1. Introduction to Literature

2. Why do we read?

3. Information
Fun

4. But is all fiction literature?

6. Literature is concerned with the content and the form, in other words not only the story but the way it is written.

7. What is literature?

8. Literature: A body of written works
Literature: A body of written works. The name is often applied to those imaginative works of poetry and prose distinguished by the intentions of their authors and the excellence of their execution. (Encyclopedia Britannica, Micropedia)

9. Literature: The collective writings proper to any language or nations
Literature: The collective writings proper to any language or nations. The term literature is site of ideological conflict; it may refer to those canonical works in the genres, ie., traditional works considered to be artistic or it may also refer to the total sum of writings, including letters, memoirs, comics, historical writings, etc. (adapted from the Cambridge Encyclopedia)

10. or

11. Literature: An intimate experience of an author carefully expressed in concrete images through the use of structure, imaginative style and luxurious metaphors. It is not practical or logical communication, but an aesthetic experience.
Anderson Imbert, Enrique (1992) Teoría y técnica del cuento, Barcelona, Editorial Ariel

12. Literature: A collection of writings, which reflect the experience of class struggle in a society. The history of literature is, therefore, a reflection on changing material, economic and social conditions in that society.
See: Marx, Karl and Engels, Freidrich, Communism: The production of the form of intercourse itself, in Rice, Philip and Waugh Patricia (2001) Modern literary theory: A reader (4th Ed), London, Arnold

13. “Thus is revealed the total existence of writing: a text is made up of multiple writings, drawn from many cultures and entering into mutual relations of dialogue, parody, contestation, but there is one place where this multiplicity is focussed and that place is the reader, not the author.”
From Barthes, Roland, The death of the author, in Rice, Philip and Waugh Patricia (2001) Modern literary theory: A reader (4th Ed), London, Arnold

14. LITERATURE
All writing in prose and poetry having permanent value, excellent format, an imaginative or critical characteristic, and heightened emotional effect.

15. Literature
Literature is referred to as the entirety of written expression, with the restriction that not every written document can be categorized as literature in the more exact sense of the word. (Klarer p.1)

16. LITERATURE
Etymologically: the Latin word “litteratura” is derived from “littera” (letter), which is the smallest element of alphabetical writing.
The word text is related to “textile” and can be translated as “fabric”: just as single threads form a fabric, so words and sentences form a meaningful and coherent text.

17. LITERATURE
Literature or text as cultural and historical phenomena and to investigate the conditions of their production and reception.

18. Pre historic painting in the cave wall

19. The Beginning of Literature
Not only pictorial but Acoustic
Spoken words  Signs
Oral traditions
Integral Parts of Literature

20. Before writing developed as a system of signs, whether pictographs or alphabets, “texts” were passed on orally.
The predecessor of literary expression, called “oral poetry,”
In 21st century, Audio-literature and the lyrics of songs display the acoustic features of literary phenomena through the medium of radio and other sound carriers.

21. In the Middle Ages the visual component of writing was highly privileged in such forms as richly decorated handwritten manuscripts, the arrival of the modern age - along with the invention of the printing press- made the visual element disappear or reduced it to a few illustrations in the text.

22. Only in DRAMA  union between the spoken word and visual expression
DRAMA, which is viewed as literature, combines the acoustic and the visual elements.
The symbiosis of word and image culminates in FILM.

23. FILM is interesting for textual studies, since word and picture are recorded and, as in a book, can be looked up at any time.
Methods of literary and textual criticism are, therefore, frequently applied to the cinema and acoustic media.

24. Computer hypertexts and networks/ the Internet are the latest hybrids of the textual and various media  writing is linked to sounds, pictures or even video clips within an interdependent network.
The written medium is obviously the main concern in the study of literature or texts  the stage, painting, film, music or even computer networks.

25. GENRE
A Genre is a French word meaning “type” or “kind” of literature.

26. Genre
The genres of literature we will study are poetry, drama, fiction (short story, non-fiction, and novel) and film.

27. Prose and Poetry
Prose and poetry are two kinds of writing formats in standard American English.

28. Prose
Prose is straight writing in paragraph form (e.g. newspaper, novels, magazines).

29. Poetry
Poetry is a particular arrangement of words on a page for heightened emotional effect.

30. Fiction and Nonfiction
All writing falls into one of these two categories:
Fiction
Nonfiction

31. Fiction
Fiction is not true. It is drawn from the imagination of the author.

32. Nonfiction
Nonfiction is true. It is based on real events or facts.

33. LITERARY GENRES Fiction Poetry Drama Biography and Autobiography
Ancient: Fables, Tales
Modern: Novels & Short Stories
Poetry
Drama
Biography and Autobiography
The Essay
Film

34. A Fable The Oak and the Reeds
A VERY LARGE OAK was uprooted by the wind and thrown across a stream. It fell among some Reeds, which it thus addressed: "I wonder how you, who are so light and weak, are not entirely crushed by these strong winds." They replied, "You fight and contend with the wind, and consequently you are destroyed; while we on the contrary bend before the least breath of air, and therefore remain unbroken, and escape." Stoop to conquer.

