Introduction

Abstract

Works of literature assume many forms, in consequence of the various modes of literary production which are promoted by technical and socioeconomic conditions. The form in which we encounter a work may be very different from the form in which it was created, and critical analysis must take account of the original form and of the historical context implicit in it. A proper understanding of the Child ballads becomes possible only if we take account of the musical and narrative techniques which are encouraged by oral transmission. A play written for performance in the Globe Theatre has to be interpreted in the light of what we know about acting and stagecraft in Shakespeare’s London. A monthly-part novel by Dickens should be read with some appreciation of the artistic techniques associated with monthly publication. In these cases and in many others, the reader of a modern printed text has to be aware that this form is entirely different from that in which the work was created. The first step towards intelligent understanding is to envisage the work in its original form, which in most cases can be seen as the form in which it was most truly itself.