Studying Literature is a short introduction to two genres in literary studies: fiction and poetry. It explicates in easy-to-understand terms the basic elements of a fictional work, such as plot, setting, characterisation and point of view; and the constituents of a poem, such as tone, diction, imagery and figurative language. Each of these elements is explained through the analysis of examples from assorted literary texts from around the world. The explanations are supplemented with examples from films, celebrity culture and political speeches. The book offers a point of departure for students embarking on literary studies. It foregrounds the literariness and special use of the language of poetry and fiction, and demonstrates how these texts are put together.
Pramod K. Nayar teaches at the Department of English, the University of Hyderabad, India. His most recent books include Digital Cool: Life in the Age of New Media (Orient BlackSwan 2012), Colonial Voices: The Discourses of Empire (2012), Writing Wrongs: The Cultural Construction of Human Rights in India (2012), States of Sentiment: Exploring the Cultures of Emotion (Orient BlackSwan 2011), Postcolonialism (2010) and Packaging Life: Cultures of the Everyday (2009). He is also the editor of English Poetry 1660–1780: An Anthology (EFL-U and Orient BlackSwan 2010), English Poetry from the Elizabethans to the Restoration: An Anthology (Orient BlackSwan 2012) and the forthcoming English Romantic Poetry: An Anthology (Orient BlackSwan). When tired of the very literary, he also publishes essays on superhero comics.
Preface Acknowledgements Introduction FICTION 1. The Grounds of Narrative: Story and Plot On Narrative Plot Other Plots The Centrality of Narrative 2. Faces and Figures: Character and Characterisation Characterisation: Methods and Techniques Telling Showing Speech Action Types of Characters Flat and Round Characters Stock Characters Major and Minor Characters Characters as Actants Stereotypes 3. Narrative Vantage: Point of View T he Narrator, the Narratee, the Implied Author and the Implied Reader Three Types of Narrators and Narratives Reliable and Unreliable Narrators Narrative Levels 4. Locations and Locales: Setting Setting 1: Place and Landscape Place, Setting and its Dimensions Atmosphere Historical Setting Social Setting Setting 2: Time Order Duration or Speed Frequency POETRY 5. Turns of Speech: Voice and Tone Voice and Persona T one, Mood, Attitude Hyperbole Meiosis (Understatement) Irony 6. The Order of Words: Diction, Rhythm, Rhyme Diction: Denotation and Connotation Syntax Rhythm Stresses Pauses Meter Rhyme Formal Patterns 7. Something More, Something Else: Imagery, Symbolism, Allegory Imagery Symbolism Allegory 8. Must We Mean What We Say? Figurative Language Personification and Apostrophe Personification Apostrophe Similes Metaphors Synecdoche Metonymy
Afterword References Index