Introduction to Theory of Literature ( www.youtube.com )

cross-posted from: slrpnk.net/post/4720329

Institution: Yale
Lecturer: Paul H. Fry
University Course Code: ENGL 300
Subject:
Description: This is a survey of the main trends in twentieth-century literary theory. Lectures will provide background for the readings and explicate them where appropriate, while attempting to develop a coherent overall context that incorporates philosophical and social perspectives on the recurrent questions: what is literature, how is it produced, how can it be understood, and what is its purpose?

Paragone ,

Anybody who wants to understand literature, you NEED to read John Truby’s 2 books ( which absolutely-obsolete Campbell’s “Hero With A Thousand Faces”, and oceans of other such books )

  • “The Anatomy of Genres”
  • “The Anatomy of Story”

IF you don’t understand the huge amount of stuff in them, THEN you don’t understand literature.

There are niggles: he thinks “village” means Wild West village, I think “village” means Tribal Village, as somewhere between 0.5 & 2 million years of history indicate, but such things are minor, compared with what he got right.

There is other stuff, ie things specific to languages/cultures that English cannot represent, e.g…

But those 14 Genres, those are the templates we form our mind on.

Please give yourself a huge gift, & read 'em.

Anybody wanting an equivalent for presentations, then Weissman’s “Presenting to Win” is the equivalently-spectacular one,

& anybody wanting an equivalent for editing, Coyne’s “The Story Grid” is the one.

www.TVTropes.org is also a required resource for understanding literature, though it is limitless & easy to lose days/years in…

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