stories, poems, and plays

writings

imaginative writing

whatever society treats as literature

an institution based on the possibility of saying anything you can imagine

language with particular features

product of conventions and attention

intertextual/self-reflexive construct

what quality do all literary works share?

what makes something literary?

what distinguishes literature from other creative works and other human activities?

be exemplary but universal

provide sense of national greatness

create fellow-feeling among classes

as civilising influence

promotes questioning of authority, produces sense of injustice

encourages detachment, passivity, acceptance

cultural capital

encourages resistance to capitalist values

noise and information of culture

universe

artist

audience

society

interdisciplinary

reflexive and meta

critique of common sense

analytical and speculative

speculate

intimidating

unfamiliar fields

unmasterable

open-ended commitment

not to master but to evolve

learn to reflect in new ways

ask different questions

gain a better sense of the implications

gain "moves" and frameworks to use in other topics

objective textual analysis

moral assessment

emotional response

literary evaluation

cultural critique

Classical

Medieval

Neoclassical

Renaissance

Romantic

Marxism

Psychoanalysis

Formalism

Reader Response Theory

Structuralism and Semiotics

Poststructuralism and Deconstruction

Feminism and Queer Theory

Postcolonial Studies

Cultural Studies and New Historicism