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1. Explain de Saussure’s concept of the sign (the signified/signifier). Provide an example.
According the Saussure, the sign is formed from the union of the signifier (the sound - image)
and the signified (the concept it represents). The sound-image is not the physical thing but the
psychological imprint of the sound, the impression that it makes on our senses.
E.g., the signified concept (tree) is represented by the signifier (word ―tree‖).
2. De Saussure called language arbitrary and differential. Explain why.
The language is called arbitrary, because there is no natural reason why a signifier is linked to a
signified. The signs used in writing are arbitrary; there is no connection, for example, between
the letter ―t‖ and the sound that it designates.
The language is called differential, because it defines things by what they are not rather than by
what they are. The same person can write ―t‖, for instance, in different ways. The only
requirement is that the sign for ―t‖ not be confused in his script with the signs used for 1, d, etc.
3. What are langue and parole?
Language (human speech) = langue and parole.
Langue (a social rule-governed system, system of vocabulary, grammar rules, words)
Parole (the individual speech acts which must conform to the underlying system in order to be
understood).
4. What are syntagma and paradigm?
Syntagma - sentence (by choosing the paradigm).
Paradigm - collection of words similar to each other (I, you, two main verbs etc)
5. What is the synchronic approach to language?
Language at a one moment in time (like photograph).
6. What is the diachronic approach to language?
Language from the perspective of its development (study of a process).
7. Name three people involved with the creation of the formalist school.
Viktor Shklovsky, Boris Eichenbaum, Yury Tyananov
8. The famous definition by Jakobson of the poetic language – what did he mean when
he wrote about these two axes?
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Roman Jakobson wrote about two axes:
-
axis of selection
-
axis of combination
Generally it means that we have got the collection of paradigm as the principle of selection,
and when the poetic function takes its place we have to go for the principle of combination.
The principle of combination appears in the moment in which we start to pay attention to the
structure of the poem, to the combination of the words proceeding and following each other.
We generally choose one word from the whole range of possibilities.
9. What was sujet?
A sujet = a device; All these technical devices to make the story literary one is SUJET.
10. What did defamiliarization mean for Russian formalists?
Defamiliarization = ostranenie, it is the artistic technique of presenting to audiences common
things in an unfamiliar or strange way in order to enhance perception of the familiar.
11. Explain the six functions of the language according to Jakobson.
REFERENTIAL FUNCTION - refers to the context; the meaning depended on the context
EMOTIVE FUNCTION - refers to the addresser (sender); can be seen in interjections, which
are embodiments of the emotive function of the language and are very close to onomatopoeia
CONATIVE FUNCTION - refers to the addressee (receiver) (vocative and imperative);
utterance focused on the addressee
PHATIC FUNCTION - refers to the contact between two interlocutors; it occurs when one
feels obliged to say sth
METALINGUAL FUNCTION - refers to the code; when you comment on a word you used;
when language comments upon itself
POETIC FUNCTION -
focuses on "the message for its own sake"
[4]
(the code itself, and how it is
used) and is the operative function in poetry as well as slogans.
12. What kind of research did Vladimir Propp do and what was its importance in the
development of structuralism?
He analyzed
the basic plot components
in the folk stories and tales in order to come up with
the formula to explain them ―The Morphology of the Folk Tales‖. What Propp did with regards
to the Russian folk tales can be done to on all the corps of other tales.
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13. How can you apply the langue/parole division to other cultural phenomena
(literature, film, dress etc.)?
Applying the notion to semiotic systems in general rather than simply to language, the
distinction is one between the semiotic system and its usage in specific texts and practices.
If the Hollywood musical genre is thought of as a langue, parole ―spoken‖ within it would be
―Singin‘ in the rain‖ and ―Moulin rouge‖
For instance, in a semiotic system such as cinema, any specific film can be seen as the parole
of the underlying system of cinema'language'
14. Name three representatives of New Criticism.
Main representatives: Robert Penn Warren, Allan Tate, Cleanth Brooks
15. Why did New Critics like John Donne so much?
- Donne‘s poetry was filled with irony. For example, John Donne‘s ―The Flea‖ is a poem that
compares the idea of a flea sucking the blood of two people to the sexual intercourse of the two
individuals. The readers understanding that a flea biting two people is being compared to
intercourse creates a sense of irony in the poem. (This irony is an example of form following
content
which
is
valued
in
New
Criticism.
