Elements of Literature and Creative Communication

ABHISHEK PANDEY

180BARCH074
The course was started by our professor with a breezy story about a riddle sort of a story the gist of it
was to explain how literature In a term being invisible(according to the story) has a significant factor
in the understanding real world affairs ,moving ahead with a the topic he introduced the class with the
first kind of a lab activity of creating short poem with a few given words and how people with different
imaginations and thinking, move forward with creating different kinds of emotions through their
poems . Moving on he explained at glance how the topics will continue and what all is supposed to be
taught in the upcoming weeks ,after which we are introduced to the first topic of what exactly is
literature giving an example he sheds light onto how Kalidasa one of the literary geniuses defines
literature which is Vak and Artha combined called Vagartha which is accompanied by poem the gist of
which is that literature is a dynamic state of language in which it is vibrant molten and alive ,it is the
language through which a soul communicates directly with itself and the world around .Remembering
the examples of poem written by students he compares it to how it responded to the brilliant poem
of Langston Hughes and how same set of words can display so many different outcomes.

Later he continues with the explanation of literature further with a reference of what a story telling
being is referred to as which is Homo-fabulans /homo-narrans .he describes no definition can actually
give u description of it from a certain perspective to understand literature we need to place all our
learnings together to understand it because all of the definitions of literature is still evolving therefore
an amorphous concept .further he continues on how literature is a verbal representation of human life
in all its entirety and complexity which has the power to turn abstract to concrete by appealing to your
senses as literature is not just form but content as well which means something being said is as
important to what is being said ,while professor terms literature as a consciousness rising enterprise.

Moving on further Professor comes to a term called mortality and how a human has certain limitations
and how it responds till a certain point because of the limitation humans possess further he explains
how literature has the ability of transposing us into a different realm and also the ability to transform
us giving an example of harry potter professor explains us how we try to live the lives of the characters
and how we try to fit in their shoes to experience the reality that they face as characters in that specific
point in the plot which is what literature does to us while we are indulged in it therefore we can
become immortal because we can expand because while indulged in literature u can see things which
are not even there while being able to experience it all from top to bottom. Moving further he
describes a few shlokas which are from the Ramayana and mahabharta and how Shokam
Shlokathvamagathaha which means suffering to song explains these historic stories into feelings we
can experience in real time from there era which is known as Parakaya Pravesha. Literature has a
quality to makes us transverse through a spaciotemporal journey which can be life changing to an
extent. Further Professor coins literature as being Glocal because due to literature geography becomes
a thing of the past because sitting in your room you can live a place through literature therefore it is
termed as Glocal meaning that it is rooted to local but appeals universally. further he goes on
explaining how literature is relevant in today’s world and the wonderful benefits it offers like enhancing
reading writing and understanding skills while developing a finer sensibility for better human
relationship, all this while inspiring our minds to expand teaching a new and better way of viewing the
world.
Next Professor touches upon the two aspects of language communicative and literary term. Every
language, whatever is the language it has two components to that, one is the communicative
component, the other is the literary component. Language acts as a custodian of culture. Professor tells
us that literature acts as a kind of a custodian of a culture. Thereby it preserves culture and also passes
it on to the next generation. So , if we remember this aspect of literature, then our appreciation and
our admiration for literature almost doubles because here literature is not just a piece for reading and
enjoying ,it also acts as a preservative agent . Next Professor discusses various elements of literature,
be it poetry, be it novel, short fiction drama. The first thing that he discuss is point of view, even in
poetry, but more so in fiction, short fiction, and drama. Perspective or point of view plays a very
important role. Each character has its own perspective, its own way of perceiving the reality, therefore,
to understand the perspective in a work of art becomes very important. The second thing is the figure
of speech. These figures of speeches are used a plenty in literature, especially in poetry, but also in
other forms of literature in other genres of literature. The next is theme, usually nobody writes a novel
or no great writer writes anything with a set theme in mind ,But when a when a work of art is produced
it would invariably have various thematic elements. Next he explains some common terms namely Tone
or the overall mood , the setting i.e the social political , cultural or geographical or historical aspect ,
next the plot -the sequence of events or actions , the narration recounting of an event or a story and
the language i.e the vocabulary ,literary techniques . further he goes on explaining the effects of slow
reading and how it takes time to appreciate work rather than rush through it which might include
reading between the lines from time to time or as hinted by the authors .in the end he talk about
intertexuality a concept by Julia Kristeva which basically means that there is a presence of a kind of an
interlink between texts the kind of connections that exist across literary works.in the end the
perspectives of the students was displayed and how they perceived it through their journey through
literature.

Next he explains about he begins with the forms & genres of literature and language , society and
culture Literary components hold onto world of languages (texts) and world of people (authors and
readers). Literary theories majorly focus on a triad among text, reader and an author. The reading and
interpreting of a text does not solely lies on reader rather the author’s explanation and the provided
setting as well. In the same manner, when one simply wants to focus on an author; full image and
background of the author can never be on par if the texts are neglected.

