Introduction to Literary studies
BS English (1st Semester)
GDC Khwaza Khela Swat
Lecture by Sabir Shah
What is Literature?
• Literature is one of the fine Arts.
• It is meant to give aesthetic pleasure rather than serve any utilitarian
purpose.
• Literature is the written word that has a deep, lasting effect on those
who read it.
• It is typically rich with symbolism, themes and higher artistic or
aesthetic quality.
• “The form of writing which is the expression of ideas, views, emotions
and feelings of the writer and provides pleasure and knowledge to the
reader is called Literature”
Two basic types of Literature:
• Applied Literature:➢ A Literature which gives more importance to information rather
than expression.
Example: Darwin’s The Origin of Species
• Pure Literature:
➢ A literature which gives more importance to expression rather than
information of arguments.
Example: Keats’ Ode on a Grecian Urn
What is Genre?
• Genre is a French term derived from the Latin genus, generis,
meaning "type," "sort," or "kind.“
• It designates the literary form or type into which works are classified
according to what they have in common, either in their formal
structures or in their treatment of subject matter, or both.
• The main English Literature genres are:
➢Poetry.
➢Drama.
➢Fiction (Novel and Short story)
➢Non-Fiction ( Essays, biography, Travelogue, Autobiography and
pamphlet)
A) Poetic Genre Or Poetry
• Poetry is metrical composition that conveys certain truths.
• According to Sir Philip Sidney “ Poetry is a speaking picture with this
end, to teach and delight”
• According to William Wordsworth “ Poetry is the spontaneous
overflow of powerful feelings: It takes its origins from emotion
recollected in tranquility ”
• According to P.B Shelley “ Poetry is the record of the best and
happiest moments of the happiest and best minds”
• Poetic Form can be understood as the physical structure of the poem:
the length of lines, their rhythms, their system of rhymes and
repetition.
Forms of Poetry:
1-Sonnet
• It is a lyric poem of 14 lines that is popular from Late Middle Ages on.
• By the 14th century and the Italian Renaissance, the form had further made
well defined under the pen of Petrarch, whose sonnets were translated in
the 16th century by Sir Thomas Wyatt, who is credited with introducing the
sonnet form into English literature.
• A traditional Italian or Petrarchan sonnet follows the rhyme scheme abba,
abba, cdecde. For instance: John Milton’s “On His Blindness”
• The English or Shakespearean Sonnet follows the rhyme scheme abab, cdcd,
efef, gg. For instance: William Shakespeare’s “Time and Love”.
• The first eight lines of a sonnet is called Octave and the remaining six lines
are called sestet
2. Ode
• “Ode” comes from the Greek aeidein, meaning to sing or chant, and
belongs to the long and varied tradition of lyric poetry.
• It can be generalized as a formal address to an event, a person, or a
thing not present.
• Originally accompanied by music and dance, and later reserved by the
Romantic poets to convey their strongest sentiments.
• For instance: John Keats’ “Ode to Autumn”
3.Elegy
• An elegy, in poetic terms is a funeral song.
• It can be thought of as a melancholy poem, which is written to mourn
the death of someone, who is personal and close to the heart.
• A lyric poem mourning for the death of an individual or lamenting over
a tragic event.
• For instance: Thomas Gray’s “An Elegy Written in a Country
Churchyard”
4.Epic
• It is a long, often book-length, narrative in verse form that retells the
heroic journey of a single person, or group of persons.
• A long narrative poem that tells in grand style the history and
aspirations of a national hero.
• A primary epic is a type of Epic with which the epic tradition began
For Example: Homer’s “Iliad and Odyssey”.
• The secondary or Literary Epic is the one which imitated the tradition of
the primary epic.
For Example: John Milton’s “Paradise Lost”.
5.Ballad
• A narrative poem that tells a story through dialogue and action.
• The word ballad has been taken from Latin word ballare, which means
dancing song.
• John Keats’ “La Belle Dame sans Merci” is the example of Ballad.
6.Dramatic Monologue.
• A kind of lyric poem in which a single speaker expresses his thoughts
and feelings to a silent listener.
• Robert Browning is well known for dramatic monologues. “ My last
Duchess” is one of his famous Dramatic Monologue.
7.Hymn
• A lyric poem or song in praise of God or a deity or a hero.
• Keats “Hymn to Apollo” is one the well known hymn in English.
8. Epithalamion
• A kind of lyric poem written to celebrate a wedding.
• Spenser’s “Epithalamion” he wrote to celebrate his own marriage is
best example of it.
B) Drama
• Drama presents the actions and words of characters on a stage.
• A literary form intended to be performed on stage through action and
dialogues.
• It is also called “play”.
• From classical example also comes the standard subdivision into
tragedy and comedy.
• Historically, many of the specific conventions of these two types have
changed. We refer, for instance, to Greek tragedy, or to medieval
tragedy, or to Shakespearean tragedy.
Types of Drama
Comedy:• A kind of drama which begins with adversity or discord but ends in
happiness.
• Its primary purpose is to amuse the audience.
• Its plot presents conflict of some kind.
• Aristophanes, Shakespeare, Ben Jonson and Bernard Shaw are among
best known comedy writers.
Example: Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.
Tragedy:
• A story in which a hero is brought down by his/her own flaws, usually
by ordinary human flaws.
• In essence, tragedy is the mirror image or negative of comedy.
• For instead of depicting the rise in circumstances of a dejected or
outcast underdog, tragedy shows downfall of a once prominent and
powerful hero.
• Sophocles, Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe and John Dryden are
some famous tragedians.
Example: Shakespeare’s Hamlet is the best example of Tragedy
c) Novel
• A fictitious prose narrative of a certain length (50,000 and above
words).
• A novel tells an imaginary story about recognizable characters and
their actions.
• In other words, the people and events in traditional novels are
imitation of real human society.
• A novel ma be tragic or comic. It may be general or regional. It may be
psychological or social. A novel may also be a picaresque novel or a
gothic novel.
Types of Novel:
• Picaresque Novel: A novel that tells the story of a rascal or knave
who moves from place to place for adventures and fights his evil
antagonists. The genre gets its name from the Spanish word “picaro,
or "rogue”.
Example: Henry Fielding’s Tom Jones.
• Historical Novel: A Historical novel is a novel set in a period earlier
than that of the writing.
Example: Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities,
• Bildungsroman: German terms that indicates a growth. This fictional
autobiography concerned with the development of the protagonist’s
mind, spirit, and characters from childhood to adulthood. It is also
called formation or education Novel.
Example: Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations.
• Epistolary Novel: The word epistolary comes from Latin word
‘epistola’ means a letter. A novel in the form of letters. The narrative
of this type of novel is carried forward by letters written by one or
more of the characters of the novel.
Example: Richardson’s Pamela
• Gothic Novel: Gothic novel includes terror, mystery, horror, thriller,
supernatural, doom, death, decay, old haunted buildings with ghosts
and so on.
Example: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
• Regional Novel: A novel that is set against the background of a
particular area. A novelist who writes regional novels chooses a
particular fictional region for the settings of all his novels.
Example: Thomas Hardy’s novels are set in Wessex.