Greetings,
There are two links to essays on anthologies to this blog, you can find them beneath the calendar on the left hand column. Read them at your earliest convenience.
I have also added a reading and an assignment in preparation for the next class:
1. Read "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" (available everywhere, but also here).
2. Discuss how one would approach analyzing, interpreting, and teaching the poem from the perspective of your chosen critical theory. This should take the shape of a concise paragraph or two published as a comment to this posting.
Enjoy!
Friday, August 10, 2007
Readings for August 15 Class
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19 comments:
Daniel García Rivera
First of all in the belief of post structuralism it is emphasized that the meaning the author intended is secondary to them meaning that the reader preceives. In other words, it rejects the idea of a literary text having a single purpose, a single meaining or one singular existence since every individual reader creates a new and individual purpose, meaing and existence for a given text.
In the T.S Eliot poem The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock to me the protagonist Mr. Prufrock which is in a gathering or a party as it is mentioned that "In the room the women come and go" can represent the modern heterosexual male trying to be around the opposite sex, but who doesn't have the courage to verbalize his interest. This is pointed out in "And in short, I was afraid". Prufrock just stands in a corner quiet trying to decide if he should break the ice , but he is too hesitant "Then how should I begin; To spit out all the butt-ends; of my days and ways?;And how should I presume". Now this guy has a low self esteem as well as he
thinks that his physical appearence is ghastly and that the ladies will find him repulsive "With a bald spot in the middle of my hair--
They will say: "How his hair is growing thin!"
My morning coat, my collar mounting firmly to the chin,
My necktie rich and modest, but asserted by a simple pin--
They will say: "But how his arms and legs are thin!".
This scenario can be seen many times nowadays when a guy finds a female irresistable, but when he tries to speak to her all that may come up may be an incoherent number of words, a stupid commentary or nothing at all much like J. Alfred Prufrock. This man doesn't take the risk to denounce his interest in the females. He is no casanova, but
someone who may end up alone unless a woman makes the first move.
Gerardo Muniz
Deconstruction Theory is the pattern of analyzing the sublime contents behind a word and that the word is of the utmost importance in a sentence due to its precense within it. original words from the Western world change their meaning and consistency due to the implication of other cultures using the same word and the validity or use of the word to denote something of importance changed quickly.
Deconstruction Theory can be put to use in teaching the poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T.S. Eliot in different ways:
first off the importance of words and cohesion in the poem are effective in bringing the poem to an opening, elaboration and a close. the words of importance here are "time" "passage" "knowledge" and "existence". To the words this can be related to the past with a figure in Greek mythology the term Kronos as the Titan who fared in wartime with the Gods of Olympus whose main nemesis being Zeus and from time we can call upon the passage as related as the transpiring sequence in life. but it cannot end there for existence and knowledge span through the passage of time as a web of events that create a human being. and that is what's being presented to the reader by the speaker who is knowledgeable through his time in life but fears certain traits of what he has seen throughout.
The power of words, in this case these four words, can be of complete power to the lines in the poem as the narration of circumstances pass also a devotion to the world is presented to the reader For Prufrock his time in the world has become almost expired and his knowledge of the world and his own existence has been measured by fear of overcoming obstacles such as females as castelar pointed out but it is in my opinion a much more controversial topic which is escaping the timeless agonizing moment of our death.
Very informally, I will say that a Structuralist would be very intrigued by this poem. A part of Structuralism is, as stated in the theory’s name itself, the study of the underlying structure of a literary text and how this unchanging skeleton is similar to other texts. In this aspect, the Structuralist would be puzzled by the poem, because “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” is really quite unique. I don’t think I’ve ever read anything quite like that.
But the second half of Structuralism is semiotics, which tackles symbols and what they represent. This poem is a literal feast of symbols, and this is the approach I would most likely use to interpret and teach this poem in class. Take, for instance, the second full stanza. It is rich with underlying symbols: the use of certain words to describe the yellow nighttime fog give it a characteristically feline feel to what amounts to mere vapor. The fog rubs its back and muzzle against the glass, lingers, leaps and curls up to sleep. Rather than mere symbolism, this gives the reader the impression that the fog is alive, sentient. In short, aware of the comings and goings of mankind.
A note on Structuralism. There are a couple of underlying structures at work in Prufrock, such as the journey ("Let us go then you and I"). Even more specifically, We've got a journey or descent into Hell-- as evoked by the passage from Dante's Inferno-- though we are dealing with a psychological Hell. What are some of the Structuralist studies of these narrative structures that can help us understand the poem's deep structure and strategies?
Janice Soler
In short the Reader Response Theory,allows for the reader to interpret literature as they(the reader) seem fit, this theory claims that their is no fixed meaning or correct answer. Therefore the reader interprets a poem from their "knowledge" basing it from real world experience.
