2ND Quarter - Handout - Intro PDF

Lesson I: Introduction to Literature
21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World

12 ABM B MTW/F – 3:45-4:45 PM Instructor: Ms. Paulette M. Manalaysay
WHY 21st Century Literature?

 SHS are all born in or just before the 21st century. This century is their century (beginning on January 2001 and will end on
December 31, 2100- Freebase).
 It includes new literary works created within the last decade.
Some 21st Century Literary Genres

1. HYPERPOETRY
 use computer screens as medium, rather than the printed page.
 sometimes called “Cyberpoetry” and includes hypertext fiction, presents poems that include verses or lines linked through
hyperlink markups.
 very visual, as it uses graphics to further convey the meaning.
 the links in this poetry suggest that the reading of the poem is highly dependent on the readers, as they are the ones cliking
the links in the markup.
 some links:
All Fall Down by Y.H. Chang @ http://www.yhchang.com/ALL_FALL_DOWN.html
Raindrops by William Harris @ http://community.middlebury.edu/~harris/Hyper-Poetry/raindrops.html
2. BLOGS
 from the words “web log” is an online journal or informational website displaying information in the reverse chronological
order, with latest posts appearing first.
 a platform where a writer or even a group of writers share their views on an individual subject.
3. TEXT TULA
 a poem produced and shared through the use of mobile phone's messaging application.
 Usually in the form of “tanaga” (poem of 4 lines, 7 syllables) each with a rhyme scheme.
 Now, text tula freely uses other dual rhyme schemes or freestyle rhyme scheme forms.
4. CHICK LIT
 a genre of fiction that was popular in the late 1990s.
 generally talks about women and their different struggles, specifically staged in modern times.
 themes here are treated humorously and lightly.
 Example: Tall Story by Candy Gourlay; All’s fair in blog and war by Chrissie Peria
Lesson I: Introduction to Literature : 21st Century Literature

Instructor: Ms. Paulette M. Manalaysay
5. SPECULATIVE FICTION
 fiction genre that dwells on issues of alternative imagined scenarios. It uses the appeal of conspiracy themes, fantasy science
fiction and dystopian societies to create imaginative stories.
 it encompasses all the stories that are removed from the reality that we are currently living in.
 Example: Smaller and smaller circles by F.H. Batacan; The Secret origin of spin-man by Andrew Drilon
6. FLASH FICTION
 is a fiction genre that presents one-sitting-long-of-reading texts.
 goes by many names, including microfiction, microstories, short-shorts, short short stories, very short stories, sudden fiction,
postcard fiction and nanofiction.
 the longest text in the genre of Flash Fiction is only said to be 1000-words.
 Example: “I'm dead. I've missed you. Kiss ... ? by Neil Gaiman; 100 Kislap by Abdon M. Balde Jr.
7. GRAPHIC NOVELS
 existed as an art form arguably from the time our species learned how to paint.
 a longer work or collection of works presented in ‘comics’ style.
 Example: The Mythology Class by Arnold Arre; Maktan 1521 by Tepai Pascual; Sixty Six by Russell Molina
8. OTHER FORMS
 Enhanced eBooks
 Spoken word poetry
ELEMENTS OF LITERATURE
1. FORM
 it talks about the general structure of the literary piece.
 the first aspect of literature that attempts to connect with the readers.
 from the title of the work to the way the words or sentences creates a visual impact, every part of its literature.
 it is through form that the literature first communicates its message.
2. THEME
 the unifying topic/subject/idea that holds all of its elements in piece.
 the subject to which the literature revolves around.
 literature is purposive; drawing together readers having the same reasons and goals; uniting people who share common life
experiences.
 literature is created to share stories, ignite passion and let readers experience life.
3. CHARACTERIZATION
 Characters - person, animal or thing in a story, play or other literary works. It can be a product of the writer's imagination, or
they could be the very compelling point-of-view that the writer thinks.
 a good characterization is the one that is most relatable to the reader.
 it is the way a writer reveals the personality of a character; developing them to tell the story.
 often the most important aspect of the story.
4. STYLE
 refers to the specific techniques and designs that a literary writer employs to prolong his or her grip of the reader's interest.
 Among this styles include play on words and skill in story telling.
 Commonly it includes point of view, symbolism, tone, imagery, diction, voice, syntax, and the method of narration

