1.

Surrealism (1920s1930s): An avant-garde movement, based primarily in France, that sought to break down the boundaries between rational and irrational, conscious and unconscious, through a variety of literary and artistic experiments. The surrealist poets, such as Andr Breton and Paul Eluard, were not as successful as their artist counterparts, who included Salvador Dal, Joan Mir, and Ren Magritte. 2. Modernism (1890s1940s): A literary and artistic movement that provided a radical breaks with traditional modes of Western art, thought, religion, social conventions, and morality. Major themes of this period include the attack on notions of hierarchy; experimentation in new forms of narrative, such as stream of consciousness; doubt about the existence of knowable, objective reality; attention to alternative viewpoints and modes of thinking; and self-referentiality as a means of drawing attention to the relationships between artist and audience, and form and content. This period saw the publication of James JoycesUlysses, T. S. Eliots The Waste Land, Virginia Woolfs Mrs. Dalloway, and Marcel Prousts In Search of Lost Time. 3. Naturalism (c. 18651900): A literary movement that used detailed realism to suggest that social conditions, heredity, and environment had inescapable force in shaping human character. Leading writers in the movement include mile Zola, Theodore Dreiser, and Stephen Crane. 4. Neoclassicism (c. 16601798): A literary movement, inspired by the rediscovery of classical works of ancient Greece and Rome that emphasized balance, restraint, and order. Neoclassicism roughly coincided with the Enlightenment, which espoused reason over passion. Notable neoclassical writers include Edmund Burke, John Dryden, Samuel Johnson, Alexander Pope, and Jonathan Swift. 5. Realism (c. 18301900): A loose term that can refer to any work that aims at honest portrayal over sensationalism, exaggeration, or melodrama. Technically, realism refers to a late-19th-century literary movementprimarily French, English, and Americanthat aimed at accurate detailed portrayal of ordinary, contemporary life. Many of the 19th centurys greatest novelists, such as Honor de Balzac, Charles Dickens, George Eliot, Gustave Flaubert, and Leo Tolstoy, are classified as realists. Naturalism (see above ) can be seen as an intensification of realism. 6. Romanticism (c. 17981832): A literary and artistic movement that reacted against the restraint and universalism of the Enlightenment. The Romantics celebrated spontaneity, imagination, subjectivity, and the purity of nature. Notable English Romantic writers include Jane Austen, William Blake, Lord Byron, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and William Wordsworth. Prominent figures in the American Romantic movement include Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Edgar Allan Poe, William Cullen Bryant, and John Greenleaf Whittier. 7. Feminist criticism (1960spresent): An umbrella term for a number of different critical approaches that seek to distinguish the human experience from the male experience. Feminist critics draw attention to the ways in which patriarchal social structures have marginalized women and male authors have exploited women in their

portrayal of them. Although feminist criticism dates as far back as Mary Wollstonecrafts A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) and had some significant advocates in the early 20th century, such as Virginia Woolf and Simone de Beauvoir, it did not gain widespread recognition as a theoretical and political movement until the 1960s and 1970s. 8. New Criticism (1930s1960s): Coined in John Crowe Ransoms The New Criticism (1941), this approach discourages the use of history and biography in interpreting a literary work. Instead, it encourages readers to discover the meaning of a work through a detailed analysis of the text itself. This approach was popular in the middle of the 20th century, especially in the United States, but has since fallen out of favor. 9. New Historicism (1980spresent): An approach that breaks down distinctions between literature and historical context by examining the contemporary production and reception of literary texts, including the dominant social, political, and moral movements of the time. Stephen Greenblatt is a leader in this field, which joins the careful textual analysis ofNew Criticism with a dynamic model of historical research. 10. Post-structuralism (1960s1970s): A movement that comprised, among other things, Deconstruction, Lacanian criticism, and the later works of Roland Barthes and Michel Foucault. It criticized structuralism for its claims to scientific objectivity, including its assumption that the system of signs in which language operates was stable. 11. Russian Formalism (19151929): A school that attempted a scientific analysis of the formal literary devices used in a text. The Stalinist authorities criticized and silenced the Formalists, but Western critics rediscovered their work in the 1960s. Ultimately, the Russian Formalists had significant influence on structuralism and Marxist criticism. 12. Structuralism (1950s1960s): An intellectual movement that made significant contributions not only to literary criticism but also to philosophy, anthropology, sociology, and history. Structuralist literary critics, such as Roland Barthes, read texts as an interrelated system of signs that refer to one another rather than to an external meaning that is fixed either by author or reader. Structuralist literary theory draws on the work of the Russian Formalists, as well as the linguistic theories of Ferdinand de Saussure and C. S. Peirce. 13. Semiotics or semiology: Terms for the study of sign systems and the ways in which communication functions through conventions in sign systems. Semiotics is central to structuralist linguistics. 14. Sign/signifier/signified: Terms fundamental to Ferdinand de Saussures structuralism linguistics. A sign is a basic unit of meaninga word, picture, or hand gesture, for instance, that conveys some meaning. A signifier is the perceptible aspect of a sign (e.g., the word car) while the signified is the conceptual aspect of a sign (e.g., the concept of a car). A referent is a physical object to which a sign system refers (e.g., the physical car itself).

