The study of literature

Literature in history

 In the western culture the study of literature has been in constant change, the conception of what is literature is something they have been asking since long ago.
Greeks: The fist concept of literature in history was from the greeks. Philosophers like Plato and Aristotle debated literature, in that time poetry and drama. They said that literature is the representation of life, ontology, epistemology, politics and morality. (Criticism)

 Romanticism (19th century): In this period the idea was that poetry was a reflection of everyday life and ordinary people; an expression of feeling; and it was written in common language. The discuss of issues of our "Higher humanity over the status quo.


Scientific determinism: Charles Darwin with the publication of "The origin of species) changed all the conception of trascendentalism of Romanticism to a scientific determinism of the Victorian era. Science become the most popular concept in literature.


New Criticism (E. 20th C.): The new criticism propose that the only thing important and object of study was the text itself. Not even the author and his history was relevant. They didn't care about the context of the book creation. The book was independent.


Reader-Response Criticism: The response of the new concept in literature, people wanted to know about other aspects of the books, not only the book itself.


Structuralism: This is the theory os Saussaure about language concept. This is, not taking a word with always the same meaning, he invites the reader to get the sign of what that word or sentence is trying to communicate. (Signifier-Signified)


Post Structuralism: Is the idea of making a difference between meanings, for example if we read cat we know inmediatly that the author is not refering to a cat itself or the concept of cat (animal)

Marxism: Is the concepto of the ideology "marxism" (Karl Marx) throw literature. Social classes and economic differences.


Feminism: Women used literature to  communicate their feelings about society.


Cultural poetics: Is all the contrary concept of criticism, the reader should know all the aspects that sorrounds the book.


Post-Colonial criticism: The author life (biography) is very important when we read a book, and also in what part of the author´s life the book was written.