Introduction to the Study of Cultures and Literatures in English

- Introduction to the Study of Cultures and Literatures in English
- Előszó
- Contents
- Part 1 What is English Studies?
  - 1. What is a university? A proseminary
  - 2. Paradigms and paradigm shifts
  - 3. What is English Studies? English as a university subject
  - 4. Ideology, criticism, history
  - 5. Registers of Culture
  - 6. Canon formation and alternative reading practices
- Part 2 Fields of English Studies. Language, Literature, Culture, and Critical Approaches
  - 1. Preliminary problems: definitions, scientific expectations
  - 2. Ontological problems: the way literature exists
    - Semiotics
    - Literary communication
    - Language and Critical Thinking
    - The Language of the Sciences and the Language of Literature
  - 3. Methodological problems: the way we understand texts
    - Meaning and context
    - The Process of Interpretation
  - 4. The Theory of Genres
    - Genres and Their Historical Changes
    - Genre-generating Factors and Historical Changes
  - 5. Poetry and Figurative Language
    - Exercise in Interpretation / 1
      - I First level of meaning
      - II Second level of meaning
      - III Third level of meaning
      - IV Fourth level of meaning
  - 6. Narrative Fiction
    - Exercise in Interpretation / 2
      - I First level of meaning
      - II Second level of meaning
      - III Third level of meaning
  - 7. Drama
    - Exercise in Interpretation / 3
      - I First level of meaning
      - II Second level of meaning
  - Self test I
  - 8. Literature, Culture, and the Reading Subject: An Overview of Major Trends in Literary and Cultural Theory
    - I Preliminaries
    - II Formal critical trends: from the authorial intention to the close reading of the text (1st shift)
    - III Contextual aproaches: from text to context
    - The critique of structuralism
  - Self test II
  - 9. Critical Literature Consulted and Recommended
  - 10. Appendix

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# II Second level of meaning

On the basis of the mythological, symbolical meanings of the relevant attributes we start seeing that the narrative presents a story in which the characters carry larger, abstract meanings, comparable to mythological characters and the most ancient values, attitudes and endeavours of humankind. Owen represents the human aspiration to transcend the limitations of material and human existence. Danforth stands for material stagnation and power, Peter Hovenden represents negativity and hostility, everything which erects sceptic barriers to human aspiration, while the child stands for ignorance and the continuation of the materialistic bloodline. The Hermes-like Butterfly is the messenger between the world of inspiration and artistic creation (W1) and the human, materialistic world of physical strength (W2).

The plot unfolds in a way that the narrator keeps focusing our attention on the inner world and mental processes of the protagonist, Owen Warland. The narrator appears to be external in all aspects of focalization, but we also realize that he very much sympathizes with Owen, the hero, so in the emotive aspect of focalization it is not unbiased and impartial, but an internal emotive focalizer: it very often expresses concern about Owen, and even cries out “Poor, poor and fallen Owen Warland!” This suggests that the protagonist of the story might carry the philosophical viewpoint of the author, which indeed makes sense because the narrative appears to put forward a typically romantic philosophical statement about the importance of imaginative power and artistic creation over the materially minded human civilization.

Nevertheless, we are still puzzled by the seemingly nonsensical ending of the plot, so we have to carry on with our interpretive effort.

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