How To Get The Most Out of Literature - Literary Criticism 101
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A short beginner's introduction to literary criticism and the importance of asking the right questions when we engage with literary texts.
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Other Resources:
The Back to the Basics course for avid readers: skl.sh/3HtD1Kb
My course on keeping a writer's diary:
skl.sh/3qHJKYg
My playlist on Reading:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ls2yn...
My collaborative novel about Melbourne: There's A Tale To This City:
rcwaldun.com/tale
My short story collection Passing Tales: rcwaldun.com/publication
My Instagram page: / r.c.waldun
Chapters:
Introduction: 00:00
1: Literature as art: 01:23
2: When Literature overwhelms us: 02:46
3: Leaning into confusion: 7:16
4: An Example: Kierkegaard and Abraham: 10:02
Sponsor: 12:10
This is my favorite video you’ve posted! You’ve nailed the deficiencies in our educational system. Students don’t learn critical thinking and therefore become less curious and lazier.
"Critical thinking" is curtailed by parents and policy. The educational system can only go as far as it is allowed to.
You can't quantify or measure critical thinking, so our educational system is unable to teach it.
I will always fight for my own interpretation of a work of art, it’s something that I can say is truly mine like nothing else
5:13 - Very true about "the thing on the page not being the language that we speak on a daily basis". In this sense you could say that art is sometimes more real (or incisive) than daily life, because it hints at deeper truths that we often ignore due to more urgent concerns.
I love how you immediately corrected yourself there 0:51 "Because as human beings we are very good at using words to communicate with one another... [miniature sigh] to a certain extent". That made me laugh so much, really helped me relax after today's workload haha.
One thing that has definitely helped me think more deeply about literature is simply reading how others have interpreted or analyzed the texts after reading the text myself. It gives me some ideas about what other people may have focused on more than I did and gives me a different perspective from which to look at the plot or main ideas.
I’ve always loved reading books but I really began to understand how beautiful language and written words were when I started writing books. I always thought that language was such a beautiful creation and it’s being built upon everyday. I mostly know English and German but I have been trying to pick up French and I have begun to feel that French is an art form unto itself. The same could be said for English which is a combination of French, Danish, Old Norse, Greek, and Latin. Language and how we view it change every day and that is what makes it the creation of art that it is unknowingly cherished as.
I have a little criticism for you, an old one, the question ‘What did the author mean by this’ is the wrong question. What makes the artist’s meaning built within his/her work more or less meaningful than your own? It implies that to understand a work, you must be the author. But, what if the author is dead and gone, all you have is the work, all it’s characters and themes, it’s imaginary hypothetical things, all of it begins to stand on its own merits. The question becomes ‘ what does the art have to say?’. Ronald Barthes came up with this one nearly a hundred years ago now, not in this form, but it clearly demonstrates it. Death of The Author. To understand a work means to understand it’s meaning, and that’s going to completely change depending on birth age sex etc. In realizing this, in realizing the destructive act of interpretation, that once one see’s a pattern in work the author did not put there, that a new meaning is created, a valid one. Looking at Francis bacons life is the wrong answer. What does the male form, nude and draped in shadow, mean in the context of your life. Fuck the authors life, it matters not.
Literature as an experience is very different to me than literature as an art. I found that when I started creating literature I started to understand it better in the context of art. The other thing that helped me see it better in the context of art was simply reading a lot of books in different genres, because certain literary flares trend within genres.
I like the idea of recognizing a mental cramp that leads to further exploration and depth of knowledge.
This is one of your best videos easily. As a post grad student I always try to interpret literature from my own point of view and so far it has worked out pretty well for me. The essays I write are mostly based on certain theories without which my professors wouldn't give me good grades but I always make sure to add a touch of my own interpretation to it.
Your videos are so inspiring! I'd love to hear you in a podcast format. Best regards 😉
Great analysis with lots of quality nutrition for thought, thank you! I wish I had been told to ask these questions during my literary studies in Germany. Possibly I should see how videos like this are received by audiences here. Thanks for the inspiration ♥
This is your best video. I agree that you can think through a text and arrive at conclusions of your own but since literature is about human beings it must dee the feeling side of human experience.itd not just about the head but the heart yoo
Really helpful video! I’m struggling with the book assigned by my book club. It’s the blandest thing I’ve ever read and trying to crack it without looking up other reviews on it.
Thank you for this. I’m struggling with reading Hemingway, specifically, “The Sun Also Rises” - often considered to be his best work. Looking at it as a form of art is helpful since I don’t particularly like the characters, story, or even the way that he writes. My literature tastes aren’t “refined” enough I guess. 😂😂😂
You have the best voice ever
I love your videos! I had a question, when reading history or nonfiction in general do I have to remember every single detail
MORE VIDEOS LIKE THIS!!!
Hey, love your vids. Do you have any recommendations for beginners in classical Literature?
Now that's really interesting. I never. I don't remember going through a time where I differentiated art from literature. But I guarantee that I did differentiate art from literature. So you have called me out on that
Great video!:)
Recently I went through J.R.R. Tolkien's "On Fairy Tales" and it has changed how I read literature. I would be interested in seeing how his idea of sub creator and primary art would fit into your thought here.
inspiration is there
Denherder: Uh is that $3000 bounty on the shark in cash or check?-Jaws by Steven Spielberg
6:22 what am I SUPPOSED to feel? is it a legit question regarding art?
