Theory of literature as a science. The subject of theory of literature, its aims and specificity. The historical development of theory of literature

Theory of literature as a  science. 
The subject of theory of literature, its aims and specificity. 
The historical development of theory of literature.

 

Kim Helena

203 group

• Theory of literature is theoretical part of literature.
• The literary criticism is a science about fiction. However, the study of literature, unlike  other sciences, has the specificity principle, because the subject of scientific study is artistic creativity, art and literary criticism as a science, trying to save, organize, understanding of scientific facts, keeps the subjectivity and variability. In this sense, the study of literature is a form of art, and the scientific side is auxiliary.

The theory of literature is the most important section of literary criticism. Carrying out a role of its base, explaining schemes of the conceptual categories repeating during the certain period and at all times, specifying essential in change of one esthetic formations by others, the theory forms and motivates the main indicators of literature. Without theory of subject there isn’t history of subject.

                               Theory of literature studies:  

-- Literature as a reflection of human cognitive activity; 

-- Artistic image and fiction in literature; 

--Specificity of literary language;

 

--Function of literature; 

--Structure, form and content of literary works;

 

--Essence of the genre of literary works; 

--Principles of interpretation (interpretation) literary works; 

--Reader's perception of works of art; 

--Regional and country-specific literature; 

--International literary connections.

By the developed methodical tradition it is accepted to speak about three auxiliary disciplines of literary criticism most often allocated in textbooks: bibliographies, historiographies, textual criticism.

 

1 . The bibliography – science about editions. The modern literary criticism without the bibliography not only is helpless, but also it is simply impossible. Any research begins with that the bibliography – the saved-up material on this problem is studied. Except the skilled bibliographers, capable to give the necessary consultations, the modern philologist is helped by numerous directories, and also the Internet.

 

2 . Historiography. Students by inexperience sometimes confuse it to history of literature but it is absolutely different disciplines. The historiography describes not history of literature, and history of studying of literature (if we speak about a literary historiography). In private researches historiographic part sometimes call "historical background". Besides, the historiography goes in for history of creation and publications of this or that text. Serious historiographic works allow to see logic of development of scientific thought, not to mention that save time and strengths of the researcher.

3 . The textual criticism is the general name for all disciplines investigating the text in the applied purposes. The textual critic investigates forms and ways of the letter during different eras; analyzes features of handwriting (it especially actually if it is necessary to define authorship of the text); compares various editions of the text, choosing so-called initial option, i.e. what will be recognized then as the basic for editions and reprintings; carries out thorough and comprehensive examination of the text for the purpose of establishment of authorship or for the purpose of the fake proof. In recent years the textual analysis everything meets with actually literary therefore it isn't surprising closer that the textual criticism even more often is called not auxiliary, but the main literary discipline. Very much our remarkable philologist D. S. Likhachev who has much made for change of the status of this science highly appreciated textual criticism.

The history of literature is "past literature as a process or as one of the highlights of this process" ( J. Mann ) . The task of the historian of literature - including designation of the major trends of phased development literature ( deterministic philosophical and historical view of the world of this era, the socio- political and socio-cultural factors ), ordering the internal laws of the literary process at some stage (identification of prevailing trends , movements and artistic techniques genre and style trends , etc.) . The most important task of the literary historian is to reconstruct the career of writers involved in the literary process of the time , the identification of multi-dimensional relationships with their literary era , with the preceding tradition , etc.

The science of artistic creation, including literary theory, has several millennia. It occurs in ancient Greece and is developing in parallel with the art, art history and aesthetics as the science of the beauty .

Stage 1. Ancient science of ancient Greece

 

Early antique philosophy

 

Early antique aesthetics

 

(Thales(Фалес), Heraclitus(Гераклит),

Democritus(Демокрит),

Empedocles(Эмпедокл))

 

Consider  aesthetics as philosophy, science - as art.

 

 

Dominant cosmological theory, art is seen as an imitation of space, beauty - as perfection and harmony.

 

Socrates(Сократ), Plato (Платон),

Aristotle (Аристотель)

 

A. Early school of ancient science (VII-V cc. BC. E.). Here 2  directions:                      

B.  School Late Antiquity (III c. BC. E. - V in. District. E.). The biggest theory here is the neoPlatonism - the doctrine of sense, bodily space, and its founder was Plotinus.

Stage 2. Medieval theory (V-XIV centuries).

 

A. Early Medieval aesthetics

(V-X cc.)

(Augustine)

 

Augustine sees the function of art in the emotional effect and sign-symbolic significance.

 

 

B. Late Medieval aesthetics

(XI-XIV cc.)

 

the art criticism

 

philosophical and

religious

 

Stage 3. The aesthetics of the Renaissance

(Renaissance) (XIV-XVI centuries).

 

Renaissance is characterized by the absolution of the human person, anthropocentrism: beautiful, heroic, sublime embodied in a lovely personality and perceived by the person. In the center was always deify the artist. Remained unshakeable the principle of imitation of nature.

 

Stage 4. Literary and aesthetic trends in Europe in the XVII-XVIII centuries.

 

• Baroque (Барокко)
• Rococo (Рококо)
• Classicism
• Enlightenment  (Просвещение)
• Encyclopaedists (Энциклопедисты)
• Pre-Romanticism (Предромантизм)
• Sentimentalism.
• Romanticism.