1. Romanticism Romanticism is a very broad term, one more indicative of a direction of thought than of anything that could be termed a school or belief system. The Romantic Movement begins in the 18th. Century in Germany, in the 18th. Century with Rousseau in France, and in the late 18th. Century in England. Historian Jacques Barzun characterizes Romanticism as a reaction, not against Reason (that near-God of the Enlightenment) but against the "cold" intellect (intellect divorced from emotion). Many of the major figures were scholars (Goethe, Coleridge, even Shelley) and quite fond of Reason, but also insistent on the reality of emotions. In English literature the term is standardly associated with Wordsworth and Coleridge ("the first generation") and with Byron, Shelley, and Keats ("the second generation"). Such an association leaves out the earlier William Blake and Robert Burns, both clearly Romanticists. Likewise, such a limitation ignores the fact that Victorian Robert Browning would, not quite accurately, have considered himself a Romantic poet, and that such contemporaries of his as D.G. Rossetti, William Morris, and A.C. Swinburne should definitely be labeled "Romantic." Of course, the definition is further compromised by the continued, and continuing, existence of Romanticism. Critic Harold Bloom considers himself a Romantic. I am a Romantic, a sort of heir to the intellectual tradition of philosopher Henri Bergson and, particularly, of critic/philosopher/historian Benedetto Croce. I also remember once having a professor who considered himself an avid "anti-Romantic," and who insisted that Beat Generation writer Jack Kerouac was a Romantic and Romanticism was characterized by Kerouacian emptyheadedness. I believe he was in error on both counts, and that he demonstrated only that his judgment and sense of intellectual rigor was as lacking as that of his "enemy" Kerouac, but I give the example as a note of the continuing debate regarding "Romanticism." Jacques Barzun traces the terms "Romantic" and "Romanticism" to the 18th. Century, and notes their initial application to writings concerned with the emotions. For our purposes we can look at Romanticism, at least in English literature, in terms of a reaction against neo-Classical principles, again, those principles of "cold intellect." In English poetry I first associate Romanticism with a particular piece by Thomas Gray, "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard." The poem extols the virtues of those who lived humble lives, minded their own business, and quietly passed to their ultimate reward. I would list the following as major elements of Romanticism, again noting that Romanticism should be looked at more as a pattern or direction of thought than of any rigorous set of beliefs:

emotions matter; human emotional reactions are real and are an integral part of our lives; qualities of reality, the divine, or divinities may be reflected in nature; we can sense God or the gods through our sensing of nature; common people matter and individuals matter; the philosophy of the 18th. Century (Locke) finally comes to art as the Romantics recognize that the world is made up of all its individuals, not just the great; the common people may be better than the great in that they know their place in the Cosmos; humility and self-sacrifice are rewarded; hubris (such as earns the wrath of

the gods) is present in all who believe they are "superior" to others; "the Rebel" (Prometheus) may take his place as the Hero; beauty is linked to originality, the new and new ways of thinking & seeing; the sublime attracts; the sublime is defined as that which is awesome; that which overpowers the senses and the emotions; that which one simultaneously is scared to death of and deeply attracted to.