Applying this theory to T.S Eliot's poem The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. The teacher would let the students read this poem, and then discuss what the students interpreted when they read. Since this theory, states that their is no fixed meaning or correct answer.....for a teacher it would be difficult to pick and choose which interpretations would be "correct". But the teacher could, help the students, by listening to all the interpretations and trying to connect their ideas, so the students are left with a few established interpretations that they helped create.
Sandra Soto
The New Historicism Theory seeks to find meaning in a poem based on the historical elements that were part of the moment in which the poem was written. Thus, it not only concentrates in the poem itself but rather in the history that it possibly conveys. In the case of The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock it is clear that this character is going through a crisis and his insecurities and fears are also well portrayed. However, by using this theory, we could also concentrate on the events that occurred around the time in which the poem was written and that might have affected this character.
If I was to use this theory as a medium to teach the poem by TS Eliot, I would surely ask my students to do some research on the events and lifestyles of people living in London at the time, since this is probably the scenery that Eliot is describing in the poem. New Historicism has great interest in social sciences and power and from this perspective, the poem could be analyze with the purpose of finding who seems to have that power and also for a possible explanation of the behaviors of the characters that readers find in the poem.
From a feminist perspective Eliot's poem could be analyzed on a couple of levels. The first thing that I would have to point out would be "the women come and go talking of michael angelo". A feminist would probably believe thats this is a form of streotyping women as shallow individuals whom are concerned with the physical instead of being concerned with other more important matters. I believe that these "women" talk of Michael Angelo because he has created the "perfect man" also known as El David. Why would women talk of this, because they believe El David to be the epitomy of male beauty and that would definitely be approached and maybe even attacked by a feminist. Another aspect of the poem that would probably be looked down upon by a feminist theorist would be the part about the mermaids. Mermaids have been, for the most part, a sexual symbol for males and have also been known to seduce men at sea. This would create a little bit of a problem for feminists since again it is a way of streotyping women as sexual objects for male entertainment. Prufrock believes that these mermaids will not sing to him possibly because he belives that he is not an attractive man anymore which brings us back to the idea that Eliot might have portrayed women as shallow individuals whom are interested only in the physical beauty of men.
Feminists believe that gender is a construct that should be questioned. Prufrock does not fulfill the expectations of society of what a man is supposed to be, this makes Prufrock feel lonely and maybe even alienated from the world around him. Feminists would probably critisize the fact that he is only accepted if he represents what women want and desire which can take us back to "the women come and go talking of michael angelo".
If we have the Psychoanalytical theory in mind we can teach the many interpretations of this poem and help the reader analyze it from different perspectives. Psychoanalytical theory seeks to discover connections among the unconscious components of patients' mental processes. The unconscious is the source for our motivations and neurotic compulsions. We have a tendency to deny or resist these motivations in our conscious perception that is why they are observable in a disguised manner. If we have a good balance between the Id, Ego, and Super Ego and passed the developmental stages naturally then we won’t have a problem. However, as I believe the case is in the poem “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” this balance and development did not go well.
The poem is full of tension and anxiety towards sexuality and the female sex. Freud could argue that Prufrock did not developed well on his phallic stage hence he still has a problem with the main representation of feminism, his mother. She probably was not close to him. The poem, also, has the theme of the individual vs. society and how does he fit. Prufrock demonstrates anxiety and perhaps fear of others’ conception of him. This point could be approached by Adler’s theory of Individual Psychology. In addition, this poem can be analyzed differently from above. For example, what if he is talking to himself and the yellow fog is the unconscious? , or what if there are no real women and it’s just a struggle between his masculine and feminine side like in Jung’s archetype theory?
The historical theory basically focuses on how history (events or issues) affects the writer or in this case the poet’s ideals of inspiration. The cultural, intellectual and emotional aspect sees usually comes into play.
After understanding the basic definition of the theory when applying a poem such as The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock in a classroom the teacher can begin the introduction of the poem first by discussing who the writer is, in this case T.S. Elliot, and talk particular year in which the poet composed this poem to give students a background feel of possible inspiration. Then once covering this poem both the teacher and the students can analyze other works from the same poet to notice any change in style or expression concerning the same issues or another for that matter. The last way of implicating historical theory in poetry using this poem & poet is to compare and analyze not only his works but that of other poets from that same time frame (the poems may or may not share the same general theme) this can lead to discussions as to how historical theory and what it stands for affects the way of a writers development.
