BBL 3103 ASSIGNMENT GUIDE

Transcription

1 BBL3103ASSIGNMENTGUIDE General Forthoseofyouunaccustomedtoresearch,Ifindthatit smosteffectivetostartonwikipedia,soyou canfamiliariseyourselfwiththesubjectyou vechosen Andyouknowthisalready,butWikipediaitselfisnotasource.DONOTSTEALfromWikipedia,andDO NOTCITEWikipedia With the terms and names you got from Wikipedia, you can then do a proper search on journal databases (e.g.: JSTOR, LION etc. If you don t have passwords, try borrowing passwords from your friendsinotheruniversities)andinthelibrary DONOTPLAGIARISE.Thisiseasiertodetectthanyouthink,andyouwillloseasignificantamountof marksorevenfail I willnotbetoo strictwiththemarking(giventhatthe classstartedafew weekslate);andiwould ratherreadaflawedoriginalpiecethansomethingstolen Get creative if you must. If you aren t well read (or at least if you re not familiar with the body of literary texts that you will be talking about) then argue for the literary value of other cultural productions,e.g.:movies,music,etc.imuststresscreative;youknowaswellasidothatnon textual sourcesareconsideredtobeoflowerliteraryvalue,soyoumustproveitsliterariness,oratleastpick somethingrelevantandworthresearching There are marks for proper citation, so allocate a few hours to make sure that your referencing is standardisedandaccurate Andifindoubtaboutanything,ASK

2 1 Question01:Discussthedefinitionofmimesisandhowthisnotionhasbeenappliedbyliteraryscholars indifferentcontextsandtimes. a.discussthedefinitionofmimesis Thisshouldbebrief,andshouldcontainathesisstatementoftheinterpretationthatyouthinkbest definesmimesis This is because there are so many possible interpretations, and not all can be included in your assignment For instance, one definition of mimesis is the imitation of reality. But as we have seen, the terms imitation (passivecopying/creativere imagination)and reality (theworldasitis/theworldaswesee it/theworldasitshouldbe)arealsoopentointerpretation Thepossibilitiesinthiscaseareendless;sochooseonepossibleinterpretationandsticktoit. b. [discuss]howthisnotionhasbeenappliedbyliteraryscholarsindifferentcontextsandtimes Asstatedabove,narrowyourfocustoonesetofinterpretations,andfindcritics/scholarswhointerpret theterminthesameway Lookforatleasttwocritics/scholarsfromdifferentcontextsandtimes(differentperiodsofhistoryor differentsocialcircumstances);thesecriticscanbeeither famous (anamementionedinthecourse) ornot Mimesis is,ofcourse,anarchaicterm,somoderncriticsmanynotuseit,whichwillcomplicateyour search for references; your best bet is to use other search terms that correspond with your interpretationofmimesis Helpful search terms (note that not all of the terms are directly related to one another): realism, naturalism, imitation, meme (memetics), representation, magic realism, Russian formalism, Marxism, socialismetc. Afewinterpretationsandimportantnames(thesearejustsuggestions;feelfreetochooseyourown) Mimesisasrealism literature(ericauerbach,émilezola,henryjames) Mimesisasrealism film(italianneorealists,frenchnewwavecinema) MimesisasMarxistreality(KarlMarx,FriedrichEngels) Mimesisasmemetics(RichardDawkins) Mimesisasrepresentation(postcolonial,feministtheory) Mimesisasartisticrepresentation(SirPhilipSidney,P.B.Shelley)