5. SETTING
 it refers to where or when (time & place) a story takes place. It can change in different parts of the story.
 it can also include the mood of the time period, situation or event.
 it can also include the emotional state of the character.
6. PLOT
 it is the plan or pattern of events in a story.
 it is the map of the story which provide the literature's structure.
 it has five basic points: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action,
resolution.
7. CONFLICT
 the struggle between opposing characters or opposing forces.
 it is the problem or struggle in a story.
 the four general types are:
a. character vs. character
b. character vs nature
c. character vs society (e.g.prejudice/racism)
d. character vs self (conscience).
8. POINT OF VIEW
 a way at looking at things.
 the vantage point to which a story is told.
 It can be:
a. First person (I) - the narrator is a character, often the main character of the story.
b. Third person objective - the narrator is an outsider, not a character; reporting what is happening (seen or heard) but not
their thoughts.
c. Third person limited - the narrator is an outsider, not a character; reports what is happening as well as the thoughts of one
specific character.
d. Omniscient - all-knowing narrator; sees and hears everything, even getting into the minds of multiple characters.
LITERARY CRITICISM: The paradigms and the possibilities…
 Literary criticism is the study, discussion, evaluation, and interpretation of literature.

 "Literary criticism is the evaluation of literary works. This includes the classification by genre, analysis of
structure, and judgement of value." (Beckson & Ganz / Dictionary of Literary Terms)
 "Literary criticism asks what literature is, what it does, and what it is worth." (Encyclopedia Britannica)
Why do we have to analyze everything????

 Talking about experiences enhances our enjoyment of them
 Talking about experiences involves the search for meaning which increases our understanding of them
 Because Socrates said so: "The life which is unexamined is not worth living."
 Literary criticism helps us to understand what is important about the text
a. its structure
b. its context: social, economic, historical
c. what is written
d. how the text manipulates the reader
 Improves critical thinking - you make inferences, analyze and synthesize a text.
 Encourages close reading - you read text in depth, paying attention to details, including figurative language, symbolism and
diction.
 Enable different perspective taking - you have the chance to see a text in different perspectives, understand different way of
life thus having a broader horizon.
 Encourages empathy - you learn and begin to empathize with different causes, beliefs, and value systems.
 You become more relevant - you will know the reasons why you need to know about a text and consequently determine what
is it for.
 GENERALLY,
a. Literary criticism helps us to understand the relationship between authors, readers, and texts
b. The act of literary criticism ultimately enhances the enjoyment of our reading of the literary work
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LITERARY CRITICISM AND LITERARY THEORY

 Literary criticism is the study, discussion, evaluation, and
interpretation of literature.
 Literary theories are the ideas and methods we use to interpret
and analyze literature from a variety of perspectives. These
ideas act as different lenses critics use to view and talk about
art, literature, and even culture.
a. The way people read texts
b. The “lens” through which you view the literature
c. There is no “right” way to look at literature
d. All schools of thought think they are the “right” way
e. Different approaches or lenses help us to discover rich and
deeper meaning
f. Each lens has its strengths and weaknesses
g. Each lens is valuable
h. Try to become a pluralist rather than an inflexible supporter of one
SCHOOLS OF LITERARY CRITICISM

1. FORMALIST CRITICISM
 regards literature as “a unique form of human knowledge that needs to be examined on its own terms”
 deals primarily with the text and not with any of the outside considerations such as author, the real world, audience, or other
literature.
 is the belief that reading a text closely will reveal its unity, so every move a text makes (symbolism, characterization, diction,
etc.) supports a central idea or theme.
 it is particularly interested with the elements of form -- style, structure, tome, imagery, etc. that are found within the text.
 The primary goal of formalist critics is to determine how such elements work together with the text's content to shape its
effects upon readers.
 For example, a formalist reading of a poem would focus on its rhythms, rhymes, cadences, and structure. It would not seek to
locate the poem in a wider political or cultural context except insofar as it helped to improve the reader's understanding of the
text itself.
 TYPICAL QUESTIONS:
a. How does the work use imagery to develop its own symbols? (i.e. making a certain road stand for death by constant association)
b. What is the quality of the work's organic unity "...the working together of all the parts to make an inseparable whole..." (Tyson 121)? In other words,
does how the work is put together reflect what it is?
c. How are the various parts of the work interconnected?
d. How do paradox, irony, ambiguity, and tension work in the text?
e. How do these parts and their collective whole contribute to or not contribute to the aesthetic quality of the work?
f. How does the author resolve apparent contradictions within the work?
g. What does the form of the work say about its content?
h. Is there a central or focal passage that can be said to sum up the entirety of the work?
i. How do the rhythms and/or rhyme schemes of a poem contribute to the meaning or effect of the piece?

