Northrop Frye - Archetypes of Literature

Hello Readers!

We are familiar with movies, TV soaps and plays. Numbers of movies are there which are adapted from various novels and fiction literature. They all have various implications of meanings and symbols to convey the message in a particular way. 

Northrop Frye was the critic who described various theories regarding archetypes. Though the concept of archetypes was precisely given by a Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung. Jungian archetypes study the human personality and psyche, whereas Frye's archetypes study the patterns and symbols of literature. 

Jung's (left) archetypes of psyche and N. Frye's (right) literary archetypes

Archetypes are different pattern through which we read various things. Through archetypes we can make a better picture of various things in mind. E.g., we are reading a novel in which we read various symbols like water, fire, palace, landscape, animals etc. These are the markers which create a patter in our mind to make an image of something. In a Bollywood movie Aakhree Raasta, in which Amitabh Bachchan is in double role. A particular scene of graveyard in the movie can be considered as an  archetype because it signifies that something tragic can happen in the plot. Archetypes are psychologically refers to one's psyche. There is also an interesting study of psyche in which three parts are there, conscious, subconscious and unconscious. It is our collective unconscious which records the patterns, images and actions.

Archetypal criticism is a branch of literary theory in which a work of art is justified through various literary archetypes. E.g., types of narratives, patterns of actions, persona of characters, images and symbols in story, etc. The human body has various types of skin colors, faces and voices, but to see in a deeper context we can see the skeleton of body is the same in all humans, no matter of gender, skin color or geographical backgrounds. The same way literature also has a particular skeleton which can be seen as the beginning, the middle part or progress and the end. To be precise, every narrative has this three basic elements. The critics and theorists who have worked on the archetypal criticism are Northrop Frye, Carl Jung and J. G. Frazer.

Archetypal critic emphasizes on the symbols, images, patterns and actions of the characters etc. The archetypal critics' work is to give critique on the narrative and to bring out the commonly used archetypes used in a work of art. To see this in a wider context we can study various films, web series, and TV shows also.

By giving analogy of Physics to Nature and Criticism to Literature, Frye is trying to emphasize giving proper justice to literature. Nature is foundational core of physics, a branch of science. In the same manner literature is the base on which criticism is being taught. But when mentioned, it is said that physics is taught, through nature. Similarly,  criticism is taught through various literatures. It can be said that whatever we learn through literature is criticism of life. Rather than stating that I am a student of literature, it should be said that I am studying criticism through literature.

Just the way science and technology, physics, chemistry, commerce are considered as organised body of knowledge, criticism is also an organized body of knowledge, because it studies various work of art in a particular method, methods given by various respective critics and theorists. Critics just like scientists, try to prove their views with reason and arguments. Being a part of literature, criticism is also worth studying branch of knowledge. 

Since ages, it has been a firm and strong relation of literature with history and philosophy. When a creative writer sits down to write something he always has some historical sense in background. Just like some mobile applications run in background on smartphones. Literature is criticized with the historical sense and philosophical approach. 

* Inductive Method - illustration of grave digger scene from particular to general. It is the method of looking at things with a wide view or in a larger context. E.g., looking at a picture with a very close view will not show the fullest version of it. But if we step few steps back we see the better and clear picture. Thus this method is applicable in the Hamlet's grave digger scene. Hamlet is in a graveyard and he is holding a skull of a jester, Yorick. He communicates with diggers. It generalizes that whatever or whoever we are, death will make everybody general and common. Because death is common and general for all.

* Deductive Method - This method moves from general to particular. Music moves in time, because it opens up with rhythms, words, and melody. Just one words after the another, second by second. Painting moves in space, because it appears directly and wholly at a time. We see the full pattern of painting all at once. In music rhythms are temporal and in paintings, patterns are spatial. When a critic applies those things in any work, he mixes up both the thing. Arts move with both the things temporally and spatially. We can say that literature is made up of words. Words can have both, rhythm and words bound together create a picture. 

* Indian season also have similarity with archetypes because seasons are also considered as archetypes, such as winter as death, summer as meeting time, spring as birth or beginning etc. In Indian concept also there are three mains seasons, each having two sub-seasons.

Based on the seasonal grid this lyrics of a Gujarati poem written by Priyakant Maniyar

This poem is highlighting the archetype of autumn, (પાનખર). Autumn is considered as archetype for separation or sorrowfulness. Here also a pain of a feather is described in the season of autumn. It is separated from the wings of a bird, swinging in the air. Once flown at the height of the sky, now fallen like a leaf from the barren tree.

Thank You!

References:
* "પાનખર", pp 59, શેઠ, ચંદ્રકાન્ત, "પ્રિયકાન્ત મણિયારનાં કાવ્યો", આદર્શ પ્રકાશન, (2006).