3 2 Question 02: To what extent do you agree that the spirit of nationalism/patriotism can be instilled throughtheworksofanation sliterature? a.towhatextentdoyouagree Inyourintroduction(andconclusion)youmuststatewhetheryouagreewiththestatementornot;and thenproceedtojustifyyourstandbyshowingjusthowmuchyouagree/disagree b. thespiritofnationalism/patriotismcanbeinstilledthroughtheworksofanation sliterature Thenationyouchoosecanbeanycountry,orevenanumberofcountries(sinceyouareonlywritinga 1000words,itisadvisabletolimityourdiscussionto1 3countries) Nationalism is usually instilled by a common cultural identity; and of course, one type of cultural productionisliterature Acommonculturalidentitycanbefosteredthroughawidevarietyofmeans: After the riots of 1969, the Malaysian government decided to foster unity through a common language,malay;worksinmalay(kerismas,a.samadsaid,thefilmsofp.ramlee)orworksthat displayracialharmony(thecartoonsoflat)oraddressracialissues(lloydfernando)canbesaidto fosteracommonculturalidentity Whenoneoranumberofauthorsfromthesamecountryorculturaldescentareinternationally recognised in a given time period (e.g.: Satyajit Ray, Ravi Shankar, Rabindranath Tagore Bangladesh; Salman Rushdie, Vikram Seth, V. S. Naipaul, Arundhati Roy India/Indian origin; Naguib Mahfouz Egypt; Jose Saramago Portugal, etc.) it gives people who share the same nationalityorculturalheritageanewsenseofculturallegitimacy Evendepictionswhicharenotwhollyfavourablecancreatethiseffect:suchaswiththefilmCityof GodandBrazil,SlumdogMillionaireandIndia Language too can be a unifying factor: Muhammad Hj. Salleh deciding to only write in Malay, DanteAlighieridecidingtowriteinItalianinsteadofLatin Inshort,anyworkthatmakesitreadersthink IamMalaysian/American/Mexican etc.cancreateor givenewimpetustothespiritofnationalism So, pick a country, research its most notable authors and their works, and examine how or what aspects of their works (or the impressions of their works) made a group of people feel more nationalistic/patrioticthantheydidbefore Nowifyou don tagreewiththestatement,you canusethesame examples:trytoarguethatmost writersaremorecommonlyassociatedwithanage/movement/generalqualitythantheyarewiththeir countries of origin (is J. M. Coetzee a good writer or a good South African writer? Do the people of SouthAfricacareabouttheawardshehasreceivedanymorethantheglobalcommunitydoes?Does thetrinidadianv.s.naipaulfoster Indianness oralienateindians?doesheseemmoreindianthanhe doestrinidadian?whenpeoplereadlloydfernandodotheyfeelmoreorlessmalaysian?)

4 3 Question 03: With reference to TWO Romantic era critics, discuss the influence of Longinus upon the prevalentattitudetowardsliteratureatthetime a.withreferencetotworomanticeracritics Prettystraightforward;justpicktwoRomanticpoets/critics,anddiscusswhatelementsofLonginus On thesublimeinfluencedromanticism English Romantics: Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Wordsworth, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Lord Byron, JohnKeats Ifyouwanttobedifferent(whichisalwaysgood),youcanalsousetheGermanRomantics(whichisn t covered in class) like Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller, Friedrich Schelling, Friedrich Schlegel, AugustWilhelmSchlegel,FriedrichSchleiermacher,JohannWolfgangvonGoethe,etc.Ifyoudoplanto use them, let me know and I can scan some pages from another lit theory book summarising their views b. discusstheinfluenceoflonginusupontheprevalentattitudetowardsliteratureatthetime MajorconceptsofLonginustothinkabout:sublime,transport,rapture Implicit concepts of Longinus to think about: abandonment of rules, elevated poetic language, epic scaleofawork,individualgenius, gracebeyondthereachofart,etc. ExaminethisexcerptfromOntheSublime: Come,now,letustakesomewriterwhoisreallyimmaculateandbeyondreproach.Isitnotworthwhile,on thisverypoint,toraisethegeneralquestionwhetherweoughttogivethepreferenceinpoemsandprose writingstograndeurwithsomeattendantfaultsortosuccesswhichismoderatebutaltogethersoundand freefromerror?aye,andfurther,whetheragreaternumberofexcellences,orexcellenceshigherinquality, would in literature rightly bear away the palm?...for my part, I am well aware that lofty genius is far removed from flawlessness; for invariable accuracy incurs the risk of pettiness, and in the sublime, as in greatfortunes,theremustbesomethingwhichisoverlooked.itmaybenecessarilythecasethatlowand averagenaturesremainasarulefreefromfailingandingreatersafetybecausetheyneverrunariskorseek toscaletheheights,whilegreatendowmentsproveinsecurebecauseoftheirverygreatness.inthesecond place,iamnotignorantthatitnaturallyhappensthattheworsesideofhumancharacterisalwaysthemore easily recognized, and that the memory of errors remains indelible, while that of excellence quickly dies away. I have myself noted not a few errors on the part of Homer and other writers of the greatest distinction,andtheslipstheyhavemadeaffordmeanythingbutpleasure.stillidonottermthemwilful errors, but rather oversights of a random and casual kind, due to neglect and introduced with all the heedlessnessofgenius.consequentlyidonotwaverinmyviewthatexcellenceshigherinquality,evenif notsustained throughout,shouldalwaysonacomparisonbevoted thefirstplace,because of theirsheer elevationofspirit,iffornootherreason.

