Literary Theory and Criticism Study Guide

Academic and Institutional Framework of Literary Theory

  • Regulatory Mandates in Higher Education:

    • Higher education curriculum design and evaluation are governed by Ministry of National Education (MoNE) Decrees No. 232/U/2000 (higher education curriculum and evaluation), No. 045/U/2002 (core curriculum), and No. 353/2004 (curriculum design).

    • Instructional handbooks support the professionalization of university faculty and enhance student competence across academic departments.

  • Course Evaluation Structure and Grading Mechanics:

    • Course evaluation integrates four weighted performance components:

    • Midterm Examination (UTS): Accounts for 20%20\% of the final score; administered after the completion of 6 instructional units.

    • Assignments (A): Accounts for 30%30\% of the final score; comprises individual and group summaries, projects, and presentations.

    • Final Examination (UAS): Accounts for 40%40\% of the final score; administered upon completion of all 12 instructional units.

    • Class Performance (P): Accounts for 10%10\% of the final score; assesses punctuality, comprehension, and qualitative contributions to classroom discussion.

    • The composite Final Score (FS) is calculated using the formula:     FS=(MT×20)+(A×30)+(FT×40)+(P×10)100\text{FS} = \frac{(\text{MT} \times 20) + (\text{A} \times 30) + (\text{FT} \times 40) + (\text{P} \times 10)}{100}

    • Final numerical scores correspond to standardized grade point scales, letter grades, and academic standing thresholds:

    • Score Interval 91−10091 - 100: Grade Point 3.76−4.003.76 - 4.00 | Letter Grade: A+ | Status: Pass

    • Score Interval 86−9086 - 90: Grade Point 3.51−3.753.51 - 3.75 | Letter Grade: A | Status: Pass

    • Score Interval 81−8581 - 85: Grade Point 3.26−3.503.26 - 3.50 | Letter Grade: A- | Status: Pass

    • Score Interval 76−8076 - 80: Grade Point 3.01−3.253.01 - 3.25 | Letter Grade: B+ | Status: Pass

    • Score Interval 71−7571 - 75: Grade Point 2.76−3.002.76 - 3.00 | Letter Grade: B | Status: Pass

    • Score Interval 66−7066 - 70: Grade Point 2.51−2.752.51 - 2.75 | Letter Grade: B- | Status: Pass

    • Score Interval 61−6561 - 65: Grade Point 2.26−2.502.26 - 2.50 | Letter Grade: C+ | Status: Pass

    • Score Interval 56−6056 - 60: Grade Point 2.01−2.252.01 - 2.25 | Letter Grade: C | Status: Pass

    • Score Interval 51−5551 - 55: Grade Point 1.76−2.001.76 - 2.00 | Letter Grade: C- | Status: Fail (Course retake required)

    • Score Interval 40−5040 - 50: Grade Point −1.75- 1.75 | Letter Grade: D | Status: Fail (Course retake required)

    • Score Interval <39< 39: Grade Point 0.000.00 | Letter Grade: E | Status: Fail (Course retake required)

    • Grades of C or C+ may be voluntarily repeated in subsequent semesters to improve grade point averages, whereupon the prior grade is superseded.

Foundational Concepts of Literature and Literary Theory

  • Historical Emergence of Literary Theory:

    • Formal literary theory originated in the 3rd century BC with Aristotle's Poetica, which systematically analyzed the structural principles of drama and the theory of tragedy.

    • Literary theory operates as a specialized branch of literary studies that formulates the principles, laws, categories, and criteria distinguishing literary discourse from non-literary discourse.

  • The Nature, Function, and Characteristics of Theory:

    • Theory and practice exist in a dialectical relationship; theory emerges from successive, repeated practice across populations and cannot function in isolation.

    • Theory originates in speculative guessing, which drives systematic intellectual inquiry into complex possibilities.

    • Four core characteristics define theory (Jonathan Culler):

    1. Interdisciplinary Scope: Produces analytical effects extending beyond its discipline of origin.

    2. Analytical and Speculative Drive: Investigates the foundational mechanisms of concepts such as language, writing, meaning, sexuality, and the human subject.

    3. Critique of Common Sense: Deconstructs concepts historically accepted as natural or self-evident.

    4. Reflexive Inquiry: Functions as "thinking about thinking," examining the cognitive categories utilized to construct meaning in discursive practices.

    • Categorization of Theory (David Carter):

    • Scientific Requirement: Must possess falsifiability (formulated such that conditions for proving its claims true or false can be empirically demonstrated).

