Literature as a Discourse

7/30/2019 Literature as a Discourse

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The Subject matter of Literature as a discourse

Literature: A Definition

Nobody has ever succeeded to define exactly and comprehensively what literature really is. One useful

definition of literature is given in (Egudu, 1977) which defines literature as a mode or method of

expression. It is not just a subject that expresses something; but rather it is the way, manner, or method

in which something is said or written. Literature is a term used to describe written or spoken material.

It is used to describe anything from creative writing to more technical or scientific works, but the term is

most commonly used to refer to works of the creative imagination, including works of poetry, drama,

fiction, and nonfiction. Literature is a composition that tells a story, dramatizes a situation, expresses

emotions, analyzes and advocates ideas, helps us grow personally and intellectually. It provides an

objective base for knowledge and understanding, shapes our goals and values by clarifying our own

identities both positively and negatively. Literature makes us human. We see human nature through

tragedy and romance, joy and sorrow, in epiphanies and denial, in moments of heroism and in moments

of cowardice. Literature provides insight into the minds of other human beings, into the mind of the

author and the minds of the character he or she brings to life.

Literature teaches us to analyse a character, allows us to reach inside his or her mind so we see what

drives a character, what shapes his or her beliefs and how one relates to others. Youths of today realise

the true depth of human emotion and behaviour. They understand that there is more to a person than

what they display on the exterior. They see the intricacy of human experience, giving them an open

mind and an open heart. However, today's youth can only reach this point of enlightenment through

seeking knowledge - by being well read and cultured individuals. We can only analyse a character once

we understand and look beyond the obvious. We learn not to judge a character based on appearances

because more than any other field of study, literature openly acknowledges the unreliable nature of

appearances. Literature also allows us to question some of our most prominent beliefs and examine our

lives, giving them deeper meaning.

Literature provides a means of escape from the problems of our daily life by mentally taking us away

from our real world and its problems to a different world, at least for a short while. When you read a

novel or watch a film you temporally forget about the problems of your real life and become absorbed

in the imagined world of fiction or drama or poetry. From time to time you read or watch things that

make you laugh or sometimes shed tears and you are thus entertained. At other times literature

entertains us by creating beauty by the choice and use of words. The poet for instance chooses words

not only for their meaning but also for their sounds and colour. Besides pleasure, literature teaches

morals and lessons which people derive from the experiences of the characters they watch and read

about.


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Literature has served as a subtle means of education right from the earliest times when folk tales were

used to entertain and teach morals and social norms as well as explain why certain phenomena are the

way they are. The story teller after telling an entertaining story would end with that is why people

die or that is why it is not good to be jealous of others. In modern literature the writer concentrates

on telling the story but allows the reader to draw his or her own conclusions which is often indirectly by

the manner of telling the story and the experiences of the main character and other characters in the

story. In Chinua Achebes Things Fall Apartfor instance the writer does not directly condemn inflexibility

of character and refusal to accept change as a part of human life but this is suggested in the behaviour

and tragic end of the main character, Okonkwo. This is because his friend, Obierika, and other villagers

end well because they accept the inevitable change brought by the white man and know when to stop

resisting the changes.

Literature preserves culture, and since language is its medium of expression, language is inextricably

linked with culture. Today, we know how the language of Chaucers time and that of Shakespeares time

looked like through the written literature of the time. Literature also helps the development of

language. Writers are often the most proficient users of language. They bend the language to express

their thoughts. They create new words and figures of speech which help to enrich the language. The

cultural values of the people are expressed in their language/ literature and literature helps to preserve

these for the future generation. After reading Things fall Apartfor instance, the reader knows so much

about the Igbo society, their religion, customs, even the kinds of food they eat and their social life.

These are not all. Literature helps its readers to develop certain skills and capacities. These include the

capacity to discriminate and make judgments and decisions. The ability to choose and decide on one

course of action or the other is a task that we perform everyday of our lives, and every decision we take

every day of our lives helps to determine our successes or failures in life.

