I.A.Richards : The Figurative language

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Today I'm going to write about the task which given by our professor Dilip Barad sir. He give to task for Thinking Activity of I.A.Richards Figurative Language.

-I.A Richards as a critic of Figurative Language

In criticism if we remember some important and well-known critics then we must rememberI.A Richards, in full Ivor Armstrong Richards, who was born Feb. 26, 1893, Sandbach, Cheshire, Eng.—died Sept. 7, 1979, Cambridge, Cambridge shire), English critic, poet, and teacher who was highly influential in developing a new way of reading Poetry that led to the New criticism and that also influenced some forms of reader-response criticism.

Richards was educated at Magdalene College, Cambridge, and was a lecturer in English and moral sciences there from 1922 to 1929. In that period he wrote three of his most influential books: The Meaning of the Meaning (1923), a pioneer work on semantics; and Principles of Literary Criticism (1924) and Practical Criticism (1929), companion volumes that he used to develop his critical method.

The latter two were based on experimental pedagogy: Richards would give students poems in which the titles and authors’ names had been removed and then use their responses for further development of their “close reading” skills. Richards is best known for advancing the close reading of Literature and for articulating the theoretical principles upon which these skills lead to “practical criticism,” a method of increasing readers’ analytic powers.

During the 1930s, Richards spent much of his time developing Basic English, a system originated by Ogden that employed only 850 words; Richards believed a universally intelligible language would help to bring about international understanding. He took Basic English to China as a visiting professor at Tsing Hua University (1929–30) and as director of the Orthological Institute of China (1936–38).

In 1942 he published a version of Plato’s Republic in Basic English. He became professor of English at Harvard University in 1939, working mainly in primary education, and emeritus professor there in 1963. His speculative and theoretical works include Science and Poetry (1926; revised as Poetries and Sciences, 1970),Mencius on the Mind (1932), Coleridge on Imagination (1934), The Philosophy of

Rhetoric(1936),SpeculativeInstruments (1955), Beyond (1974), Poetries (1974),and Complementarities (1976). His verse has been collected in Internal Colloquies(1971) and New and Selected Poems (1978).

● Introduction:

I.A .Richards was a poet, dramatist, speculative philosopher, psychologist is among the first of the 20th century critics to bring to English criticism a pscientific precision and objectivity. He is often referred to as the ‘critical consciousness’ of the modern age.He is a pioneer of New criticism. New Criticism and the whole of modern poetics derive their strength and inspiration from the seminal writings of Richards such as Principles of Literary Criticism, Practical Criticism, Coleridge on Imagination, The Foundation of Aesthetics and The Meaning of Meaning .

His path Breaking Works are :

1) The meaning of meaning : 1923

2) The principles of Literary Criticism : 1924

3) The practical Criticism : 1929

● Practical Criticism :

Practical Criticism is like formal studies of English Literature. It began into 1920 with a series of experiments by the Cambridge Critic I.A.Richards. He gave poems to his students without any information about who wrote them , when they were written and what is the title of the poem .

In the practical criticism of 1929. He reported on and analysed the result of his experiments. The main objective of his work was to encourage students to concentrate on the words on the page rather than dependent on the preconceived or received belief about the text. It is for responding to all the currents of emotion and meaning in the poems and passages of prose which they read the students were to achieve what Richards called an organised response. This meant that they would clarify the various currents of thought in the poem and achieve a corresponding clarification of their own emotions.

1) Four kinds of Meaning

2) Two uses of Language

3) Figurative language

● 1) Four kinds of Meaning :

Practical Criticism is first focus on The Meaning of Meaning and The Philosophy of Rhetoric. Richards advocates a close textual and verbal analysis of poetry. In this language is important Language is made up of words and the study of words is of the paramount importance in the understanding of a work of art. According to Richards the words communicate four kinds of meaning : Sense, Feeling, Tone and Intention. So the Poetry communicates through the interplay of these four types of meanings.The metaphorical meaning arises from the inter-relations.

1) sense :

Sense is that which is communicated by the plain literal meanings of the words.

2) Feeling :

Feeling refers to the feelings of the writer or speaker about these items, about the state of affairs he is referring to.Feeling refers to emotions. Emotional attitude, will, attitude, desire, pleasure, displeasure.

“The sound of a word has much to do with the feeling it evokes.”

He has an attitude towards it some special interest, some personal flavour or colouring of it and he uses language to express these feelings. In poetry the sense and feeling have a mutual dependence. So In the poetry sense and feeling both have matual connection.

3) Tone :

Tone means the attitude of the writer towards his readers. The writer or the speaker chooses and arranges the words differently as his audience depending on his relation to them.

