Theories of Literature

When words mean

something else
Literature is imitative

• 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.”
Literature is representative

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.”
The expressions are representations of the author’s
emotions and feelings.
Literature is appreciative
• Literature gives us a bigger view of life.
• 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.
Literature is symbolic

• Common Symbols and Archetypes

 1. Water: the mystery of creation; birth-death-
resurrection; purification and redemption; fertility and
growth.
Literature is symbolic

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.
 Literature is symbolic

a. 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
Literature is symbolic
• 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 
Literature is symbolic
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
Literature is symbolic

4. Circle (sphere): wholeness, unity

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).

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).
Literature is symbolic
5. Serpent (snake or worm)
Symbol of energy and pure force (cf. libido); evil, corruption, sensuality;
destruction; mystery; wisdom; the unconscious.

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of-literature
LITERARY STANDARDS

• 1. Permanence
• 2. Artistry
• 3. Suggestiveness
• 4. Universality
• 5. Spiritual Value
• 6. Intellectual Value
• 7. Style
LITERARY STANDARDS

1.PERMANENCE

A great work of literature endures.

It can be read again and again as each reading gives fresh
delight and new insights and opens a new world of meaning
and experience.

Its appeal is lasting.

•
LITERARY STANDARDS

2.ARTISTRY

 This is the quality that appeals to our sense of beauty.

LITERARY STANDARDS

SUGGESTIVENESS
 This is the quality associated with the emotional power
of literature.
 Great literature moves us deeply and stirs our feeling
and imagination, giving and evoking visions above and
beyond the plane of ordinary life and experience.
LITERARY STANDARDS

UNIVERSALITY
 Great literature is timeless and timely.
 Forever relevant, it appeals to one and all, anytime,
anywhere, because it deals with elemental feelings,
fundamental truths and universal conditions.
LITERARY STANDARDS

SPIRITUAL VALUE

Literature elevates the spirit by bringing out moral values

which makes a better person.
The capacity to inspire is part of the spiritual value of
literature.
LITERARY STANDARDS

INTELLECTUAL VALUE

 A literary works stimulates thought.

It enriches our mental life by making us realize fundamental truths
about life and human nature.
LITERARY STANDARDS

STYLE

This is the peculiar way in which writers sees life,

forms his ideas and expresses them.

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