Table of contents:-
Personal Information
Assignment Details
Abstract
Keywords
Introduction
About the Northrop Frye
Myth, Fiction And Displacement on Northrop Frye
Conclusion
References
Personal Information:-
Name:- Divya Bharatbhai Jadav
Batch :- M.A.sem 2 ( 2023- 2025)
Email Address:- divyajadav5563@gmail. com
Roll number:- 7
Assignment Details:-
Topic:- Myth, Fiction And Displacement on Northrop Frye
Paper:- 109: Literary Theory & Criticism and Indian Aesthetics
Subject code:- 22402
Submitted to:- Sujata Binoy Gardi, Department of English, MKBU, Bhavnagar
Date of Submission:- 26 April 2024
About Assignment:- In this assignment I will try to define the essay Myth, Fiction And Displacement on Northrop Frye
Abstract
Key words: Northrop Frye, myth, fiction.
Introduction :-
be it physical, emotional, or existential. This myth unravels the layers of meaning woven into narratives, shedding light on how fiction serves as a vessel for exploring the complexities of displacement and its profound impact on individuals and societies alike.
About Northrop Frye:-
He then completed the theological course at Emmanuel College, and was ordained in the United Church of Canada in 1936. He attended Merton College, Oxford, receiving his Oxford M.A. in 1940. In 1939, he joined the Department of English at Victoria College in the University of Toronto, and remained there for the rest of his life. He died in Toronto on 23 January 1991.
Frye's impact was strongest in the mid-1960s, when a new generation of American scholars, notably Harold Bloom and Geoffrey Hartman, were influenced by the ideas ofAnatomy. They were attracted by Frye's insistence that literary criticism was not a poor cousin of philosophy, psychology, linguistics or aesthetics but a symbolically co-ordinate discipline which outlines the shape of the human imagination itself. As such, it has its own authority, which can be useful in the study of other arts and social sciences. While Frye believed his ideas could also help creative writers focus their work, the notion was often abused in the Canadian writing community.
According to his work 'Anatomy of Criticism', there are four ways of looking at literature as a whole. These approaches are set in the specific essays. First, Theory of modes, he described three tendencies in fiction, tragic, comic and thematic. Second, Ethical Criticism: Theory of Symbol. He showed the phases in which the symbol may function. Third, Archetypal Criticism: Theory of Myth. He deals more fully with the same matter contained in the essay. Fourth, Rhetorical Criticism: Theory of Genres. He attempts to go beyond the simple generic distinction and to establish the form, content and tendencies of genres.
myth:-
Frye borrows the word mythos from Aristotle, who uses it in the sense of plot, whereas Frye uses "myth" to mean a story or a certain type of story used to account for the world. He states that a myth is a primitive effort of the imagination to identify the human world with the nonhuman world, and that the typical result is a story about a god or goddess Fryeconsiders myth to offer a margin of seriousness because it tends to tackle issues relevant to grave topics and matters of interest to anyone such as love, social relations, ethics, and moral values and it attempts to explain and justify natural phenomena as well as ritual. David Leeming says that myths were originally "religious narratives that transcend the possibilities of common experience and that express any given culture's literal or metaphorical understanding of various aspects of reality" . Frye explains that myths were created by the primitive man to explain certain rituals like birth, marriage, and harvest. A myth, through the variation of events and details, could be told and retold and that once it loses its connection with belief, it becomes entirely and purely literary .
For Frye myths, unlike legends or folktales, tend to cohere into an interconnected mythology by constructing bigger structures of storytelling. He argues that myths are arranged into categories by having, for instance, creation myths, metamorphosis myths, etiological myths, and apocalyptic myths.
For Frye, myth is a form of verbal art that deals with the world that man creates rather than the world that man contemplates. He says that:
“Myth is the structural principle of literature that enters into and gives form to the verbal disciplines where concern is relevant. Man's views of the world he wants to live in, of the world he does not want to live in, of his situation and destiny and heritage, of the world he is trying to make and of the world that resists his efforts, forms in every age a huge mythological structure.”
Structure:
Frye is of the opinion that literature is based, consciously and unconsciously, on mythic structures that embody essential principles of storytelling. He argues that one myth is not better than the other if both myths share the same structure with the displaced story. He states in "The Educated Imagination" that genuine imagination begins with the process of "identifying the human and nonhuman worlds in all sorts of ways" . The genre of the novel does the same in the sense that: A writer's desire to write can only have come from previous experience of literature, and he will start by imitating whatever he has read, which usually means what the people around him are writing. This provides him with what is called by a convention, a certain typical and socially accepted way of writing.
fiction:
Frye observes that literary works are divided into the fictional and the thematic. He explains that the fiction consists of literary works with internal characters and everything that tells a story including the genre of the novel. He states that in the thematic, the only characters are the author and the reader . Frye makes a distinction in Anatomy between comic fiction in which the hero is integrated into his society and tragic fiction in which the hero is isolated from it . For Frye, tragedies, comedies, satires, and romances are "typical ways in which stories get old". These conventions introduce different heroes with different stories about adventure, death, marriage. or resurrection. Therefore, Frye suggests that structures create certain patterns, which exist in stories whether they are comic or tragic. He says that comedy is "a name of a structure, yet it has a predominating mood which is festive" . He suggests that at the end of a comedy, there is a sense of festivity, fulfilment, reconciliation, and social integration.
Displacement:
In Frye's essay, displacement is a fundamental concept that underscores the relationship between myth and fiction. It involves the transformation and relocation of mythological elements within fictional narratives, enabling authors to infuse their works with deeper layers of meaning and resonance.One aspect of displacement is the transference of mythic motifs, such as the hero's journey or the struggle between good and evil, into the realm of fiction.
By incorporating these motifs, authors can tap into the timeless and universal themes present in mythology, enriching their stories with symbolic significance.Moreover, displacement allows for the reinterpretation of mythological characters and themes within new narrative contexts. Mythic figures like gods, heroes, and monsters may be reimagined and adapted to fit the unique demands of the fictional world, while still retaining their archetypal qualities.
Additionally, displacement facilitates the exploration of contemporary concerns and issues through the lens of myth. By transplanting mythic elements into modern settings, authors can shed light on universal human experiences and dilemmas, offering insights into the human condition that transcend time and culture.
Overall, displacement in Frye's essay illuminates the dynamic interplay between myth and fiction, showcasing how literature continuously reshapes and reinterprets mythic traditions to address the evolving needs and interests of readers.
Conclusion:-
It is essential for analysts and literature readers to not access the main fiction or myth in order to gain the true messages. It often occurs when the readers are trapped into other people or expert opinions about particular myth and fiction. This means that both analyst readers are trapped into the ideology of certain literature.
References :
https://www.academia.edu/78157542/Myth_Fiction_and_Displacement_on_Northrop_Frye
Frye, Northrop. “Myth, Fiction, and Displacement.” Daedalus, vol. 90, no. 3, 1961, pp.587–605.JSTOR,http://www.jstor.org/stable/20026675. Accessed 26Apr. 2024.
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