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Thinking Activity-Archetypal Criticism


What is Archetypal Criticism? What does the archetypal critic do?

In literary criticism the term archetype denotes recurrent narratives designs, patterns of action, character-types, themes, and images which are identifiable in a wide variety of works of literature, as well as in myths, dreams, and even social rituals. Such recurrent items are held to be the result of elemental and universal forms or patterns in the human psyche, whose effective embodiment in a literary work evokes a profound response from the attentive reader, because he or she shares the psychic archetypes expressed by the author.

Archetypal literary criticism's origins are rooted in two other academic disciplines, social anthropology and psychoanalysis; each contributed to literary criticism in separate ways, with the latter being a sub-branch of critical theory. Archetypal criticism was at its most popular in the 1940s and 1950s, largely due to the work of Canadian literary critic Northrop Frye. Though archetypal literary criticism is no longer widely practiced, nor have there been any major developments in the field, it still has a place in the tradition of literary studies.



What is Frye trying prove by giving an analogy of ' Physics to Nature' and 'Criticism to Literature'?


 In this Frye compare the both Physics to Nature and Criticism to Literature. The Physics is deep study of Nature but it called physics not Nature  though it is based on the Nature only but it called physics.In the same manner In the literature we are not learn the literature but we learn to understand literature,  how to read and how to criticise literature so we are not Learn literature but criticise literature. So it is the criticism of literature. So Literature is equall to Nature and Physics is equall to Criticism.


Share your views of Criticism as an organised body of knowledge.


Literature is the central division of Humanities. Historical sense and Philosophy are about morality, ethics and all these things are required when we study literature. Philosophy is about existence and it progressively moves on, its ideas never stopped. Northrop Frye says that without reasoning and thinking to jump on any type of conclusion is not valid process. we have to look upon the framework of history which is based on evidence. Histories are never written without evidence. BUT THAT FRAMEWORK OF HISTORY MUST BE CHECKED, sometimes history also makes division in society. Every ideas  has a framework and how it grows is important to understand.

 Briefly explain inductive method with illustration of Shakespeare's Hamlet's Grave Digger's scene.

Inductive method – Example to Rule

Northrop Frye gives example of Gravedigger’s scene from “Hamlet” to explain this method. To study this scene we need to go step by step backwards to study this method:
a.)       First, the question of existence can be seen. Every man dies at one point.
b.)       Second, image of corruption can be seen.
c.)       Third, we see Hamlet’s love for Ophelia.
Hamlet represents Archetypal hero who is ready to die for his love.
This method moves from “Particular to General”.


 Briefly explain Deductive Method with reference to an analogy to music , painting, rhythm and pattern. Give example of outcome of  Deductive Method.

   In the Deductive Method it come from general to specific or particular observations. In this Music has rhyme and Painting has patterns. Both are connected while listening the music at the first time we can't understand but when we start to understand the words we image a picture in the mind by this imagination we understand the things. As the same thing happens while reading literature we image the things through the imagination it helps us to understand the literature. So music , rhythm, painting, pattern so it helps to understand the literature.


  Refer to the Indian seasonal grid (below). If you can, please read small Gujarati or Hindi or English poem from the archetypal approach and apply Indian seasonal grid in the interpretation.


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