General term for spoken or written communication. More specifically, discourse can be thought of as the cultural conversation about a topic within a
discourse community.
discourse community:
A group of individuals that shares a common understanding based on systematic principles of communication and/or vocabulary within a specific discursive situation.
Discourse communities have traditionally been based on geography and a common language, such as English or French, but discourse communities can also be more specific
groups who share certain experiences and specialized vocabulary specific to their activities: e.g., video game players, members of a class in school, soldiers in the
armed forces, etc.
dominant discourse:
The prevailing view about a certain topic within a discourse community.
competing discourse:
Discursive situation where there is no dominant view and two or more opinions/ideas about a topic compete for dominance.
subversive discourse:
Type of discourse that represents a non-dominant position on a topic in a discourse community. A subversive discourse actively works to destabilize
the dominant discourse.
unconventional discourse:
Type of discourse that is set apart from the dominant discourse in a discourse community. Unconventional discourse may interact very little with the dominant
discourse and may represent a discourse community that is a subset of the dominant culture.
prestige language
in a culture where more than one language is spoken, the language
of power or the group in power.
vernacular language
in a culture where more than one language is spoken, the language
of the common people; generally considered by prestige speakers
as inferior or incorrect.
The highest caste in the Hindu caste system. Brahmans are priests.
Ksatriyas
The second caste in the Hindu caste system. Ksatriyas are warriors.
Vaisyas
The third caste in the Hindu caste system. Vaisyas are traders.
Sudras
The lowest csst in the original Hindu caste system; after the 4th century BCE,
it becomes the fourth caste. Sudras are servants.
Untouchables
The lowest cast in the Hindu caste system. This caste was added in the 4th
century BCE after Alexander the Great established a colony of Greeks in
the Indian subcontinent. Foreigners were automatically classified as
"untouchables." Members of this caste can be employed at tasks that are
considered impure.
godhead
"god beyond god" is the absolute undifferentiated original matter of the universe,
and it divides itself into everything else that exists (625 in our textbook)
atman
the soul. In the Hindu tradition, the soul is a part that has broken off from
the godhead. The atman is indestructable and the goal of the atman is to rejoing
the godhead. If a person does not achieve this joining in one lifetime, they
rejoin the living world in a different physical form and continue the process of
purification. This process of continual rebirth until returning to the godhead
is known as reincarnation
Cultural Terms: Middle Ages (European)
scop
oral performer in the middle ages and Renaissance who sang and told
stories.
courtly romance
narrative genre from the middle ages that depicts a romanticized
past (8th-11th century) in the age of knights and ladies in Europe and
England. Courtly romances promote the chivalric code for
defining appropriate behavior, particularly for men in the prestige class.
chivalric code
behavioral norms for men in the prestige class in Europe and England
in the 8th to 11th centuries. Values include honesty, sacrifice, obedience
to the king/authority, respect for women [**], and maintaining a good
reputation through brave deeds and completing quests. In later written versions
of the original oral stories, Christianity is added as an additional
cultural norm. The traits of masculinity defined by the chivalric code assume
traits of proper femininity as well: women were expected to be chaste until
marriage, demure, obedient to men, and to conform to standards of dress and
beauty.
Genre Traits of Heroic Epics
Allusion
Reference in a literary text to another narrative or historical event.
The reference may be as brief as a name of a character or as legthy as a
summary of plot points of the narrative being referred to. Allusion is one
method of connecting multiple texts as part of a literary tradition. In the Odyssey
for example, Book 11 (journey to the underworld) references Sisyphus
and Tantalus (from
whom we get the word tantalize).
Epic Hero
character who exhibits characteristics that reinforce dominant cultural discourse
about what is good or valuable, who engages in actions that promote social good, and
often completes quests or challenges that promote the hero's reputation or have
consequences for a broader social group.
Epithet
formulaic phrases used to describe characters that are repeated
throughout a text -- particularly used in oral-formulaic epic texts (that is,
epic texts that began as oral compositions).
Extended figurative comparisons
metaphor or simile where the vehicle (figurative comparison)
extends for multiple lines of extended, detailed description before a turn
(often translated in English as "so" or "thus") to the tenor (literal
reference). These extended figurative comparisons often rely on imagery that
would have been familiar to the original discourse community.
Invocation of the Muse
calling on the authority of the muse for inspiration at the beginning of
an ancient epic. There were 9 muses in Greek mythology. Calliope is the muse
of epic poetry.
In medias res
Latin for "in the middle." This phrase describes the narrative structure
characteristic of (but not exclusive to) the ancient epic of beginning the story
in the middle. This structure works because the original audience would have been
very familiar with the story. In the Odyssey, for example, the text
begins when Odysseus is trapped on Calypso's island, approximately nine years
into his 10 year journey home.
Genre Traits of Episodic Epics
apotheosis
the transformation of a mortal or object to a god. Sometimes this transformation means the continued
existence of the person in a divine realm; in other cases the person/object is "written in the stars" --
i.e. becomes a constellation.
taboo
prohibited or restricted social custom
frame narrative:
A literary technique where one narrative is nested within another. The frame narrative is often provides the occasion for telling the nested narrative
and is frequently connected thematically to the inner story.
Genres
lai (plural: lais)
short lyric poem often written in rhyming couplets. Extant examples
of this form are often romances.