35. Ancient: Fables, Tales Not Realistic No details Quick and simple plots
Fiction
Ancient: Fables, Tales
Not Realistic
No details
Quick and simple plots
Nonhuman characters
They aim at a quick and simple moral (lesson)

36. Modern Fiction (Men in The Sun)
It was not too uncomfortable riding on the back of the huge lorry. Although the sun was pouring its inferno down on them without any respite, the breeze that they felt because of the lorry’s speed lessened the intensity of the heat. Abu Qais had climbed up on top with Marwan, and they sat side by side on the edge of the tank. They had drawn lots, and it was Assad’s turn to sit beside the driver

37. Modern Fiction Novels & Short Stories
Verisimilitude: Realistic (life-like) presentation of events
Real (human characters)
Minute details
Not reality but an illusion of reality
Modern fiction is the genre of the Middle Class. The Industrial Revolution created the Middle Class and the novel became the new form of literature which represented the difficulties encountering Middle Class people.

38. History, Biography/Autobiography & Fiction
History: an objective presentation of reality
Biography/Autobiography: a subjective presentation of reality.
Fiction: An illusion of reality.

39. Elements of Fiction Plot Characters Narrator’s Point of view Symbolism
Atmosphere
Language
Style
Irony
Time and Place
Themes

40. Plot
Plot:
A plot in fiction is the arrangement of events in a story. It has an exposition, a conflict (complication of events and a conclusion), and a resolution.
Plots differ with reference to the above arrangements. For example: there are stories which do not have a climax or a resolution. The arrangement of the parts of the plot is the writer’s choice

41. Characters There are Flat and Round characters.
A Round character: a major character (usually the protagonist) who experiences change.
A Flat character: a minor character

42. Narrator
Narrator’s point of view: First Person Third Person: A Narrator can also be: Omniscient Partially omniscient Objective Dramatic

43. POINT OF VIEW SECTION

44. Point of View
a term used to describe the way in which the reader is presented with the story; also defined as the vantage point from which the author presents the story.

45. Point of View I. First Person point of view
(Uses personal pronouns: I, me, mine, we, us, our)
- the narrator is the main character who tells his/her own story.

46. Point of View II. Third Person point of view
(Uses personal pronouns: he, she, it, they, them, etc.)
- This narrator is an outside narrator.

47. Third Person Point of View
A. Third Person: Objective
This narrator is like a news reporter. He tells us the facts only. He cannot enter into the thoughts of the characters.

48. Third Person Point of View
B. Third Person: Limited
This narrator can see into the mind of only one character.

49. Third Person Point of View
C. Third Person: Omniscient
This narrator can relate the thoughts of all the characters.

50. Objective Point of View
The objective point of view is the point of view from a distanced, informational perspective, as in a news report.

51. Subjective Point of View
The subjective point of view involves a personal perspective.

52. The Stream of Consciousness Technique
One modern and sophisticated technique of narration is the Stream of Consciousness Technique.
In the S of C techniques the writer introduces to us a narrator who oscillates between past, present and future in a haphazard manner; without attention to the chronological sequence of events
Some critics describe the S of C techniques as “human mind at work”; human mind is not rhythmic in its perception of things

53. Aesthetic Distance
We need to be aware of the difference between the author/writer and the narrator: they are not the same.
The aesthetic distance is the distance that the writer maintains between himself and the narrator.
Students usually confuse the narrator with the writer. In fiction the author does not appear in the story or the novel. It is the narrator who tells the story.

54. Narrator/Author What if the narrator is the same as the Author?
The work then becomes an autobiography and not fiction.

55. Symbolism
There are conventional symbols: symbols that are used by many writers and that are known to almost all people. The Dove: a symbol of Peace
There are private symbols that are used by one writer in one work of literature
Symbols are naturally known to allow for different interpretations.

56. Atmosphere
The atmosphere of the story is generally created by the author and it contributes to the meaning of the story. An atmosphere can be described as dark, sunny, gloomy, rainy, silent, boisterous ---etc.
A protagonist who initiates a journey at night may be seen as a fearless adventurer or a gloomy ignorant mishap

57. Language
The language of a story or a novel may be one of the concerns of the critic. The language of a story may be described as slang, standard, difficult, poetic, prosaic ---etc.
The language of a story may not be described as difficult if we, as foreign readers, find very many new words. This reality may be attributed to our language proficiency and not the difficulty of the language of the story

58. Style Style is the way the writer presents his/her story
The style of a story can be described as lucid, boring, tense, complicated, sophisticated ---etc.
A writer may choose at certain episodes to use long sentences; short sentences at other episodes.

59. Time and Place
Writers usually locate their stories within a specific time and place
Awareness of the time and place of a story illuminates our perception
A story located in London during the post World War era may inform our reading of that story.

60. Irony
The simple definition of irony entails saying something and meaning just the opposite of what is said.
The whole story or parts of it can be ironic.
If one says “I love having four exams in one day), s/he certainly means the opposite of what s/he says.

61. Themes
The theme of the story is the message that the writer aims at conveying to us.
The message that the writer intends to convey to us may not be the same message that we find. This reality is referred to as the intentional fallacy.
A writer may intend to present to us the negative consequences of prejudice and we as readers may find the same work a terrible source of prejudice.