SYLLABUS INTRODUCTION—DOMINANT IDEAS OF MODERN STUDY Unity: the application of perspective to the field of the study as a whole. Induction: verification of principles by observation of subjectmatter as a final test to which results (however attained) must ultimately be referred. Evolution: distinction between a static habit of mind, seeking fixed principles which will be universal, and an evolutionary mental attitude, tending to interpret things as manifestations of an underlying process. In regard to all three of these ideas the study of literature is less advanced than other studies of front rank. BOOK I. LITERARY MORPHOLOGY: VARIETIES OF LITERATURE AND THEIR UNDERLYING PRINCIPLES CHAPTER I. THE ELEMENTS OF LITERARY FORM I. The ballad dance as literary protoplasm.-The four cardinal points of literary form: description and presentation, poetry and prose. (Stumbling-block to literary theory in the traditional confusion between poetry and verse.)—Relations between the elements of literary form summarized in Chart I, page 18.-Important distinction between literary elements and literary classifications. Pages 11-20 II. Fundamental distinction of floating and fixed literature (summarized in Chart II, page 21).-Application of floating and fixed to the literary elements gives the life history of literary form (summarized in Chart III, page 26). Pages 20-28 III. Special topics.-(1) The "Homeric Question" illustrates a regular phenomenon of literary evolution.-(2) Genuineness, authenticity, date, questions of authorship, not of literature.-(3) Fossil poetry.-(4) Relations between journalism and the rest of literature.-(5) The evolution of originality (summarized in Chart IV, page 37). Pages 28-41 CHAPTER II. THE FUSION OF LITERARY ELEMENTS I. Side by side with the differentiation of literary elements is a counter movement toward their combination and fusion.-Natural affinity of the elements for one another. Pages 42-50 II. Notable illustrations of poetry resting upon the combination and fusion of literary forms.-Greek tragedy-the Biblical rhapsody -the poetry of Browning. Pages 50-63 CHAPTER III. LITERARY FORM THE KEY TO LITERARY INTERPRETATION Foundation principle of literature that form and structure are the key to interpretation of matter and spirit.-In modern books the technique of the printed page makes literary form and structure unmistakable. Pages 64-5 The great exception: Morphological confusion of Biblical literature in its transmission through the Middle Ages—in ordinary Bibles the true form and structure are suppressed, and a spurious form and structure have been introduced by mediaeval commentators.-Slow recovery of structure in Biblical literature: significance of the Modern Reader's Bible.-Illustrations of obscurity or misinterpretation of Biblical literature caused by ignoring the literary form and structure. Pages 65-74 BOOK II. THE FIELD AND SCOPE OF LITERARY STUDY CHAPTER IV. THE UNITY OF THE LITERARY FIELD AND THE CONCEPTION OF WORLD LITERATURE I. The departmental organization of the Humanity studies furnishes not a study of literature but of nationalities-all its constituent elements except literature have become independent studies.— World literature as universal literature seen in perspective from a national point of view. The civilization of the English-speaking peoples rests upon Hellenic and Hebraic civilizations, with a third factor produced by the coalition of the two in mediaeval Romance.Stages of mediaeval history eventuating in Romance.—The Classical and Romantic the centripetal and centrifugal forces in modern poetry. Pages 77-88 II. The pedigree of world literature serves as a map of literature in general-literature ancestral, collateral, extraneous-modern (European) literature to be regarded as a single literature of which the national literatures are (so to speak) dialectic varieties.—World literature the proper field for literary culture whether elementary or advanced. World literature, presenting the literary material as an historic unity, is the only safe basis for literary theory. Pages 89-92 CHAPTER V. THE OUTER AND THE INNER STUDY OF LITERATURE I. Affiliation of literary study with other studies summarized in Chart VIII, page 94.—Traditional confusion between literary and affiliated studies.-Remedy: the recognition as a fundamental principle of an Outer and an Inner study of literature. Pages 93-100 II. Detailed distinctions illustrating the separation of Outer and Inner literary study.-Literary biography distinct from literary organs of personality (such as essays and lyrics).-Differentiation of literary and linguistic studies.-Interpretation of exegesis (the unit a word) and interpretation of perspective (the unit a whole poem).— Literary history (as Outer) and literary evolution (as Inner) study.— Literary structure distinguished from historic structure.-The inner study of literature has a field, a method, a scholarship, of its own. Pages 100-116 BOOK III. LITERARY EVOLUTION AS REFLECTED IN THE HISTORY OF WORLD LITERATURE CHAPTER VI. THE DIFFERENTIATION OF POETRY AND PROSE This is summarized in Chart X, pages 122-23. CHAPTER VII. EVOLUTION IN EPIC POETRY Epic poetry covers all creation in narrative form from Homer to a novel. Pages 132-33 |