2. HISTORICAL CRITICISM
 seeks to understand a literary work by investigating the social, cultural and intellectual context that produced it -- a context
that necessarily includes the artist's biography and milieu.
 key goal is to understand the effect of a literary work upon its original readers.
 it is important to understand the author and his world in order to understand his intent and to make sense of his work.
 In this view, the work is informed by the author's beliefs, prejudices, time, and history, and to fully understand the work, we
must understand the author and his age.
 Example:
For the work Huck Finn, a critic might look into the prejudices of the author's time and the challenging attitudes of an 1800
America where in many ways accepted (or even promoted) racist attitudes.
3. BIOGRAPHICAL CRITICISM
 begins with the simple but central insight that literature is written by actual people and that understanding an author's life can
help readers more thoroughly comprehend the work.
 For example, critics who study the poetry or drama of Amiri Baraka may concentrate on his life growing up as an African
American or being involved in the Black Arts Movement in the United States. In Baraka’s play Dutchman, a racist female, Lula,
confronts the protagonist, Clay. She initially seduces him but then insults and kills him. From a biographical perspective, the
play may represent Baraka’s encounter with racism during the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, since some
Americans opposed the individual rights and freedoms of black Americans. From this perspective, Clay allegorically represents
African Americans, and Lula depicts white, racist Americans who possess a history of manipulating, abusing, and enacting
violence against black Americans.
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL CRITICISM

In using this method:
 research on the author's life and relate the information to the work.
 research on the author's time (political history, intellectual history, and economic history) and relate it to the work.
 research on the belief structures and ways of thinking and relate them to the work.
4. READER-RESPONSE CRITICISM
 Reader-oriented criticism; WHAT DO YOU THINK?
 takes as a fundamental tenet that “literature” exists not as an artifact upon a printed page but as a transaction between the
physical text and the mind of a reader.
 is concerned with how the work is viewed by the audience. In this approach, the reader creates meaning, not the author or the
work.
 attempts to describe what happens in the reader's mind while interpreting a text and reacts that reading, like writing, is a
creative process.
 According to critics, literary texts has no meaning; meanings derive only from the act of individual readings.
 Questions to Ask:
a. Who is the reader? Who is the implied reader?
b. Does the text overtly or subtly ask the reader to sympathize or empathize in any way?
c. What experiences, thoughts, or knowledge does the text raise?
d. What aspects or characters of the text do you identify or disidentify with, and how does this process of identification affect
your response to the text?
e. What is the difference between your general reaction to (e.g., like or dislike) and reader-oriented interpretation of the text?
5. DECONSTRUCTIONIST CRITICISM
 “language is not the relief tool for communication” - Jacques Derrida
 also known as post-structuralism
 rejects the traditional assumption that language can accurately represent reality.
 subject texts to careful, formal analysis; however, they reach an opposite conclusion: there is no meaning in language.
 regard language as fundamentally unstable medium; because literature is made up of words, it possesses no fixed, single
meaning.
 tend to emphasize not on what is being said but how language is used in a text.
 try to show how the text “deconstructs”, “how it can be broken down”.
 Other goals of this school of criticism:
a. challenging the notion of author's “ownership” of texts they create (and their ability to control the meaning of their texts)
b. focusing on how language is used to achieve power, as when they try to understand how a some interpretations of a
literary work come to be a regarded as “truth”
 Example:
based on the belief that language is much more slippery and ambiguous
Old saying “Time flies like an arrow”
A. “Time flies like an arrow” = times passed quickly
Time = noun
flies = verb
like an arrow = adv. clause
B. Additional meanings “Time flies like an arrow” = Put out
your stop watch and time the speed of flies as you'd time an
arrow's flight.
Time = verb
flies = object
like an arrow = adv. clause
6. ARCHETYPAL/MYTHOLOGICAL CRITICISM
 archetype= “original form”; prototype
 archetype = a symbol, character, situation or image that evokes a deep universal response (Carl Jung)
 archetype = a symbol, usually an image, which recurs often enough in literature to be recognizable as an element of one's
literary experience as a whole (Northrop Frye)
 archetype = universal symbols that appear in literature, myth, dreams, oral tradition, songs, etc.
 emphasizes the recurrent universal patterns underlying most literary works
 tend to view literary works in the broader context of works sharing a similar pattern.
a. Certain images recur in texts
b. Certain characters/character types recur in texts
c. Certain motifs and patterns recur in texts

