Historia Literatury
Panecka
1 - 28.02.12
John Bunyan
he wrote in prose, he wrote allegories
allegory - an extended metaphor where characters and events represent or stand for issues,
concepts or ideas)
He was a soldier in the army of Cromwell (the Lord Protector)
he fell in love with puritan girl, he converted into puritanism to the point that he became puritan preacher
in 1660 when Charles II came from France, John B got arrested by preaching without a licence
He wrote there the most popular book in England 'Pilgrims Progress'
Pilgrims Progress
Story about a man whose name is Christian, he lives in the place called City of Destruction. He hears that the city will soon be destroyed so he decides to run away to Celestial City (celestial = niebiański). He asks his wife and children to go with him. He runs with 2 friends Hopeful and Faithful. When they are walking they pass Valley of the Shadow of Death and Valley of Tears. They arrive at a place called Vanity Fair. Place built by the devils to divert attention from Celestial City. You can buy there friendship etc.
Faithful is there wrongly accused and executed. Now only with Hopeful Christian gets to Celestial City.
Hope is most important to get to the Celestial City. Even Faith is not that important.
Christian - every man
Extra points - Find cultural and literary references with 'vanity fair'
'Life and death of Mr Badman'
He dies and ppl are gossiping
'Holy war'
Allegory about good and evil. On the good side there is army of Emmanuel. Generals of Lucifer's army represent evil etc. Generals of Emmanuel represent faith, good deeds, justice.
From this allegory we may learn how it was to be a soldier at Cromwell's army.
Extra: Find out names of generals 2 of Lucifer and 2 of Emmanuel
Metaphysical poetry
Martian School of Poetry - Craig Raine (representative of this group). They continue 17th century metaphysical poetry.
They have a special room in each household where they lock themselves up and they suffer and then they let the water down. But children can suffer in public (bathroom).
Poem 'Onion' - peeling onion is like undressing a beautiful woman
18th century was called:
The Age of Reason
The Enlightenment
The Golden Age
The Augustan Period
The Age of Queen Ann
(1st 2 decades) Poets could count on her
The Age of Pope
Of Alexander Pope, he was the best poet of the poets of this time
The Iron Age
Age of censorship. Robert W introduced censorship to theatres.
The Age of Reason
18th century favours the intellect. The age of facts. It's not the age for poetry. No nonsense. No ghost. No supernatural. The age of science. The Enlightenment - moral instruction in art and literature.
The Golden Age & The Augustan Period.
Referring to the history of Rome. Anglomania - everything written in English was immediately translated into European languages.
Prime minister Robert W
1737 - he closed theatres again. He was responsible for expansion of Swedes through England.
Allegory - what's that?
What is the message of Pilgrims Progress?
Justify the popularity of metaphysical fiction in modern/contemporary poetry.
People are bored with everything, they think they've read everything. So the only possible way to interest them is to shock them.
Why was the 18th century the age that did not produce the great poets?
Enlightenment, censorship. Poetry can be interpreted in different ways, it's subjective.
GREAT PERSONALITIES OF 18TH CENTURY
Compare Defoe and Swift in fallowing aspects:
background: family, birth, protectors, education, faith, political views
literary genres they introduced
Daniel De Foe
The biggest lair.
His name was Foe, not De Foe.
Foes father was a butcher. De Foe wanted a name that would sound more aristocratic.
He graduated from University and he was a specialist in marketing.
Protestant
1688 - glorious revolution. Catholic James II (inadequate and bloody king) → William of Orange (foreigner on the throne). Many Englishmen were sceptical. De Foe wrote a satire supporting William 'A True Englishman' (a poem) - he says: don't reject the king because he's a foreigner, you are foreigner yourselves. He calls Englishmen mongrels.
When William of Orange died, De Foe could no longer count on the king. Anglican Bishops were very intolerant (towards him).
