EXPRESSIONISM

EXPRESSIONISM

[For students of Indian Universities]

Dr. S. Sreekumar

1. INTRODUCTION

Expressionism is a movement in art that originated in Germany and remained popular from 1910 to 1924. The movement began to decline by 1925 and the Nazis whose influence was growing at that time suppressed the movement for political reasons.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines Expressionism as a style of painting, music, drama etc., in which an artist or writer seeks to express emotional experience rather than impressions of the external world”. However this definition does not tell us much about the various facts of the movement and “expressionism itself was never a concerted or well-defined movement” (Abrams).

SYMBOLISM

SYMBOLISM

[prepared for students of Indian Universities]

Dr. S. Sreekumar

I. What is a symbol?

The word symbol originates from the Greek word ‘Symbolon’ meaning ‘mark’, ‘sign’ or ‘token’. The term became popular during the nineteenth century when many discussions took place as to its exact meaning. But it proved elusive as critics and creative writers could not give an exclusive significance to it. The situation continues thus even today as Rene Wellek points out: “The term is highly ambiguous and shifting”. Not only that, it has even acquired mutually contradictory meanings. Its uses in “symbolic logic” and “mathematical symbol” are contrary to its use in “poetic symbol”.

EXISTENTIALISM

EXISTENTIALISM

Study material prepared by Dr. S. Sreekumar for students of Indian Universities.

Existentialism is a philosophical doctrine that became popular in Europe after the Second World War. It is chiefly concerned with man’s existence and his situation. It believes that man is a unique but isolated being living in an indifferent or hostile universe. At the same time man is responsible for his actions and also free to choose his own destiny.

BRITISH CRITICISM IN THE MIDDLE AGES--Blamiers

M. Phil English, Bharathiar University--Blamiers--Approaches--Unit I

The Middle Ages

BRITISH CRITICISM IN THE MIDDLE AGES

Summary by Dr. S. Sreekumar

Romans left Britain at the beginning of the fifth century. Subsequent invasion by the Angles and Saxons created two centuries of skirmishes, wars and other uncertainties leaving little chance for any cultural flowering. We have to wait till the 7^th century to see the establishment of order and sanity in civil life. In this century we see Ireland and England shining as the centres of Latin culture. A Benedictine Abbey was founded in 674 at Wearmouth and books were brought from Rome to the monastic library. One of the most celebrated of English scholars, Bede, spent his time in the cloisters. He was not only a Biblical scholar but also one very much interested in history and science.

‘POETIC ORIGINS AND FINAL PHASES’-- HAROLD BLOOM

‘POETIC ORIGINS AND FINAL PHASES’

HAROLD BLOOM

Critical summary for students of Indian Universities

Dr. S. Sreekumar

Harold Bloom, Professor of Humanities at Yale University was closely associated with Paul de Man, Geoffrey Hartman and J. Hillis Miller. They constituted a group which was very influential in contemporary American criticism. The over-riding influence of these critics and their role in shaping the course of American criticism, especially the campus variety, earned them the sobriquet, ‘hermeneutic Mafia’. Though Bloom was closely allied with Paul de Man and Jacques Derrida, he frequently disagreed with their contentions.  “Bloom is very much his own man, one of the most idiosyncratic critics writing today”.

REGULATED HATRED: AN ASPECT OF THE WORK OF JANE AUSTEN'-- D. W. HARDING

REGULATED HATRED: AN ASPECT OF THE WORK OF JANE AUSTEN'

D. W. HARDING

[Summary and detailed analysis of the essay for students of Indian Universities] by Dr. S. Sreekumar

Summary of the essay

The popular impression of Jane Austen discourages many people from reading her works. Reading public considers her as the upholder of urbanity and as a refuge for sensitive people. Harding says that these conventional opinions about Austen are false. She is able to camouflage her dislike of the society and her books are read and enjoyed by the sort of people whom she disliked. Unexpected astringencies are surreptitiously introduced by the novelist into the works. Harding calls these astringencies ‘regulated  hatred”. Examples of regulated hatred are given from Northanger Abbey, Persuasion, and Emma. Even the caricatures of Mrs. Bennet and Mr. Collins we enjoy without realizing that Austen hated these characters. She saw Mr. Collins as a comic monster. The marriage of Collins and Charlotte was, for her, a sign of the degradation of contemporary society.

Austen was fascinated by the Cinderella theme but with the fairy godmother omitted. In Northanger Abbey, Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice the theme is treated without any complication. The heroines in these novels are rewarded for their good sense. But in Mansfield Park the heroine is shown as a submissive character. Mansfield Park shows the heroine as priggish.

