Devika Panikar
δάσκαλος (dáskalos) means the teacher in Greek. Devika Panikar has been teaching English Language and Literature since 2006. She is an Assistant Professor with the Directorate of Collegiate Education under the Government of Kerala and now works at the Government College Kasaragod. This website is a collection of lecture notes she prepared by referring to various sources for her students’ perusal.
Literary Theory and Its Discontents
John R Searle's essay Literary Theory and Its Discontents, published in New Literary History in 1994, critically examines contemporary literary theory, mainly focusing on the nature of textual meaning...
Literary Criticism and Its Discontents
Geoffrey Hartman's essay Literary Criticism and Its Discontents is a reflective and nuanced exploration of the evolving field of literary criticism. Hartman examines the challenges, transformations, a...
Tradition and the Individual Talent
T S Eliot's essay Tradition and the Individual Talent (1919) is one of the most influential critical works of the 20th century. It explores the relationship between tradition and innovation in poetry ...
Preface to the Works of Shakespeare
Samuel Johnson's Preface to the Works of Shakespeare (1765) is a landmark work of literary criticism, offering a comprehensive evaluation of Shakespeare's achievements and enduring significance. Writt...
Preface to Lyrical Ballads
William Wordsworth's Preface to Lyrical Ballads (1800, expanded in 1802) is one of the most important texts in English literary criticism. It is a manifesto for the Romantic movement, outlining Wordsw...
Discourse in the Novel
Discourse in the Novel by Mikhail Mikhailovich Bakhtin is an essay that forms part of his larger body of work on literary theory, especially his exploration of the novel as a unique literary genre. Wr...
The Metaphoric and Metonymic Poles
Roman Jakobson's The Metaphoric and Metonymic Poles explores two fundamental linguistic and cognitive operations —metaphor and metonymy —offering a framework for understanding human communication, art...
The Piece of String
Guy de Maupassant's The Piece of String is a short story that explores themes of human nature, social judgement, and the destructive power of false accusations. Set in a small village, the story revol...