It is a well-established fact that that the word ‘criticism’ in itself is a negative comment. However,
Literary criticism refers to act of reading, analyzing, interpreting and making judgements about any
literature body of works. Any comment and review that has been said or written to express the
emotions regarding a literary piece falls under the umbrella of Literary Criticism. Literary theory is
about examining literary pieces through a specified lens that works upon certain assumptions of and
about a society. It reflects upon the cultural aspects and production of a society. And therefore, it is
beneficial for society. Literary theory produces a systematic approach to texts to reveal required
specific justifications attached to it. And thus, it holds the higher power than literary criticism.

Throughout times, women have been ridiculed and criticized with poems and texts. Therefore, the
duty falls upon developing literature to increase sensitization feeling to this topic and provides justice
to women. Upon the onset of feminist literary movement, the rising of several feminist critique of
literature helped play essential role to distribute equality and equity in the world. Women’s literature
has been suppressing the feeble minds of women as well as their mindset on their bodies. Therefore,
the necessity for women to write to women and to bring women closer to writing and their bodies as
well emerged a great deal. Literature, to this day; is a patriarchal construct. The patriarchy literary
concepts, if fought with the existing patriarchal language; would never lead to solution. So, there is a
need to devise a more sensitive response; which accumulates to feminist criticism. Similar to feminist
criticism, Marxist criticism fights the unjust and inequality standards. However, the only difference
remains in the basis ground i.e., Marxist criticism emphasis on the class and caste disparities. Marxism
in itself, is a materialistic philosophy where there is a dual focus; firstly, interpreting the society people
reside in and secondly trying to change it for the better conditions overall. Marx was highly influenced
by ‘base and superstructure’ concept. The superstructure holds family, education, religion and so on.
The base holds the means of economic productions (like bourgeoise). These two concepts support
each other for their own validation. So, this criticism claims synthesis that produces from opposing
ideas stemmed from thesis and antithesis.

Characteristics of Marxist Literary Criticism are discussed as follows –

- Artistic objects can never be understood without analyzing the context- cultural, historical and social
conditions.

- It does not neglect the categories which help measure the artistic objects rather be evaluated for
their own identity.

Postcolonialism literary theory acts as that philosophical tool which studies about the political,
cultural, ethnicity, race, gender, power, language, mindset of former colonies mainly about nations
that were under the command of British Imperial Rule. Colonialism refers to the psychological and
cultural beliefs of a particular race to reflect dominance of imperialism agendas. It acts as subset of
imperialism. Colonizers implemented their power over the colonialized people by robbing them of
their rights, opportunities and their identity as well. This could be impactfully done upon knowledge
of colonized subjects. And therefore, postcolonial literary critiques studies the measures by which
colonialization took place, the methods under which postcolonial subjects stroke back with the
changes brought by hybridity.

Thus, in conclusion, it is safe to say that literary criticism is mainly an opinion, with evidence as their
backbone while keeping the political, cultural, historical, theme, style, genre in check. Literary criticism
benefits readers to expand their understanding of world, worldview and their literature. It provides
with them with vast number of opportunities and approaches to form new style of writing. Poetry has
its origin at the beginning of any linguistic activity in human civilization. Any literary activity at its initial
core was in some form of poetry. Poetry initially was a verbal act that helps demonstrating the
emotions, feelings of a person with the help of words in a language. It is a medium for imparting
pleasure and entertainment. Poetry became crucial element of history because its rhythmic nature
helps in imparting important epics, fables and ancient texts into memory of people with an ease. It
enacts as a medium to retain or help store important literary texts within majority of civilization
neglecting the barriers construct.

The roots of the poetry are from Egypt and African civilization. The oldest evidence of poetic
expressions can be dated from pyramid texts. They were written on walls of pyramids as funeral
prayers for atonement and preparation for afterlife of kings. Similarly, African poetry was performative
in nature. Initially, poetry was told in the theatrical form or dance form. It worked in the cumulative
nature with an entire show to serve educative and entertainment purposes. The origins of the poetry
can be established from Indian and Chinese civilization as well. The poetry origin can be speculated
from the known and recorded literary body of works from various civilization such as –

i) One of the oldest epics – Gilgamesh Epic originated from Sumerian cultureMesopotamian
civilization written in cuneiform i.e., the earliest noted language.
ii) The existing collection of 305 works during Han Dynasty reflecting upon Chinese culture and
poetry.
iii) The surviving works – two epic poems (The Iliad and The Odyssey) from ancient Greek
literature in support of European enlightenment.
iv) The fiction poetry - The tale of shipwrecked sailor about an Egyptian Voyage written on the
papyrus.
v) The earliest ever-recorded Indian literature – Rigveda (composition of 1028 hymns) was
written in Vedic Sanskrit as well as the two ancient epics – Mahabharata and Ramayana.

