Exhaustive Study Notes on Literary Theory, Close Reading, and the Politics of Memory

Etymology and Historical Definitions of Literature

  • Etymological Roots:

    • Derived from the Latin root litteratura, meaning "a writing formed with letters."

    • Under its original literal meaning, any written work could be classified as literature.

  • The Classical School:

    • Aristotle (Poetics):

      • Defined literature as mimesis: a representation of life.

      • Emphasized depicting what might happen rather than merely what has happened.

      • Asserted that because of its mimetic character, literature inspires catharsis: a purification or purgation of feelings, specifically pity and fear, producing a beneficial emotional effect for readers.

    • Horace (Ars Poetica):

      • Articulated that for a work to be deemed literature, it must achieve a two-fold goal: dulce et utile (sweet and useful).

      • Literature must be simultaneously pleasurable to read and morally or intellectually instructive.

      • These classical ideas maintained dominant influence until the latter part of the 18th century.

  • The Romantic Movement (Late 18th to 19th Century):

    • Shifted focus toward imaginative writing that explored individual subjectivity and personal perception of the world.

    • William Wordsworth (Lyrical Ballads):

      • Defined poetry as "the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" issuing from personal reflection.

  • Realism (Late 19th Century Onward):

    • Eclipsed Romanticism toward the end of the 19th century.

    • Advocated for presenting the individual specifically as an active member of society.

    • Émile Zola (The Experimental Novel and Other Essays):

      • Taught that fiction must "exhibit man living in social conditions produced by himself, which he modifies daily, and in the heart of which he himself experiences a continual transformation."

      • The social focus of Realism continues to influence contemporary literature.

Textual Autonomy and Close Reading Methodologies

  • The Problematique and Close Reading:

    • The problematique refers to the complex of issues arising from and informing a text.

    • Explicated directly through close reading, which is defined as an explication of the text itself.

  • New Criticism:

    • Emerged in England and the United States following World War I.

    • Champions the autonomy of the text, emphasizing its intrinsic literary value.

    • Treats the text as an independent unit of meaning, detached from authorial biography, intentions, or historical context.

    • Focuses criticism on language, imagery, and emotional or intellectual tensions to analyze a text's formal aesthetic organization.

    • John Crowe Ransom ("Criticism, Inc."):

      • Defined criticism as an "attempt to define and enjoy the aesthetic or characteristic values of literature."

  • Form and Objective Scrutiny:

    • Close reading disregards biographical details about the author and sets aside the reader's personal subjective impressions or emotional responses.

    • Focuses on scrutinizing textual elements systematically to answer the central objective question: HOW DOES THIS TEXT WORK?

    • Prioritizes the formal structure and elements of the text above all else.

Post-Structuralism, Authorial Absence, and Deconstruction

  • The "Death of the Author":

    • Roland Barthes ("La mort de l'auteur"):

      • Posited that relying on authorial intent limits the textual meaning.

      • Replaced authorial intent with active reader participation in generating new understandings of literary works (poems, short stories, and prose).

      • Requires close attention to formal construction, including the absence of punctuation marks, word order, fragmented narrative structure, and deliberate repetitions.

  • Deconstruction and the Play of Signs:

    • Jacques Derrida ("Différance"):

      • Noted that texts outlive their authors because they are constructed of signs in constant "play."

      • Argued that the ultimate interpretation of a text is perpetually deferred because signs consist of differing traces (a sign always signifies something else to someone).

    • Hélène Cixous:

      • Utilized deconstructive reading to expose the limitations and flaws of structuralist textual interpretation (which relies heavily on binary oppositions).

      • Posited the necessity of fluidity and pluralities of meaning in textual analysis.

Applied Close Reading and Literary Analysis Frameworks

  • Close Reading Assignments (CRAs):

    • Daily lecture-based response paragraphs addressing specific prompts (e.g., explicating a poem's tone or analyzing protagonist motivations).

    • Requires deciphering and decoding textual signs through their formal presentation.

    • Expects a wide variety of valid explications from different readers.

  • Literary Analysis:

    • The primary formal output of textual close reading.

    • A well-argued, properly documented essay articulating a close reading by analyzing specific textual elements.

  • Standard Reference Guides for Close Reading and Style:

    • Harvard College Writing Center: How to Do a Close Reading.

    • Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL): Close Reading a Text and Avoiding Pitfalls; MLA Formatting and Style Guide.

    • Writing Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison: A Short Guide to Close Reading for Literary Analysis.

    • The Norton Field Guide to Writing with Readings: Literary Analysis.

Socio-Political Discourse, Marxism, and Global Literature

  • The Construct of the Global and Marxist Theory:

    • Terry Eagleton (Marxism and Literary Criticism):

      • Framed literature as a "product of a particular history."

      • Established that literature mirrors and critiques the specific social institutions from which it originates.

  • Global Literary Movements:

    • Postcolonial Literature: Addresses the historical specter and legacy of a society's colonial past.

    • Diasporic Literature: Details personal and collective experiences of migration, exile, and spatial displacement.

    • Feminist Literature: Focuses on emancipating women from patriarchal systems and oppression.

    • These literatures expand global discourses on culture, social mobility, environmental ecology, and gender dynamics.

    • Connects diverse societal struggles within a unified global movement toward self-determination, egalitarianism, ecological balance, and social empathy.

Global Conflicts, Trauma Theory, and the Politics of Memory

  • Global Conflicts and Atrocities:

    • The global movement toward self-determination faced severe historical evils: genocide, mass displacement, biological warfare, systematic rape, and crimes against humanity.

    • Prominent historical examples include:

      • Jews in Auschwitz Concentration Camp.

      • Unit 731 in Harbin (biological warfare and human experimentation).

      • Korean Comfort Women (wartime sexual slavery).

    • Traumatic global experiences established literature as a critical locus of remembrance to hold sovereign powers accountable for regime atrocities and conflict casualties.

  • Trauma Theory and Psychological Conceptualization:

    • Etymology: "Trauma" originates from the Greek word for "wound."

    • Cathy Caruth (Unclaimed Experience):

      • Underlined that trauma is a wound "inflicted not upon the body but upon the mind."

      • First recognized clinically in victims and veterans of Vietnam's Resistance War Against America.

      • Formally categorized as a psychological condition in the 1980s.

    • Dominick LaCapra (Writing History, Writing Trauma):

      • Asserted that coming to terms with trauma requires an intentional "effort to articulate" the wounding event through writing.

  • Literary Testimonies and Objective Correlatives:

    • Firsthand Witnessing of Inhumanity:

      • Elie Wiesel (Night): Narrative by a Shoah survivor documenting human cruelty.

      • Rosa Henson (Comfort Woman: A Slave of Destiny): Narrative by a World War II veteran detailing wartime sexual slavery.

    • Objective Correlatives for Collective Struggles:

      • Elena Garro (Recollections of Things to Come): Written while working as a journalist under dictatorial rule in Mexico.

      • Nick Joaquin (Cave and Shadows): Written while working as a journalist during dictatorial rule in the Philippines.

  • The Politics and Problematique of Remembrance:

    • Sam Durrant (Postcolonial Narrative and the Work of Mourning):

      • Noted that literature "addresses the individual reader both in his or her singularity and as a member of wider communities [and] is caught between these two commitments: its transformation of the past into a narrative is simultaneously an attempt to summon the dead and to lay them to rest."

    • The Core Problematique: Remembrance is fundamentally a political act that forces critical inquiry into whose dead are laid to rest, why they are commemorated, and how that narrative mourning is executed.