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The Educated Imagination and Other Writings on Critical Theory 1933-1963
In 1933, Northrop Frye was a recent university graduate, beginning to learn his craft as a literary essayist. By 1963, with the publication of The Educated Imagination , he had become an international academic celebrity. In the intervening three decades, Frye wrote widely and prodigiously, but it is in the papers and lectures collected in this installment of the Collected Works of Northrop Frye, that the genesis of a distinguished literary critic can be seen. Here is Frye tracing the first outlines of a literary cosmology that would culminate in The Anatomy of Criticism (1958) and shape The Great Code (1982) and Words with Power (1990). At the same time that Frye garnered such international acclaim, he was also a working university teacher, lecturing in the University of Toronto's English Language and Literature program. In her lively introduction, Germaine Warkentin links Frye's evolution as a critic with his love of music, his passionate concern for his students, and his growing professional ambition. The writings included in this volume show how Frye integrated ideas into the work that would consolidate the fame that Fearful Symmetry (1947) had first established.
- GenresNonfictionPhilosophy
768 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2006
About the author
Northrop Frye
217 books307 followersBorn in Quebec but raised in New Brunswick, Frye studied at the University of Toronto and Victoria University. He was ordained to the ministry of the United Church of Canada and studied at Oxford before returning to UofT.
His first book, Fearful Symmetry, was published in 1947 to international acclaim. Until then, the prophetic poetry of William Blake had long been poorly understood, considered by some to be delusional ramblings. Frye found in it a system of metaphor derived from Paradise Lost and the Bible. His study of Blake's poetry was a major contribution. Moreover, Frye outlined an innovative manner of studying literature that was to deeply influence the study of literature in general. He was a major influence on, among others, Harold Bloom and Margaret Atwood.
In 1974-1975 Frye was the Norton professor at Harvard University.
Frye married Helen Kemp, an educator, editor and artist, in 1937. She died in Australia while accompanying Frye on a lecture tour. Two years after her death in 1986 he married Elizabeth Brown. He died in 1991 and was interred in Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto, Ontario. The Northrop Frye Centre at Victoria College at the University of Toronto was named in his honour.
See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop...
His first book, Fearful Symmetry, was published in 1947 to international acclaim. Until then, the prophetic poetry of William Blake had long been poorly understood, considered by some to be delusional ramblings. Frye found in it a system of metaphor derived from Paradise Lost and the Bible. His study of Blake's poetry was a major contribution. Moreover, Frye outlined an innovative manner of studying literature that was to deeply influence the study of literature in general. He was a major influence on, among others, Harold Bloom and Margaret Atwood.
In 1974-1975 Frye was the Norton professor at Harvard University.
Frye married Helen Kemp, an educator, editor and artist, in 1937. She died in Australia while accompanying Frye on a lecture tour. Two years after her death in 1986 he married Elizabeth Brown. He died in 1991 and was interred in Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto, Ontario. The Northrop Frye Centre at Victoria College at the University of Toronto was named in his honour.
See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop...
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
September 10, 2024
I had to read two of the essays/lectures from this book:
‘Motive for Metaphor’:
What does Frye mean on page 8, when he says, “the world of literature is human in shape”?
He means how literature itself is solely human, as we use it to describe what we feel, experience, and think in general. “Human Shape” refers to all literature being derived from abstract ideas, images, sensations, and even story telling.
Why does Frye say it is important to study literature? Do you agree?
Studying literature is like studying life itself, it helps keep a person grounded and understood in general. I do agree with Frye on his statement. I think that without literature there would not be a proper way for humans to understand and express themselves. I also believe that we would not be able to do so in a creative and interesting manner as well.
“Outside literature, the main motive for writing is to describe this world. But literature itself uses language in a way which associates our minds with it.” p.g 10
‘The Singing School’:
2. Northrop Frye uses painting and music as analogies to explain that literature has a pedigree or follows a convention. Explain. (p.14)
He uses painting as analogies to show that paining has been alive since the ice age, and till now, they show different “visions”, as it perspectives and opinions on things, but the technique used to do so has stayed the same, as in the “act” of getting colors and making shapes has never changed.
He uses this analogy to explain how although literature now is about different topics, and contains different types of literary techniques, the way in which literature or writing is produced is still the same. The way an author or writer needs to get ideas and organize them in a recognizable way, it's still all the same.
“The young poet of Shakespeare's day would probably write about the frustration of sexual desires; a young poet today would write about the release of it, but in both cases the writing is conventional.” p.g 14
‘Motive for Metaphor’:
What does Frye mean on page 8, when he says, “the world of literature is human in shape”?
He means how literature itself is solely human, as we use it to describe what we feel, experience, and think in general. “Human Shape” refers to all literature being derived from abstract ideas, images, sensations, and even story telling.
Why does Frye say it is important to study literature? Do you agree?
Studying literature is like studying life itself, it helps keep a person grounded and understood in general. I do agree with Frye on his statement. I think that without literature there would not be a proper way for humans to understand and express themselves. I also believe that we would not be able to do so in a creative and interesting manner as well.
“Outside literature, the main motive for writing is to describe this world. But literature itself uses language in a way which associates our minds with it.” p.g 10
‘The Singing School’:
2. Northrop Frye uses painting and music as analogies to explain that literature has a pedigree or follows a convention. Explain. (p.14)
He uses painting as analogies to show that paining has been alive since the ice age, and till now, they show different “visions”, as it perspectives and opinions on things, but the technique used to do so has stayed the same, as in the “act” of getting colors and making shapes has never changed.
He uses this analogy to explain how although literature now is about different topics, and contains different types of literary techniques, the way in which literature or writing is produced is still the same. The way an author or writer needs to get ideas and organize them in a recognizable way, it's still all the same.
“The young poet of Shakespeare's day would probably write about the frustration of sexual desires; a young poet today would write about the release of it, but in both cases the writing is conventional.” p.g 14
Displaying 1 of 1 review