UGC NET English Aug 2024 Shift 2: Theory & Criticism Solved

Correct Answer: 1) B and D only

Explanation: The polis was the fundamental unit of ancient Greek civilization.

• City-State (D): It describes an independent geographical entity like Athens or Sparta, comprising an urban center and its territory.
• Political Structure (B): It refers to the organized community of citizens governed by laws. The modern word "politics" is directly derived from polis.

Distinctions: While social and legal structures existed within it, they do not define the term itself. "Barbarians" (barbaros) was a term for non-Greeks.

Correct Answer: 1) A and C only

Explanation: Plato's critique in The Republic is based on his Theory of Forms.

• Imitation of reality (A): Poetry is mimesis. Since the physical world is a copy of the Ideal Forms, poetry (a copy of the physical) is "twice removed from reality."
• Distant from reality (C): Because it is an imitation of appearances and appeals to emotions rather than reason, it leads the soul away from Truth.

Correct Answer: 3) B and C only

Explanation: Neo-Platonism is a mystical reinterpretation of Plato's thought that emerged in the 3rd century CE.

• Plotinus (B): Universally regarded as the founder of Neo-Platonism. His teachings are found in The Enneads.
• Porphyry (C): A student of Plotinus who edited The Enneads and was instrumental in systematizing the philosophy.

Note: While inspired by Plato, the movement started centuries after his death.

Correct Answer: 3 (A–II, B–IV, C–I, D–III)

Explanation: These terms relate to the classical five-part structure of drama (often associated with Freytag's Pyramid but rooted in Greek and Roman theory):

• Protasis (C-I): The Introduction or exposition where characters and settings are introduced.
• Epistasis (B-IV): The Rising Action where the main conflict develops and tension builds.
• Catastasis (D-III): The Height of Complication or suspense that occurs just before the climax.
• Catastrophe (A-II): The Unraveling or conclusion, specifically in a tragedy, where the final downfall occurs.

Correct Answer: 2 (John Dryden)

Explanation: Published in 1668, "Of Dramatic Poesy: An Essay" is a seminal work of Restoration criticism. Dryden uses four speakers to debate the merits of various dramatic traditions. Neander (meaning "new man") acts as the mouthpiece for Dryden himself.

The Four Speakers and their Roles:

• Neander (John Dryden): Defends modern English drama, famously praising Shakespeare as "the man who of all modern, and perhaps ancient poets, had the largest and most comprehensive soul."
• Crites (Sir Robert Howard): Represents the "Ancients" and argues for the superiority of Greek and Roman classical standards.
• Eugenius (Charles Sackville): Favors the "Moderns," arguing that they have surpassed the Ancients by building on their foundation.
• Lisideius (Sir Charles Sedley): Argues in favor of the French Neoclassical drama, praising its strict adherence to the Three Unities.

Correct Answer: 1) A, B, D only

Explanation: Published in 1872, Nietzsche's first book is a major work of aesthetic theory and philosophy. Here is the breakdown of the statements:

• Origins of Tragedy (A): Nietzsche traces the evolution of poetry into the high art form of Greek tragedy.
• Socratic Rationalism (B): He argues that the rise of Socrates and the dominance of logic/rationalism (Euripidean drama) destroyed the instinctual, tragic spirit of earlier Greek art.
• Apollonian and Dionysian (D): This is the core thesis. Tragedy is born from the tension and eventual fusion of the Apollonian (order, dream, clarity) and the Dionysian (chaos, intoxication, music).

Note: While music is central to the Dionysian impulse, Nietzsche does not simply equate music as being the "spirit" of tragedy in a literal or singular sense (E), nor is the book a history of ancient dance (C).

Correct Answer: 1 (Ferdinand de Saussure)

Explanation: Ferdinand de Saussure, the father of modern structural linguistics, introduced this concept in his posthumously published Course in General Linguistics (1916). He argued that language must be studied as a functional system at a specific point in time (Synchronically) rather than its historical evolution (Diachronically).

Key Concepts in this Statement:

• System of Signs: The union of a Signifier (sound-image) and a Signified (concept).
• Synchronic Solidarity: The idea that signs derive their meaning not from an inherent value, but from their relationship and difference with other signs within the system at that moment.