2. Realism: The attempt in literature and art to represent life as it really is, without sentimentalizing or idealizing it. Realistic writing often depicts the everyday life and speech of ordinary people opposite of Romanticism [Romanticism sentimentalizes and idealizes; emotion, rose-colored glasses] late 1800s (post-Civil War) local color and regionalism are part of realism Less emphasis on the imagination and more on observed fact influence of science a powerful impulse to mirror the unmitigated realities of life Henry James Nothing more and nothing less than the truthful treatment of material according to William Dean Howells accurate observation shift from human potentialities human actualities ideas facts personal vision observed social behavior Realism: the depiction of life as most people live and know it; portrays ordinary life precisely slice of life realism, a literary and intellectual movement that has often been contrasted with Romanticism, led poets and novelists not to imagine life as it could be, but to examine life as it was actually lived and to record what they saw around them as honestly as they could

3. Naturalism: Writers using objectivity, scientific investigation (382-3) Influenced by ideas of science, evolution, Darwin (late 1800s) (382-3) survival of the fittest (Darwinism) determinismheredity & environment (nature & nurture) determine ones fate o forces beyond ones control determine what happens o (free will is viewed mainly as just an illusion) o Characters are often crushed by outside forces beyond their control

o the naturalistic writer sees human beings as creatures that are acted upon by nature, the result of the forces of heredity and environment (383) o All of us are more or less pawns. Were moved about like chessmen by circumstances over which we have no control Theodore Dreiser (383) An extreme form of realism. Naturalistic writers usually depict the sordid side of life and show characters who are severely, if not hopelessly, limited by their environment or heredity (Adventures in American Literature 948) [brown] Naturalist authors: London, Dreiser, Stephen Crane

4. What Are the Key Characteristics of Surrealism?

The exploration of the dream and unconsciousness as a valid form of reality, inspired by Sigmund Freud's writings. A willingness to depict images of perverse sexuality, scatology, decay and violence. The desire to push against the boundaries of socially acceptable behaviors and traditions in order to discover pure thought and the artist's true nature. The incorporation of chance and spontaneity. The influence of revolutionary 19th century poets, such as Charles Baudelaire, Arthur Rimbaud and Isidore Ducasse. Emphasis on the mysterious, marvelous, mythological and irrational in an effort to make art ambiguous and strange. Fundamentally, Surrealism gave artists permission to express their most basic drives: hunger, sexuality, anger, fear, dread, ecstasy, and so forth. Exposing these uncensored feelings as if in a dream still exists in many form of art to this day.

5. Magical Realism
1. An "irreducible" magic which cannot be explained by typical notions of natural law. 2. A realist description that stresses normal, common, every-day phenomena, which is then revised or "refelt" by the marvelous. Extreme or amplified states of mind or setting are often used to accomplish this. (This distinguishes the genre from pure myth or fantasy.) 3. It causes the reader to be drawn between the two views of reality. 4. These two visions or realms nearly merge or intersect. 5. Time is both history and the timeless; space is often challenged; identity is broken down at times. 6. The work is often metafictional or self-referential. 7. The text may employ a "verbal magic" where metaphors are treated as reality. 8. Phenomenological states may include the primitive or childless that seem to dislocate our initial perceptions/understandings. 9. Repetition, as well as mirror reversals, are employed. 10. Metamorphoses take place. 11. Magic often is used against the established order.

12. "Ancient systems of belief and local lore often underlie the text."This results in a respect (however complicated) for local faith. 13. Collective symbols and myths rather than individual ones haunt the work. 14. The fiction in form and language often embraces the carnivalesque.

Magical realism has a tendency to defamiliarize the scene for readers; readers learn that they have not come entirely ready to understand the situation, that what we thought we knew is found to be strange, for it has something entirely unexpected to teach us. Magical realisms readers learn "border skipping" because they must move between fabulism and European realism (Rowland Wilson). Magical realism in some forms can be understood as a post-colonial move that seeks to resist European notions of naturalism or realism. At times, it calls for a deephybridity of cultures and reading experiences.

Roland Barthes (1915-1980)

