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L/O/G/O邵冰清西方文论——WhatisLiterature?TheriseofEnglishⅠ.Whatisliterature?•Definition:Fiction?Fact?Shakespeare,Webster,MarvellandMiltonFrancisBacon,JohnDonne,BunyanDefinition•RussiancriticRomanJakobson:“Literatureisanorganizedviolencecommittedonordinaryspeech.”•Before1917,Russianformalists,includingViktorShklovsky,RomanJakobson,OsipBrik,advancedthedefinition.•Stalinism:Literatureisaparticularorganizationoflanguage.Itisamaterialfactwhichhasitsownspecificlaws,structuresanddevices.Formalism•Literarywork:arbitraryassemblageof'devices',•1.contentwasmerelythe'motivation‘ofform,anoccasionorconvenienceforaparticularkindofformalexercise.•2.thecharacterisjustadeviceforholdingtogetherdifferentkindsofnarrativetechnique.Formalism•Literarydiscourseestrangesoralienatesordinaryspeech.•'makingstrange'wastheessenceoftheliterary.•TothinkofliteratureastheFormalistsdoisreallytothinkofallliteratureaspoetry.(Technique)Definition•Literatureisakindofself-referentiallanguage,alanguagewhichtalksaboutitself.•Literaturecannotinfactbe'objectively'defined.•Itleavesthedefinitionofliteratureuptohowsomebodydecidestoread,nottothenatureofwhatiswritten.readerDefinition•anykindofwritingwhichforsomereasonoranothersomebodyvalueshighly.•'literature'isahighlyvaluedkindofwritingValue?Variable'Value'isatransitiveterm:itmeanswhateverisvaluedbycertainpeopleinspecificsituations,accordingtoparticularcriteriaandinthelightofgivenpurposes.ValueVariable•Valueisapartof‘ideology’.•Ideology:thewaysinwhichwhatwesayandbelieveconnectswiththepower-structureandpower-relationsofthesocietywelivein.•InPracticalCriticism(1929),theCambridgecriticI.A.Richardsdemonstratedjusthowsubjectiveliteraryvalue-judgmentscouldactuallybe.Ⅱ.TheRiseofEnglish•In18thcentury,theconceptofliterature:thewholebodyofvaluedwritinginsociety.Criteria:thevaluesand'tastes'ofaparticularsocialclass.In19thcentury,'Romanticperiod‘:‘creative'or'imaginative'work.RomanticPeriod•Background:uprisingofmiddleclass;economictake-off;utilitarianismbecomingthedominantideology;revolutionandprotests•Literaturebecomesapoliticalforce.Itstaskistotransformsocietyinthenameofthoseenergiesandvalueswhichartembodies.RomanticPeriod•Theword‘poetry’nolongerreferssimplytoatechnicalmodeofwriting:ithasdeepsocial,politicalandphilosophicalimplications.•In19thcentury,WilliamMorrisharnessedthisRomantichumanismtothecauseoftheworking-classmovement.ModernAesthetics•FromtheworkofKant,Hegel,Schiller,Coleridge,weinherittheideasof'symbol'and'aestheticexperience',and'aestheticharmony’.•Artislargelyaproductoftheveryalienationfromsociallife.Itisspecialandmysterious.•Thewholepointof'creative'writingwasthatitwasgloriouslyuseless.ModernAesthetics•Artwasextricatedfromthematerialpractices,socialrelationsandideologicalmeaningsinwhichitisalwayscaughtup,andraisedtothestatusofasolitaryfetish.Symbolism•Atthecenterofaesthetictheoryattheturnoftheeighteenthcenturyisthesemi-mysticaldoctrineofthesymbol.•ForRomanticism,thesymbolbecomesthepanaceaforallproblems.•Thesymbolfusedtogethermotionandstillness,turbulentcontentandorganicform,mindandworld.LiteratureandIdeology•Literatureisanideology.Ithasthemostintimaterelationstoquestionsofsocialpower.•Bythemid-Victorianperiod,thistraditionallyreliable,immenselypowerfulideologicalform,religion,wasindeeptrouble.LiteratureandIdeology•'English'isconstructedasasubjecttocarrythisideologicalburdenfromtheVictorianperiodonwards.•MatthewArnold:•Theurgentsocialneedisto'Hellenize'orcultivatethephilistinemiddleclass.•Thiscanbedonebytransfusingintothemsomethingofthetraditionalstyleofthearistocracy.Controlandincorporatetheworkingclass.Function•Englishhelpsto'promotesympathyandfellowfeelingamongallclasses’.•Itwouldcommunicatetothemthemoralrichesofbourgeoiscivilization,impressuponthemareverenceformiddle-classachievements,andcurbinthemanydisruptivetendencytocollectivepoliticalaction.Twomeans--Emotion•Literatureworksprimarilybyemotionandexperience.•Literaturehasbecometheoppositetoanalyticalthoughtandconceptualenquiry.•Thepillofmiddle-classideologywastobesweetenedbythesugarofliterature.Twomeans--Experience•Experienceisinitsliteraryformakindofvicariousself-fulfilment.•Theactuallyimpoverishedexperienceofthemassofpeople,animpoverishmentbredbytheirsocialconditions,canbesupplementedbyliterature.Education•'English'asanacademicsubjectwasfirstinstitutionalizednotintheUniversities,butintheMechanics'Institutes,workingmen'scollegesandextensionlecturingcircuits.•F.D.MauriceandCharlesKingsleyemphasizedonsolidaritybetweenthesocialclasses.Transmissionof‘moral’values•Theriseof'English'ismoreorlessconcomitantwithanhistoricshiftintheverymeaningoftheterm'moral‘.•Arnold,HenryJamesandF.R.Leavisarethemajorcriticalexponents.•F.R.Leavis:Literatureismoralideologyforthemodernage.Academicestablishment•AccordingtoaRoyalCommissionwitnessin1877,Literaturemightbeconsideredasuitablesubjectfor'women...andthesecond-andthird-ratemenwho...becomeschoolmasters.TheriseofEnglishinEnglandranparalleltothegradualadmissionofwomentotheinstitutionsofhighereducationAcademicestablishment•Lite