Showing papers in "Journal of Literary Studies in 1985"
TL;DR: The role of epistemology in literary and other disciplines is reviewed and the following theoretical approaches are discussed: New Criticism, deconstruction theories, reading theories, the empirical study of literature and Culler's 'poetics of reading'.
Abstract: Summary Theoretical/methodological attitudes within the domain of literary studies might most successfully be analyzed and evaluated by examining the epistemological suppositions from which they derive. The present study proceeds (1) to examine some of the epistemological strategies which have commanded attention or displayed coercive force, and (2) to show how the historically inevitable paradigm shifts in literary studies are interpreted and presented by various theorists. The role of epistemology in literary and other disciplines is reviewed and the following theoretical approaches are discussed: New Criticism, deconstruction theories, reading theories, the empirical study of literature and Culler's ‘poetics of reading’. The study is concluded with a brief discussion of the immediate future.
18 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the etymology of the terms text, context and intertext is traced as an introduction to an exposition of their linguistic and poetic post-structural usage, and the possible application of deconstruction criticism in teaching pre-graduate students is shown.
Abstract: Summary The etymology of the terms text, context and intertext is traced as an introduction to an exposition of their linguistic and poetic post‐structural usage. In this respect some problems are indicated. Finally the possible application of deconstruction criticism in teaching pre‐graduate students is shown. The post‐structuralist view of the text as process or productive activity is found to be compatible with historical criticism. Since historical contexts are inexhaustible and of necessity textualised, the methodological field of the intertext is advanced as the site of interaction between text, context (genetic and citational), and the critic's strategic re‐citing of the text.
11 citations
TL;DR: Deconstruction has not taken root in the Anglo-Saxon world and is generally treated with suspicion outside France because it threatens the comfortable certainty of language and meaning as mentioned in this paper, and deconstruction can be compared to the development in the natural sciences of quantum physics and the theory of relativity.
Abstract: Summary Deconstruction has not taken root in the Anglo‐Saxon world and is generally treated with suspicion outside France because it threatens the comfortable certainty of language and meaning Both the terms of reference and the development of deconstruction can be compared to the development in the natural sciences of quantum physics and the theory of relativity Quantum physics has absorbed and transcended the Newtonian notion of a stable physical world by advocating that light consists of both particles and waves This seemed in traditional terms to be impossible: it was advocating two mutually exclusive forms of ‘being’ What this meant in philosophy (and literature) was that reality was no longer perceived as stable and predictable The word or the sign was no longer simply seen as a reflection of reality (particle) but played an active part in creating ‘reality’ (wave) Subsequently modern theorists have entered the myriad worlds of interpretations ‐ a state of transgression (Derrida) or permanent
8 citations
TL;DR: This article explored the relationship between American meta-fiction of the 1960's and 1970's and postmodernist theoretical discourse, and suggested that both resist the hegemony of representational truth, undermine authority in all its forms and threaten the reader's sense of security.
Abstract: Summary This article explores the relationship between American meta‐fiction of the 1960's and 1970's and postmodernist theoretical discourse. It is the contention of the author that a reader's response to postmodern American fiction is assisted by recent theories of authorship and readership, and also that the problems raised by postmodernist meta‐fiction have a bearing on postmodernist discourse itself. Using illustrations from meta‐fictional and theoretical discourses, a link is suggested between the two: both resist ‘the hegemony of representational truth’, undermine authority in all its forms and threaten the reader's sense of security.
7 citations
6 citations
TL;DR: A synopsis of Gerard Genette's Nouveau Discours du Recit can be found in this article, with the title " Narrative Discourse revisited: A synopsis of the Genette Discours Du Recit".
Abstract: (1985). Narrative Discourse revisited: A synopsis of Gerard Genette's Nouveau Discours du Recit. Journal of Literary Studies: Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 59-66.
5 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the theatrical phenomenon of the disguise in two seventeenth-century Spanish plays in terms of the sender-message-receiver transaction and concluded that the disguise event is a tangible theatrical device which effectively integrates the themes that a worldly concept of life is an illusion, a dream and a stage and that man's task is to separate the true from the false, the real from the illusory.
Abstract: Summary The theatrical phenomenon of the disguise in two seventeenth‐century Spanish plays is examined in terms of the sender‐message‐receiver transaction. This disguise is seen as a ‘sign‐vehicle’ manifesting high semiotic flexibility as it denotes and at the same time connotes meaning on more than one level. The Don Juan disguise in El burladorde Sevilla (The Deceitful Trickster of Seville) by Tirso de Molina and the Rosaura, Clotaldo and Basilio disguises in La vida es sueno (Life is a Dream) by Calderon de la Barca are shown to communicate their message to a destination receiver by means of a number of codes ‐extratextual, intertextual and intratextual ‐ which are illustrated in diagram form and explicated in detail. The conclusion reached is that the disguise event is a tangible theatrical device which effectively integrates the themes that a worldly concept of life is an illusion, a dream and a stage and that man's task is to separate the true from the false, the real from the illusory.
4 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the function of extratextual and intra-textual relations in decoding of poetic texts is illustrated by means of an analysis and interpretation of Dylan Thomas's "This bread I break".
