Thinking activity on Northrop Frye : Archetypal criticism

Hello readers !

Welcome to my world.

 Here in this blog you know about Northrop Frye (1912 - 1991) and his concept of 'Archetypal Criticism' . He was written more than forty books, but the most celebrated work is Anatomy of Criticism (1951). ' The Archetypes of literature ' is first published in Kenyon review ( vol. 8, 1951), later reprinted in Fables on Identity,  is in Frye's word

 ' to some extent summarized the statement of the critical program' later expanded in Anatomy of Criticism.

So the Archetypal criticism is good for  Novel and also the poetry and drama. The theory of Carl Jung , ' Collective unconsciousness' is not followed by Frye. Because Jung believed that literature originated in collective unconsciousness stored as racial memory within each individual. But for Frye literature originates in other literature as stories are broken down into bits and reshaped into other stories. If we look at in literature each and every story have beginning, middle and end. But the modern literature and the modern writer who don't believe in this structure.

Let's have some of the questions about Northrop Frye and his ' Archetypes of literature'.

✍️ What is Archetypal criticism ?What does the Archetypal critic do ?

 The word Archetypes is from the Greek word arkhetupon, the first mold and the model,in the meaning of being initial version of something later multiplied. In literature, an archetype is a typical character, an action, or a situation that seems to represent universal patterns of human nature.

Archetypal criticism is the type of critical theory that is mainly interpret a text by the narrative technique and the symbol, various imagery, type of character, incident and also literary works.  Is the study of how writer used mythical symbol and also different images. And also identify them how that is appropriate.

If we think the job of Archetypal critic then we find that they have to know about the various Archetypes and do note that how one writer used that specific Archetypes, in this literary work, what does that mean?  How that is appropriate with the context of history.

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

Frye's trying to compare both elements like ' physics to nature' and  ' Criticism to literature' . Here we can see how Frye prove his view through comparing season's characteristics with literary work, and it's genres , characteristic of character and emotions. There are two frameworks by Frye that is comedy and Tragedy and that subdivision in Satire and Romance.

Frye discuss the four seasons that is Spring, Summer, Autumn, winter.

four seasons in the cycle of the natural world, are incorporated in the four major genres of 

👉 comedy (spring),

👉  Romance (summer), 

👉 Tragedy (autumn), 

👉 Satire (winter).

So the each season aligned with different literary genres. Comedy paired with spring that through we can say that the birth of the hero and also spring symbolize the defeat of winter and darkness.

✍️ Share your views of criticism as an organized body of knowledge. Mention relation of literature with History and Philosophy.

Criticism is the organized body of knowledge. That through we look at various approaches.  Literature have a vital reaction with History and Philosophy. Both of strong pillars of the literature. In between literature grown. Philosophy as important as history or vice versa. In history we find that past events, action and scene. In philosophy we look for  morality, ethics and wisdom. Let's see how literature made up, literature is all about ideas and events. Without event we not get any idea and without idea no literature.

✍️ Briefly explain inductive method with illustration of Shakespeare's Hamlet's grave digger's scene.

Northrop Frye discuss the two methods to prove his observation that is Inductive method and Deductive method. In the inductive method observation from particular to general. For understanding of this concept the best example is the Hamlet's grave digger's scene by Shakespeare. By The closet study  we get the general meaning through the particular thing or event. There were two men who made a grave for Ophelia. Singing a song and quietly do his work. They also mocking on dead Ophelia and commented that whether she allowed to buried or not. Here we can see that they have no grief for deadly person. They do work as we do other work. They don't have grief at all.

 Another thing is that Wilson Knight who was the literary critic and his famous work The wheel of fire  in which we find that  collection of Essays on Shakespearean play. He argued that the scene reflection of the society of that time. Social political scenario of the time. The skull representation of the corrupted society. This particular scene Hamlet expressed his love for Ophelia and that is lead towards his death. So we can say that this is the example of the inductive method particular to general.

✍️ Briefly explain deductive method with reference to an analogy to music, painting, rhythm and pattern.

In the Deductive method we see that the Process going on general to particular. If we take reference to an analogy to music  then we can say that move in time whether the painting presented space in terms of arts. In both cases organizing principle recurrence. So the reputation  is gives us general ideas.

In music Rhythm is temporal and in painting pattern is spatial. In the reading of the book we feel  both elements together.

✍️ Give example of the outcome of deductive method, Refer to the Indian seasonal grid. (If you can, please read a small Gujarati, Hindi and English poem from the Archetypal approach and apply Indian seasonal grid in the interpretation.)

In the Indian seasonal grid and Hindi scriptures, we find that six seasons to  that are: 

 Winter

 Pre- winter

 Summer

 Spring

 Autumn

 Monsoon

In which Northrop Frye mentioned how season came as an archetype in literature.  Here this poem is about summer.

Our Summertime Fun

I looked outside and viewed the trees,

Smelled the summer air,

I felt the warm breeze.

The sun with its golden bars.

That drop so gently on the field afar.

The beautiful blue sky,

Painted very seldom with white clouds so high.

The wet green grass,

Doused with the morning's rain.

Perfect weather for camping.

We'll go have a fish.

Mum will mix the batter,

And stick the fish on a platter.

A joy so reckless and wild,

That's in the heart of every child.

Now we look at our skin.

Let the sunburns begin.

We'll play in the sun.

• Adelle M. Scott ( June 21, 2019)

So in the first stanza we find that the discretion of the summer. As we know  that summer aligned with romance. Smelled the summer air and beautiful blue sky. In the second stanza the line 

'Perfect weather for camping

We'll go have fish'

So in this line through we can say that summer is the season of happiness and also festive. 

Sunday reading activity : ( click here to visit my blog on religion and literature

Thank you........