Theories of Literature

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Theories of Literature
By HariPriya Archana Raja Aayesha Ghanekar
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Literature

• What is Literature?
• It is sometimes defined as anything written
• However we can surely distinguish between
  literature in the sense of any writing and
  literature in the sense of of verbal works of art
• Robert Frost said, Literature is a performance
  in words
• Another view holds that literature has in it, a
  sense of entertaining display and provides
  pleasure in addition to the element of truth
  involved

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• Loosely speaking there are 3 theories of
  literature
• The Imitative theory
• The Expressive theory
• The Affective theory

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The Imitative theory

• Aristotle Art is an imitation of something
  thing, person or event, in our world
• Recreation or representation in a form not
  natural to it
• Imitative instinct innate in humans, coupled
  with rhythm, harmony pattern, it forms art
• Art draws only on the perfect example and not
  the imperfect aspects of nature Artist refines
  nature
• Art is imaginative and interpretive,
  representation is as the artist perceives it
• Blind imitation? No, creativity is in artists
  outlook

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• Art insight into reality?
• Value of art begins to depend on its truth, but
  is this always necessary? - Taj Mahal how can
  it tell the truth? - Julius Caesar will we
  ever learn from it when we are Roman tyrants
  ourselves?
• Imititative theory cannot encompass all aspects
  of literature as an art - Hitchhikers Guide
  reality???
• Representative theory H2G2 represents a
  possibility of whatalien life and the future
  might be like.

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• Neo-representative theory conclusively
  encompasses most forms of art and most genres of
  literature as well
• Art is anything that is about something
• Embraces even Duchamps Fountain represents
  a satirical look at classical sculpture

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The Expressive theory

• Wordsworth
• "Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful
  feelings the poets job is "to treat of things
  not as they are...but as they seem to exist to
  the senses, and the passions.
• Some aspects of the theory
• The artist does not imitate the external world,
  but expresses the world within him.
• "Truth" has nothing to do with literature.
• The sincerity of the emotion being expressed is
  indicative of the "trueness" of the work

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• Discussion
• How can we say if an emotion is sincere or not?
• -We just cannot!
• What is the value of expressive writing?
• -Proponents of the expressive theory say that
  upon reading how another person feels, our own
  sensibilities are awakened.
• -It is a way of expanding and enriching one's
  personality.

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Continuous as the stars that shine And twinkle on
the milky way, They stretched in never-ending
line Along the margin of a bay Ten thousand saw
I at a glance, Tossing their heads in sprightly
dance. Wordsworth (Daffodils)
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An expressionist painting by Edvard Munch "The
Scream" Munch described his inspiration for the
image thus "I was walking along a path with two
friendsthe sun was settingsuddenly the sky
turned blood redI paused, feeling exhausted, and
leaned on the fencethere was blood and tongues
of fire above the blue-black fjord and the
citymy friends walked on, and I stood there
trembling with anxietyand I sensed an infinite
scream passing through nature."
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The Affective theory

• This theory holds that a piece of art ought to
  arouse some emotion or at least affect the
  perceiver in some way
• In Alexander Popes words, the artist
• Gives my heart a thousand pains
• Can make make me feel each passion that he feigns
• Enrage,compose,with more than magic of art
• With pity and with terror tear my heart
• And snatch me oer the earth or through the air
• To Thebes, to Athens, when he will, and where

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The Affective theory (contd.)

• These theories also hold that stimulation of
  certain emotions is good
• Most readers seek emotional stimulus from books
  and they want to identify themselves with the
  central character
• It also insists that the main aim is not to
  induce a temporary emotional state, but to induce
  an emotional state that will lead to some kind of
  action
• Finally as Ezekiel Phalele says , the best poetry
  is one, that has a memorable expression of
  revolutionary passion and ideas

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Among the books that Gandhi read, the two that
affected him deeply were The Bhagavad
Gita and On the Duty of Civil Disobedience by
Thoreau
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Tentative Conclusions

• Back to the opening question What is
  Literature?
• The simple truth is that there is no satisfactory
  answer !
• But it is possible for us to say that works of
  art
• Give an insight into reality ( as the imitative
  theory holds)
• Broaden our awareness of possibilities of
  experience( as the expressive theory holds )
• They valuably affect our nervous system (as the
  affective theory holds)
• However, all of these theories need not hold for
  a piece of art. They just contribute to a deeper
  and a more conscious awareness of what is
  valuable in the works we read.

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From the movie, Dead Poets Society

• We don't read and write poetry because it's
  cute. We read and write poetry because we are
  members of the human race. And the human race is
  filled with passion. And medicine, law, business,
  engineering, these are noble pursuits and
  necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty,
  romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.
  To quote from Whitman, "O me! O life!... of the
  questions of these recurring of the endless
  trains of the faithless... of cities filled with
  the foolish what good amid these, O me, O life?"
  Answer. That you are here - that life exists, and
  identity that the powerful play goes on and you
  may contribute a verse. That the powerful play
  goes on and you may contribute a verse. What will
  your verse be?