Abstract: Summary The function of both extratextual and intratextual relations in the decoding of poetic texts is illustrated in this study by means of an analysis and interpretation of Dylan Thomas's “This bread I break”. The extratextual relations between, on the one hand, the poem and, on the other hand, an extra‐textual reality are brought about by means of Biblical references to the Crucifixion, the Eucharist and the Christian custom of Communion. The intra‐textual relations involve the cross‐references established by means of metaphorical, syntactic, typographical and sound relations between semantically significant entities like words, phrases, verse lines and stanzas in a poem. Although extratextual and intratextual relations are both relevant in the decoding of poetic texts, it is the latter type of relation that has the greater semantic weight, in view of the fact that extratextual data are usually reinterpreted in a poem. Such a re‐interpretation of extratextual data is brought about by communication dev...
3 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors advocate greater concern for the philosophy of science, since the expertise of academics regarding the possibilities and limitations of science can be taken for granted, and they describe several criteria for scientific communication.
Abstract: Summary With reference to criticism that in South Africa too little research in the humanities is being done which can be regarded as a real contribution to the development of a particular science, the author advocates greater concern for the philosophy of science, since the expertise of academics regarding the possibilities and limitations of science obviously cannot be taken for granted. In the light of the aims of science, the author describes several criteria for scientific communication. And because the philosophy of science makes it a requisite for disciplinary development, he outlines, in terms of a theoretical framework for the science of literature, the field of enquiry and kind of knowledge with which this discipline is concerned. A positive result of having this model is the fact that it is possible to describe as complementary the relationships, on the one hand, between literary theory and comparative literature as the fundamental components of the science of literature, and on the other, betw...
3 citations
TL;DR: The deconstructionist needs to know exactly what he or she is trying to escape from and needs to make visible the hidden ideologies and thereby supplying intertextually validated alternative interpretations as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Summary This paper attempts to show how deconstruction is liable to misunderstanding and non recognition (especially in South Africa and in the USA) because of the fact that it is divorced from its materialist base and because of the failure to understand it as essentially a critique of Western metaphysics, as a deconstruction of (Hegelian) idealism in all its ramifications, and not of texts as such. When texts are read/written, they are used to illustrate concepts and to unearth codes of society structured by ideology. Thus The Theory of the Text, in fact, necessitates a sociology of literature. The deconstructionist needs to know exactly what he or she is trying to escape from and needs to make visible the hidden ideologies and thereby supplying intertextually validated alternative interpretations. This is allowed for by Barthes, but Barthes did not bother to undertake it, thus ignoring a central discovery of the Bakhtin school: that the ideological nature of meaning implies that the sign, when used, is...
2 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, Derrida states that foundations are not determinable because of reading and writing between the lines, between words, in the margins as well as within the gaps between texts, and such dissemination of meaning comes to a radical dispossession of meaning.
Abstract: Summary A study of the works by Jacques Derrida inevitably leads to a reflection on the foundations of Western culture, foundations that are full of cracks: institutions are shattered; key concepts are questioned. Can anything be done about such a crisis? In this context Derrida becomes relevant. He is not concerned about the cracks in the foundations but questions the very possibility of foundations. As opposed to the classical philosophic view saturating all facets of Western culture, viz. that foundations are determinable because they can be represented or made present as meaningful while the represented meaning can be appropriated and possessed, Derrida states that foundations are not determinable because of reading and writing between the lines, between words, in the margins as well as within the gaps between texts, and such dissemination of meaning comes to a radical dispossession of meaning. As against the homogeneity of the metaphysics of presence there is a heterogeneity of traces which indicates...
TL;DR: In this paper, the simple forms of Andre Jolles are viewed from a modern perspective and the relation between simple forms and the archetypal and ritual aspects of the novels of Etienne Leroux is discussed.
Abstract: Summary In this article the simple forms of Andre Jolles are viewed from a ‘modern’ perspective. His theory of basic language structures that develop from submerged and collective mental processes active in all societies and the manifestation of these structures in more complex structures, the simple forms (Einfache Formen), is analysed and discussed. The legend as a simple form is discussed at length and the other simple forms are merely mentioned. Similarities between Jolles’ theory and contemporary literary theories are indicated, as well as the manifestation of certain aspects of the simple forms in modern texts. In conclusion the relation between the simple forms and the archetypal and ritual aspects of the novels of Etienne Leroux is discussed.
TL;DR: In this paper, the deconstruction of the extra-text and the self-deconstruction in Fugard's work is discussed. But the authors focus on the relationship between deconstruction, considered by some as a negative enterprise sinning against common sense and patience, and the conflict between those who seek the universal in his work and those who maintain he should be criticised.
