Literary Contexts

LITERARY CONTEXTS National literature, as defined, is a literature which reflects the history and culture of a country and is usually created by its local writers. According to Rev. Harley Dewart, a national literature is an essential element in the foundation of a national character. Hence, national literature is not merely a record of a country’s mental progress, but also the expression of its intellectual life, the bond of national unity, and the guide of national energy. Biographical context, also called authorial context, places a particular literary work within the context of an author’s life. Consider the circumstances under which the literary work was written. While exploring biographical context, useful sources include biographies of the author, autobiographies or memoirs by the author or by people who knew him or her and other critical works which give close attention to the author’s life. There are many ways into which you could go about identifying biographical contest in a literary work. Some of these strategies may include: 1. Research on what the author believes in and also what he or she does not. 2. Analyze how the author’s belief system is reflected in his or her work. 3. Look at the author’s other works and analyze if there is a pattern with regard to the theme that is indicative of his or her life and beliefs. For you to better understand biographical context, some essays and short stories have been identified below. These literary pieces are good examples for you to read and have a better glimpse on biography of the writer as a literary context 1. “Under My Invisible Umbrella” by Laurel Fantauzzo. This essay that talks about a Filipino- Italian who was born in the United States. Because her features are more Italian than Filipina, she encountered problems with people treating her as “extra special” in the Philippines, which she finds more isolating than welcoming. Read and take note of important information tackled in the following discussion below. 2. “Catch a Falling Star” by Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo. This a collection of realistic short stories that revolve around a child character named Trissy or “Patriciang Payatot”. In the narratives, you would find out that Trissy is not much involved in outdoor games, she was inclined to writing, paper doll making and other simple crafts. Socio-cultural context is when literary works respond in some way to the society in which they were written and most often these responses take the form of criticism. Socio-cultural context is about how a particular literary work depicts a society. It concerns questions like: With what societal issues is it concerned? What seems to be the author’s attitude towards society? This literary context approach tackles on strengths, weaknesses and changes occurring in the society during a particular period wherein the literary work is set. Socio-cultural context emphasizes on the connection between the society and the literary work. How can we analyze a text through a socio-cultural context? Here are guide questions that may help you: 1. What is the relationship between the characters or the speakers in the text and their society? 2. Does the text explicitly address issues of gender, race or class? How does the text resolve these issues? 3. Who has the power? Who does not? What is the reason for this setup? 4. How does this story reflect the nation? What does this say about the country and its inhabitants? 5. Who has the economic or social power? Is there oppression or class struggle? How do the characters overcome this? Does money or finances play a large role in the narrative? 6. What is the prevailing social order? Does the story or poem accept or challenge it? Here are several Sociological, Economic, and Cultural Perspective when reading using the sociocultural context. 1. Marxism. According to the Marxist perspective, literature shows class struggle and materialism. It looks into the social classes portrayed in the work. It also looks into how the text serve as a propaganda material. It also examines oppression, social conflicts, and solution to these struggles as shown in the literary text. 2. Feminism. The feminist perspective examines the role of the women in the literature. It looks into how the female character may be empowered or discriminated against. 3. Queer Theory. The queer perspective is concerned with the queer or the third gender. The perspective itself was named in 1991. Under this perspective, the third gender, meaning the gay, lesbians, and other characters or persona in literature that may fall under queer are being examined. 4. Historicism. Historicism or traditional historical criticism is a perspective dealing with the history that influenced the writing of literature. 5. Postcolonialism. It is a literary perspective that looks into the changes in the attitude of the post colonies after the colonial period. Through this perspective, the dependence or independence of decolonized countries or people are being examined. 6. New Historicism. Another perspective in the socio-cultural context that focuses not only on the history when the literary test was written, but also how the history happened. In New Historicism, the abovementioned perspectives can be integrated with each other. Linguistic context is a discourse that surrounds a language unit and helps determine its interpretation. It revolves around the idea that literary texts can be read through the context of the language used to write the text as well as the way language was used in the text. Here are some strategies you may use to read a text through the linguistic context. 1. Analyze the diction or choice of words in the text. 2. Examine the text’s syntax or use of sentences, clauses, phrases, line cuts. 3. Observe the use of figurative language 4. Analyze the mood and tone of the text. 5. Observe the text’s overall structure. 6. Analyze the content of the text. The following are literary approaches that focus on language. These approaches may lead you in your view of reading through linguistic context. 1. Structuralism. It relays the texts being examined to a larger structure. The structure may be a particular genre, a range of intertextual connections, a model of a universal narrative structure, or a system of recurrent patterns or motifs. 2. Formalism (New Criticism). This is a school of literary criticism and literary theory that focuses on the structure of a particular text. It examines a text without considering any outside influence. 3. Post-structuralism. This is the reaction to structuralism. In the linguistic context, there may be underlying structures that may have different interpretations based on how the words or phrases were used in the text.