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Jayatee Bhattacharya, Lovely Professional University Unit 5: Major Literary Terms-V

Unit 5: Major Literary Terms-V Notes

CONTENTS

Objectives
Introduction

5.1 Negative Capability

5.1.1 Keats: The Poet’s Turn of Phrase
5.2 Renaissance of Wonder

5.3 Hellenism

5.4 Supernaturalism
5.5 Fancy and Imagination

5.6 Dramatic Monologue
5.7 Summary

5.8 Keywords
5.9 Review Questions

5.10 Further Readings

Objectives

After studying this unit, you will be able to:
• Know about negative capability, hellenism, supernaturalism
• Explain the term renaissance of wonder, fancy and imagination
• Discuss briefly about dramatic monologue.

Introduction

“Literary terms” refers to the words themselves with which we identify and designate literary elements
and techniques. They are not found in literature and they are not “used” by authors. Literary terms
are just a list of terms used in literature. They could be things like allegory, metaphor or hyperbole.
They could also be things used to describe different types of literature like autobiography, etc.

5.1 Negative Capability

Negative capability describes the resistance to a set of institutional arrangements or a system of
knowledge about the world and human experience. It explains the capacity of human beings to reject
the totalizing constraints of a closed context, and to both experience phenomenon free from any
epistemological bounds as well as to assert their own will and individuality upon their activity. The
term was first used by the Romantic poet John Keats to critique those who sought to categorize all
experience and phenomena and turn them into a theory of knowledge. It has recently been appropriated

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