Abstract: Summary Notebooks: 1960–1977 shows Fugard, an avowedly anti‐theoretical and anti‐academic artist, to be a close reader who like Derrida and other deconstructionists reveals the self‐incrimination and duplicity in the intimate recesses of all language, including his own As, according to Derrida, our very relation to language already functions like a text the boundaries between Fugard's literary texts and the general socio‐cultural and political situation from which his texts emanate (extra‐text) blur into what can be called Fugard's context Thus, in deconstructing Fugard's context the present study looks at both the deconstruction by Fugard of the extra‐text and the self‐deconstruction in Fugard's work It concludes with the suggestion that deconstruction, considered by some as a negative enterprise sinning against common sense and patience, could offer a way of resolving the conflict in the critical evaluation of Fugard between those who seek the universal in his work and those who maintain he should be
TL;DR: In this paper, a core fable is transposed from the narrative code into the drama code system, which results in a change of order of message units and turns the narrative paratax into a multiple dramatic hypotax.
Abstract: Opsomming The Swiss dramatist Friedrich Durrenmatt re‐used material of his short story Die Panne (1956) for the homonymous drama (1979). A ‘core fable’ was thus transposed from the narrative code into the drama code system. This transcodification results in a change of order of message units and turns the narrative paratax into a multiple dramatic hypotax. The distance of 25 years in writing time calls for the substitution of numerous signifiers, semantically ‘transparent’ in 1956, but opaque in 1979. The change from metaliterary discourse to intrafictional discourse is one of the main acts of transcodification.
TL;DR: In this article, a latent fear of silence, of not being able to write, is discovered in the poem "Vakansiebrief" (Letter while on holiday).
Abstract: Summary This is a demonstration of a possible deconstructive reading rather than a theoretical introduction to deconstruction. Following the reading of A. P. Grove (1965) further oppositions in D. J. Opperman's poem ‘Vakansiebrief ('Letter while on holiday') are analyzed, oppositions like birth/death, speech/writing. In the end a latent fear of silence, of not being able to write, is discovered in the poem.
TL;DR: The authors introduce the work of the later Wittgenstein into the current debate on critical theory in order to suggest the essentially social nature of both criticism and theory, and suggest that debates about theory within literature are sustained by social factors.
Abstract: Summary This article attempts to introduce the work of the later Wittgenstein into the current debate on critical theory in order to suggest the essentially social nature of both criticism and theory. It briefly sketches Wittgenstein's theory of language and meaning after the Tractatus, emphasizing his concept of language games and the fact that particular language games (including those involving the study of literature) spring from and are sustained by specific ‘forms of life’. The most important aspects of Wittgenstein's philosophy of language for the article are (a) his definition of meaning as use, (b) the denial that meaning is a mental event or a product of pre‐linguistic consciousness, and (c) the suggestion that language stems from a variety of social practices which control and make possible various forms of discourse, or language games. The article then argues that debates about theory within literature are sustained by social factors ‐ the struggle between ‘abnormal’ and ‘normal’ discourse, or...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors considered the context and questions pertaining to the book Jonah, focussing on the strangeness of events and characters as they present themselves to a modern day reader.
Abstract: Summary The Old Testament book Jonah provides for a unique hermeneutical study of strangeness. The context and questions pertaining to it are considered, focussing on the strangeness of events and characters as they present themselves to a modern day secular reader. In both early Christianity and folktales the miraculous was readily accepted, while the distinction between fiction and reality is a relatively recent development. The book Jonah with its moral lesson, also called a Midrash, is significant for studying this tradition. This intricate text, having technical similarities with the contemporary novel, emanates from an extraordinary and competent narrator and can be seen as the prototype of the modern novel. The questions to which the text offers some answers are posed and some differences between the book Jonah and the secular novel are discussed.
TL;DR: The authors examines the consequences of Derrida's strategy of deconstruction for the notion of truth in art and aesthetics and concludes that attempts to return to an original experience of being (forgotten since the time of the Greeks) are bound to fail.
Abstract: Summary This article examines the consequences of Derrida's strategy of deconstruction for the notion of ‘truth’ in art and aesthetics. Its point of departure is R.D. Cumming's ‘comparison’ of Heidegger and Derrida which shows the latter dismantling Heidegger's conception of the truth of the artwork. Whereas Heidegger wishes to restore to the artwork its autonomy, in this way hoping to return to an original experience of Being (forgotten since the time of the Greeks), Derrida undermines his attempt by exploiting the conflict between the Heidegge‐rian metaphors of ‘ground’ and ‘groundlessness’. In this way Derrida demonstrates that, in view of the metaphorical ‘openings’ in language, attempts to return to an ‘origin’ are bound to fail. There are finally only interpretations of interpretations. Derrida's notion of metaphor in philosophical discourse (as well as de Man's related view on the subject) is pursued briefly before concluding with a discussion of his interpretation of van Gogh's peasant shoes paint...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a study on J. Miles's novel Donderdag of Woensdag and make an attempt to indicate the usefulness of this reading strategy in the interpretation of the said novel.
Abstract: Summary The concept of ‘deconstruction’ as expounded in J. Derrida's work Of Grammatology has been extensively used as the theoretical framework for the present study on J. Miles's novel Donderdag of Woensdag. An attempt has been made to indicate the usefulness of this reading strategy in the interpretation of the said novel. Donderdag of Woensdag has been selected because in it, as in the case of Of Grammatology, human meaning and value systems are scrutinized by means of a discourse that not only has to continually subvert and deconstruct these systems but also itself as an inseparable and integral part thereof.