Thinking Activity:I.A.Richard's 'Figurative Language'

Hello friends

After completing the unit of I.A Richard's The Practical Criticism: Figurative Language our Prof.Dr.Dilip Barad sir has gave a thinking activity on it.We have to do verbal analysis of poem/song/film song lyrics/hymns/devotional songs or any Poetic expression in any language by keeping in mind the kinds of misunderstanding according to "Figurative Language"

I.A.Richard is one of the greatest critics of the modern age. He was born in 1983. He took education at Cambridge. In fact, T.S. Eliot and I.A. Richards are considered to be the pioneers in the field of New Criticism. They differ a lot in the views. Critics like John Crowe Ransom, Kenneth Burke, Cleanth Brooks, R.P.Blackmur, Robert Penn Warren William Empson were indebted to I.A. Richards.

 I.A. Richards is a pioneer figure as far as New Criticism is considered. His works are.

1 The Meaning of Meaning- 1923

2 The Practical of Criticism – 1929

3 The Principles of Literary criticism-1924

 

💠Four misunderstanding of language :

(i) Misunderstanding of the sense of poetry: Careless, intuitive reading (rhyme or irregular syntax).

(ii) Over-liter reading – prosaic reading.

(iii) Defective scholarship.

(ix) Difference in meaning of words in poetry and prose.

He gave new path to literary criticism. In his methodology, a lot of importance is given to the words. He believed that poet writes to communicate and language is the means of that communication. Language is made of words and words carry four kinds of meaning:

•.Sense : The items referred by a writer.

• Feelings : Feeling refers to emotions. Emotional attitude, will, attitude, desire, pleasure, displeasure.

• Tone: Tone is writers attitude to his readers or audience.

• Intention : It is writers aim which may be conscious or unconscious. It refresh to the effect that he tries to produced.

💠He give a two use of Language

1. Scientific use

2. Emotive use

Here I am putting the video recording on New Criticism.

Here I am going to discuss about one of the  famous Gujarati  poem of Ravji Patel.  In this poem has used high level and contradictory language and also poem represent more theme  with figurative language. I hope you all will enjoy reading this blog.

 

મારી આંખે કંકુના સૂરજ આથમ્યા

મારી આંખે કંકુના સૂરજ આથમ્યા…

મારી વ્હેલ શણગારો વીરા, શગને સંકોરો

રે અજવાળાં પહેરીને ઊભા શ્વાસ!

મારી આંખે કંકુના સૂરજ આથમ્યા…

પીળે રે પાંદે લીલા ઘોડા ડૂબ્યા;

ડૂબ્યાં અલકાતાં રાજ, ડૂબ્યાં મલકાતાં કાજ

રે હણહણતી મેં સાંભળી સુવાસ!

મારી આંખે કંકુના સૂરજ આથમ્યા…

મને રોકે પંછાયો એક ચોકમાં;

અડધા બોલે ઝાલ્યો; અડધો ઝાંઝરથી ઝાલ્યો

મને વાગે સજીવી હળવાશ!

મારી આંખે કંકુના સૂરજ આથમ્યા…

💠Analysis of the Poem:

🔷Misunderstanding:-

                                                   When we read this poem during that time it increases the question in our mind that What this poem is talking about and also our mind thinks what message this poem gives us. Most of the time We never think connection of outside world. When I read the first line of this poem , I think that it is misunderstanding and also difficult to easily understand. We can see that poet say , ' Mari ankhe kanku na suraj athamiya...'  I never imagined about this scenery scene because I think that How can possible sunset on the eye but here the poet says, He saw his death through own eye. What connection between eye and sunset. 

                                                 When We read Word by word this poem there are not get proper meaning in the poem. So this poem is very problematic to read word by word. Another thing is that poet used effective and figurative language such as, 'kanku',' vahel','shag',' Anjvala'...etc. Maybe, Poet used all this word connected with death and marriage because when people died during that time they used all that thing as same as marriage  time. but I can't say this is a proper interpretation of poem. Here poet used archetypes symbolically. Thus, I have said that we automatically put in difficulty to understand the concept of poem.

🔷Metaphor and Visual image:-

                                        In this poem was used symbolic words and metaphor by poet.like as, 'kanku','suraj athamiya','vahel sangaro','shagne shankoro','anjvala pehri ubha shvash...'etc. In this poem Poet used mixed metaphor and also personification. Poet also explained his emotion and experience through comparison with sunset, Submerged horse...etc.

We can saw that poet used vivid visual images and metaphors in poems like, ' pile re pane lila ghoda doobya' means his death in time of youth.

🔷 Intention of the poet:-

                                    The poet speaks with aim which I think what's important of life and time of youth another theme is that feeling of a poet like a painful death. I think that death and marriage both are equal because both of the time became the same condition. Thus the poet personifies something through poetry.

                                      In this way the figurative language used by Ravji Patel. So We cannot understand it easily , we have to do experiments on it to understand the language. This poem is also a problematic poem while we read verbal study. We can find emotive or scientific language in the poem. Other things that poets represented were culture and manner of India through elements of marriage and death.

Words 916