He wrote 'The shortest way with the Dissenters'
Dissenters: Catholics, Puritans and other then Anglicans. He writes 'we have so many problems with dissenters. We want to change them but they don't want to. So we have to get rid of them, in a gentle way but we have to. The bishops first reaction was positive, Then they wanted to capture him. They sentenced him to pillory (pole where a person is supposed to stand and suffer public punishment - pręgież) His readers cheered him, so it was his triumph. But he was also imprisoned in Newgate prison.
De Foe had influential friends who wanted to get him out. He didn't want it. He found there ppl who were interesting. They told him his stories. They were criminals.
'The newgate stories' e.g. Moll Flanders (a prostitue), Roxanna (luxurious prostitute), Colonel Jacque (pirate), Captain Singleton (highway man - like in the movies).
Some ppl say they were 'protonovels' not novels.
The language is individualised to each criminal
He had friends among king's advisors
He was married to a rich woman, but he lost the money. He had great ideas but always had bad luck
De Foe was a tory (opposite: wigs) - they supported the king. When he was in prison the Wigs were majority in the government but tories were planing a trunover. Tories took him out and he was to be a spy 'sense a public spirit'. He wrote 'A Tour'. He writes about many cities (Manchester). He compares all of them to London.
Better journalist then writer.
Born in 1660
1666 - great fire of London,
1665 - the attack of black death in London
'Jurnal of the plague year' - where he writes how he organised help (when in fact he was 5). He writes about poor sanitation.
Fist English journalist. Newspaper originally appeared as war builletins. Gradually there were some articles, comments, reports. De Foe founded first newspaper 'Review' (1702 / 1704) it didn't appear regularly. With time De Foe included into the Review a weekly supplement (literary review).
He was genrally liked.
Johnatan Swift
generally disliked
when he was kidnapped as a baby his parents didn't start to look for him for a year!!
Questions:
De Foe as a man (personality, religion)
Protestant who quareled with Anglican bishops
Well educated
Marketing specialist
A lier
a Tory
Literary forms
satire (attitude of mocking)
(proto)novels
Journals
08.05.12
with French woman - nie obowiązuje
Martineau (nazwisko)
19th century writer
1802
Victorian period begun when she was in her 30s
1st stage
1832 - her career started
her works were published in Monthly Repository (a unitary journal)
Her parents were Unitarians (religion).
her early articles were religious. She reviewed books.
She saw herself as a person who could teach political science to uneducated ppl. Her personal mission was to educate the British public. She wrote up to 30 tales illustrating political economy as a science.
Each month she wrote 100 pages in a form of a tale, each tale illustrating one major idea/concept of economy, what it meant and impact on the country, ppl.
When the series was finished it was put together as a book "illustrations of political economy'. Titles she chose are v. suggestive.
The Manchester tale - it was industrial city. Elizabeth Gaskow
Demarara (brown sugar) - relations between British Empire and colonies so that they could cheaply buy brown sugar (produced by slaves)
The loom and the luger. Loom (used to weave). Arthritis, manual workers.
2nd stage
She wanted to write fiction even though before she always based on facts
Dearbrook - citizens are in close relations
2- 22.05.12
Daniel De Foe
Jonathan Swift
They wrote satires. They get old quickly, are not relevant.
Daniel De Foe 'A True Born Englishman'
1688 foreigner on the throne William of Orange. English ppl shouldn't be so proud of their roots cause they are mongrels. Foreigner on the throne is is guarantee of peace (not war)
The shortest way with the dissenters
Dissenters - those who do not belong
Dissenters for 17th Century England were those who were not highly born Englishman(?).
DeFoe got arrested and was sentenced to pillory (pręgież)
Everybody liked DeFoe, ppl loved him
J. Swift did not write his satires to speak against. They were written to please ppl in power.
Nobody liked him. He suffered from brain tumour. His biographers try to justify his difficult character with his difficult childhood (when he was kidnapped by his nanny his mother started to look for him after a year).
DeFoe studied economics. Robinson Crusoe is said to be novel about economy. He was protestant, very religious man.
Swift studied humanities (he failed almost all subjects). He was an orphan, half Irish. The only way to be successful was by the church. He wanted to become a bishop.