GENRES OF LITERATURE

Literature is divided into genres prose/the novel/ short story, drama and poetry. Each shares the

characteristics of literature as a method of expression but each has its peculiar way of suggestion. The

novel or prose literature suggests by means of an invented story or series of stories, drama suggests by

means of an invented action or series of actions while poetry suggests by means of invented images or

pictures. This means that in prose literature a story (long or short) which carries a theme as the story of

the ten virgins is told. In drama a situation is created where people are presented as acting different

roles. In poetry the poet invents images or mental pictures. Each can also use the same material as the

other. For instance a novel, play or poem can be written on the same subject. Also, there can be action

in a novel though it is implied and both the novel and drama make use of images or invented pictures


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while a poem can tell a story. This stresses the fact that the three genres are branches of the same

entity, their individual methods of communication notwithstanding.

PROSE FICTION

Prose fiction (myths, parables, romances, novels, short stories)are stories that are made up in the mind

of the author. They are make-believe or imaginary. The stories are not true, although they may be

based on truth, including scientific, historical, or geographic fact. Some of the major subdivisions of

fictionare realistic fiction, historical fiction, and fantasy (Withington, 1996).

Realistic fiction includes stories that seem like real life, and stories that could happen in todays world.

The situations are true to life or could be true, but the characters are made up. Adventure stories are a

type of realistic fiction that are exciting and usually have an aspect of peril, threat, or danger. Mystery

stories are also a type of realistic fiction that includes an element of suspense and secrecy. Something

puzzling usually needs solving and a crime is frequently involved. Humorous stories refer to stories that

are primarily intended to entertain and amuse. Events are frequently exaggerated.

Historical fiction includes stories that take place in the past and that are based on historical fact. Usually

the setting and the events in the story are close to the facts, but the characters are made up. However,

historical fiction may include real people as characters. An example is Chimamanda Adichie's Half of a

Yellow Sun. Fantasy books are make believe stories that are so fantastic that they can't possibly be true.

They often include animals behaving like people. An example is The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland,

by Louis Carroll.

Prose is a form of language which applies ordinary grammatical structure and natural flow of speech

rather than rhythmic structure (as in traditional poetry). While there are critical debates on the

construction of prose, its simplicity and loosely defined structure has led to its adoption for the majority

of spoken dialogue, factual discourse as well as topical and fictional writing. It is commonly used, for

example, in literature, newspapers, magazines, encyclopedias, broadcasting, film, history, philosophy,

law and many other forms of communication.

Prose lacks the more formal metrical structure of verse that is almost always found in traditional poetry.

Poems often involve a meter and/or rhyme scheme. Prose, instead, comprises full, grammatical

sentences, which then constitute paragraphs and overlook aesthetic appeal. Some works of prose do

contain traces of metrical structure or versification and a conscious blend of the two literature formats

is known as prose poetry. Similarly, any work of verse with fewer rules and restrictions is known as free

verse. Verse is considered to be more systematic or formulaic, whereas prose is the most reflective of

ordinary (often conversational) speech.

Elements of Fiction


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The essence of fiction lies in its narration (the telling)while its elements includes verisimilitude and

donnee. Verisimilitude gives fiction its realism which makes fiction to be compelling enough that the

reader can suspend disbelief while donnee is the premise by which you can judge the realism hence

ground rules. The elements of fiction are sourced from character, plot, structure, theme, symbolism,

style, point of view, tone, irony.

The plot is a reflection of motivation and causation. For instance if in writing, it is written that the king

died and then the queen died it shows there is no plot. The writing is given a plot if written as the king

died, and then the queen died of grief. Conflict controls impulse in a connected pattern of causes and

effects as in opposition of two or more people (e.g., hatred, envy, anger, argument, avoidance, gossip,

lies, fighting, etc.) while dilemma is conflict within or for one person. Conflict is a major element of plot

because it arouses curiosity, causes doubt, creates tension, produces interest hence without tension

there will be no interest.

Character in a prose fiction is a verbal representation of a human being. The rounded character is

lifelike, full and dynamic, with the reader being able to predict the future behavior because of an

understanding of the personality. The protagonist is the hero or heroine, the main person in the story,

person on the quest, etc. while the antagonist is the person causing the conflict, in opposition to the

protagonist, the obstacle, etc.

A Flat character exhibits no growth and is static while a stock character is a representative of a group or

class (stereotypical).

