STEOP: VO Introduction to the Study of Literature Flashcards

Flashcards with vocabulary terms and definitions from the lecture notes.

Literature as Ambiguous

Literary texts have internal ambiguities and allow for various interpretations.

Literature as a Valued Kind of Writing

Written work valued for superior or lasting artistic merit.

Descriptive Definitions

Avoided by scholars, uses Descriptive criteria, based on textual and contextual factors.

Functional definition of Literature

That which is studied and read as literature

Literary Theory

The study of other people’s attempts to label and define literature.

Literary History

The study of what has been read and labelled as ‘literature’ at particular points in time.

Textual analysis / interpretation

The analysis of individual texts according to particular criteria in order to find out how their effect on the reader is created.

Literary History

Focuses on historical areas of enquiry into the development of literatures.

Textual Analysis and Interpretation

Employs analytical categories and methods to produce a precise and comprehensible account of the content, linguistic, formal, and structural characteristics of literary texts, does not aim to investigate the one meaning of a text.

Genre

A group of literary works that share significant characteristics in terms of content, form and/or function, signposts for authors and recipients.

Four Major Genre Areas

Fiction, Poetry, Drama, Television and Film

Output of literary studies

Articles in journals and edited collections (secondary sources)

Output of literary studies

Academic books / Monographs (secondary sources)

Texts studied in the department

Texts ranging from Shakespearean drama over modernist poetry to twenty-first century crime fiction is studied in our department

Fantastic Literature

Science Fiction, Fantasy…

Interested in…

Production of Literature, Reception of Literature, Cultural and Historical Contexts of Literature

Ecocriticism

Examination of literature through an environmental lens

BA theses

2 BA theses at the end of your BA studies, one can be written in the field of literary studies, 10,000 words

19 March

Approaching Fiction

26 March

Approaching Poetry + first tutorial session

2 April

Approaching Drama and Film

9 April

Academic Research Skills + second tutorial session

30 April

Theoretical Approaches to Literature I

14 May

Theoretical Approaches to Literature II + third tutorial session

Exams

Multiple-choice exam questions plus some open questions, 60 minutes

Having read the texts

Helps you get the most out of the sessions, enable you to ask questions in class

Course Book

Available via University Library, digital edition

Literary Terms booklet

Gives you many valuable definitions and examples of literary terms, accompany you throughout your studies.

Additional Material

Available on Blackboard

Task 1

Think of one of the books or stories you liked best when you were a child or teenager.

Task 2

What did you like about it?

Task 3

Would you call it ‘literature‘?

Task 4

Why / why not?

OED

Oxford English Dictionary

Classification of Literature according to…

Country of origin: Austrian, British, American etc.

Classification of Literature according to…

Period: Medieval, Renaissance, Twenty-First Century etc.

Classification of Literature according to…

Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Drama

Classification of Literature according to…

Subject: Love Poetry, Science Fiction, Detective Fiction

Terry Eagleton

Literary Theory: An Introduction

John Keats

First stanza of To Autumn

J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Second Edition

Literary Theory: An Introduction

Mrs. A. Behn

Oroonoko

A True History

Royal Slave

Historicity of literature/literariness

The category literature is not objective

Historicity of literature/literariness

What is meant by literature changes over time

Eagleton

Value is a transitive term

Prescriptive vs. Descriptive Definitions

Scholars avoid prescriptive definitions

Literature

Bennett and Royle

Individuals

Individual and as communities

Study of literature

Literary theory

Study of literature

Literary history

Three Research Domains of Literary Studies

literary studies

Literary History

VO History of British Literature and VO History of American Literature (= Module “Literary Studies II”)

Literary Theory

VO Introduction to the Study of Literature; PS and SE Literary Studies (= Module “Literary Studies III”)

Textual Analysis or Interpretation

Understanding PS and PS and SE Literary Studies (= Modules “Literary Studies I+III” )

Literary theory focuses

Systematic areas of literary studies

branch of philosophy dealing with beauty and taste

Literary aesthetics

description of literary art

Poetics

Nünning and Nünning 28

Genre theory

Literary History

Historical areas of enquiry into the development of literatures

Textual Analysis and Interpretation

Investigate the one meaning of a text

Textual Analysis and Interpretation

Determine the intention of the author

Textual Analysis and Interpretation

Analytical categories and methods

Genre

Refers to a group of literary works that share significant characteristics in terms of content, form and/or function

Genres serve

Classificatory systems for literary works

Genres are

Signposts for authors and recipients.

Subject of literary studies

Fiction

Subject of literary studies

Poetry

Subject of literary studies

Drama

Subject of literary studies

Television and Film

Fiction

From Sir Thomas More's Utopia (1516) to Zadie Smith's White Teeth (2000)

SIR THOMAS MORE

UTOPIA

GILBERT BURNET

Trans lated into ENGLISH

Poetry

From Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503-1542) to Kae Tempest (*1985)

Drama

Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream (1600) to Travis Alabanza's Burgerz (2018)

BURGERZ

OBERON MODERN PLAYS

FILM

Film and Television

TONY CURTIS

MARILYN MONROE

Presentations at academic conferences

Output of literary studies

Articles in journals and edited collections (secondary sources)

Output of literary studies

Academic books / Monographs (secondary sources)

Output of literary studies

Subject of literary studies

Fiction → PS Understanding Fiction

Subject of literary studies

Poetry → PS Understanding Poetry

Subject of literary studies

Drama → PS Understanding Drama and Film

Subject of literary studies

Television and Film → PS Understanding Drama and Film

Department

Texts ranging from Shakespearean drama over modernist poetry to twenty-first century crime fiction

Fantastic Literature

Science Fiction, Fantasy

Department

Production of Literature

Department

Reception of Literature

Department

Cultural and Historical Contexts of Literature

Harry Potter

This article is more than 4 years old

Cultural and historical contexts

Harry Potter books removed from Catholic school 'on exorcists' advice

ECOCRITICISM

Greg Garrard

Archives

Current

Some examples of course titles

PS: The Gender Politics of Period Drama (Schober, WS 24/25)

Some examples of course titles

PS: Staging Extinction: Eco-Dramaturgies and Climate-Change Theatre (Herzog, SoSe 24)

Some examples of course titles

PS: Comics and Graphic Novels: Re-Imaginings (Schwarz WS 24/25)

Some examples of course titles

SE: Biofiction (Flothow, SoSe 2025)

Some examples of course titles

SE: Queer Diaspora Literature (Poole, WS 24/25)