 Examples:
A. Characters such as:  circles
 “the hero”  the serpent
 "the earth mother"  garden
 "the soul mate"  tree
 "the trickster"  desert
 “the damsel in distress” C. Ideas such as:
B. Images such as:  Light vs. Darkness
 water  Good vs. Evil
 sun  The Journey/Quest
 certain colors or numbers
7. PSYCHOLOGICAL CRITICISM
 psychology = science of human mind and human behavior
 Deals with the work of literature as a fictional expression of the personality, state of mind, feelings, and desires of the author
 The idea is to evaluate the psychology of the character or the author to find meaning in the text.
 Critics look either at the psychological motivations of the characters or of the authors themselves.
 Common Assumptions of Psychological Theory
a. The author’s psychological conflicts are revealed in his or her work
b. Readers can do an in-depth analysis of the characters as if they were real people
c. The reader’s psychological analysis of a piece of text might analyze the author’s psychological state or the readers own
psychological state of mind
 How does it connect to literature?
a. Give a glimpse into the mind of
b. Author = investigation of the “creative process of the artist: what us the nature of the literary genius and how does it
relate to normal mental functions?
c. Characters = psycho study of particular artist; analysis of fictional characters using the language and methods of
psychology
d. Our own minds
 BENEFITS? A reader can explore the psychology
a. of a writer as expressed in the work
b. of a fictional character
c. in the form of the work (symbols, etc.)
d. of a culture or a society
e. of the reader

8. NEW CRITICISM
 an approach to literature made popular between the 1940s and the 1960s that evolved out of formalist criticism.
 new critics suggest that detailed analysis of the language of literary text can uncover important layers of meaning in a work.
 Critics consciously downplays the historical influences, authorial intentions, and social contexts that surround texts in order to
focus on explication -- extremely close textual analysis.
 Commonly associated critics = John Crowe Ransom, I.A. Richards, Robert Penn Warren.
9. MARXIST CRITICISM
 Based on the theories of Karl Marx (and so influenced by philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel), this school concerns
itself with class differences, economic and otherwise, as well as the implications and complications of the capitalist system
 "Marxism attempts to reveal the ways in which our socioeconomic system is the ultimate source of our experience" (Tyson
277).
 Based on the economic and cultural theory of Karl Marx (founder of communism)
 Communism: a stateless, classless society
 Marx believed that groups of people that owned and controlled major industries could exploit the rest of the population by
forcing their own values and beliefs onto other social groups
 focuses on a text’s economic concerns and the treatment of the working class.
 Focus on power and money in the literature
a. Who has the power or money?
b. Who does not?
c. What happens as a result?
 Typical questions:
a. Whom does it benefit if the work or effort is accepted/successful/believed, etc.?
b. What is the social class of the author?
c. Which class does the work claim to represent?
d. What values does it reinforce?
e. What values does it subvert?
f. What conflict can be seen between the values, the work champions and those it portrays?
g. What social classes do the characters represent?
h. How do characters from different classes interact or conflict?
10. GENDER CRITICISM

 examines how sexual identity influences the creation and reception of literary works
 an offshoot of feminist movements and also include the so-called masculinist approach.
 bulk is on feminist and takes as a central precept that the patriarchal attitudes that have dominated western thought have
resulted, consciously or unconsciously, in literature “full of unexamined 'male-produced' assumptions.
a. What elements of the text can be perceived as being masculine (active, powerful) and feminine (passive, marginalized) and how do the characters
support these traditional roles?
b. What sort of support (if any) is given to elements or characters who question the masculine/feminine binary? What happens to those
elements/characters?
c. What elements in the text exist in the middle, between the perceived masculine/feminine binary? In other words, what elements exhibit traits of both
(bisexual)?
d. How does the author present the text? Is it a traditional narrative? Is it secure and forceful? Or is it more hesitant or even collaborative?
e. What are the politics (ideological agendas) of specific gay, lesbian, or queer works, and how are those politics revealed in...the work's thematic content
or portrayals of its characters?
f. What are the poetics (literary devices and strategies) of a specific lesbian, gay, or queer works?
g. What does the work contribute to our knowledge of queer, gay, or lesbian experience and history, including literary history?
h. How is queer, gay, or lesbian experience coded in texts that are by writers who are apparently homosexual?
i. What does the work reveal about the operations (socially, politically, psychologically) homophobic?
j. How does the literary text illustrate the problematic of sexuality and sexual "identity," that is the ways in which human sexuality does not fall neatly into
the separate categories defined by the words homosexual and heterosexual?
11. FEMINIST CRITICISM

 ...the ways in which literature (and other cultural productions) reinforce or undermine the economic, political, social, and
psychological oppression of women"
 Realizes cultural and economic problems in a “patriarchal” society