Monarch nominates bishops so he needed Queen Ann's approval. He became a secretary to sir William Temple (v. influential man, he wrote literature, essays, poetry). Through Temple he could get to the queen. Temple told him to write sth to please the queen and she'll nominate him. He wrote a satire 'Tale of a Tub' (bajka o beczce).
Tale of a Tub
written in form of allegory (extended metaphor where character stands for issues, ideas etc).
Old father who is dying has 3 sons and their names are: Peter, Martin, Jack. On his dying bad the father asks his sons 'I will give you a present each, a coat, just please don't change it'
Peter adds some extra buttons, beutifies it. Jack thinks it's too showy and makes it more modest. Martin preserves the coat in the original shape.
Peter - catholic religion
Martin - Protestantism
Jack - Puritanism
The only true religion, the one inherited from God is Protestantism.
He gave satire to the queen. Sir Robert Walpole didn't like artists, literature etc. to the point that in 1736 he closed down the theatres because he was personally criticised. Walpole said to queen that Swift compares religion to ......... She fallowed him and Swift was rejected. No chanses for being a bishop. So he wanted to stay at Temple's.
There was argument how to write poetry and poets divided into:
The Ancients
The Moderns (W. Temple he thought Swift will fallow him)
Swift wrote 'Battle of the books' (wojna książek). It's about fight. We see books sitting on the shelves. There are some new books which want to have more space for themselves. In this satire Swift compares the Ancients to bees and Moderns to spiders.
Bees produce honey out of juices. They locate most tasty juices/flowers and produce a new product - honey. Like authors who use elements of tradition and create sth new. (e.g. Milton - paradise lost).
Spiders - no spider-web is alike. They produce it from inside of their bodies. They produce original works (e.g. metaphysical poetry John Donne)
He didn't say that spiders are better than bees, what Temple expected him to do. He fired him.
Swift went back to Ireland (it's like going today to African jungle). Ireland was a colony, first theatre was built in 1910. Irish were not educated. Swift was a priest, he hated Irish ppl but become most loved man in Ireland. Why?
He hated Walpole, he started writing pamphlets (not satire which is attitude of mocking). Pamphlet is personal, directed against person. He criticised English policy in Ireland. Pamphlets were titled 'Drapier's Letters' (listy kupca bławatnego - where you buy clothes).
Modest proposal (one of pamphlets)
S says we have so many children, they eat, they're naughty, and as teenagers are criminals. 'I have a friend in America who said that infant's meat is very delicate, we should say 1year-olds for meat' He gives recipes. He says 'catholic children should not be sold for meat after feast because their meat will smell of fish'. Readers were shocked but he told ppl to ask these children's parents if they wouldn't have prefered been killed for meat when they were young instead of living in this poor conditions. Walpole gave a bribe to manufacture an Irish coin in England. Then he drew back the licence since he was afraid.
Gulliver's travels as a satire - 4 satires in one
Stages of novel in the course of time
periodical essays
proto-novel
verisimilitude: golden Age
Henry Fielding
S. Richardson
T Smollett
L. Sterne
reaction to verisimilitude
the sentimental novel
the Gothic
PERIODICAL ESSAYS
Novel as a genre was born in literary magazines
17th/18th century
Letters from war-field in form of war-bulletins
DeFoe was the first English journalist, he started a 'review' (przgląd) (daily) and then started supplement 'literary review' (weekly). In 1720s he wrote first novels.
- De foe included them in supplement. Series novels, appearing in fragments. Stories ware v simple and closely related to what was happening at the time (Easter here, Easter there). Problems concerned the current reality
PROTO-NOVEL
Defoe was arrested but had many friends among Tories and when he was in Newgate prison his friends wanted to get him out, but he didn't want to. He wrote stories of his fellow prisoners 'The Newgate novels'
titles:
Moll Flanders (she's scum of the earth) prostitute
Roxana (luxurious prostitute)
Captain Singleton
Colonel Jacque
Proto - beginning. Each novel needs characters, plot and setting. Critics say that there's sth wrong with his characters, that they change overnight, don't see life as a proces.