    • Live Theory: Frameworks consciously applied during active judgment.

    • Dead Theory: Implicit assumptions embedded so seamlessly into common practice that users no longer maintain conscious awareness of them.

  • Taxonomy and Definition of Literature:

    • Literature belongs to the stylistic branch of rhetoric, categorized within a structured linguistic and critical framework:

Rhetoric and Stylistics Framework

  • Humanistic Definitions:

    • Matthew Arnold and T.S. Eliot define literature not merely as an academic subject, but as a primary temple of the human spirit embodying the finest thoughts of superior intellects and serving as direct, lasting experiential communication.

    • Henry Newbolt identifies literature's social function as creating national identity and forging class-transcending unity (illustrated in works such as Nathaniel Hawthorne's My Kinsman, Major Molineux and Ralph Waldo Emerson's Self-Reliance).

  • Etymological and Structural Root:

    • Derived from literate (the capacity to read and write), encompassing diverse written modes including history and philosophy.

  • Five Fundamental Characteristics of Literature:

    1. Mimetic: Reflects and reproduces social realities and structures.

    2. Useful: Functions to illuminate the spirit of an era (Zeitgeist) for its audience.

    3. Fictionality: Employs connotative, non-literal language within imaginative frameworks.

    4. Artwork: Expresses aesthetic values.

    5. Social Integration: Operates inherently as a component of real human society.

  • Literary Genres:

    • Imaginative Literature: Explores human reality via Poetry (epic, lyric, dramatic), Prose (novel, short story, novelette), and Drama.

    • Non-Imaginative Literature: Dominates through factual elements over fantasy while maintaining connotative language (essays, criticism, biography, autobiography, memoirs, letters, speeches).

    • Both imaginative and non-imaginative genres must fulfill aesthetic criteria: unity, balance, harmony, and right emphasis.

Russian Formalism

  • Historical Trajectory and Key Figures:

    • Established in 1915 prior to the 1917 Russian Revolution.

    • Pioneered by Opojaz (The Society for the Study of Poetic Language) in St. Petersburg: Viktor Shklovsky, Yury Tynyanov, and Boris Eikhenbaum.

    • Parallel development occurred in the Moscow Linguistic Circle and later the Prague Linguistic Circle (founded 1926) through Roman Jakobson and Petr Bogatyrev.

    • Flourished between 1921 and 1925 under the New Economic Policy (NEP) following War Communism, becoming the dominant methodology in Soviet literary scholarship.

    • Transitioned into a defensive phase following Leon Trotsky's criticisms in Literature and Revolution (1924), culminating in the Jakobson/Tynyanov theses of 1928.

  • Core Theoretical Postulates:

    • Sought to construct an objective, scientific basis for literary theory.

    • Literature is conceptualized as a distinct linguistic mode that achieves autonomy by systematically deviating from and distorting "practical language."

    • Rejected psychological, biographical, and socio-historical content, deeming human emotions and ideas secondary contexts for the deployment of formal literary devices.

    • Historical evolution of Formalist models: Progressed through three phases—viewing literature first as a Machine (a collection of devices), second as an Organism, and third as a System.

  • Key Formalist Concepts and Terminology:

    • Fabula (Story) vs. Sjuzet (Plot):

    • Fabula: The raw, chronological material of events awaiting artistic arrangement.

    • Sjuzet: The strictly literary plot structure; the formal arrangement of events incorporating narrative devices, delays, interruptions, and formal violations.

    • One fabula can serve as raw material for multiple sjuzets.

    • Motif (Boris Tomashevski):

    • The smallest atomic unit of plot (a single action or statement).

    • Bound Motif: Logically required by the narrative story (fabula).

    • Free Motif: Logically inessential to the narrative story, but serving as the primary focus of literary art and aesthetic construction (e.g., Hester Prynne's decision to sail unassisted to the New World in The Scarlet Letter; Elizabeth Bennet's personal prejudices during social gatherings in Pride and Prejudice).

    • Foregrounding (Aktualisace - Jan Mukařovský):

    • The intentional aesthetic distortion of textual components to disrupt automatic perception.

    • De-automatizes language in close proximity to the foregrounded element.

    • The Bakhtin School (Mikhail Bakhtin):

    • Critiqued pure formalism by integrating sociological and Marxist insights.

    • Conceptualized language as a material social reality where word meanings shift dynamically across historical contexts.

    • Heteroglossia: The presence of multiple, conflicting social voices within a text.

    • Defined the novel as a