Why the other options are incorrect:

• Leonard Bloomfield: Associated with American Structuralism and a behaviorist approach to linguistics.
• Roman Jakobson: A key figure in the Prague School who expanded on Saussure's work but focused more on the "Functions of Language."
• Sigmund Freud: His work pertains to psychoanalysis; while he dealt with symbols, he did not define language through synchronic structuralism.

Correct Answer: 2) B, C, E only

Explanation: The Collective Unconscious is a cornerstone of Analytical Psychology, distinguishing Carl Jung from Freud.

• Introduction (B): Carl Jung proposed this to explain why similar myths and symbols appear across cultures that never had contact.
• Archetypes (C): It is populated by "Archetypes" (the Shadow, the Anima/Animus, the Great Mother, etc.)—primordial images that are part of the human psychic heritage.
• Biological/Universal (E): Unlike the personal unconscious (which contains individual memories), the collective unconscious is inherited and common to all humanity.

Why others are incorrect: Statement A is wrong because Freud focused on the Personal Unconscious. Statement D is wrong because individual experiences belong to the Personal Unconscious, not the Collective.

Correct Answer: 4 (Classical Socialism)

Explanation: In The Postmodern Condition (1979), Lyotard defined postmodernism as "incredulity toward metanarratives." While he critiqued various "Grand Narratives" (like Enlightenment progress or Hegelianism), his primary target was the totalizing narrative of Classical Socialism/Marxism. He argued that these universal theories of history and social liberation had failed and were being replaced by localized "language games."

Key Concepts:

• Metanarratives: Universalizing schemas like "The liberation of the working class" or "The progress of reason."
• Micronarratives: Postmodern knowledge is characterized by local, situational, and diverse truths.

Correct Answer: 3 (Promotional materials do not constitute cultural intermediaries)

Explanation: This statement is false because promotional materials (ads, trailers, catalogs) are quintessential examples of cultural intermediation—they shape how a consumer perceives and values a cultural product.

Analysis of other options:

• Option 1: Generally considered true in the context of competitive exams; Bourdieu popularized the term in Distinction (1979) to describe the "new petite bourgeoisie" (marketing, advertising, etc.).
• Option 2: True. Their primary function is to bridge the gap between "high art/production" and the "consumer/audience."
• Option 4: True. Fan clubs act as intermediaries by curating, promoting, and defining the "taste" and engagement around a cultural icon or work.

Correct Answer: 3) B and E only

Explanation: In Cultural Studies, "Spatial Theory" (influenced by Henri Lefebvre and Edward Soja) argues that space is dynamic and political, not just a physical container.

• Statement B is false: Space is far more than "simply land"; it is a complex web of social and symbolic relations. Viewing it only as physical area is a reductionist perspective.
• Statement E is false: Space is deeply intertwined with everyday life (commuting, domesticity, public gatherings). These activities actually *produce* the meaning of space.

True Statements: A, C, and D correctly reflect that space is socially constructed, influences community identity, and is a site of power struggles.

Correct Answer: 4) C and D only

Explanation: Standpoint Theory (associated with thinkers like Sandra Harding and Nancy Hartsock) suggests that knowledge is socially situated.

• Statement C is false: Standpoint theory argues that the oppressed can develop a "dual vision" or heightened consciousness, not that they are destined to lose it.
• Statement D is false: The very essence of this theory is that marginal perspectives are essential to uncovering the blind spots of dominant, hegemonic power structures.

Note: While the question mentions Lacan, the tenets listed describe feminist and Marxist Standpoint Epistemology. Statements A, B, and E are the defining principles of this theory.

Correct Answer: 4 (1470–1920)

Explanation: In The Long Revolution (1961), Raymond Williams—a founding father of Cultural Studies—examines the social history of the "writer" and the evolution of the reading public. He analyzed a group of 350 writers listed in the Oxford Introduction to English Literature covering the period 1470 to 1920.

Key Objectives of the Study:

• To track the social origins of writers over 450 years.
• To analyze how education, family background, and the advent of print culture influenced who became a "canonical" author.
• To demonstrate that "culture" is not just high art but is "ordinary" and deeply tied to the democratic and industrial revolutions.

Correct Answer: 2) A, C, D only

Explanation: Mikhail Bakhtin's The Dialogic Imagination (1975) is a collection of four essays that redefined the study of the novel. His focus is on the "living" nature of language.