5 4 Question 04: Write a hypothesis on the role of religion in the evolution of literature. Discuss two historicalorsocialcontextstosupportyourhypothesis. a.writeahypothesisontheroleofreligionintheevolutionofliterature Again,prettystraightforward.Chooseareligion,andthenpicktwocontextsinwhichthatreligionwas atitsmostinfluentialonthelocalculture Religiondoesn thavetoaffectliteraturedirectly: writers don tnecessarilyhavetobevery religious menthemselves,orwriteaboutreligiousthemes Theusualwayinwhichreligionpenetratesliteratureisthroughthegeneralculturaloutlook/worldview prevalentduringagivensocialmilieu Youhavetwowaysofapproachingthissubject:youcangothephilosophicalrouteorthesocialone In the philosophical route, you can examine the way in which the morality of a certain religion is present in literature of a given period (e.g.: the exaltation of kindness, altruism, love as the chief ChristianvirtuesoverthechiefRomanvirtuesofhonour,valour, mightmakesright ) Inthesocialroute,youcanexaminehowreligionworkingasagoverningarmofthestateimpactsupon thekindofliteratureproduced(e.g.:worksthatconformtoreligiousnorms,orareaboutreligionare consideredmoral;andmoreimaginativeworksareconsideredimmoral,andarepossiblybanned) b.discusstwohistoricalorsocialcontextstosupportyourhypothesis. Religionissoprevalentthatalmostanyworkiswrittenasareactiontoaparticularreligion(eitherfor oragainst);soyoureallymustpickveryspecificcontexts Somesamplecontexts(philosophicalandsocial): VictorianmoralityisverycloselytiedtothemoralityoftheChurchofEngland;Victorianmorality wasnotonlyprevalentinthevictorianera,butalsobeyond.thishashadanumberofeffectson literature.forinstance,itwasvictorianmoralitythatoutlawedhomosexuality,whichoscarwilde wasconvictedof;althoughheonlyspenttwoyearsinjail,itkilledoffhisartistictemperament,and canbeseenashaltingthemarchofbritishaestheticism.itwasalsovictorianmoralitythatdeemed JamesJoyce sulyssesimmoralandvulgar,whichresultedinitbeingbanned. Salman Rushdie s The Satanic Verses was banned in many Islamic countries; the Ayatollah KhomeiniofIranissuedafatwaagainsthim,whichresultedinhimtakingrefugeinEnglandfor10 years(fullpolicecustodyatthetaxpayer sexpense) TheriseofChristianityduringthemedievalagesgreatlydiminishedliteraryactivity,since(pagan) Graeco Romanculturewasseenaspaganandimmoral;however,Chaucer scanterburytalesand Dante s The Divine Comedy were produced during this period, the latter having its entire design builtuponamarriageofchristiantheologyandgreekmythology Henry Miller s Tropic of Cancer was banned in 1960s America that was more influenced by a puritanicalstrainofprotestantismthanitistoday,eventhoughthebookwaspublished30years earlierinfrancewithoutanypublicoutcry ThefirsttranslationsofancientHinduandBuddhisttextstoappearinEuropeaffectedthewaythe philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer saw the world, which in turn influenced many other philosophersandwriters,andcontributedtothegeneralpessimismofthemodernage