The Cinderella theme is modified in Emma. Emma's personality includes some of the tendencies and qualities that Austen most disliked. In Emma the progress is not towards vindication but towards self-enlightenment. In Persuasion, the novelist introduces the fairy god mother. But neither the heroines nor the fairy god mother is perfect in these novels. 

IS THERE A TEXT IN THIS CLASS?--Stanley Fish

IS THERE A TEXT IN THIS CLASS?

Summary prepared for research scholars of Indian Universities by S. Sreekumar

Stanley Fish’s arguments in this essay are based on the conviction that the text is not a stable thing with a determinate meaning. Fish narrates the anecdote of a fresher who asked: “Is there a text in this class?” and the professor who answered: ‘Yes, it’s the Norton Anthology of Literature’. This reply forced the student to clarify thus: “No, No, I mean in this class do we believe in poems and things, or is it just us?”

Literary Criticism--Middle Ages

M. Phil English, Bharathiar University--Blamiers--Approaches--Unit I

The Middle Ages

The Middle Ages

In the closing decades of the 4^th century, Roman Empire came under repeated attacks by barbarian invaders like Goths, Huns and Vandals. Rome finally fell to Alaric, king of the Visigoths in 410 A.D.

The centuries between the fall of the Roman Empire and the Renaissance are called the Dark Ages. The Middle Ages [from 12^th century to the Renaissance] constitute a part of the Dark Ages.

RHETORIC—QUINTILIAN, MPhil—ENGLISH

MPhil—ENGLISH—BHARATHIAR UNIVERISTY

UNIT I—BLAMIERS—SUMMARY

RHETORIC—QUINTILIAN [35-95 A.D]

·        Quintilian was a Spaniard who came to Rome as a teacher of rhetoric.

·        He also worked in the law courts and became the counsel under Emperor Domitian. Later he became the tutor of the emperor’s grandnephews. He retired about the year 90 AD and composed his masterpiece—Institutio Oratoria

SHAKESPEARE’S FINAL PLAYS

SHAKESPEARE’S FINAL PLAYS

DRAMATIC ROMANCES

TRAGI-COMEDIES

LAST PLAYS

[Lecture notes given to graduate students—S. Sreekumar]

After the tragedies, Shakespeare, perhaps working from Stratford, seems to have discovered a new vein; and it is widely agreed that the Last Plays—the Romances, as they may with some accuracy be labeled—form a distinct group, being, in the words of Philip Edwards ‘more closely related than any other group of Shakespeare’s plays’. The dates of their composition are conjectural, but reasonably secure for all except the first: Pericles (1607), Cymbeline ( 1609), The Winter’s Tale (1610) and The Tempest (1611).

SHAKESPEARE—THE HISTORY PLAYS

[Notes prepared for graduate students—S. Sreekumar]

The defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 generated tremendous popular enthusiasm for the history and traditions of the past. Some three hundred historical plays were written during that period. Peele wrote Edward I, Marlowe wrote Edward II, and Greene wrote James IV. Shakespeare wrote ten plays based on British History.

They are:--

King John, Richard II, Henry IV Part I & Part II, Henry V,

 Henry VI Part I, Part II & Part III, Richard III and Henry VIII.

RHETORIC-- Cicero

RHETORIC

Cicero

S. Sreekumar

[In unit I of M.Phil syllabus of Bharathiar University, there is a lesson on Rhetoric. This lesson and the one on Quintillion are related to that. Refer to the posting on modern rhetoric to find out more on rhetoric]

In Greece and Rome, oratorical ability was expected of all those who wanted to hold positions of authority in public life. Moreover clear exposition and persuasive reasoning were necessary for litigation. Cicero and Quintilian are the great orators whose works are discussed here.

REALISM

REALISM

From the study material for different universities prepared by Dr. S. Sreekumar

1. What is Realism?

Damian Grant begins his monograph on realism thus:

Nothing illustrates the chronic instability of the word more clearly than its uncontrollable tendency to attract another qualifying word, or words, to provide some kind of semantic support.

Here, Grant is pointing out two important aspects of realism. Firstly, the word suffers from a ‘chronic instability’. Secondly, the word needs some other ‘semantic support’ to survive. Grant adds that these two qualities of the term have given rise to numerous types of ‘realisms’ and he lists out as many as twenty six different types.

IMAGE, SYMBOL, MYTH

Lecture notes by S. Sreekumar

In our study of poetry/drama and prose fiction, we come across these words quite frequently. However, many students have only vague ideas about the exact meaning of these terms. In this post, we are trying to give simple, lucid explanations for these three terms.