I would like to take a moment and say that new media theory is a hard nut to crack. Unlike other literary theory that focuses on their own method of analyzing a literary work, new media is still in it's infancy deciding on what qualifies as new media. I have searched as much as I can on new media theory and I have found very little and they all vary with each other. One general consensus each one of them has is that in order for a work to be classified as new media, the work has to be viewed from an electronic monitor and in many cases, it should involve user input and activity.
Where does T.S. Eliot and "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" stand in New Media Theory. From what I can gather... nowhere. The point is that "The Love Song" was originally written on what we now consider as old media. Some of you may argue that it is now available online and you can read it through a monitor. True, but new media specified that it needs to involve the reader and have them interact with the poem. This is a trait that the electronic version of this poem does not do. Perhaps the audio recording of "The Love Song" can be considered as new media and it can be compiled in an anthology. However, based on the details that I have found, this method doesn't hold water.
It has been a difficult journey for me as it was for Profrock. But alas, out with the old and in with the new.
Addition/Ammendment to what I said on Structuralism!
Well, as you said, there’s a symbolic journey through Hell, as the insecure Prufrock goes to some type of elite, socialite party (this from the ladies talking of Michelangelo – such people are usually scholars or posers). He just knows people are going to hate him because he’s bald and skinny, but he goes nonetheless, which suggests of a sort of catharsis, or perhaps a brave battle waged purely within and against himself (like the Trials of Hercules in ancient myth – done by Hercules for the atonement of his past sins of pride). This, I think is the more appropriate theme or structure, as the poem’s voice states, “And indeed there will be time . . . And time yet for a hundred indecisions,
And for a hundred visions and revisions,” Finally, like Alighieri’s Inferno, we the readers have a guide through every painful step, as we witness Prufrock’s battle accompanied with an omniscient voice.
Biographical Context deals with the way the personal experiences of the writer has had an impact in his o her writing.Once we understand the background of the writer we can then begin to comprehend the meaning the piece of writing has.
For example the writer's age, the social background, the experiences of work, the religious beliefs, the relationships he or she may have had, etc.etc..
As we know and it has been mentioned in his biography T.S. Eliot suffered from an emotional breakdown which could have led him to have a new perspective towards life. In his poem The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock the character Prufrock is contemplating the idea if he should attend a social gathering, since feels he will be critizice by the people there. "To wonder, Do I dare?" and "Do I dare?" Time to turn back and descent the stair. With a bald spot in the middle of my hair... [They will say, "How his hair is growing thin"] My morning coat, my collar mountaing firmly to the chin, My neckie, rich and modes, but asserted by a simple pin-- [Thy sill say, "But how his arms and legs are thin"] Do I dare".
Prufrock very self conscious and this makes him doubtful decisions s.
I believe that our actions mold us but they do not make who we are.We should take into consideration many things in our daily lives but we should not let them dictate who we are and what we will become.
It is of sheer importance to note that "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" was written by one of the most important, if not famous, new critics. As a result the work may indeed be a concretization of the theory behind New Criticism itself. Looking at the poem from the new critical perspective one can conclude that other than this poem, there should be nothing worth looking at for its interpretation. In other words the time at which it was written, the person who wrote it, and the emotions behind him are irrelevant. What only matters is the journey to find out how the poem's meaning is achieved.
New Critics are not fans of the "touchy feely" movement. Consequently they do not waste their time in the emotional realm of the reader when he or she is reading the work. As a new critic, one puts his or her experiences and emotions aside to embark in a scientific quest for meaning. Thus when reading "The Love Song..." the new critical reader will focus on the anatomy of the text, and will search no further. When the speaker "puts on the face" for the faces he will meet, the reader is not going to think about his or her past remembrances similar to J. Alfred's, the reader will examine how the word choice, the imagery, and the rhyme scheme serve to create an effect. The new critic will dedicate as much time as is needed to a single line if he or she must, and will handle such work as if it were gold. The same method would apply to its teaching, stressing upon the fact that the author is indeed dead and what he has to say about the poem is both pointless and useless.
Lacan’s Psychoanalytical theory focuses on the development of the individual through three stages; the Imaginary (formation of the Ego), the Symbolic (linguistic aspect), the Real (object of anxiety). Like Freud, Lacan gives emphasis to language, however Lacan is not interested in the origin of things, he argues that origins are never available to us, but what it is available is the capacity of humans to use symbols and express those symbols in language.
When it comes to analyzing T.S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" one can say that at the beginning of the poem Prufrock already has an idea of himself and that he has been able to identify himself, so he is no longer in the imaginary stage. However, he uses language to express the state of anxiety in which he lives, words are not just symbols in this poem. To Prufrock these symbols already have a meaning therefore they are not left in the unconscious. Now that he is well aware of his situation and how he may be seen to people outside he is overly conscious of himself and that is what causes him to be in his current state.