4) Intention :

Intention refers to the effect one tries to produce, which modifies one’s expression. It controls the emphasis and shapes the arrangement. So understanding of all these aspects is the part of meaning of poetry.

Generally sense predominates in the scientific language and feeling in the poetic language. The figurative language used by poets conveys emotions effectively and forcefully. Words also acquire a rich associative value in different contexts. The meaning of words is also determined by rhythm and metre.

● Two uses of Language :

Richards in his “Principles of Literary Criticism” expounded a theory of language, and distinguished between the two uses of language:

1) Scientific

2) emotive

1) Scientific use of language :

In the scientific statement may be used for the sake of reference, which may be verified as true or false. This is the scientific use of language. But it may also be used for the sake of the effects in emotions and attitudes produced by the reference.

2) Emotive Use of language :

In the emotive or poetic use of language. The poet uses words emotively for the purpose of evoking emotions and attitudes considered valuable by him. For example the word ‘fire’ has only one definite scientific reference to a fact in the real world. But when poetry uses it in a phrase such as ‘heart on fire’ the word evokes an emotion that of excitement.

So the science makes statements and the poetry makes pseudo-statements that cannot be empirically tested and proved true or false. Poetry communicates feelings and emotions. poetic truth is different from scientific truth. It is a matter of emotional belief rather than intellectual belief. Poetry not give us knowledge. Poetry is not speaks to mind but it comes from inner voice or impulses. So poetry is on the experiences of poet.

● Mixed use of Metaphors :

“A metaphor is a shift, a carrying over of a word from its normal use to a new use”.

1.Sense Metaphors

2. Emotive Metaphors

1) Sense Metaphors :

In the Sense Metaphor the shift is due to a similarity between the original object and the new one.

2) Emotive Metaphors :

In the Emotive metaphor the shift is due to a similarity between the feelings the new situation and the normal situation arouse.

● Three objectives to write The Practical Criticism:

1.)To introduce a new kind of documentation to those who are interested in the contemporary state of culture as critics, philosophers, as teachers, as psychologists or merely as curious persons.

2 )To provide new technique for those who wish to discover for themselves what they think and feel about poetry and why they should like or dislike it.

3.) To prepare the way for educational methods more efficient than those we use now in developing discrimination and the power to understand what we hear and read.

● Four misunderstanding of language :

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

2. Over-literal reading – prosaic reading.

3. Defective scholarship.

4. Difference in meaning of words in poetry and prose.

So during the read text or poem reader may fail to understand the sense of the poet because he is ignorant of poet’s sense. The more serious cause of misunderstanding is the failure to realise that the poetic use of words is different from an assumption about the language that can be fatal to poetry. So the Literary is one serious obstacle in the way of a right understanding of the poetic words.so it creates the misunderstanding in the poetry.

• The Value of Figurative Language:

Sometimes it is possible that figurative language may create some misunderstanding in any literary work. Therefore it is necessary to identify the figures of speech. It is difficult to turn poetry into logical respectable prose. Is combining with recognition of the liberties which are proper for a poet, and the power and value of figurative language. There are various comments on the above piece of the hyperbole of the sea-harp. The only concrete simile in the octave is the likening of the sea to a harp- surely a little extravagant.

There is no doubt that the similarity between the sound of a harp and the sea but in poetry such things do happen. It is clear that the effect proposed by the poet is, an exhilarating awakening of wonder and a fusion of the sea,lightning and spring, those three most moving manifestations of Nature.

The poet is rather negligent in the choice of means he has employed to attain his end. The enjoyment and understanding of the best poetry require s sensitiveness and discrimination with words a nicety, imaginativeness and deftness in taking their sense which will prevent the poem in question, in its original form, from attentive readers.

The use of figurative language can create problems. It is difficult to turn poetry into logical respectable prose. So in the figurative language use for enjoyment and understanding of the best poetry. It requires a sensitiveness and discrimination with words, a nicely, imaginativeness and deftness in taking their sense which will prevent the poem in question in its original form receiving the approval of the most attentive readers.

Conclusion :

So in the last in a very simple words and language describe figurative language.we can say that it is based on the close study of the words. It can be read as only text without any background, history, writer, but just as an individual text by interpret in our own understanding. It can also lead a reader to misunderstanding too but even it can never be wrong because not a single thing, single interpretation in poetry can be wrong because every poetry has numbers of interpretations because a work of art has numbers of interpretations. Interpretations are based on mind, mentality, background, brought up, and society of reader. It may be leads reader to misreading of poetry but then even can be original. It is not just only based on the assumptions but it is also based on words, emotions, intention and scientific methods.