He imitates language of other prisoners Roxana / Moll - different language
In the 18th century in England a model of literary magazine emerged.
Emulate (wzorować sie)
Joseph Addison
Richard Steele
Defoe was first journalist but was not patient enough to continue it. Above mastered it to perfection
Steele was v bright, well-educated. He wrote a book 'A Christian hero' - a gentleman was born. He doesn't kill, nor steal, respects women, obeys 10 commandments, avoids violence. Why a gentleman became a hero?
Middle class - had money but not aristocratic origin and wanted to emulate aristocrats. A gentleman was a model the middle class aspired to in order to look like upper class. Steele tried his luck with starting many literary magazines. The Tatler was v successful but he finally went bankrupt. He found his friend Addison and both started 'Spectator'. Steele was charming but not good at business. Addison was good at it and both were ideal partners.
They published first periodical essay 'The Club' (klub) - about a club in London, ppl came there and talked about private problems and current issues. There are 2 fiends Sir Roger (aristocracy) v honest, heart of gold, not v bright & his best friend Sir Andrew - an honest merchant, bright and cleaver. In the club it way how gentleman should behave was presented.
What is satire? What is pamphlet?
illustrate DeFoe's courage referring to one of his satirical text
The Shortest way - mongrels (bishops)
illustrate how Swift failed to please his protectors in his satires
Battle of the books - ancients vs. modern
Definition of periodical essay.
Why are DeFoe's first novels called protonovels?
characters were not well developed (not believable)
Who is a gentleman?
new class emerging
Addison & Steele as first (conscious) English journalists
3 - 05.06.12
GOLDEN AGE OF THE NOVEL
Verisimilitude - likeness to the truth, probability
It was age of reason, fact. Authors pretended that their novels were someone's diary, recorded words etc. De Foe claimed that he actually met Robinson Crusoe.
18th century in Europe; Anglomania, anything that was written in England was thought to be good
1740s-1750s
Samuel Richardson
Journalist who worked as agony aunt (journalist :P). Letters had to be folded (those woman couldn't do it correctly). So he wrote a manual which in the end turned into a novel called Pamela or virtue rewarded.
Pamela has to read to her lady, it's her duty, and does different things. Pamela writes letters home. There's a Squire B (suggestion that he's real, hiding surname) who makes attempts to her. It ends that he proposes to Pamela. It was a huge success. First epistolary novel. Epistolary novel prepares ground for psychological novel.
A psychological novel is the one that does not give objective truth so reader has to work, think. We may think that Pamela is pure and good girl, but some may think that poor squire B is manipulated by Pamela.
'Clarisa' by Richardson
4 corresponders
Clarisa - young girl, v ignorant about the world, her parents find her candidate but she want to escape this marriage. She decides to elope = run away from how in the middle night on the black horse with handsome gentleman
he wants Clarisa for himself
Clarisa writes to her friend, she wanders how it will turn out, she writes that it's a nice place ladies are good but they have to many man-visitors ( --> burdel)
She's raped by Lovelace when she realised what happened she died of grief
who writes to who?
Clarisa -> Friend, Friend -> Clarisa
Lovelace -> his friend
The man who loved Clarisa want to duel Lovelace. L. thinks that he deserves to die and gets defeated on purpose and dies
(Film production: Faithful wife) French version niebezpieczne związki'
Charles Grandison - man is looking for wife, in the end he's got to choose between pretty vs rich woman
Richardson didn't want to become novelist, it was by chance.
Callamity Richardson - extra work
Henry Fielding
He started by writing parody of Pamela, called Shamela. He didn't want to write novels either. He wrote plays for the stage and one of his plays became immediate reasons why theatres were closed down for the second time.
In 1736 he wrote Historical Register of the year 1736 - he criticised police, Prime Minister Walpole. So W closed theatres and forbade writing for stage so Fielding had to turn to wiring novels. Theatres were opened soon but he W. introduced censorship (held until 1960s) - 2 houndred years of censorship.
