Explanation on literary terms:
Catharsis and Diction
Prepared by: Minkal Italiya
M.A English semester: 1
Batch: 2018-20
Enrollment No: 2069108420190020
Roll no: 26
Submitted to: Smt. S. B Gardi,
Department of English, MKBU
Paper no-3: Literary Theory and
Criticism- Western Poetics-1
Topic: Explanation on literary terms:
Catharsis and Diction
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11) Catharsis as a literary term
The word Catharsis is a Greek word which mean as “cleansing”.
In literature it is used for the cleansing of emotions such as sadness, pity
and fear of characters through witnessing art. It can also be any other radical
change that leads to emotional regeneration of the character.
Definition of Catharsis
~ The word
Catharsis is an emotional discharge through which one can achieve a state of
moral or spiritual renewal or achieve a state of liberation from anxiety and
stress.
~ Originally the term Catharsis was used by Aristotle as a
metaphor in Poetics to explain the impact of tragedy on the audiences.
Aristotle believed that catharsis was the ultimate end of a tragic artistic
work and that it marked its quality. As he said in his Poetics;
“Tragedy is an imitation of an
action that is serious, complete and of a certain magnitude; …through
pity[eleos] and fear[phobos] effecting the proper purgation[catharsis] of these
emotions. (c.350 BCE, BOOK 6.2)
The concept of Catharsis was introduced by the Greek and is, in fact the
most important element of Greek Tragedy.
The Importance of Catharsis
~ The greatest philosopher of ancient
world Aristotle raised many insightful questions and tried to answer them
through philosophy. One question which was particularly vexed by Aristotle was:
Why do we enjoy watching or reading tragedies?
Why do we enjoy stories that make us sad?
~ The one thing which we have to keep
in mind or remember is that ancient Greek culture had real tragedies, which
modern culture generally does not. A real tragedy is that in which the hero is
ultimately destroyed and there is no happy ending to be found. So when
Aristotle pondered the question of tragedy he was wondering why so many people
in his society preferred stories that had unhappy endings.
Significance of Catharsis in
Literature
~ In literature catharsis is
significant in two ways. The first is the classical definition of catharsis in
which reading a particular work of literature allows the reader to experience a
cleaning of emotion. For example in tragedy, it allows the reader to experience
intense emotion in an indirect way. Nothing bad is happen with the audience
than even they feel a cleansing of emotion.
~ The other way is that in which an
author may choose to show a character going through a cathartic event of his or
her own. When a character goes through a cathartic event of his\her own. When
character goes through catharsis we may expect that character to act
differently after experience an intellectual clarifying. Catharsis also asks
the reader to identify strongly with the main character and experience those
strong emotions at a safe distance.
Examples of catharsis from literature
In literature there are two famous
examples of catharsis which was written by William Shakespeare.
1 Macbeth
The one of the greatest example of
catharsis is a tragic drama Macbeth. The audience and readers of Macbeth
usually pity the tragic central figure or the play because he was blinded by
his destructive preoccupation with ambition.
Romeo and Juliet
“Here’s
to my love! [Drinks] O true apothecary! Thy drugs are quick .Thus with a kiss I
die.[Falls]”
At the end of Romeo and Juliet, when
Romeo commits suicide by drinking the poison that he erroneously thinks Juliet
had tasted also. After that when the two families bury the hatchet, at that
time audience experiences the catharsis. Watching or reading such a scene causes
the memories of someone we have lost and because we are able to relate to it,
we suddenly releases the emotions that we have been repressing.
~ So we can say that tragedy and
drama both are related terms of catharsis. Catharsis mainly applies to tragedy
but it can also apply to any story that can able to make us feel negative
emotion. Tragedy is not only meant as a sad story but it is a story in which a
great hero is brought down by ordinary human failings, especially moral
failings like arrogance or ignorance.
~ If we talk about drama, it evokes
the theme like sadness, anger, or betrayal, so in this way dramas are similar
to tragedies. In some drama the plot of drama is usually driven by external
conflict rather than internal conflicts within the hero’s own soul. A drama can
still produce catharsis but not as effectively as a tragedy.
22)
Diction as a literary term
~ Diction can be defined as style of
speaking or writing and determined by the choice of words by a speaker or a
writer. Diction or a choice of words are something which separates good writing
from bad writing. It depends on a number of factors. First is that word has to
be right and accurate.
~ The other one is that words should
be appropriate to the context in which they are used.
~ The last one is that the choice of
words should be such that the listener or reader understands easily. Proper
diction is very important in literature to get the message across.
~ On the other hand the wrong choice
of words can easily divert readers or listener, which results in
misinterpretation of the message intended to be conveyed. With the changing
time the term diction has also come to refer to pronunciation: the manner of
enunciating words and sounds.
Diction is not simply word choices,
but is a total package of the author’s language that conveys mood, attitude,
style and dialect.
Definition of Diction
“Diction is a literary term which
refers to the choice of words and styles of expression which are used by author
in work of literature. Diction can have a great effect on the tone of piece of
literature and how readers perceive the characters.”
Types of Diction
Dictions are depended on various
contexts and setting. That’s why there are various types of diction.
Formal diction–formal words are used in formal situations,
such as press conferences and presentations.
Informal diction – Informal words and conversation
are used in this. Such as writing or talking to friends.
Colloquial diction – The words in common which is used
in everyday speech that is colloquial diction. Which may be different in
different regions and communities.
Slang diction – It is the use of words that are
newly coined or even impolite.
Concrete Diction – The specific words
which describes physical qualities or condition.
Abstract diction - It refers to the language which
denotes ideas, emotions conditions or concepts that are intangible.
The importance of Diction in
literature
~ Diction is that which can help to
set the tone of a piece. If the diction is formal then the piece as a whole will
come across as formal. If it’s quirky then writing will seem quirky and so on.
Diction creates the overall sense of work. It does not have any specific
rhetorical purpose.
~ Diction can also be helpful in
novel and in short stories to craft a portrait of character. Good authors use
diction as a good advantage in the creation of character in their work. For
instance, highly educated character would be more likely to use arcane words
and complex sentence structure. While a more down to earth character would
avoid such diction. Similarly a younger character would be more likely to use
slang than an older one.
Examples of diction in Literature
1 “Ode on a Grecian Urn” by John Keats
John Keats in his Oden on a Grecian
Urn, uses a formal diction which can be helpful in achieving a certain effect.
He says;
“Heard melodies are sweet, but
those unheard
Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft
pipes, play on…..”
Here we can see the use of formal
“ye” instead of the informal “you”. The formality here is due to the respect the
urn inspires in Keats.
2 “The
Sun Rising” by john Donne
John Donne uses colloquialism in his
poem, in sharp contrast to Keats.
“Busy old fool, unruly Sun,
Why dost thou thus,
Through windows, and through
curtains, call on us?
Must on thy motions lovers’ season
run?
Saucy pedantic wretch, go chide.”
Here the sun is treated as human
being. The poet speaks to the sun in an informal way by using colloquial
expressions. He rebukes the sun because it has appeared to spoil the good time
he is having with his beloved.
3 “A Tale of Two Cities” by Charles
Dickens
In A Tale of Two Cities, Charles
Dickens repeated their chosen words or phrases to achieve an artistic effect.
“It was the best of times, it was the
worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was
the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of
Light, it was the season of darkness, it
was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair”.
Here by representing the phrase “it was
the…..” throughout the passage the writer ensures that the readers will give
more consideration to the characteristic of the era they are going to read
about in the novel.
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