Roland Barthes was born in Cherbough, Manche. His father died in a naval battle in Barthes' infancy, forcing his mother to move to Bayonne. Barthes spent his early childhood there, until they moved to Paris in 1924 where he attended the Lyce Montagne, followed by studies at the Lyce Louis-le-Grand from 1930-34. Life became difficult for them when Barthes mother had an illegitimate child, for their grandparents refused to give her financial aid, and so she took work as a bookbinder. Barthes was able to continue his studies at the Sorbonne, in classical letters, grammar and philology (receiving a degrees in 1939 and 1943 respectively), and Greek tragedy. Barthes' doctoral studies were hampered by ill health. He suffered from tuberculosis, spending time in sanatoriums in the years 1934-5 and 1942-46, during the occupation. He continued to read and write, established a theatrical group, and in spite of his condition, managed to teach at lyces in Biarritz (1939), Bayonne (1939-40), Paris (1942-46), at the French Institute, Bucharest, Romania (1948-49), University of Alexandria, Egypt (1949-50), and Direction Gnrale des Affaires Culturelles (195052). His teaching career expanded: research positions with the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (1952-59), a directorship of studies at the cole Practique des Hautes tude (1960-76), a teacher at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore (196768), and a chair of literary semiology at Collge de France (1976 to 1980). At this time he was considered a leading critic of his generation, his book, A Lover's Discourse (1977), sold more than 60,000 copies in France. His work became known in popular culture in Europe and America, securing the translation of many of his books since his death at the age of sixty-four. Such works include: Writing Degree Zero (1953), Mythologies (1957),Criticism and Truth (1966), S/Z (1972), The Pleasure of the Text (1973), and The Rustle of Language (1984). In his early work, Barthes was a structuralist and semiotician, influenced by the writings of Ferdinand de Saussure's study of signs and signification. He preferred not to classify his thought, evident in the range of subject-matter for analysis in his works, often to provoke the bourgeoisie. He wrote on popular phenomena from soap-ads to wrestling, articles that originally appeared in Le Monde, which perhaps inspired him to conflate elements of what had been perceived as high or low culture. His interest in

popular media and events was due in part to what he saw as an abuse in such phenomena of ideology. Barthes believed that the starting point for such works did not lay in the author's intentions of traditional value judgments, but by the texts produced, as systems unto themselves whose underlying structures form the "meaning of the work as a whole." His works had a diversity, applying semiotic theory and/or literary critique, looking to disrupt the French literary establishment, while other essays focused on more personal issues such as the text, music, love and photography. Thus, Barthes works inspired criticism from colleagues. Raymond Picard, a professor at the Sorbonne and Racine scholar, critiqued what he saw as an unscholarly and subjective approach of Barthes' study, Sur Racine(1963), in his essay, Nouvelle Critique ou Nouvelle Imposture?(1965). Barthes responded with the publication ofCritique et Verit in 1966, in which he argued for a science of criticism over the university criticism, showing that the latter promulgated critical terms and approaches connected to dominant class ideology. Terms such as the value of clarity, humanity and nobility cannot be taken as self-evident for research, but act as a censoring function for other means. Barthes went so far as to question the extent to which one can know one's purpose or place of understanding apart from language, the written in relationship to its contrary in speech, "for writing can tell the truth on language, but not the truth on the real" (from Image-Music-Text, 1977). This strain of structural linguistics in Barthes' thought was developed in greater detail in S/Z (1970), an analysis of the fiction of Balzac's work, Sarrasine. Barthes primary thesis in S/Z demonstrates that the power of fiction lies in the products of artifice in the form of intriguing details, enigmas, and plausible actions rather than in the imitation of reality. His complex analysis is not intended to construct a system of classification, he envisions Balzac's work as the weaving of codes that come together in the reader, in which the reader makes of them a unity. This runs contrary to the idea of a text as having an origin in the author; it is thus interpreted as a death of the author and the birth of the reader. Barthes identified a series of five codes within the text of fiction that form the network of significations in the reader: the hermeneutic code (presentation of an enigma); the semic code (connotative meaning); the symbolic code; the proairetic code (the logic of actions), and the gnomic, or cultural code, which evokes a particular body of knowledge. Barthes final book, La Chambre Claire (Camera Lucinda, 1980), illustrates the close relationship he had with his mother. It was written in the three years between the death of his mother and his own; the book is a discussion of the communicating medium of photography. He describes portraiture, the experience of being before the camera in which his "body never finds its zero degree, no one can give it to me (perhaps only my mother? For it is not indifference which erases the weight of the image the Photomat always turns you into a criminal type, wanted by the police but love, extreme love)." He points to a ritual magic of photography, disclaiming it as an art. Perhaps recalling something of Benjamin's writings on photography, he struggles with the experience of his mother and an image of his ailing mother (who he was nursing near the time of her death) within him as "my inner law, as my feminine child Once she was dead I no longer had any reason to attune myself to the progress of the superior Life Force (the race, the species)." Barthes died in a street accident in Paris on March 23, 1980.