These quotes are taken from a text found on: http://engbg1.blogspot.com/2010_03_01_archive.html called Tackling Textuality - With Theory by Peter Barry.
Original passage
“Often the significant point is where the perceived pattern is broken, for the item in question must have been chosen either in spite of breaking the pattern or because it breaks the pattern, and is thereby foregrounded. In the same way, if you look at a hundred rows of flowers in a wall-papered room, the only ones which will catch your attention are the ones which are not properly aligned (sic)all DIY people know this.”
Paraphrase
Barry discusses that the most interesting parts of a text are often where patterns are being disregarded. This inconsistency in language must have been made for a reason, to point something out. Either the phrase or word is chosen because of that reason – it sticks out from the rest; or it is considered to be interesting enough not to alter just to make it fit into a pattern of a text. It catches our eye not unlike like the woman in a red dress, walking the streets surrounded by people in grey suits.
Original passage
“These, then, are some of the main ways in which readers and critics engage with literary texts and begin to put forward accounts of what they mean. So, where does it leave us? The situation is this. We will always need these ten elements of interpretation. Literary criticism can never grow out of them, and they can never be superseded. It's impossible to do English without them. It always was, and it always will be.”
Paraphrase
Barry questions his meaning of highlighting these particular rules to working with literature. Do we really need them at all? The answer is according to him: Yes, we do! These ten guidelines to text interpretation will always be useful when examining literature. Even as time progresses, these are the basic fundamentals in literary criticism and without them we will fail. They are essential to English and they will never grow out of date.
Important words/phrases that should not be changed
Literary jargon like: Derridean dictum, contradictions, linguistic quirks, aporia, shifts or breaks, tense, person, attitude, absences or omissions.
The quote below I think should be left as it is. It is stated as an opinion of his about a poem and therefore very hard to paraphrase correctly. We cannot read his mind and know what he was thinking when he said these words:
“Or rather, it's about neither. It's about an object which is pure textuality, which only exists in language; it a sea/pine-forest, or a pine-forest/sea. Here is a poem, then, which actively resists reading.”
Review
I think this text is very well written of course, though a bit boring. The author seems to be a bit full of himself and think he is somewhat of genius, even though he his mostly bringing up the basics in literary criticism. The language could have been more down to earth to improve students understanding of it. It is good that he incorporated concrete examples, like with the poems, to make his points clearer to the audience. It is also a way for the readers to put his ideas to the test right away on a well known piece of literary work.
fredag 9 april 2010
torsdag 8 april 2010
Assignment 5
Summary
Peter Barry is in this text showing us that applying critique to literary work can be quite a tricky business. There are both obvious points to a text, as well as hidden meaning sometimes. However, he is offering us a list of some vital rules for how our minds work when we are reading a text, rules which we will always be able to use when trying to cut through different layers in literature:
1: There are always patters to a text and what we notice about text are most likely the parts that stick out from the background.
2: Things are not always what they seem – things or characters that seem miles apart may just be two sides of a very thin pancake.
3: We search for deeper meaning and interpretations in a text.
4: Meaning and significance are not the same thing.
5: The genre can have an impact of how literary work functions.
6: We look for metaphors, especially in poems.
7: We understand that not everything is a metaphor though!
8: As readers we are sensitive to word order and such patterns in language.
9: We are able to distinguish new beginnings and chapters in literary work.
10: Semantic change can alter the meaning of words and phrases.
After these points, Barry goes on to analyzing a sonnet by Shakespeare and pick it apart – especially from a metaphorical point of view. He also makes the observation that the use of some unusual word order can contain hidden meaning. Barry also intrigues us with some thoughts on the gender aspect – are there some ways in this sonnet to figure out that the author is a man and not a woman? Finally, he also makes a connection between literary work and psychoanalysis.
Then Barry goes on to describing how analyzing a text more conventionally or, as he says, using “textual harassment” can really alter one’s perception of a piece of literary work. He makes his points by using the different techniques on the poems Oread and Transit. Here he also finds some contradictions and linguistic quirks. Poems lend themselves well for analyses and Barry picks up different shifts in attitudes as he further dissects the texts.
Finally, Barry wraps up his thoughts with some reasons for why one should analyze literary work in the first place. According to him, getting some light bulb moments from literature could even be fun!
Keywords
Meaning: This whole text is about finding meaning in literary work, hidden or obvious as it may be.
Metaphor: The word comes up several times in the text, it is one of the most well known literary terms and the author uses metaphors himself. For example, he is describing a text to a cat, as something you stroke the right way with interpretations, or on the other, stroke the wrong way for effect.
Flowers: Again, a metaphor. The author is comparing literary patterns to flowers on a wall paper. The only ones you notice are the ones that stand out.
Literary jewel: Good imagery that explains a lot when find a gem in language.
Knife and fork: An often unconscious way of using words in a particular order. It does not really make a difference to the meaning of the phrase to say “fork and knife” instead, but it will perhaps imply a hidden context about the text or of the speaker.
Peter Barry is in this text showing us that applying critique to literary work can be quite a tricky business. There are both obvious points to a text, as well as hidden meaning sometimes. However, he is offering us a list of some vital rules for how our minds work when we are reading a text, rules which we will always be able to use when trying to cut through different layers in literature:
1: There are always patters to a text and what we notice about text are most likely the parts that stick out from the background.
2: Things are not always what they seem – things or characters that seem miles apart may just be two sides of a very thin pancake.
3: We search for deeper meaning and interpretations in a text.
4: Meaning and significance are not the same thing.
5: The genre can have an impact of how literary work functions.
6: We look for metaphors, especially in poems.
7: We understand that not everything is a metaphor though!
8: As readers we are sensitive to word order and such patterns in language.
9: We are able to distinguish new beginnings and chapters in literary work.
10: Semantic change can alter the meaning of words and phrases.
After these points, Barry goes on to analyzing a sonnet by Shakespeare and pick it apart – especially from a metaphorical point of view. He also makes the observation that the use of some unusual word order can contain hidden meaning. Barry also intrigues us with some thoughts on the gender aspect – are there some ways in this sonnet to figure out that the author is a man and not a woman? Finally, he also makes a connection between literary work and psychoanalysis.
Then Barry goes on to describing how analyzing a text more conventionally or, as he says, using “textual harassment” can really alter one’s perception of a piece of literary work. He makes his points by using the different techniques on the poems Oread and Transit. Here he also finds some contradictions and linguistic quirks. Poems lend themselves well for analyses and Barry picks up different shifts in attitudes as he further dissects the texts.
Finally, Barry wraps up his thoughts with some reasons for why one should analyze literary work in the first place. According to him, getting some light bulb moments from literature could even be fun!
Keywords
Meaning: This whole text is about finding meaning in literary work, hidden or obvious as it may be.
Metaphor: The word comes up several times in the text, it is one of the most well known literary terms and the author uses metaphors himself. For example, he is describing a text to a cat, as something you stroke the right way with interpretations, or on the other, stroke the wrong way for effect.
Flowers: Again, a metaphor. The author is comparing literary patterns to flowers on a wall paper. The only ones you notice are the ones that stand out.
Literary jewel: Good imagery that explains a lot when find a gem in language.
Knife and fork: An often unconscious way of using words in a particular order. It does not really make a difference to the meaning of the phrase to say “fork and knife” instead, but it will perhaps imply a hidden context about the text or of the speaker.
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