Browsing Category: World Literature

Introduction Edward Said’s Orientalism begins with a striking idea: “The East is not a place on a map; it is an idea invented by the West.” This idea captures the heart of Said’s 1978 work. His book reshaped how readers understand power, culture, and representation. Before Said, scholars usually spoke of the East as part of “Colonial Literature.” His research transformed this view. He showed how Western writers, artists, and academics created the image of...

Introduction Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard opens with a hauntingly familiar dilemma—imagine losing your family home because you were too sentimental to save it. Written on the brink of revolutionary change in Russia, the play captures a society mourning the loss of its old order. Composed between the 1905 and 1917 revolutions, it foreshadows the decline of the aristocracy and the rise of a new social class. Interestingly, Chekhov described this masterpiece as a comedy,...

Introduction Dante Alighieri’s Inferno begins with one of the most haunting lines in world literature: “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.” This chilling inscription welcomes readers into the gates of Hell, setting the tone for Dante’s journey through sin, punishment, and redemption. Written during his exile from Florence, Inferno is both a spiritual quest and a deeply personal work of political revenge. Dante does not hesitate to place his real-life enemies in Hell, using poetic...

Introduction Judith Butler’s Gender Performativity challenges how we understand identity itself. As Simone de Beauvoir famously said, “One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.” Butler takes this revolutionary idea even further—she argues that there is no fixed “being” behind the act of becoming. In her view, gender does not arise from some inner truth or natural essence. Instead, it is something we continuously do—a performance shaped by repeated actions, words, and social expectations. In...

Introduction The Feminist Approach: Is Jane Eyre a romantic heroine or a victim of a patriarchal society? This question has intrigued readers and critics for generations, sparking countless interpretations. Feminist criticism invites us to look beyond the surface of love and passion to uncover the deeper power structures shaping women’s lives within literature. The feminist approach is not about opposing men or dismissing traditional narratives—it is about analysing how gender, identity, and authority...

Introduction Mythological and Archetypal Approaches help us understand why we never tire of the same stories—whether it’s Harry Potter, Star Wars, or Greek myths. These tales may seem different on the surface, but they share universal patterns that speak to the human experience. Their power lies in repeating symbols and archetypes that reflect our deepest emotions and truths. In Wilfred L. Guerin’s chapter on this approach, the word “myth” doesn’t mean a “fake story”. Instead, it...

Introduction The Play of Meanings lies at the centre of modern literary theory, capturing the shift from order to openness in how texts are read and understood. Wilfred L. Guerin’s A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature has long served as a standard textbook for exploring such shifts in interpretation. It introduces readers to the evolution of critical thought—from the structured logic of Structuralism to the self-questioning dynamics of Post-structuralism. Structuralism sought patterns, systems,...

Introduction Umberto Eco’s The Open Work is one of the most influential critical texts of the twentieth century, redefining how we understand the relationship between an artist, a text, and its audience. While many know Eco as the novelist behind The Name of the Rose, he was first and foremost a brilliant semiotician—a thinker deeply concerned with how meaning is created and shared. In classical art, the artist acts as a dictator, shaping every detail...

Introduction Sigmund Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory helps us understand why characters in literature often behave irrationally. Why does Hamlet hesitate endlessly while Macbeth rushes into murder? Freud’s answer lies in the unconscious mind—a hidden space where suppressed emotions, desires, and fears shape human actions. Developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Freud’s ideas forever changed the way we see the human psyche. He suggested that our conscious thoughts are only a small part...

Introduction Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote stands as a towering achievement in world literature. It has inspired generations of readers, writers, and thinkers across continents and centuries. For students, scholars, and literature lovers in India and beyond, the story of the delusional knight remains timeless. His quest to tilt at windmills is as relevant today as it was in the early 1600s. At its heart, Don Quixote is more than a tale of madness and adventure....