 Realizes issues that have hindered or prevented women from achievement

 Recognizes that society sees women as “other” to man
 Feminist criticism focuses on how a text treats women and minorities
 Common Assumptions of Feminist Criticism
a. Our civilization is pervasively patriarchal
b. The concepts of “gender” are cultural constructs
c. The patriarchal ideology pervades writing that has been considered “great literature”
d. “Great literature” lacks autonomous female role models
e. Primarily addresses male readers
f. Makes the female reader an “outsider”- assumes male values to identify
 Strategies for Using Feminist Criticism
a. Consider the gender of the author and the characters- what role does gender or sexuality play in this work?
b. How are sexual stereotypes reinforced?
c. How does the work reflect or distort the place of women or men in society?
a. How is the relationship between men and women portrayed?
b. What are the power relationships between men and women (or characters assuming male/female roles)?
c. How are male and female roles defined?
d. What constitutes masculinity and femininity?
e. How do characters embody these traits?
f. Do characters take on traits from opposite genders? How so? How does this change others’ reactions to them?
g. What does the work reveal about the operations (economically, politically, socially, or psychologically) of patriarchy?
h. What does the work imply about the possibilities of sisterhood as a mode of resisting patriarchy?
i. What does the work say about women's creativity?
j. What does the history of the work's reception by the public and by the critics tell us about the operation of patriarchy?
k. What role does the work play in terms of women's literary history and literary tradition?
12. CULTURAL CRITICISM

 an approach to literature that focuses on the historical as well as social, political and economic contexts of a work.
 Examines how different religions, ethnicities, class identifications, and political beliefs affect how texts are created and
interpreted
 What it means to be part of- or excluded from- a particular group enhances understanding of the text in relation to culture
 Cultural critics use widely eclectic strategies such as new historicism, psychology, gender studies and deconstructionism to
analyze not only literary texts but everything from radio talk shows, comic strips, calendar art, commercials, to travel guides
and baseball cards.
13. MIMETIC CRITICISM

 Mimetic = imitative; relating to, characterized by, or exhibiting mimicry
 seeks to see how well a work accords with the real world (is it accurate? correct? moral? ).
 connected to psychological criticism, critic asks if characters are acting by "real world" standards and with recognizable
psychological motivations
 EXAMPLE QUESTIONS
a. Does a black character act like a black person would, or is he a stereotype?
b. Are women being portrayed accurately?
c. Does the work show a realistic economic picture of the world?

REFERENCES: https://prezi.com/p/d5oohtb13qp5/lit/
https://www.slideshare.net/jahwella/what-is-21st-century-literature
https://www.uiltexas.org/files/academics/LitCrit-Sample-Lessons.pdf
https://teslaliterature.wordpress.com/2017/08/17/hyperpoetry/
https://www.slideshare.net/gatiaa2/literature-ii-elements-of-literature?qid=eefbd495-08b3-4607-8ace-cedcf3b40f93&v=&b=
&from_search=1
http://moore-english.com/introducing-literary-criticism/
https://salirickandres.altervista.org/approaches-literary-criticism/
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/writing_in_literature/literary_theory_and_schools_of_criticism/index.ht
http://moore-english.com/choosing-texts-for-literary-criticism/
https://www.slideshare.net/imjhengasuncion/literary-criticism-39268248
https://writingcommons.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1242:section-2-biographical-criticism-psycholo
gical-criticism&catid=446:literary-criticism&Itemid=304
https://www.slideshare.net/oleelchan/deconstructive-criticsm
https://www.slideshare.net/comoedu/archetypal-criticism
https://www.slideshare.net/comoedu/psychological-criticism
21st Century Literature Books (Fastbooks/Cronic/Abiva Publishing)


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Lesson I: Introduction to Literature

21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World

WHY 21st Century Literature?

Some 21st Century Literary Genres

Lesson I: Introduction to Literature : 21st Century Literature

Lesson I: Introduction to Literature : 21st Century Literature

LITERARY CRITICISM: The paradigms and the possibilities…

 Literary criticism is the study, discussion, evaluation, and interpretation of literature.

Why do we have to analyze everything????

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LITERARY CRITICISM AND LITERARY THEORY

SCHOOLS OF LITERARY CRITICISM

Lesson I: Introduction to Literature : 21st Century Literature

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL CRITICISM

Lesson I: Introduction to Literature : 21st Century Literature

Lesson I: Introduction to Literature : 21st Century Literature

10. GENDER CRITICISM

11. FEMINIST CRITICISM

Lesson I: Introduction to Literature : 21st Century Literature

 Realizes issues that have hindered or prevented women from achievement

12. CULTURAL CRITICISM

13. MIMETIC CRITICISM

Lesson I: Introduction to Literature : 21st Century Literature

Lesson I: Introduction to Literature : 21st Century Literature

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