World Literature First Lesson

1. Introduction to the
Study of Literature

2. I. What is literature?
 "It is in literature that the concrete outlook of humanity receives
its expression." - Alfred North Whitehead
 The difficulty of literature is not to write, but to write what you
mean." - Robert Louis Stevenson
 "Literature is where I go to explore the highest and lowest places
in human society and in the human spirit, where I hope to find
not absolute truth but the truth of the tale, of the imagination
and of the heart." - Salman Rushdie

3. II. Theories on Literature
A.Imitative Theory
B.Expressive Theory
C.Affective Theory

4. A.Imitative Theory
Holds that art is an imitation of something. In his Poetics,
Aristotle (384- 322 B.C.) says that a tragedy is an imitation of an
action that is serious and complete. Because imitation now has
pejorative associations, it is well to think of Aristotle’s mimesis as
not only “imitation” but also “re-creation” or “representation.”

5. B. Expressive Theory
Holds that an artist is not essentially an
imitator but one who expresses his feelings. D.H.
Lawrence said, “One sheds one’s sickness in books,
repeats and presents again one’s emotions to be
master of them.”

6. C. Affective Theory
Holds that a work of art ought to arouse a
particular emotion, or affect (to use the psychologist’s
term), in the perceiver. This theory is often closely related
to the expressive theory: the artist allegedly expresses his
emotion, embodying in a work of art, and this work
evokes in the perceiver a similar or identical emotion.

7. III. Sources of Literature
• Direct: author's ideas, personal
experiences, feelings, desires
• Indirect: ideologies; culture and society;
historical circumstances; patronage; human
aims, aspirations, and desires

8. IV. Interpretation
The art of explaining the meaning of literature, recovering the ideas
embodied in the symbols of literature
Possibility of multiple meanings due to overdetermination
Need for close, attentive reading of the text
Need to understand author's life, historical context Need for awareness
of readers' and interpreters' biases and ideological preferences
Objective v.s. subjective interpretation
Variable value of different interpretations

9. V. Types of Literature:
The Four Genres
1. Narrative Fiction
- a narrative is an account of a series of events, usually fictional,
although sometimes fictional events may be tied to events that
are genuinely historical Types: short stories and novels A short
story is usually about one or two characters undergoing some
sort of difficulty or facing some sort of problem. The novel
permits a full development of these interactions, and its length
is caused by this fullness of development.

10. V. Types of Literature:
The Four Genres
2. Drama
- designed to be performed on stage by live actors. It therefore consists
of dialogue together with directions for action.
3. Poetry
- is a broad term that includes many subtypes, such as sonnet, lyric,
pastoral, ballad, song, ode, drama ( which may be in either prose or
poetry), epic, mock epic, and dramatic monologue. Its basic arrangement
is separate lines rather than paragraphs, although stanzas correspond to
paragraphs, and cantos sometimes correspond to chapters.

11. V. Types of Literature:
The Four Genres
4. Nonfiction Prose
- a broad term referring to short forms like essays and articles and to
longer nonfictional and nondramatic works. The essay or article is a form
designed primarily to express ideas, interpretations, and descriptions.

12. VI. Common Symbols and
Archetypes
1. Water: the mystery of creation; birth-death-resurrection; purification
and redemption; fertility and growth. According to Carl Jung, water is
most common
a) The Sea: the mother of all life; spiritual mystery and
infinity; death and rebirth; timelessness and eternity; the
unconscious.
b) Rivers: death and rebirth (baptism); the flowing of time
into eternity; transitional phases of the life cycle;
incarnations of deities.

13. VI. Common Symbols and
Archetypes
2. Sun (fire and sky are closely related): creative energy; law in nature;
consciousness (thinking, enlightenment, wisdom, spiritual vision); father
principle (moon and earth tend to be associated with the mother
principle); passage of time and life.
a) Rising sun: birth; creation; enlightenment
b) Setting sun: death

14. VI. Common Symbols and
Archetypes
3. Colors
a) Red: blood, sacrifice, violent passion, disorder
b) Green: growth, sensation, hope, fertility, in ironical context may be associated with death
and decay
c) Blue: usually highly positive, associated with truth, religious feeling, spiritual purity, security
d) White: highly multivalent; signifying in its positive aspects light, purity, innocence, and
timelessness; signifying in its negative aspects, death, terror, the supernatural, and the
blinding truth of an inscrutable cosmic mystery as in “The Whiteness of the Whale” chapter in
Moby Dick
e) Black (darkness): chaos, mystery, the unknown, death, primal wisdom, the unconscious, evil,
melancholy

15. VI. Common Symbols and
Archetypes
4. Circle (sphere): wholeness, unity
a) Mandala: a geometric figure based upon the squaring of a
circle around a unifying center; the desire for spiritual unity and
psychic integration. In classical forms features the juxtaposition
of the triangle, the square, and the circle with their numerical
equivalents of three, four, and seven.
b) Egg (oval): the mystery of life and the forces of generation

16. VI. Common Symbols and
Archetypes
4. Circle (sphere): wholeness, unity
c) Yang-Yin- the Chinese symbol representing the union of
opposite forces of the Yang (masculine principle: light, activity,
the conscious mind) and the Yin (the feminine principle:
darkness, passivity, and the unconscious mind).
d) Ouroboros: the ancient symbol of a snake biting its own tail,
signifying the eternal cycle of life, primordial unconsciousness,
the unity of opposing forces (as in Yang- Yin).

17. VI. Common Symbols and
Archetypes
5. Serpent (snake or worm):
Symbol of energy and pure force (cf. libido); evil, corruption,
sensuality; destruction; mystery; wisdom; the unconscious.

18. Extending the Literature Experience
List down five films you have watched
before and determine the different archetypes
used in those films.