All these records highlight a single agenda that distinct civilizations primarily focused on continuing
their unique culture. Hence, using these literary texts as sample; one can identify the origin of
civilization and their rooted culture. Poetry can never be stated as static in nature rather it is always
found as kinetic nature as it keeps on reinventing its form, structure, content and outlook. Poetry may
not always be clear in the outlook rather holds deceptive structure but the available rhythmic forms
of sentence help in clear identification.

Poetic forms can either be global or local. They could have been singlehandedly produced from one
cultural origin; or one such form can travel within cultures perceivable in various forms. There are
three broad tributaries of poetry namely- Lyric poetry; where the poem is written from a single
perspective (highlighting mainly author’s views), Narrative poetry; where the importance is on the
story-telling like Epics, lastly Descriptive poetry; which focuses more on the surrounding world itself
with sensory attachment. Some types of Sub-poetry are –

i) Sonnets – sonnet is a composition of 14 lines with exceptions of 12 and 16 lines as well. They
are used to express human feelings and emotions.
ii) Haiku – Originated from Japan, is a very straight forward discipline form with 3 line stanzas
revolving around natural phenomenon.
iii) Limerick – is distinct verbal rhythm with comical in nature. It is majorly composed of five lines
with a rhyming scheme of AABBA.
iv) Free Verse – it is not bounded by any set of rules which makes it the popular modern poetry
style. It may range between any number of lines with topic varying from nature, sorrow,
happiness and many more.
v) Acrostic – poem in which first letter of each sentence can be used as mnemonic device. Due
to its constrained nature, it was mainly famous during medieval times.
vi) Elegy – poem to reflect upon the feeling of love and lost. It usually laments about the grief of
losing someone (death).
vii) Ballad – a narrative poetry about romanticism, adventure which mainly uses musical forms. It
usually follows a rhyming scheme.
viii) Villanelle – it is a composition of 19 lines with a rhyming scheme of two major sounds i.e., A
and B. Lines also are repetitive in nature.
ix) Ode – A poetry that determines about a person, place or an event. It explores on the universal
elements.
x) Epic – refers to the narrative nature of poetry. It majorly represents heroic and historical
events.

A figure of speech is a deviation from the usual use of words to enhance their impact. They take in
effect in the sound form and therefore are also known as sound devices. There are several figures of
speech as follows –

i) Alliteration - It consists of a set of words that all start with the same letter and therefore
majorly use as taglines and captions.
ii) Assonance - Assonance is the term for the repetition of vowel sounds.
iii) Consonance - It primarily consists of words with repeated consonant sounds in the centre or
at the end whereas alliteration occurs when the repeating sound appears at the start of the
sequence.
iv) Onomatopoeia - Onomatopoeia is the term for when we use words to describe an action by
using the sounds associated with it. For example- thump, splat, whoosh.
v) Anaphora - Anaphora is a literary device when several sentences or poems begin with the
same word.

The major Figures of speech that deal with relationship and resemblance as follows –

i) Simile - As a simile, two distinct things are contrasted with one another. Words like "like," "so,"
"as," etc. serve as the beginning of a simile.
ii) Metaphor - A metaphor is when two dissimilar things are compared. There are no 'like' or 'as'
terms used in this comparison.
iii) Personification - Personification is when the non-living things, abstract concepts are described
as people or other living things.
iv) Apostrophe - When missing or lifeless items are written as living. For example – O Wild West
Wind.
v) Metonymy - It is a figure of speech in which one term is used in place of another that is closely
connected to the same thing. It is majorly used in idioms.
vi) Synecdoche - In synecdoche, a smaller component is employed to represent the larger whole,
or vice versa.
vii) Euphemism - It is a word or a phrase that makes reference to a situation without actually
facing it by using figurative language.
viii) Hyperbole - it is used when combination of words exaggeratesthe overall meaning or a point.
ix) Antimetabole - An antimetabole is when the first half of a sentence's words or clauses are
repeated in the second half of the sentence but in the opposite order.
x) Paradox - A paradox is a figure of speech that at first glance appears to contradict itself yet,
upon closer inspection, reveals some element of reality or logic.
xi) Oxymoron - When two words are combined in a statement but appear to be at odds with one
another, the sentence is considered an oxymoron.
xii) Irony - Irony is the use of language in opposition to one's actions and words.
xiii) Pun - A "play on words" is another term used for pun. Also, their wordplay depends on a word
or phrase having multiple meanings

Old English Poetry Anglo-Saxon poetry, mostly heroic epics. The main genre was Pagan, religion, and
long songs.

• On to the Middle English poetry Influenced by Latin and French Languages. The main genre was
romance and religion.

• Metaphysical Poetry had a different touch to it it referred to Revolutionary poetry, uses irony, conceit,
and metrically flexible text.

• Restorative Poetry to an Age of enlightenment, aided by rise of print and social mobility.

• Romantic Poetry viewing/looking inside and the nature

• Late Romantics – mankind and social issues through poetry.

• and finally Modern Poetry which had a Theme of alienation, isolation, formalism and symbolism.