Archetype: Metamorphosis

Metamorphosis and shape shifting is a common theme in many cultures mythologies. Characters who transform are often used as a medium to express a meaning or enforce a characterization of the archetype. It is represented as both voluntary and involuntary to have different meanings. Apollo and Artemis are able to shape- shift into a more “essential form” and the goddess Circe is able to transform individual into animals as a punishment revealing their darker personalities.

Gregor’s transformation is representative of this tendency in mythology as his metamorphosis into a bug is used to express the central arguments of the novel

Archetype: Oedipus Complex

The Oedipal Complex that is represented in novel between Gregor and his family finds its foundations in a Greek myth about the character Oedipus. The story is used as an archetype to explain psychosexual development.

Archetype: The Tragic/Absurd Hero

A tragic hero is a main character who has to meet a tragic fate in order to express the full idea and meaning of the story. Tragedy is a main theme in many Greek myths and western theatre and influences how the reader should interpret a characters significance. Archetypes of the Tragic Hero are Oedipus, Creon, and Odysseyus. The Metamorphosis also finds its archetypal base in the The Myth of Sissyphus later to be interpreted by Albert Camus as depicting the height of triumph in the face of ultimate existential plight.

Gregor embodies qualities of this archetypal hero by being the focus of the books main conflict and having do endure all of the suffering and tragedy in the book in order to express the full meaning of both the book and his character.

Jim Casey- Grapes of Wrath Macbeth- The Tragedy of Macbeth Obi wenkenobi – Star Wars

What is an archetype?• Arche “first” and typos “form” • An original model or pattern from which copies are made

Archetypal Literary Criticism1. Archetypal critics believe that literature is based on recurring images, characters,

narrative designs and themes.2. Origins of western literature in Judeo-Christian scripture and Greco-Roman

mythology

Historical Context

1. Based on works of Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell (and myth itself)2. Popular in 1950s and ‘60s due to Canadian, Northrop Frye

Fundamental Plot ArchetypeTHE JOURNEY

• Protagonist moves from innocence to experience • Begins in familiar environment• Descent into danger• Battle “monsters” in underworld (task)• Return home (reunion, marriage)

Key Terms• Anima• Animus• Collective Unconscious• Persona• Shadow

Common Archetypal Figures

• The Child• The Hero• The Great Mother• The Wise old man• The Trickster or Fox

Frye vs JungFrye sees archetypes as recurring patterns in literature; in contrast, Jung views archetypes as primal, ancient images/experience that we have inherited

MARXIST CRITICISM

• Marxist criticism is based on the political and economic theories of Karl Marx that

deals with society rather than literature (1818-1883). Marx believed that history

is created and change occurs because of the struggles between social and

economic classes. Marx is revered as one of the most influential socialist thinkers

of the 19th century.Some of his most notable works are:

• The German Ideology (1846)• The Communist Manifesto (1848)• Das Kapital (1867) the seminal work of the communist movement.•

Some representatives of this school are Christopher Caudwell, George Lucas, Luciene Goldmann, and Walter Benjamin

Principles of Marxism

A sociological approach to literature that viewed works of literature or art as the products of historical forces that can be analyzed by looking at the material conditions in which they were formed.

1) The current struggle in modern history, is the struggle between the rich (owner)

called the “bourgeoisies” and the poor (worker) called the “proletariat” . It is

political in nature.

2) Marxist critics suggest that the struggle is inherent in our society so it is also

reflected in our literature.The Marxist critic finds a reflection of the same conflicts

in literature.It promotes the idea that literature should be a tool in the

revolutionary struggle.

3) It attempts to clarify the relationship of literary work to social reality.

4) It aims to arrive at an interpretation of literary text in order to define the

political dimensions of literary work

MARXISM

1. Economic structure is the main driving force behind all social conditions and historical changes.

2. Marx considers human history as a series of struggles between classes -between the oppressed and the oppressing.

3. Capitalism is based on exploitation of labourers .

4. The workers’ revolution is the inevitable result of exploitation and the means of emancipation.

The aim of Marxism is to bring about a classless society, based on the common ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange

CONCEPTS

1. The Marxist idea of society sees it as constituted by a base (the material means of production, distribution, and exchange) and a superstructure, which is the “cultural” world of ideas, art, literature, religion, education, law, and so on.

