What Happens in Literature

by Esther Lombardi

http://classiclit.about.com/cs/productreviews/fr/aatp_whathappen_p.htm

In "What Happens in Literature," Edward W. Rosenheim offers a brief discussion of the basics of literature, including poems, novels and plays. He argues that the main focus of reading literature should be to derive pleasure or appreciation, which is derived "by the activities of one's understanding and imagination."

Without a basic understanding and an imagination, students and readers have no way of appreciating what happens. Or, at least that's what appears to be the case. This book could be that crash course in understanding literature, though developing an imagination is a different proposition altogether.

So, here's your brief introduction to the world of understanding literature, for those who may be uninitiated as of yet...

Poetry

Although poetry is considered the oldest form of literature, the highly symbolic nature of the poetic form also makes it more difficult for students to understand and thus appreciate. In his section on poetry, Rosenheim illuminates the "general character of the poem," focusing his analysis on Housman's "When I Was One-and-Twenty," Keats' "Ode to Autumn," and Herrick's "Delight in Disorder."

Rosenheim discusses the importance of form and substance in the poetic form, explaining that appreciation becomes intrinsically linked to how the words were put down on paper. The poem offers a different experience to each reader, as we bring our understanding and imagination to our reading, along with memory and emotion.

In poetry, we analyze the construction of the lines, the way the lines form and flow, and the way words--with their stresses and usage--are brought together in a way that works. No other construction would create the desired effect.

Fiction

Fiction offers its own challenges to understanding, as it creates a completely different experience. Rosenheim says that "the most obvious fact to be discovered in works of fictions are about something, that their substance is their most conspicuous element."

Rosenheim focuses on "Treasure Island" in his discussion of plot, character, point of view, setting, theme, conflict and resolution. To illustrate his points, he briefly highlights the works of Joseph Conrad, James Joyce, Gustave Flaubert, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Charles Dickens.

Drama

Plays have many of the elements of poetry and fiction, with their own limitations. Drama also presents a completely different experience in structure and imagery. Setting and character are still there, but in a different form.

"The playwright's task," as Rosenheim explains, "is the representation of human actions and accordingly it is his plot which, more often than not, provides the organizing principle of the drama and is the major source of its effect.

Rosenheim talks about the origins of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," derived from a "borrowed" story: "Romeus and Juliet." He shows how Shakespeare reinvented teh story to such dramatic effect that the play still captivates the imaginations of audiences today.

Anxiety of Influence

Rosenheim sums up this slim volume by returning to poetry, discussing how it can be placed as a product of its time and influences. He says that "at its heart is the ageless power of all poetry--the appeal to the eternal human gifts of sympathy, wisdom, and imagination."

Rosenheim has offered his whirlwind view of literary appreciation with this introductory course.