• Polyphony (A): Bakhtin argues that the novel is inherently polyphonic, containing multiple independent and equally valid voices (a concept he first explored through Dostoevsky).
• Dynamic Evolution (C): He posits that language is not a static system (critiquing Saussure) but is constantly in flux, evolving through social interaction.
• Cultural Shaping (D): Language is Dialogic; it exists in a cultural context where every word is a response to what has been said before and an anticipation of what will be said next.

Note: Bakhtin views language as Social and Material, not "imaginary" (B). While he writes about the imagination, he does not have a specific "Theory of Imaginative Language" (E).

Correct Answer: 3

Correct Matches:

• Heteroglossia → II. Diversity of languages/voices (Mikhail Bakhtin).
• Homosociality → III. Non-sexual same-sex social bonds (Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick).
• Mathnawi → IV. Long Persian epic in rhyming couplets (e.g., Rumi).
• Morology → I. Deliberate nonsense or foolish talk for comic effect.

Correct Answer: 4

Correct Matches:

• Critique of Judgement → III. Immanuel Kant (Foundational work on aesthetics).
• The Phenomenology of Spirit → IV. G.W.F. Hegel (Exploring consciousness and dialectics).
• Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego → II. Sigmund Freud (Analysis of collective identity).
• The Role of the University in the New Reich → I. Martin Heidegger (A 1933 address during his rectorship).

Correct Answer: 1 (Nihilism of 20th century's Western culture)

Explanation: Long before "Postmodernism" became a staple of literary theory or architecture, the German philosopher Rudolf Pannwitz used the term in 1917 (in his work Die Krisis der europäischen Kultur). He used it to describe the cultural and spiritual nihilism he observed in Western society following the devastation of World War I.

Historical Context:

• Pannwitz saw the "post-modern man" as a figure emerging from the collapse of traditional European values.
• His usage was philosophical and existential, predating the later aesthetic and linguistic definitions provided by thinkers like Lyotard or Jameson.

Why the other options are incorrect:

• Communism/Oligarchies: These are political and governance structures not central to Pannwitz's philosophical diagnosis of cultural decay.
• Epistemic Violence: This is a much later postcolonial term associated with theorists like Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak.

Correct Answer: 3) A, B, D only

Explanation: Published in 1953, M.H. Abrams' masterpiece tracks the tectonic shift in literary criticism from the Neoclassical to the Romantic era.

• The Mirror (A & D): Represents the 18th-century/Neoclassical "Mimetic" theory. Here, the mind is a passive reflector (mirror) of external nature and objective reality.
• The Lamp (B): Represents the 19th-century/Romantic "Expressive" theory. Here, the poet's mind is an active, creative agent (lamp) that illuminates the subject matter with its own internal light.

Why E is not in the primary key: While E is conceptually accurate regarding the "Lamp," the specific framing of "cool intellectual reflection" in Statement D is the quintessential definition Abrams uses for the Mirror metaphor in contrast to the emotional overflow of the Lamp.

Correct Answer: 4

Correct Matches:

• Othering → Gayatri Spivak (Used to describe the social/psychological process of excluding a marginal group as the inferior "Other").
• Ecological Imperialism → Alfred W. Crosby (Refers to the introduction of plants, animals, and diseases by European settlers that reshaped the landscapes of colonized regions).
• Colonial Desire → Robert Young (Title of his 1995 book exploring the intersection of racial politics and sexual attraction in colonial history).
• Third Space → Homi K. Bhabha (The "in-between" space where cultural hybridity is negotiated, disrupting fixed colonial identities).

Correct Answer: 2) C and D only

Explanation: This question requires identifying key figures within Queer Theory and Lesbian/Gay Studies.

• John Wamn (C): This name is a distractor and is not a recognized scholar or author in the field of sexuality studies.
• Elizabeth Jennings (D): A prominent 20th-century British poet and member of "The Movement." Her work focuses on lyrics, religion (Catholicism), and mental health, but she is not associated with the academic discipline of gay and lesbian studies.

Profiles of the Associated Figures:

• Jane Rule: A Canadian novelist and landmark figure in lesbian literature, best known for Desert of the Heart (1964).
• Jonathan Dollimore: A pioneer in cultural materialism and queer theory, co-editor of Political Shakespeare and author of Sexual Dissidence.
• Richard Dyer: An influential academic in film and queer studies, noted for his analysis of the "star system" and his work The Culture of Queers.