Characters disclosed through actions, descriptions (both personal and environmental), dramatic

statements and thoughts, statements by other characters and statements by the author speaking as

storyteller, or observer. Characters need to have verisimilitude, be probable or plausible.

Point of view refers to a speaker, narrator, persona or voice created by the author to tell the story and it

depends on two factors: the physical situation of the narrator as an observer and the speakers

intellectual and emotional position.

The first person point of view makes use of I or we while the second person is depicted by the use of you

though uncommon. The most common point of view is the third person which uses pronouns such as

he, she and they.

Point of view may be dramatic/objective which implies strict reporting, omniscient (all-knowing) or

limited omniscient (some insight).

Setting is a works natural, manufactured, political, cultural and temporal environment, including

everything that characters know and own (place, time, objects). Its major purpose is to establish realism

or verisimilitude, and to organize a story. Setting helps create atmosphere or mood and may reinforce

characters and theme, in order to establish expectations that are the opposite of what occurs (irony).


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Prose fiction also has tone and style. Tone refers to methods by which writers and speakers reveal

attitudes or feelings while style is the ways in which writers assemble words to tell the story, to develop

an argument, dramatize the play or compose the poem. It is the choice of words in the service of

content. An essential aspect of style is diction which can be Formal ( standard or elegant words), neutral

(everyday standard vocabulary) or informal (colloquial, substandard language, slang).

Symbolism and allegory are modes that expand meaning. Symbol creates a direct, meaningful equation

between a specific object, scene, character, or action and Ideas, values, persons or ways of life. Symbols

may be cultural (universal) or contextual (authorial). Allegoryis a symbol which is a complete and self-

sufficient narrative.

Fiction is created by an Idea which is a result of general and abstract thinking. In literature, ideas relate

to meaning, interpretation, explanation and significance

Literature embodies values along with ideas. Ideas are vital to an understanding and appreciation of

literature and are not as obvious as character or setting. It is important to consider the meaning of what

youve read and then develop an explanatory and comprehensive assertion.

Theme can be found in direct statements by the authorial voice, direct statements by a first-person

speaker, dramatic statements by characters, figurative language, characters who stand for ideas and the

entire work itself.

POETRY

Poetry uses forms and conventions to suggest differential interpretation to words, or to evoke emotive

responses. Devices such as assonance, alliteration, onomatopoeia and rhythm are sometimes used to

achieve musical or incantatory effects. The use of ambiguity, symbolism, irony and other stylistic

elements of poetic diction often leave a poem open to multiple interpretations. Similarly, metaphor,

simile and metonymy (Strachan and Terry, 2000) create a resonance between otherwise disparate

imagesa layering of meanings, forming connections previously not perceived. Kindred forms of

resonance may exist, between individual verses, in their patterns of rhyme or rhythm.

Poetry has several elements in which its expression is given a meaning. These include:

Prosody

Prosody is the study of the meter, rhythm, and intonation of a poem. Rhythm and meter are different,

although closely related (Pinksy, 1998). Meter is the definitive pattern established for a verse, while

rhythm is the actual sound that results from a line of poetry. Prosody also may be used more specifically

to refer to the scanning of poetic lines to show meter (Fussell 1965).

Rhyme, alliteration, assonance

Rhyme, alliteration, assonance and consonance are ways of creating repetitive patterns of sound. They

may be used as an independent structural element in a poem, to reinforce rhythmic patterns, or as an


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ornamental element (Corn 1997). They can also carry a meaning separate from the repetitive sound

patterns created.

Poetic form is more flexible in modernist and post-modernist poetry, and continues to be less structured

than in previous literary eras. Many modern poets eschew recognisable structures or forms, and write in

free verse. But poetry remains distinguished from prose by its form; some regard for basic formal

structures of poetry will be found in even the best free verse, however much such structures may

appear to have been ignored (Whitworth, 2010). Similarly, in the best poetry written in classic styles there

will be departures from strict form for emphasis or effect (Hollander, 1981).

Among major structural elements used in poetry are the line, the stanza or verse paragraph, and larger

combinations of stanzas or lines such as cantos. Also sometimes used are broader visual presentations

of words and calligraphy. These basic units of poetic form are often combined into larger structures,

called poetic forms or poetic modes.

