Acknowledgements When preparing this Study I have met a lot of difficulties and intended to give up many times, but thank to all the help of my teachers, friends and relatives I keep trying and finally finish it. Now I would like to acknowledge all of you for encouraging me and standing beside me in my hard situation. Firstly, I am deeply grateful to my supervisor - Mr. Tran Ngoc Tuong, lecturer of English - the department of Foreign Languages - Vinh University, whose direction and useful advice are invaluable to me. I would like to express special thanks to Mr. Chris Staples, my examiner, lecturer of English literature - the department of Foreign Languages - Vinh University, who has helped me very much and always encourage me to complete the Study. Thank you, Mr. Chris! If it had not been for your teaching of literature, I would not have love literature so much and certainly cannot do my Study. My great gratitude also goes to the writers of the references that I used in my thesis. I owe all my relatives and friends a debt of gratitude for their enthusiastic support and encouragement. Vinh, May 2004. Le Thi Phuong = 1= paRT A: INTRODUCTION 1. The reasons for choosing the Study: Literary language is very beautiful and rich in imagery. What brings this nature to literature? We, all the readers, critics and the authors of literary works themselves, are easily in agreement that words are the bricks and mortar of literature, and whatever appears in the authors’ mind must be expressed through the words available in the language he knows. Word choice in literature is always made carefully. Often words are chosen because of their precision or their ambiguity. This means the chosen words must have the ability to state the author’s ideas clearly and accurately, or they must have more than one possible meaning, which leads to a wide range of suggestions. In the first case when the words are clear enough for the readers to understand, there will be no problems. But in the second, the ambiguous words may cause many difficulties to the process of interpretation by the readers. Even more difficulties emerge because not all words have universally accepted connotations built into them and writers often use many complicated devices of metaphor and symbolism in literary production. How can we overcome this problem to perceive the total meaning of literature work? Mostly, if we enter the world of literature with an open and questioning mind, we might be able to make out the implications, which the authors suggest. In that way, we will be able to understand the part of literary works where the writers use language connotatively. We will be able to recognize the symbolic nature of actions, characters and objects. As the German literary critic Wolfgang Iser has commented, literary texts are incomplete;“ they contain gaps that readers have to fill in .” But how to interpret the symbolic meanings of the expressions used by writers is often a big question. We don’t usually understand the writers’ intention fully. I myself also find difficulty in understanding the imaginative = 2= language. And symbolism is the most difficult device to grasp for many readers. I am really interested in this literary device so I want to study it deeply. I think that this may help me and anyone who reads my thesis in literature perceptivity. This is the reason why I choose this subject for my graduation thesis. 2. The aims of the Study: The thesis is mostly aimed at helping readers of literature understand more about one effective device in imagery language: symbolism. So that they can improve their ability of interpreting the literary production more fully. The other aims are: - To distinguish between symbolism and other common devices of imaginative language. - To analyze the use of the description of light and darkness in symbolism. 3. The methods of the Study: When doing this research, I used a number of methods. They are the following: - Analytic method. - Systematic method. - Descriptive method. 4. The scope of the Study: This study includes three parts: - Part A: Introduction. - Part B: The contents. - Part C: Conclusion. The contents consist of four chapters: = 3= Chapter I: Theoretical background. Chapter II: Symbolism in literature. Chapter III: The use of Light and Darkness expressions in symbolism in English literature in general. Chapter IV: Analysis of the use of Light and Darkness expressions in symbolism in English literature. = 4= Part b: the contents Chapter 1 : theoretical background 1. The beauty of literature: 1.1. The definition of literature: “Literature, in the widest sense, is just about anything written. It is even what you receive in the mail if you send for free information about a weight- reducing plan or a motorcycle.” This definition of literature was given by X. J. Kenedy in the preface of the book “Literature-An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama”. X. J. Kenedy also defined literature in the smaller sense as “a kind of art, usually written, which offers pleasure and illumination.” He said, it is usually written, for we have an oral literature, too.“ ” X. J. Kenedy’s definition is very similar to the definition of literature in the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary: “Literature contains the writings that are valued as works of art, especially fiction, drama and poetry (in contrast with technical books and newspapers, magazines, etc )… 1.2. The beauty of literature: “Part of the beauty of all literature is that you discover that your longings are universal longings, that you are not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong,” commented novelist and short story writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Why did he say so? We, human beings, always try to understand ourselves, our emotions, our experiences and our relationships with others. We also attempt to find out our connections to larger social and cultural institutions. One way that we can do so is through literature. Every literary work is created to reflect one specific side of the world in which we live. Thanks to literature, we come to a fuller awareness of ourselves and others. We discover both the uniqueness“ and the universality of human experience. We explore both our own world and worlds we may never otherwise see” = 5= 2. Literary language : Exploring literature is exploring and perceiving beauty. It is because literature has the duty to express beauty as its focus, that literary language is always very beautiful and different from the spoken language we use every day. Authors of literary works usually transfer their ideas to readers by imaginative language. It is always difficult to perceive all the values of a literary work completely if you cannot perceive all the meanings put in literary language. One kind of literary language that is the most beautiful but also the most difficult to understand is imagery-figurative language. Imagery is a very important element in literature. “It gives the texture of the literary works destiny and richness.” The imagery helps us to think clearly about what the authors are trying to say and feel clearly the emotions they want us to feel. Imagery also helps the writer very much. When they find it difficult to state one idea they may easily relate this idea to a particular and familiar thing and express their intention more effectively. We will study about this in details in the following section. 