2. The material conditions control thought, not vise versa. It is not the consciousness of men that determines their existence, but their social existence that determines their consciousness. Marxist theory argues that the way we think and the way we experience the world around us are conditioned by the way the economy is organized.

Basic Assumptions of Marxist Criticism

1. Economic and social conditions affect all aspects of life including art and literature . All intellectual and artistic production are the product of these conditions.

In other words, all intellectual and literary production is ideological.

2. Art reflects the social and economic conditions (and class conflict).

3. Art aims at improving the social and economic conditions.

4. Since literature represents ideology, Marxist critics see it as a way to understand social structures. They look for political ideas and ideologies in a text, and explore how society and economic forces influence literature.

5. Marxist critics explain the class structure and class relations in a literary work.

6. Social and economic conditions inform not only the content of literature, but also the literary form and techniques.

What do Marxist Critics ask?1. What role does class play in the work?2. What is the author's analysis of class relations?3. What does the work say about oppression and social conflicts?

CRITICS OF KARL MARX

GEORG LUKACS: Reflectionism or Vulgar Marxism

1) Believed that the text will reflect the society that has produced it.

2) Stressed that historical approach is different to reflectionism

3) Reflectionists attribute the separation that they discover to the ills of

capitalism.

Louis Althusser: Interpellation Argued that literature and art affect the society. Believed that the working class is manipulated to accept the ideology

of the dominant one. Jameson and Eagleton : Theories are intertwined and not just one

sided.

DEFINITION OF TERMS• Bourgeoisie : the name given by Marx to the owners of the means of

productions in a society. • Ideology : A belief system • Proletariat : The name given by Marx to the workers in the society. • Capitalism is an economic system that is based on private ownership of

the means of production and the creation of goods or services for profit.

Engels and Marx founded the social and economic system of Marxism in the

19th century. Essentially, it is the opposite of capitalism. Instead, Marxism utilizes

socialism’s concept of public ownership.

Marxism theorizes that in order to remove the proletariat

from its poor economic situation, a socialist revolution must occur to remove the

unconcerned ruling class from government.

What about Marxist literary criticism?

1) Marxist Criticism is the belief that literature reflects this class struggle and materialism.2) It looks at how literature functions in relation to other aspects of the superstructure,

particularly other articulations of ideology.3) Like feminist critics, it investigates how literature can work as a force for social change, or as

a reaffirmation of existing conditions.4) Like New Historicism, it examines how history influences literature; the difference is that

Marxism focuses on the lower classes.

Key Terms1) Commodification 2) Conspicuous consumption 3) Dialectical materialism 4) Material circumstances 5) Reflectionism 6) Superstructure

Points to consider1. Literature expresses the ideas, beliefs and values of a culture

2. Literature of any significance actively engages in controversy or argument

3. Literature reveals power struggles (sexual power, economic power, social power,

and so on) and how this operates and with what consequences. Literature and

authors can manipulate readers into sympathizing with rather than critiquing the

dominant (and oppressive) social order.

4. The theory that history develops neither in a random fashion nor in a linear one but instead

as struggle between contradictions that ultimately find resolution in a synthesis of the two

sides. For example, class conflicts lead to new social systems .

5. The economic conditions underlying the society . To understand social events, one must have

a grasp of the material circumstances and the historical situation in which they occur.

6. A theory that the superstructure of a society mirrors its economic base and, by

extension, that a text reflects the society that produced it

7. The social, political, and ideological systems and institutions--for example, the

values, art, and legal processes of a society--that are generated by the base

n New Criticism

1. View literature as a valid form of knowledge and as a communicator of truths inaccessible via scientific and other discourse

2. A work of literature has an organic structure 3. Objective way of analyzing literature 4. Author’s intentions are irrelevant5.

n Assaulted middle-class ideologies of liberalism, romanticism, individualism

n Before Milton—poets could think but not feeln After (Romantics)—feel but not think—and degenerated

New Criticism

T.S. ELIOT• Symbolism in context of classical and Christian traditions

Believed language of poetry should communicate by objective correlatives—deep symbols and images that bypass rational thought and seize readers by “the cerebral cortex, the nervous system, the digestive tracts.” Images should penetrate to the primitive levels at which all men and women experienced alike—through symbols, rhythms, archetypes, images of death and resurrection, the Fisher King.

n AMERICAN NEW CRITICISM • John Crow Ransom The New Criticism (1941)• Poetry as an aesthetic alternative to the scientific rationalism of the