How the Russian Formalism theory would serve teachers to analyze, interpret, and teach Eliot’s ‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock? Since the beginnings of the movement the two literary groups which got together as the Russian Formalists, were “separated” in terms of what they wanted to achieve and what structure or pattern they would follow to analyze a text.
If I were to teach and present this poem in my class using the Russian formalists’ theory I would divide into parts the poem, taking into consideration that the formalists were not interested in the poet but the poem itself and what elements, sounds and meanings they could get from it. When the formalists started they had as a foundation some symbolism aspects that they followed even though in their later works they served as a model for the structuralism theory. Taking also in considerations that the Russian Formalists believed words are selected on the basis of their sound not their lexical meaning, then, we have to analyze how to detach the poem’s poetic language from our language, the “practical” one. To the Russian Formalists these two languages are very different, and practical language should not be taken in consideration when analyzing a poem. The poem should have life on its own, not looking at its cultural-historical background.
Lidsay Centeno Vega
Cultural studies theories are not hard to comprehend. Based on the accustomed anthologies, race and ethnic based literature is not hard to come by but, unfortunately it is not as common as traditional style literature. Race and ethnicity theories “examine the representation of race and ethnicity in a text and with the social and cultural implications of these representations.” (http://hhh.gavilan.edu/ecrook/lB/LiteraryTheory.htm)
Since race and ethnicity is a global issue/ topic, to try to pin point a major race and ethnic theorist can be quit difficult to do.
The Love Song og J. Alfred Prufrock, although it does not express any race or ethnic sentiment, it does carry the same substance. The main character of the poem is very well put as a sensitive man who, in some way puts himself outside of the picture. He expresses this sent of low self esteem, of being unsure of himself and all together as an eye sore... a red dot on a blank piece of paper. Even though T. S. Elliot did not write and ethnic poem, he drove across the same message.
Prufrock has posed as the overlooked member of society that on a busy day and not so busy day is completely ignored. Elliot puts this man on the map and lets the world know that this man does exist and that even though he may not be pleasant to look act, he is too a body, mind and soul that deserves to be acknowledged.
Even though it may be obvious the T. S. Elliot did not mean for this poem to be analized in such a way (due to the time it was written in) it is clear that looked in a different light poetry is up to its own interpretation.
Well, first of all, a little on Queer Theory. Queer Theory, even though it focuses a lot on homosexuality and bisexuality and everything else that does not fall under heterosexuality, also focuses on the latter. In a way, it is exploring all sexualities and how they come to be, how they work, how they are defined and all of that. It is for this reason that I don’t think that a queer theorist would focus much on the Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. I believe that someone who wants to apply the queer theory to the teaching of poems would most likely choose poems that deal directly with sexuality issues. This poem deals more with what’s going on in this man’s mind, that in a way could be associated to sexuality; but at least in my opinion there is not much to go on about queer theory with this poem.
The Theory of Archetypal Criticism is based upon the idea that archetypes determine the form and function of literary works. Based on that The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock is a poem, which contains many topics that are hidden and that are represented in a vision of one character with different views of one world. The way to analyze its based on the way that Archetypal Criticism relies upon characters and personifications as the hero in which we could look at J. Alfred as the hero of the poem who fantasizes about the things that he wish he could do but stays realistic as to what his reality is, the way that he is and the prospect of what could be. In his character we see the duality of the mind and how they can be contradicted into what the mind says you can do and what the heart says you should do. Teaching this poem is not an easy task but based on the theory of Archetypal Criticism is based on social anthropology and psychoanalysis which all deviate from the main character in the poem which can be both seen from a perspective of how the world looks at him and his actions (social anthropology) or how he looks at himself within that context (psychoanalysis).
Editorial and Textual Criticism intends to evaluate the authorship of texts. It tends to look for the oldest text, one that is the closest to the author's original meaning. It also approaches books as relics and therefore tries to preserve them.
It would be complicated to get students who are not majoring in English or literature to have this type of respect or fascination for books. However, a good technique could be to have them research for the different versions and editions of the text. Asign students in small groups to try to find copies of these versions and have them look at them in terms of binding, content and structure. Then, you can have each group present their findings to the class. Finally, as a whole the class would evaluate how these processess of edition have affected the text whether positively ot negatively. The evaluation could be in form of an essay where they express what they liked or disliked about the edition of the text.
The Love Song of Alfred J Prufrock provides for this type or research and analysis for it was written in 1917. There are copies of the book for $20,000 euros while there are digital versions free. Some of these digital version have hypertext that links to vocabulary words, other have footnotes, there are recordings of the poem and even some with links to images. I believe students are interested in looking at new texts and this would provide space for them to truly analyze the essence of a text and the changes that it can suffer by technology and edition.
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