Joseph Andrews - another parody of Pamela. Young man trying to preserve his virtue running away from Lady B who's making attempts to him. In the middle of the novel we find out that it's Lady Boobie. Joseph lives in London. She's stalking him, she's everywhere. If readers didn't understand Fielding gave Joseph a sister called Pamela.
Picaresque novel - comes from picaro (bluebird, good for nothing, łotrzyk, not a villain, not an exemplary character) Powieść łotrzykowska. It's about Picaro. It has a loose structure, a character is often on the run (running away). e.g. Huck Finn. Often comic novel
Tom Johns (Full title: The story of Tom Johns foundling (znajda podrzutek))
Extra work: read two adventures of Tom Johns.
Tom Johns is running from country to London
Fielding was a politician, member of parliment, lawyer. Judge of peace of a country of Westminster. He wanted to express his views.
Amelia
Novel of ideas - opinions of the author are more important than the plot, character, setting - it's a tool, way to express views
It's a love story. Amelia has a husband who starts gambling, drinking. But Amelia manages to convert his husband to good ways. A's husband in a member of parliament - thorough him he(author) expresses his views: highway crime. Parliamentary novel
Richardson & Fielding
R. quiet, modest, shy, surprised at his great fame, popularity and financial success. Created epistolary novel
F - proud, parodies
Both become novelists by chance
Tobias Smollett
Sailor, sea-man, ship-doctor (medyk okrętowy). He wrote about sailors, life on the sea. He created marinistic novel
Marinistic Novels -
Naturalist novel
Man is shaped by the circumstances in which he lives
Life on the sea is not easy. Ppl had to be harsh, tough.
T. Smollett - Roderick Randon - about his sea voyage. He's treated badly by the crew. They treat him brutally. He's made a life target when they're attacked by pirates. Individualised language.
Perigrine Pickle
PP uses ppl, steals, commits crimes. Acting on the believe that poverty induces crime. Finally we see him in prison. Woman there falls in love with him and takes him out of there. They live in the country cause he was bad, become good when he found a rich woman. They have to live in the country because in a city he could become bad again.
Sentimental novel (Firstly written by Tobias Smollett)
components:
Sentiment (feeling is stronger) sentiment is lukewarm.
sentimental scenes (ppl lost and found, farewells)
travel narrative
Very often ppl travel and write letters -> it's often epistolary novel
They created in European culture gentlemen stereotype:
they like gardening, landscapes, plants,
they like animals
are reserved towards foreigners (v sweet but you don't speak their language)
In sentimental novel no one dies
Sentimental excludes any drama, it's pleasant melancholy
Humphry Clinker - first sentimental novel. It opens series of novels about master and servant. (Master and cleverer than his master butler).
Film: Remains of the day (by Kazuro Ishiguro)
Laurence Sterne - master of sentimental novels
Sentimental Journey
Exam: define 2 kinds of travellers as presented in Laurence Sterne's Sentimental Journey
Sentimental Journey
1st type: tourist |
2nd type |
travels in chronological time |
A seemingly unimportant event in the chronological time becomes an occasion for a chain of associations which lead him to evaluate the past experience
Conversation with your younger self
coś teraz robi -> przypomina mu to coś z przeszłości, myśli o tym i zmienia zdanie, swoje nastawienie do tego
V. Wolf called it Internal Monologue (she didn't invent it) |
Gothic novel
(how to introduce ghosts into the age of fact?)
Edward Burke - introduced it
Essay: Beautiful and the sublime
V. different meanings
B. - sth that can be measured, touched, qualified
S - cannot be measured, nor categorised, touched, defined
In the world there are things beautiful and there are things sublime
Most important Quote: The strongest human emotion is fear - when ppl are scared they do not lie, it also works as catalyst. When you're in fear life is in slow motion, you can do more.
When characters are scared they realise some things about themselves
In this way Burke legitimised the Gothic. He says yes, it is right to write about things that are sublime and to write about ppl who are scared - it'll be interesting for readers.
