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The Life of Texts summary

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Summary of The Life of Texts in its entirety (excluding chapter 1)

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  • December 2, 2023
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The Life of Texts – summary
Table of Contents

,Chapter 2: The Many Dimensions of Literature

2.1 Introduction: Durable Texts
 Image epitomises today’s difficulties through one of the most famous literary characters
 Some texts are capable of leading lives beyond the singular context of their creation: they
appeal over time to new readers and prove applicable to the understanding of new
situations
 Literary texts are not bound to a single moment; they can be reread & interpreted differently
in different contexts
 Literariness lies in the fact that some texts acquire a value which is independent of their
practical applicability
 Display text: a text that has acquired a value in and of itself
 Durability of texts comes from the interaction of several factors:
o Textual characteristics  poetic vs. narrative
o Effect of a text on its reader  reflection vs. pleasure
o Status ascribed to the text by cultural authorities  classification, valuation & canon
formation

2.2 Poetic Language
 Poetic function: a text’s ability to draw attention to its own status as a text – as expression
 Every speech act consists of 6 elements which all have different functions:
o Sender  expressive
o Receiver  conative
o Code (language)  phatic
o Contact between sender & receiver  metalingual
o Worldly context  referential
o Message itself  poetic
 Poetic language implies non-standard usage that is striking because of the perceived skill
level of the user

2.3 Narrative
 Narratives make up an important part of literature conceived in terms of cultural durability
 Stories are a rich source of virtual experiences
 Fictionality is the principle that public, in certain conditions, engages willingly in a game of
make-believe, granting the storyteller an implicit license to invent things

2.4 Reflection
 Texts can become durable if they remain relevant to our intellectual lives by dealing with
existential or moral themes that define our understanding of the world
 Texts that deal with universal themes can withstand the test of time by appealing to readers
as reflective beings
 Defamiliarization gives literature a critical function: through its unusual forms, it resists
commonplaces & experiments with new ways of seeing familiar things
 Singularity: an encounter with something unique which is the product of creativity

2.5 Pleasure
 The appeal of narratives seems inextricably tied to the feelings they arouse  “affect”
 A lot of reading & viewing behavior is motivated by a wish to lose oneself in a virtual world
 Aesthetic experience is a more detached form of pleasure

2.6 Classification: Genres

,  Classifying texts is a significant part of literary studies
 Texts that are written & read according to a shared model are described as belonging to a
particular genre
 Definitions of literary genres are neither timeless nor universal

2.7 Valuation and Canonisation
 Texts that belong to the literary genres are constantly judged; cultural authorities have an
important role to play in such evaluations (cultural authorities can be publishers, critics, etc.)
 Literary production came to be seen as a field where different institutions or actors compete
with each other to produce literary value that comes through book sales
 Social media is affecting the process of valuation’
 Authors & publishers ensure production; cultural authorities & ordinary readers ensure
reproduction
 Literary scholars & educationalists have challenged the idea that one canon can ever be
defined for an entire society

2.8 In Conclusion
 Literature, in this chapter, is defined as a collection of durable texts
 Literariness is connected to appreciation
 Literariness exists at a crossroads where texts and value meet
 Literary studies aims to understand why some texts have a richer cultural life than others,
and to develop ways of describing precisely their singularity

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