)
- Donne also uses very specific diction; the use of the words ―Suck‘d‖ and ―Suck‖ which
imitate the sounds of a flea taking blood but also the sounds of the intercourse. The diction
used in this poem is trying to show – not tell – the reader the ironic comparison of intercourse
to a shared flea bite. (Showing as opposed to telling is important in New Criticism because it
signifies the speaker‘s individual and ―sincere‖ experiences.)
16. What does Cleanth Brooks mean by writing “The paraphrase is not the real core of
meaning which constitutes the essence of the poem”, or “the heresy of paraphrase”?
He means that paraphrasing, which changes the form of poems, leads to a mistake of analusing
it without paying attention to the form.
17. What was the relation between form and meaning for New Critics?
New Critics believed that form and meaning are one thing.
They believe that all the elements of the poem both structural and aesthetic work together to
achieve a poem's effect or form, it is impossible to discuss the overall meaning of the poem by
isolating or separating form and content.
18. What is “affective fallacy”, “intentional fallacy’, who invented these expressions?
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―Affective fallacy‖ an error of judging or evaluating a text on the basis of emotional effect it
has on a reader.
―Intentional fallacy‖ reducing the analysis to assuming author‘s intent.
These two terms were invented by William K. Wimsatt and Monroe Beardsley.
19. Name three people involved with structuralism.
Vladimir Propp, Claude Lévi-Strauss and Roland Barthes.
20. In what way can be myth analysed like a language according to Levi-Strauss?
Claude Levi-Strauss regarded a myth as a kind of language which consists of parole and
langue. He thought that any specific myth was like a sentence which could be divided into
small unites (mytheme) and later analysed. Levi-Strauss chose myths, divided them into small
unites and then laid them out so that they could be read in a specific order. He organised myths
in a special way in order to find similarities between various themes in myths as he looked for
structural relationships.
21. What are the five codes applied by Roland Barthes in his S/Z?
Roland Barthes distinguished five codes in his S/Z. These are:
1. Hermeneutic code - it refers to any element of the story which is unexplained, mysterious. It
is associated with enigmas of the text, puzzles and mysteries that the text may or may not
eventually answer but will most likely defer and misdirect that answer, keeping the reader
guessing.
2. Proairetic code - devises which build suspense and make readers keep reading a text because
they want to know what happens next. It encompasses the actions or small sequences of the
narrative which creates narrative tension.
3. Semantic code - it points to elements that suggest another meaning and it is done by means
of connotations, e.g. French speakers assume that the name of a protagonist included in the title
is probably a female name because of its ending (‗S‘ stands for ‗Sarrasine,‘ the male
protagonist of the work, and the ‗Z‘ for ‗Zambinella,‘ the castrato who Sarrasine falls in love
with).
4. Symbolic code - deeper structural principles that identify the semantic meaning by the use of
antithesis; contrasts which organise the story.
5. Cultural code - it refers to common bodies of knowledge shared by the author and the reader
in order to understand the text.
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22. What did Roland Barthes mean by “the death of the author”?
The
inability
to
create,
produce,
or
discover
any
text
or
idea.
23. What are readerly and writerly texts and what kind of pleasure do they give the
reader?
Readerly - designed to make sense to us, it gives us everything we need. Confirms our idea and
knowledge of the world. The text is fully complete. It gives us pleasure.
Writerly - we are encouraged to becomes writers; take part in the process because the text is
not fully complete. It requires you to change your perspective, to reconsider how you are going
to read it. It challenges you and encourages you to pay attention.
24. What are the three parts of human personality according to Freud? Describe them
briefly.
Superego
acts as an internal master, teacher who tells us what we have to do, how to behave
and what we mustn‘t do. Superego is also a part of the conscious agent that seeks to fulfill the
ideal self.
Id
is a child-like part of our personality. The id operates on the pleasure principle which is the
idea that every wishful impulse should be satisfied immediately, regardless of the
consequences.
Ego
It is the decision-making component of human personality which works by reason.