Walpole had a brother Horace Walpole who popularised the Gothic tradition. He had a huge house where he collected gothic literature from the whole world. He wrote first gothic novel: Castle of Otranto (zamczysko w otramto)
Gothic division:
classic
supernatural is not rationalised in any way, not explained
facade
seemingly supernatural events find their rational explanation
Jane Eyre & Wuthering Heights
Classic^ ^ghost which are not rationalised
Ann Radcliffe
Gothic novel's components
Villain
secrets from the past (associated with villain)
Damsel in distress (woman)
the supernatural
the setting (dungeon, castle)
QUESTIONS:
The epistolary novel of Richardson
Fielding as a novelist
Marinistic novels by Tobias Smollett
Discus the difference between two kinds of travellers as it's in Sentimental Journey
Define internal monologue,
present the model of a sentimental novel
Present the model of the gothic narrative, how did Burke legitimise the Gothic?
Extra points: scene of strom in King Lear
4 - 12.06.12
Explain the difference between the 18th century formal realism and the Victorian psychological realism
meant to look like life <--> realism proper. High and early realism
characteristic themes and narrative devices of modernism and post-modern themes and narrative techniques
Man is presented as having little, or no choice
Modernism - no objective truth. Culture is decaying. They are against plot. Symbolism (symbol is relative)
Post-modernism - meta-fiction, magic realism (difference between real and unreal world is fluid), intertextuality, multiple endings (you chose which you like) - all for fun
Formal Realism of 18th century
Verisimilitude, authors wanted literature works look as if they were real stories/letters/
Authors were obsessed to present their literature as it happened in reality.
Victorian Period
Queen Victoria died in 1801. This period was not heterogeneous
early1830s
high -1870s
late - 1880s
1892 - end of Victorian period
Alfred Tennyson - poet laureate, nominated in 1850, he remained poet laureate for 42years. He spoke for the British for 42 years
Early and high:
Ch. Dickens, the B.. sisters, George Eliot, William Thakery(?)
Victorian realism = psychological realism - evolves abundance of details, there are psychologically believable characters, it presents the reality of the author and the reality of the reader (author writes about things that are familiar to him, readers should find it easy to identify with characters), presents current issues.
Dickens:
Novelist and journalist. Dickens knew life v well, his father was arrested for debts. (they lived in prison and could go to work). He learnt about life of "scum of the earth'. He was parliamentary reporter. He knew about most current issues. He studied law, was school inspector - he knew life. He was a realist.
hard times - criticises schools, memorising facts. Criticises system of law which favours the rich, and treating children as adults. He writes about prostitution, crime. About underprivileged. He, just like Shakespeare was criticised. Sometimes he wrote sth (chapter 1) and than after some months when he wrote e.g. 10 chapter he changed woman into man (he didn't remember original).
Emily & Ann & Charlotte Bronte
Ch. was very possessive, she insisted on proof reading their novels. Jane R. - first heroin that is ugly. In these times stereotype of woman was Angel in a house - woman is submissive, is supplement to a man. Ch. in her novels opposes the stereotype. Jane R is governess who falls in love with her employer
Evete(?), Professor
Women didn't have many rights, they belonged to man. Cases of divorce were extremely rare. Children were usually given to the father. In her novel we have a psychologically believable character. Jane R - scene where J is contemplating loveless marriage, she's about to agrre this man but than she hears... ? and changes her mind (projection). Ch writes about world she knows, she's aware of the woman issue, she includes many details
Emily
She wrote first psychological novel in English literature, W.... heights Emily never left her father's parish, she lived in a closed circle of her family, she didn't have friends, yet she created Hicliff (?). The novel is the classic gothic (ghosts not rationalised) - which excludes the realism. The novel is not about current issues. It's about: presents psychologically believable characters Catherine (?) and H...(?). C loves H. He's a gipsy, she wants to a lady so she choses gentleman. H to win her love decides do become a gentleman. He comes back after some years looking as a gentleman. But they didn't change, though they look differently. Ppl act against their nature (v. Shakespearean theme). Not realistic, but psychological novel.
