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This document discusses the biographical and historical approach to understanding literature. It explains that this approach examines the influence of the author's background, time period, and social/historical context on their work. Understanding these external influences can provide insight into the work's themes, language, and intended impact. The document provides examples of how studying an author's life, era, and society can help interpret allusions and depictions in their writing. It also notes some reasons this approach diminished among new critics, who preferred focusing on aesthetic qualities alone.
This document discusses the biographical and historical approach to understanding literature. It explains that this approach examines the influence of the author's background, time period, and social/historical context on their work. Understanding these external influences can provide insight into the work's themes, language, and intended impact. The document provides examples of how studying an author's life, era, and society can help interpret allusions and depictions in their writing. It also notes some reasons this approach diminished among new critics, who preferred focusing on aesthetic qualities alone.
This document discusses the biographical and historical approach to understanding literature. It explains that this approach examines the influence of the author's background, time period, and social/historical context on their work. Understanding these external influences can provide insight into the work's themes, language, and intended impact. The document provides examples of how studying an author's life, era, and society can help interpret allusions and depictions in their writing. It also notes some reasons this approach diminished among new critics, who preferred focusing on aesthetic qualities alone.
Manilyn R. Cacanindin CONTENT Social Perspective History and Biography
They are tried and true methods =
understanding Literature Social Viewpoint Nobody lives a completely isolated existence Each of us is a product of more biological, intellectual, emotional and spiritual influences All of us affect the world in some way
Literature- We are products of a time, a place, and an
individual and that they have the capacity to affect and even change the world into which we are introduced. 1. race- national characteristics that are typically found in the works of art produced by the creative artists 2. milieu- the environment of the artist, the sum total of her experience 3. moment- less personal influence in a writers life (major intellectual currents of a period)
Arts Unique Character (H. Taine)
1. importance of the heredity and environment of the writer- social attitudes and opinions that appear in his work (Uncle Toms Cabin) 2. The world that is presented in the work itself What culture and society are being depicted? (How does the fictive world reflect its outer world?) 3. The work that the world entered- the audience for which it was intended. What kind of impact did it have on its readers? (response of the reading public in different periods) 3 Areas that are of interest to the social critique (A. Warren) 1. the influence of new critics 2. the reluctance of readers to judge a work thru its social relevance, their desire to value it for its aesthetic qualities 3. aversion to studying society rather than literature 4. readers find these approaches offering less opportunities for creative reading Reasons why Social Approach (history and biography) Diminished 1. the knowledge of the past gives readers a way to understand the language, ideas and purposes of literature more deeply and clearly Awareness of social trends and conventions that would have influenced a writers attitudes and tastes clarify allusions to local and historical events and explain special uses of individual works and expressions explain the origins of a specific work, clarify the source of the authors convictions, reveal her deep concerns and conflicts Importance of Historical and Biographical Approach Guide Questions
What time period was the piece written in?
How does that time period influence the work? What cultural impact does the time period have on the piece? What is the authors background? Does the authors personal history influence the piece? If so, how? Are any significant historical events described in the work? Was there a political and or religious message in the work? How do the issues addressed (or conflicts depicted) reflect controversies, questions and problems of the authors day How does this work exemplify the literary period in which it was produced? (classicism? Romanticism?) What are the attitudes of the author (either implied or explicit) about the central concerns of the text? Why does he have them? Examples In Literature and The Real World
Saving Private Ryan Academy Award Winning
Movie, Based on a platoon in WWII Gladiator- Movie, Graphic depiction of the late Roman Empire To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain Les Miserables by Victor Hugo Works Cited Theory into the Practice An Introduction to Literary Criticism by Ann B. Dobie