's Hamlet: the line 'I never was nor never will be' uses a double negative to heighten the sentence's negative weight. In a modern context, it is used to give characters an informal tone in their speech.

Queer Theory

A theory that emerged from the 1980s to the 1990s queer liberation movement, queer theory highlights the social binary present in society and views it through a lens of deconstruction. Queer theory questions societal definitions of gender and sexuality, such as heteronormality and cisgenderism, and they have been marketed as the norm. It also highlights how gender and sexuality are more marketed, rather than being biological factors. Queer theory is distinctly connected to the feminist theory of true femininity in its contrast to traditional gender roles. African American and ethnic studies are also integral to gender and sexuality, as different races are perceived across both gender and sexuality. 

Machiavel

A stage villain that is seen in Elizabethan and Jacobean drama. It's named after the Florentine Political Theorist Niccolo Machiavelli, whose famous book ‘The Prince’ justified the use of dishonest means to retain state power. Shakespeare's Iago and Richard III are the most famous examples of this type.

magic realism

A type of modern fiction that includes fabulous and fantastical events in the narrative while maintaining the reliable tone of objective realistic report.

Mannerism

A term for self-conscious acts of peculiarities of style, usually elaborate, seen in literary works of any period.

Melodrama

A popular form of sensational drama that flourished in 19th-century theater.

Metadrama

A drama about drama or any self-conscious moment that draws attention to its own fictional status as a theatrical pretense, often addressing the audience and referring to the play itself.

Mimesis

The Greek word for imitation, a central term in aesthetic and literary theory since Aristotle.

Monometer

A verse line that only has one foot.

Naturalism

A more deliberate type of realism in novels, stories, and plays that usually involves a view of humans as passive victims of natural forces and social environment.

Nemesis

Something carrying out a punishment or the actual punishment of a wrongdoing.

Pot-Boiler

A work that is made to earn money by appealing to popularity, rather than focusing on artistic quality even if the maker is typically talented.

Propagandism

Spreading ideas or information that is often biased or misleading to influence peoples opinion especially for political gain.

Prose

An ordinary written or spoken language that does not follow a rhythmic or poetic structure.

Protagonist

The main character in a story or someone who strongly supports a cause.

Psychomachy

An internal struggle within a person's mind or soul or a conflict between a person's moral side and physical desires.

Realism

A style in art, film, or writing that shows things as they really are, with accurate and detailed representation of everyday life. 

Restoration

The act of returning someone or something to a former state or power especially when a ruler or government is brought back to power.

Rhetoric

The skill of using language effectively to persuade or influence others, often through techniques like figurative language and strong word choice. 

Psychoanalytic Criticism

A way of understanding literature that is based on ideas of Freud about the unconscious mind, along with instincts and sexuality. It focuses on how hidden thoughts, desires influence human behavior and meaning. Critics using this approach believe that texts can reveal unconscious conflicts, much like dreams do. Overall, it is used to better understand human experience and society through what is beneath the surface of a text.