Great content! Although your hand movements were a little distracting, you're a great speaker and I can tell you work hard at that so I only hope you take this criticism as constructive feedback to help you improve even more :)
Noted! Thank you for the feedback. :)
I was so astounded today to learned that both Tolstoy and Gandhi were nominated for the Nobel Prize for Peace, and Tolstoy for the Nobel Prize for literature, many times, but neither one got it! Just seems ridiculously insane to me. Both men sacrificed so much
I would exclude Gandhi out of that. Read up about what he actually did in South Africa and the Indian Freedom Struggle, your perspective about him might change. He was a crook and a fraud.
If Dickens is literature, and his works are art, then why did the poor and illiterates gathered in crowds for his readings? Barrier of entry is academics creating the barrier themselves.
Is the sweater your wearing cable knit or cotton?
FYI: cable knit is just the type of weave (a knit, specifically, as the name implies) and can be done in several materials in addition to cotton.
@@philliplee7658 In the Ralph Lauren store this same sweater is in either cable knit or cotton. I just want to know which one he chose
❤❤❤
this has nothing to do with anything…but whenever I read, I like to write down any words I don’t know so I can expand my vocabulary……I just learned what the word ‘Ubiquitous’ means and then he said it in like the first 30 seconds. the universe is crazy.
I've personally noticed that the longer I sit with a confusing text, the more it rewards me. I'm constantly tempted to just look for the answers as quickly as I can, when I think we lose a creative influence in the process of reading when we don't chew the words slowly.
My dad went to go get milk 20 years ago so I’m sure I can bring home any academic I want 😭
Dude adds rrr in all words
I think I’m shadowbanned can someone please lemme know if they see it
We complicate things so much. I'm guessing most of the authors who wrote these classic works were not realizing they would one day be considered "classics." They were just writing a story. Approach it as such! Also, we don't need a "feminist lens" or "postmodern lens" or anything else. A work of literature means what the AUTHOR intended it to mean. That is what we must figure out. If you start with, "What does it mean to me?", of course you're going to get confused.
I politely disagree. Any honest reader would know that there lies multiple layers of a text and a honest writer knows his story usually slips out of his control once it reaches the public.
You're arguing in ultimatums, and in favor of a text-external interpretation with complete disregard for a text-immanent approach . What you have described is known simply as a text-external approach. As the name indicates, this methodology takes external information into account in an attempt to understand a written work. Such Information can include very important life events or trivial absurdities, such as the era/time period, circumstances of the author, genre of work, conditions of release, amount of editors or influences, notes or press releases of the author, etc. This video however speaks more about the latter, something more closely resembling a text-immanent approach. This one is more focused on the text in isolation, and only the text in isolation. In my opinion this is the more fun stuff as it--by its nature--leaves many unanswered questions. It makes you wonder, why things could be the way they are and come up with ideas on your own. You have to comprehend, not memorize what you've googled for (to put it most bluntly). There are many different ways one can use language to get our thoughts across. Despite how common it may be to assume that we think in language, in truth we simply use it as a tool, a translator between minds. If it weren't for this, we wouldn't have so many different languages in the world, and dialects, and accents, and scripts, and rhetorical devices, and our language would not have word continuously change their meaning over generations. Your methodology would take external information into account in an attempt to understand a written work. Such Information includes things such as the time period, circumstances of the author, genre, conditions of release, amount of editors or influences, etc. But it disregards the most important question, why should you even bother?
I think it's good and healthy to be able to analyse something in a context other than which the author intended. For example; a book about growing up and going through childhood with a hidden secret about yourself, such as an alternate life or personality trait, can absolutely be interpreted through a queer lens and analysed as a metaphor for growing up as anything other than cis-het and having to hide that part of yourself. The authors might not've intended this, but whats the harm in analysing the book that way?
Why would you assume that an artist or writer creates from a state of conscious intention? You can ask almost any living artist or writer to explain what meaning(s) they intended when they produced a given work, and most of them will either fumble for an explanation or shug and say, "I don't know, I just made the thing. You decide what it means." Why would you think that authors and writers of the past were any different? Of *course* they don't realize that their works would one day be considered classics. How could they? The best art and literature raises questions - poses those questions to us. It doesn't answer them. And it doesn't, because artists and writers don't create from answers but from their own questions. Works of art and literature become classics because the questions they pose remain relevant and engaging for successive generations.
@@RCWaldun Your comment is on point but in the video you negate it yourself: 6:12 I believe that "intention" is quite a problematic term because it always implies "the best or the original" meaning of a text, "the meaning of the author". Edit: I'd also suggest looking into the notion of "intentional fallacy".
This video was very helpful. I particularly appreciate how you presented an illustration of how to lean in through the Abraham story. If you could do more of that it would be great & different from other videos. 🙏🏼🏺📚
I need your email id. I'm starting my phd and need to discuss some things with you.