Thinking Activity on Northrop Frye

Thinking Activity: Northrop Frye


Hello readers! 

    This blog on thinking activity on Northrop Frye' s essay The Archetypes of Literature given by Dr. Dilip Barad, as a part of our syllabus. By this thinking activity we would be known more and deep about this essay especially 'Archetypes of Literature' here is my response to some questions which is given by sir as a assignment submission.


     The Archetypes of Literature (1950) :

                 - Northrop Frye

         Herman Northrop Frye was a Canadian  literary critic and literary theorist, considered one of the most influential of the 20th century.

•   What is Archetypal criticism? What does the archetypal critic do? 

       

    In literary criticism the term 'archetype' denote recurrent narratives design, pattern of action, character- types, themes, and images which are identifiable in a wide variety of works of literature, as well as in myths, dreams, and even social rituals.such recurrent items are held to be the result of elemental and universal forms or patterns in the  human psyche,whose effective embodiment in a literary work evokes a profound response from the attentive readers,because he or she shares the psychic archetypes expressed by the psychic archetypes expressed by the author.

• what is Frye trying to prove by giving an analogy of "Physics to Nature"&"Criticism to Literature"?

      Northrop Frye has given a very unique idea of Archetypal Criticism by comparing the human emotions or human characteristics with the cycle of seasons.

     Each season is aligned with a literary genre:-

1. Comedy with SPRING
2. Romance with SUMMER
3. Tragedy  with AUTUMN
4. Satire with WINTER  

Spring

 The spring season represent the comedy. As per the genre of comedy is characterized by birth of the hero ,revival,&resurrection.Spring also symbolizes the defeat of winter&darkness.


summer

The season of summer indicates Romance because summer is the culmination of life in the seasonal calendar,& the Romance genre with some shot of triumph ,usually marriage.

Autumn

 Autumn season signify the genre of Tragedy.As the autumn is the dying stage of the seasonal calendar that's why the Autumn is parallels to the genre of Tragedy is known for the fall on demise of the protagonist.

Winter

The season of  winter denotes the satire genre because of it's darkness.It's a disillusion & mocking from of the three other genre.It is notes for its darkness,dissolution,the return of chaos&the defeat of heroic figure.

• Briefly explain inductive method with illustration of shakespeare's Hamlet's Grave digger's scene.

   Northrop Frye gave his view by strtuctural criticism,and it will help the reader to better understanding of literary work,he proceeds inductive method that is lead towards specific examples or activities to  generalization.

      here for that best example is Grave digger's scene from Shakespeare's play Hamlet, in this scene we can find out that this two gravediggers they have no effect of death,because of this is their rutin work,so they have enjoy even this type of work also by commenting or guess that death person's profession according to their skull.by that scene we can go to specific to general that some situation and work is adequate on that place not all assumption of people is are true.these two gravedigger suggest a lot.

• Briefly explain deductive method with reference to an analogy to Music,Painting, rhythm and pattern.give example of the outcome of deductive method.

    while in deductive method lead from general to specific.Music and Rhythm both are the form of an art. music is form of art which moves in time and painting moves/present in space. When we talk about rhythm than in music there is go through particular rhythm while in painting there is pattern which is also in some kind of rhythm. When we goes on literature, it's made up of word. Sound of words it form of pattern, pattern has a meaning simultaneously narrative has rhythm.
  By listen and seen for to see the whole picture or totality to go far.
   Myth is archetype but it comes in narrative archetype. So it comes with speaking of significance.

Religion and God

  As we know that religion and literature is strongly connected with each other, and our country India is also known as land of dharma (country of religion).

   What bleeds India today is a profound historical error. The error lies in our understanding of state and religion. Both as political concept and as historical entities. We have borrowed these terms from western European history and applied them unthinkingly to ourselves without acknowledging that what we today recognise as state and religion actually evolved very differently in India.


    This is the reason why for literary critic it is difficult to believed in God in the same fashion as others believe..... Religion is nothing but a narrative and God is just a character in the narrative. For example the character Sita is portrait totally different than ancient portrait sita. Here Sita is identified as "Mithilani Virangana" and muscular, she can protect herself as well as her kingdom, Mithila, not like in ancient portrait Sita, who is dependent on others.



 To understand more deeply about this article we can take help of movie as a part of literature.

  Here I would like to mention one  clip of P.K. movie, which is help to understand how religion and God work in our life(even whole earth) and it is kind of business, and this is only we can see from alien's perspective because we are also the part of this swirl and chain.

  And also I would like to mention one video clip of OMG movie, which shows, how to be intellectual through the character of Kanji Malli Mehta, he was truly intellectual person.

Thank you....