25. How did Freud explain Hamlet’s vacillating behaviour?
According to Freud, Hamlet‘s actions are motivated primarily by an Oedipal complex, which is
the idea that a child has an innate love for one‘s mother and hatred for one‘s father in
childhood.
According to Freud‘s theory, Hamlet‘s id is to sleep with his mother. In addition, Hamlet‘s
superego keeps his Oedipal instincts in check by providing the moral foundation that deters
him from this sin.
Claudius, who represents Hamlet‘s id, has accomplished what Hamlet innately desires – to win
Gertrude. Consequently, Hamlet cannot murder Claudius, as to do so would be to kill a part of
himself. Only when Gertrude dies can Hamlet finally overcome his id and revenge the Ghost
by killing Claudius.
26. Why is metaphor similar to the psychological mechanism of condensation?
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It‘s what happens to us in dreams. We replace things we desire with something similar in
terms of shape. Metaphor is Lacan‘s way of analyzing Freud‘s notion of the condensation of
the symbol. It provides the anchor for the agency of the signifier‘s projection of meaning.
27. Why is metonymy similar to the psychological mechanism of displacement?
To transfigure a part of a person into an object (having Italian lover, dreaming of an Italian
car).
28. What is the collective unconscious and archetypes?
Collective unconscious represents a form of the unconscious common to mankind as a whole
and originating in the inherited structure of the brain.
Archetypes—reside within the collective unconscious of people. Archetypes represent
fundamental human motifs of our experience as we evolved; consequently, they evoke deep
emotions.
29. What does Lacan mean when he writes about “the incessant sliding of the signified
under the signifier” and the upholstery buttons?
A signifier leads only to another signifier, never to a signified. Lacan claims that there are
anchoring points (upholstery buttons) in a discourse which make interpretation possible, albeit
retrospectively.
30. What does hermeneutics have to do with the Greek god Hermes?
Hermes is messenger who brings the word from Zeus (God); thus, the early modern use of the
term hermeneutics was in relation to methods of interpreting holy scripture. An interpreter
brought to mortals the message from God.
31. How does the hermeneutic circle work?
The circle can be put in terms of part-whole relations: we are trying to establish a reading for
the whole text, and for this we appeal to readings of its partial expressions; and yet because we
are dealing with meaning, with making sense, where expressions only make sense or not in
relation to others, the readings of partial expressions depend on those of others, and ultimately
of the whole.
32. What is the “fusion of the horizon” or Horizonverschmelzung?
It is a dialectical concept which results from the rejection of two alternatives: objectivism,
whereby the objectification of the other is premised on the forgetting of oneself; and absolute
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knowledge, according to which universal history can be articulated within a single horizon.
Therefore, it argues that we exist neither in closed horizons, nor within a horizon that is unique.
33. Name three critics involved with reader-response theory.
Stanley Fish, Wolfgang Iser and Norman N. Holland
34. What is the role of blanks and negations in the process of reading as described by
Iser?
They give a rise and govern communication, because they spur the reader respectively ―to
perform the basic operations within the text‖ and ―to adopt a position in relation to the text‖ by
involving him in a process of canceling his expectations.
35. What is the term used by Bakhtin to describe the multiplicity of languages used by
one individual?
Polyglossia
36. Why is monoglossia centripetal and heteroglossia centrifugal?
Monologia operates according to centripetal force. The speaker of language is trying to push all
the elements of language into one single form. The centripetal force is trying to get rid of
differences among languages in order to present one unified language.
Heteroglossia -
permits a multiplicity of social voices in a novel; The coexistence of a diversity
of social speech types within one language. Centrifugal forces pull away from standardization
of language towards the margins.
37. Why is Marx’s philosophy dialectical and materialistic?
Dialectical materialism adapts the Hegelian dialectic for traditional materialism, which means
it examines the subjects of the world in relation to each other within a dynamic, evolutionary
environment, in contrast to metaphysical materialism, which examines parts of the world
within a static, isolated environment. Dialectical materialism accepts the evolution of the
natural world and the emergence of new qualities of being at new stages of evolution. As Z. A.
Jordan notes, "Engels made constant use of the metaphysical insight that the higher level of
existence emerges from and has its roots in the lower; that the higher level constitutes a new
order of being with its irreducible laws; and that this process of evolutionary advance is
governed by laws of development which reflect basic properties of 'matter in motion as a
whole'.