6 5 Question05:WithreferencetoatleastTWOmajorliterarycritics,discusshowtheirrespectivetheories ofliteraturefulfiltheapollonian/dionysiandichotomy a.withreferencetoatleasttwomajorliterarycritics Howevermanyliterarycriticsyouuse,besuretomakethecaseforboththeApollonianandDionysian b. discusshowtheirrespectivetheoriesofliteraturefulfiltheapollonian/dionysiandichotomy Firstofall,familiariseyourselfwiththevaluesassociatedwithbothsides,e.g.:contemplation/poetic frenzy,creation/destruction,sky/earth,civility/primalnature,reason/passion Thenlookforthosevaluesintheirliterarytheories(ifthecriticsthemselvesmakenospecificreference to the dichotomy), e.g.: with regard to the creative process, William Wordsworth encourages a collected and calm contemplation of emotions [Apollonian], whereas Plato suggests, albeit in a derogatoryfashion,thatpoeticinspirationisdrivenbythepassions[dionysian] Sometimes literary critics use different terms for the same essential dichotomy, such as Sigmund Freud seros/thanatos(sex/deathdrives),ormatthewarnold shellenic/hebraic(greco Roman/Judeo Christian) If you want to go back to the original source, then read Friedrich Nietzsche s The Birth of Tragedy, wherehefirstputsforwardthisnotion;otherworksofnietzschecontainthisdichotomyinsomeform, evenifnotexplicitlynamed;yourbestbetwouldbetoreadany introductiontowesternphilosophy bookforasummaryofnietzsche sviews Themost interestingbit I vereadaboutthisdichotomy is theintroductionofcamillepaglia ssexual Personae in it, she extends the dichotomy to cover sexuality and religion: for example Man is essentiallyapollonian(reason),andwomandionysian(passion);judeo Christian( sky )religionswhich have a singular male god figure, whereas Eastern and primitive ( earth ) religions have numerous goddesses.thisbookmaybehardtolocateinthelibrary,however SomethingtobearinmindisthatthetermsApollonian/Dionysianareinabinaryrelationship theyare adjectives that to do not embody meaning by themselves, but only in relation to each other. For example,inthebinaryoppositiontall/short,theindividualtermstallandshortdonotbythemselves meananything. Tall isnotanabsolutemeasure.someoneorsomethingcanonlybetallwhenitis not short orwhenitis lessshortthan something andsomethingcanonlybeshort when it is nottall. Similarly,nothingisApollonianbyitself,butonlyincontrasttosomethingDionysianor lessapollonian. So, to use the above example, Wordsworth s contemplative creative process does not embody the Apollonianinitself,butisApollonianinrelationtoPlato sdionysiandivineinspiration,andviceversa. Inotherwords,theprocessofpoeticcreationaccordingtoWordsworthismoreApollonianthanitisin Plato s interpretation. What I m trying to illustrate here is that any given value, is not absolutely Apollonian/Dionysian,butApollonian/Dionysianinrelationto(orinoppositionto)anothervalue AsI vementionedbefore,itispossibletolookatthedifferenterasinthehistoryoflittheoryasasort of pendulum swinging back and forth between the Apollonian/Dionysian. Consider this notion when youarepickingyourcritics TheRomannameofDionysusisBacchus,andhisfollowersarecalledbacchanalia;otherhelpfulsearch termsincludebacchaeandmaenad