North• Sensual integrity of poetry as a form of human knowledge• Allen Tate, R. P. Blackmur, Robert Penn Warren,

Cleanth Brooks• A poem is a “unification of attitudes into a hierarchy subordinated to

a total and governing attitude”

Phenomenology / Reception Theoryn JEAN-PAUL SARTRE (1905-1980)

F What is Literature? (1948) F A book’s reception by the reader is part of the work itselfF Includes an image of who the book is written forF An implied reader is encoded in the book itselfF The dilemma of the contemporary writer, who can address his work

neither to the bourgeoisie, the working class or the mythical man in general.

n RECEPTION THEORYF Role of reader as co-partnerF Reader brings considerable knowledge and experience

to the literary encounterF Including literary conventionsF Will fill in the blanks, select and organizeF Must open ourselves to the deep essences of thingsF Look for recurring themes and patterns of imagery

Pre-Structuralism

n NORTHROP FRYE, Anatomy of Criticism (1957)• Literature formed an objective system that could be analyzed

“scientifically”

• Laws = archetypes, myths, genres are basic structures (universal patterns)

• Four narrative categories:• Comic Spring• Romantic Summer• Tragic Autumn

Ironic Winter

NORTHROP FRYE, Anatomy of Criticism (1957)• Tragedy About human isolation• Comedy Human integration• Three recurrent patterns of symbolism:

• Apocalyptic• Demonic• Analogical

n NORTHROP FRYE, Anatomy of Criticism (1957)• All these patterns spring from the COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUS to reveal

universal archetypesF Myth ero is superior F Romance Superior in degree F Tragedy and epic Superior in degree but not to othersF Comedy and realism Equal to rest of us

Satire and irony Inferior

Louis Althusser (1918-1990)n Ideologies constructs the subjectn Humans are the result of many different social determinantsn Why didn’t the working classes rebel?n Ideologies help us create a sense of identityn Make us feel good about ourselvesn Lacan’s idea of Other n Ideologies give people a satisfying mirror image of themselves (identify

with a cause)

Postmodernism: Basic Concepts

1. Language is a social construct that “speaks” & identifies the subject

2. Knowledge is contingent, contextual and linked to POWER

3. Truth is pluralistic, dependent upon the frame of reference of the observer

4. Values are derived from ordinary social practices, which differ from culture to culture and change with time.

5. Values are determined by manipulation and domination

Post-structuralism

STRUCTURALISM

n The individual is sacred

n The mind as the realm of meaning

n Universal laws and essences

n Inherent universal meanings that precede the text

POSTSTRUCTURALISM

1. The “subject” is a cultural construct2. Mind created from interactions as situated symbolic beings3. Truth is “local”; language creates reality4. Meaning is intertextual, determined by social discourse; changes with history.5. Meanings are often hidden in the texts6. Real meaning can be unlocked by deconstructing the text7. Must consider psychological, cultural, ideological, gender and other “power

positions” of author, characters, intended readers8. Words are an endless chain of signifiers, pointing to nothing but themselves

New Historicism & Cultural Materialism

1. Recognize that history is written by the victors2. History as culturally produced--not objective narratives3. Paralleled evolution in cultural criticism4. Focus on power, culture and economics5. New Historicism: Top of social hierarchy

a. Government, church, upper classes6. Cultural Materialism: Bottom of society

a. Lower classes, women, gays, colonialized ethnic groups

Jaques Derrida (1930-)

Deconstruction is a theory of reading which aims to undermine the logic of opposition within texts.

n Skeptical postmodernistn Attacks fundamental principles of Western philosophyn Influenced by Nietzsche and Heideggern Attacks from a structuralist foundationn Agrees that meaning is not inherent in signsn Strongly disagrees with bifurcation of structuralism

STRUCTURALISM is inherently flawed:

I. Argues that all STRUCTURES have an implied centerII. All systems have binary oppositions

III. One part more important than another (good/evil, male/female)IV. Reinforces humanist idea that speaker/subject more importantV. Reinforces real self as the origin of what is being said

VI. This is logocentricism—basic to all Western thought since Plato

BASIC THEMES:n By deconstructing, basic units of logic are shown how they contradict

themselves.n Sees all writing as a complex, historical cultural process rooted in the

relations of texts to each other and in the institutions and conventions of writing.

n Language operates in subtle and often contradictory ways.n Certainty will always elude us