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352. 301:1 Popular Literature

Definition : The literature whose primary objective is to reach the masses or larger audience and entertain the readers or spectators is called popular literature. It can be poetry, prose, satire, fiction, non fiction, etc. Unlike Literary Literature's aim to show what the society wants to see, popular literature wants to entertain only and gather sales. It doesn't need to transcend time. But, some carry literary tinges and become literary too. Fiction is most popular genre in popular literature. Technology developments have helped its facilitation. It has extended the imitative nature of popular literature.  There are different perspectives and relatable themes involved in it like Gender, etc. Priti Shenoy, Chetan Bhagat, Durgabai Vyam, et al are popular writers in India. Hans Christian Anderson, Grimm Brothers and others are the famous German popular writers outside India. Leslie A. Fidler, an American literary and Freudian critic considered songs and stories as popular liter...

351. Theory 21: Indian Aesthetics

Indian Aesthetics   Key Theories   1. Dhvani Theory    Proposed by Anand Vardhana in Dhvanyaloka, this theory emphasizes the power of suggestion (dhvani) in poetry, where the literal meaning (uccharran) evokes deeper, implied meanings.   2. Vakroti Theory    Developed by Kuntaka, this theory highlights the "roundabout way of saying things" (vakroti), celebrating artistic deviation from straightforward expression as a hallmark of literary beauty.   3. Auchitya Theory    Ksemendra's concept of auchitya (appropriateness) stresses the harmony between signifier (word) and signified (meaning), ensuring aesthetic coherence in literature.

350. Theory 20: Criticism is a dying Art

Theory is a very powerful tool which may make us look very cleverly scholarly.  New approaches can be welcome but traditional approaches should not vanish.  Terry Eagleton says that literary criticism is dying. For example, Woolf's essays are found no more. Humanities has now become more quantitative from last 3 decades due to enacting of positivism in social Sciences. In India, JNU shows its necessity with Nehruvian model of nation building projects everywhere even in social Sciences. JNU was part of this vision and its school of social Sciences became appendage to that. The importance of the subject is first looked at with its social scientific strain. New approaches can be welcome but traditional approaches should not vanish. A science model is needed in research - personal and factual. Deconstruction was welcome in English department rather than the department of Philosophy. Kafka's Exactitude says to determine anything as it is.

349. Theory 19: Marxism

Definition : It began in the mid 1800s with Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. They observed how the Industrial Revolution was changing society, creating vast wealth for factory owners while workers lived in poverty. Class Struggle, history as a series of struggles in between social classes is their study in the joint books. The two sections are called the bourgeois and the proletariat.  Marxism is a theory where society is shown divided into two halves which create tensions and inequality and may lead to revolution.  Socialism is a system where the government and a rich section control assets and industries and justify equality. Communism is the goal which Marxism aims at for a classless and stateless society where everything is equally shared in a utopian way. The private property is absent. USSR and China tried it.

348. Theory 18: Practical Criticism

Practical Criticism Definition: The focus is on text itself.  In the 1920s, Cambridge faculty, Richards experimented with undergraduate students by giving them a writing to comment. The poem's writer was hidden from the students so that the students had no prejudice. He experimented this to find out that students are not forced to accept our thoughts on the poem or any other writing. Paradox, Irony, Structure and Tension are the tools used while evaluating. As a result, the students remained completely depended on themselves. Reading is a private experience without effects of history, politics, etc. Empson said that writing should be separated from science. He then extended it to New Criticism. It was the fire from the extended spark of Practical Criticism. Key Persons: I. A. Richards  William Empson John Crowe Ransom Cleanth Brookes

344. AEC 251 - Phrases

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343. AEC 251- Pair of Words (10)

Accept=to include Except= subtracting Access= approach Excess= extra Bare= hardly Bear= animal Course= subject related Coarse=rough Cast= throw Caste= social class Due= unfinished Dew= weather related Die= expire Dye= colour Heal= to embalm Heel= body part Meddle= mix Medal= token of award Paper= used for writing  Pepper= spice