3. Imagery-figurative language: 3.1. The definition of imagery and figurative language: 3.1.1. Imagery: Imagery has a great variety of meaning. In its literal sense it means the collection of images within a literary work or a unit of literary work. Imagery is language that creates images in the imagination or minds of people reading or listening. Imagery, narrowly, language that embodies an appeal to the 5 senses, particularly sight. 3.1.2 Figurative language: = 6= The term Imagery is often applied to all figurative language (- a general term covering the many ways in which language is used non -literally: hyperbole, irony, metaphor etc -), language that is not intended to be interpreted in a literal sense. Figurative language is language used for descriptive effect; it is not literal language, which states facts or ideas directly. 3.2. The image- important unit of imagery: 3.2. 1. The definition of an image: Imagery is words or phrases that create pictures or images in the reader’s mind. Images are primarily visual; they also can appeal to other senses as well: touch, taste, smell, and hearing. An image is an imaginative description or comparison that produces a picture in the minds of the readers. In other words, an image is a figure of speech employed in such a way that something appears to have a greater meaning than is implied in its literal sense. “ Any noun that refers to a visible object or a sensation is an image” “and “though the term image“ ” suggest a thing seen, when speaking of images we generally mean a word or sequence of words that refers to any sensory experiences” (X. J. Kenedy, literature). The experience may be: - a sight - in visual imagery - a sound - in auditory imagery - a touch - in tactile imagery = 7= Language (words or phrases) An image An abstract idea describe expresses -an odor -a taste It may be a bodily sensation such as pain, the quenching of thirst, the perception of something cold. For example: “ The piercing chill I feel: my dead wife s comb, in our bedroom, ’ under my heel .… ” (Taniguchi Buson, The Piercing Chill I Feel) 3.2.2. Using images in literature: In literature, the authors often use language to create pictures in our minds; this helps us to see things very clearly. Imaginative description might cause us to feel one thing suggestively through our other physical senses, such as hearing or the sense of touch. In works of literature we meet various images which authors use skillfully to make their ideas and characters vivid and memorable. For example, when describing or indicating shapes, colors and specific details of things, the writers may suggest us to relate them to more abstract ideas. In this way, what we are trying to imagine is described as something else more familiar to us. This means we must think of one thing as if it were something else. Many such comparisons are frequently used in imagery- figurative language in English literature. 4. Figures of speech the most effective elements of imagery:– We have studied about imagery and figurative language. As I have said, imagery gives concrete forms to ideas and feelings. This linking of objects and ideas is the basic of most imagery –figurative language-language that goes beyond the literal denotation of the words by imaginatively extending their meaning. = 8= Imagery and figurative language is created through many devices called figures of speech. In the next section we will come to learn about the most difficult one: symbolism 5.Symbolism: 5.1. What is a symbol? 5.1.1. Definition: - The national flag is supposed to bestir our patriotic feelings. - A black cat is considered as good luck in England. To each of these, by custom, our society expects a standard response. A flag, a black cat- each is a symbol: a visible object or action that suggests some further meaning in addition to itself. “In literature, a symbol might be the word “flag” or the clause “ a black cat crossed his path” or every description of flag or cat in an entire novel, story, play, or poem” ( X. J. Kenedy, Literarure). The words “symbol” in the Greek means “to throw together”. This means a symbol throws together objects, people, or actions and a meaning that is not necessarily inherent in them. “A symbol is a special kind of image, for it exceeds the usual image in the richness of its connotations ” (X. J. Kenedy, Literature) = 9= An image A symbol An abstract concept by custom be comes Symbolizes 5.1.2. What can be a symbol? A flag, a black all suggest things beyond themselves, and everyone is likely to understand what their display is meant to signify, whether or not the viewers share a commitment to what the objects represent. A symbol can be a character, for example, Satan in “Paradise lost” is a symbol of evil and human pride. A symbol may be a part of a person’s body or a look, a voice According… to a narrower definition, some readers prefer to say that a symbol is always a concrete object, never an act. In a very literal sense, words themselves are all symbols. They stand for an object, action, or quality not just for letters or sounds. But in literature, words or groups of words may have a range of reference beyond their literal denotation. The authors sometimes create a symbol out of a thing, action or event, which has no previously agreed upon symbolic significance. 5.1.3. What can not be a symbol? There are some things a literary symbol usually is not. A symbol is not an abstraction. Such term as “truth , death , love , justice” “ ” “ ” “ ” . can not work as symbols (unless personified). Most often, a symbol is something we can see in the mind’s eye. A symbol is usually not the second term of metaphor. 5.1.4. The advantage of a symbol: The great strength of a symbol is that, like some other figures of speech, it renders the abstract in concrete terms and refers to what we can perceive. According to the poet Robert Frost, with a symbol, “a little thing touches a larger thing.” This power of suggestion that a symbol contains is, perhaps its greatest advantage. In conclusion, “a symbol radiates hints or cast long shadows” ( X. J. Kenedy, Literature). We are unable to say it “stands for ” or represents“ ” = 10= . Chapter I: Theoretical background. Chapter II: Symbolism in literature. Chapter III: The use of Light and Darkness expressions in symbolism in English literature. idea of great subtlety and complexity. And by their use of symbolism, they afford us the pleasure of finding our entrance to their mind. But perceiving the