Elliot
She wrote typically realistic novels about rural life, v happily immersed in her own world. She writes about female characters facing a dillema (chose private good or public good), about current issues.
Middlemansch ??
Mill of the __
George Eliot = Marry Ann Evens(?)
B. Sisters didn't publish using her names, they used male names
18th century church: women have to be led.
Late Victorianism - last decade of the century
Mood of pessimism and disappointment.
Thomas Harvey(?), Joseph Conrad.
Thomas Hardy
Jude the obscure - he wants to study and become priest. He writes to the dean, who says 'stay where you are you don't need education, you're from working class'. Late Victorians - naturalists. Harvey is opened to say about (homo)sexuality. Very brutal scenes. H stopped writing novels and turned to poetry.
Pes, A pair of blue eyes, Return of the native (=powrót ziomka :D).
Naturalists - man and animals are subject to the same...
He criticised and didn't propose any change. He doesn't believe in God, he calls himself a churchist (he likes architecture and ritual, he doesn't believe in it). He feels burdened with history. When faced with history man is unimportant and vague.
Realism did not die out in 19th century, it's just different convention, non is less advanced
MODERNISM
Last decades of 19th century
Modernist revolution of art. Modernism - reaction to realism. Modernists claimed that author can tell the truth about the world outside the plot. = not much happens in modernists novels.
Perhaps Niche started it 'god is dead' = there is no objective truth when it comes to values. Psychologist found out that man is not what he looks like, behaves. The end of the 19th century - cultural anthropology (new science) = a comparative study of cultures. They studied primitive cultures and found out that religion is set of comparable models. Each religion: god who died and was resurrected. If we decide that myth is a religion of an extinct culture we can compare with different religion. High Anglicans then felt that they are primitive like ppl from Africa. There is no objective truth about man and god. WWI for England was tragedy (Poles regained independence). Nothing is certain, objective. Rules of Aristotle were questioned by modernists (art should be mimetic - imitating reality, art should be aesthetic = purity of literary genres). Modernists - why expect purity? why should we imitate reality that is so uncertain? Ulysses -mixture of genres
Features:
no objective truth
multiple points of view
multiple narrators
non-chronological narration
flashbacks
foreshadowing
symbolic (subjective) narrative. Symbol mirrors the reader. Symbol outside a novel is nothing
Man presented in mythological perspective
Modernism was seen as strange, difficult, foreign.
Representatives:
V. Wolf. S. Strange, J. Joyce, Ezra Pound
James Joyce, Ulysses
W. Wolf - Mrs Dalloway
Conrad - heart of darkness (?)
Modernists say time is not a line, it's a circle
T.S. Eliot 'time is a pattern of timeless moments'
Ulysses - Main character is compared to Ulysses and his wife to Penelope.
Post-mondernism
emerged in 1960s/70s
no objective truth
achronological narration
symbolism
multiple points of view
Modernists were pessimistic, theme of modernists and post modernists: 'decay of modern culture and civilisation'. But post refuse to be serious about it. It's a kind of a game, it's to surprise, amuse the reader, to intrigue him. Addressed to well-read reader. They play with the reader
Modernists - achronological narration (multiple endings)
John Faust - French lieutenant's woman - in the end we have 2 endings, multiple versions, reader can chose
Black Prince - similar ending
Meta-fiction - author destroys illusion of verisimilitude e.g. author materialises himself (e.g. as a character or appears in the last chapter) it's to amuse the reader. It's against catharsis. Reader should not identify. Author reminds that this is fiction
Magic realism - In a truly realistic novel we have some unrealistic features
Angela Carter Knights at the circus - woman is not sure if she's a woman because she has wings, she may be a swan. No character is surprised by this fact.
intertextuality - creating of a text by (with) other texts. they allude to certain other works of literature. It should change our view on both views
Jean Chris Wide Sargasso sea - it's about Jane R,