38. What are base and superstructure in Marxist view on culture?
In Marxist theory, human society consists of two parts:
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- the base - means of production, relations of production;
- superstructure -
all other aspects of society: ideologism, culture, norms and expectations.
39. How do ideologies produce false consciousness?
A system of ideology supports the advantage of the dominant class.
In a class-based society, there is an inherent conflict of material interests between privileged
and subordinate groups. In such a society, social mechanisms emerge that systematically create
distortions in the consciousness of the underclass. If these consciousness-shaping mechanisms
did not exist, then the underclass would dominate the society. So the institutions that shape the
individual‘s thoughts, ideas, and frameworks develop in such a way as to generate false
consciousnes.
40. What is alienation from the Marxist point of view?
Alienation describes the estrangement of people from aspects of their "species-essence" as a
consequence of living in a society of stratified social classes. The alienation from the self is a
consequence of being a mechanistic part of a social class, the condition of which estranges a
person from their humanity.
41. Name three representatives of the Frankfurt School.
Theodor Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Herbert Marcuse
42. “Amusement under late capitalism is prolongation of work”, write Horkheimer and
Adorno. What do they mean?
They argue that culture industry has taken over reality as the prism through which people
experience reality, thus completely shaping and conditioning their experience of life. It
provides easy entertainment which distracts massed from the wrongs and sickness of the ruling
order.
Popular culture appears to be offering a refuge and distraction for work, but in fact it causes the
worker to further dwell into a world of products and consumerism. The only freedom culture
industry has to really offer a freedom from thinking.
43. What did Virginia Woolf try to illustrate by her story of a fictitious Shakespeare’s
sister?
Virginia Woolf in her story tries to illustrate that there are so few famous female writers.
44. What did Virginia Woolf try to illustrate by her story of a fictitious author who dared
to write “Chloe liked Olivia”? Why did this sentence amaze her so much?
Virginia Woolf believes that the idea of friendship between two women is groundbreaking as
women in literature have only been viewed in relation to men. They could relate to each other
and be friends not rivals who would fight for a man‘s attention.
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45. In what way are sex and gender related to the signified/signifier duo?
The sex/gender distinction is vitally important for the critical theory of gender and sexuality,
because it denaturalizes gender performance and explains that gender is an arbitrary, cultural
construct (and is thus open to critical study). (You can compare this uncoupling of sex and
gender to de Saussure's act of inserting the bar between signifier and signified, which makes
linguistics possible by denaturalizing the link between the two.)
46. What are the similarities and differences between New Historicism and Marxism?
Both make the claim that a text cannot exist in a vacuum but that, in order to fully understand a
text in all its complexity and on all of its levels, one must take into account the social, political,
historical, and cultural implications of the society from which the text comes and in which
itexists;
The most prominent difference between Marxist Criticism and New Historicism is that Marxist
Criticism focuses on class struggle to a degree that New Historicism does not.
47. What is the attitude of New Historicism to New Criticism?
New Historicism provides a critical method of interpretation of a literary work of art, which
came into being as a reaction against New Criticism just as New Criticism came into being as a
reaction against historical and biographical methods of literary criticism. The new critics
consider a literary text as an autonomous entity. They are suspicious of history and consider the
discipline as enemy of literature.
The new historicists reject the new critical precept. The new historicists, reject the autonomy of
both an artist and work of art and argue that literary texts cannot be read and understood in
isolation. They emphasize that literary texts must be read and interpreted in its biographical,
social and historical contexts.
48. What is the “circulation of power” and ”hegemony” from New Historicist point of
view?
―Circulation of power‖ - it means that power circulates in the society. Power doesn‘t reside
―above‖ with lawyers, politicians or the police but follows a principle that everybody has some
power and participates in the maintenance of existing power structure.
―Hegemony‖ - the process by which dominant culture maintains its dominant status by
convincing people that particular structures of society within that dominant culture should have
power, e.g. the use of institutions to formalise power.
49. Why is for a New Historicist critic Shakespeare’s laundry list as important as
Shakespeare’s drama?
It could tell a lot about him as a man living in Elizabethan era. It could provide broader social
knowledge.