DRAMA

Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance (Elam, 1980). The enactment of drama

in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of

production and a collective form of reception. The structure of dramatic texts, unlike other forms of

literature, is directly influenced by this collaborative production and collective reception (Pfister, 1977).

The two masks associated with drama represent the traditional generic division between comedy and

tragedy.

Drama is often combined with music and dance: the drama in opera is generally sung throughout;

musicals generally include both spoken dialogue and songs; and some forms of drama have incidental

music or musical accompaniment underscoring the dialogue.

Forms of drama

Opera

Western opera is a dramatic art form, which arose during the Renaissance in which both music and

theatre were combined. Being strongly intertwined with western classical music, the opera has

undergone enormous changes in the past four centuries and it is an important form of theatre until this

day.

Pantomime

These are stories that follow the tradition of fables and folk tales. Usually there is a lesson learned, and

with some help from the audience, the hero/heroine saves the day. This kind of play uses stock

characters which includes the villain, the clown/servant, lovers etc. These plays usually have an


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emphasis on moral dilemmas, and good always triumphs over evil, this kind of play is also very

entertaining making it a very effective way of reaching many people.

Creative drama

Creative drama includes dramatic activities and games used primarily in educational settings with

children.

NON-FICTION

Non-fiction is the form of any narrative, account, or other communicative work whose assertions and

descriptions are understood to be factual. This presentation may be accurate or notthat is, it can give

either a true or a false account of the subject in questionhowever, it is generally assumed that authors

of such accounts believe them to be truthful at the time of their composition or, at least, pose them to

their audience as historically or empirically true. Note that reporting the beliefs of others in a non-fiction

format is not necessarily an endorsement of the ultimate veracity of those beliefs, it is simply saying it is

true that people believe them (for such topics as mythology, religion). Non-fiction can also be written

about fiction, giving information about these other works. Non-fiction need not be written text

necessarily, since pictures and film can also purport to present a factual account of a subject.

Major types of non-fiction

Essays, non-fiction is in journals, diaries, documentaries, histories, scientific papers, photographs,

biographies, textbooks, travel books, blueprints, technical documentation, user manuals, diagrams and

some journalism are all common examples of non-fiction works, and including information that the

author knows to be untrue within any of these works is usually regarded as dishonest. Other works can

legitimately be either fiction or non-fiction, such as journals of self-expression, letters, magazine articles,

and other expressions of imagination. Although they are mostly either one or the other it is possible for

there to be a blend of both. Some fiction may include non-fictional elements. Some non-fiction may

include elements of unverified supposition, deduction, or imagination for the purpose of smoothing out

a narrative, but the inclusion of open falsehoods would discredit it as a work of non-fiction.

Conclusively, literature's main role is to picture society, it is both the eye and light of society which

enables reflections of the structures of society. It's major role is communication, it communicates the

way people do things together through a variant of forms - it takes different ways to exposite - the

worldview of a people and values and a peoples own knowledge system - through satire, humour or

even poetic forms. Therefore literature's position in society is like that of the sun in the universe.

Remove the sun from its prescribed position in the primordial triad of creation - and darkness will

traverse the earth infinitely in continuum. Subtract literature from society and ignorance, illiteracy,

frailty of the present and future will become the characteristic annotations and denotations of a grim


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existence. The role of literature in society is there - irrevocably and irreversibly - without any alternative

- not even history - because literature is an aspect of truth which defines - being, explicate trends about

that being and analyse important issues of society.

References

Corn, Alfred (1997). The Poem's Heartbeat: A Manual of Prosody. Storyline Press.

Egudu, R. N. (1977). The Study of Poetry. Ibadan, Nigeria: Oxford University Press.

Elam, Keir. 1980. The Semiotics of Theatre and Drama. New Accents Ser. London and New York:

Methuen.

Fussell, Paul (1965). Poetic Meter and Poetic Form. Random House.

Hollander, John (1981). Rhyme's Reason. Yale University Press.

Pfister, Manfred. 1977. The Theory and Analysis of Drama. Trans. John Halliday. European Studies in

English Literature Ser. Cambridige: Cambridge University Press.

Pinsky, Robert (1998). The Sounds of Poetry. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Whitworth, Michael H (2010). Reading modernist poetry. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 74.

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Literature as a Discourse