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IB English A: Literature: Time and space Context, culture and how texts are read in different times and places. 4 subtopics, 15 key terms.
In this topic: 2.1 · 2.2 · 2.3 · 2.4
2.1 Context and the readerKey terms Context of production When, where and by whom the work was written. Context of reception Who reads it, when and where, and how that changes meaning. Reader response The idea that meaning is created in the interaction between text and reader. Works can reflect, question or resist the values of their time.
The full notes, worked example and check questions for this subtopic are in the app.
Exam tip: Introduce context in a subordinate clause and get straight to analysis: “Written during…, the poem's imagery of…”.
2.2 Works in translation and cultureKey terms Translation Rewriting a work in another language: always involves interpretation. Cultural context The beliefs, customs and history behind a work. Domestication / foreignisation Making a translated text feel familiar / keeping its foreign elements visible. At least 2 (SL) or 3 (HL) works in translation are required; one of the two IO extracts must come from a work in translation.
The full notes, worked example and check questions for this subtopic are in the app.
Exam tip: Mention the translator's name once in your IO or essay: it shows precise knowledge.
2.3 Literature, power and representationKey terms Representation How people, places and ideas are portrayed. Critical lens A theoretical perspective: feminist, Marxist, postcolonial, psychoanalytic, ecocritical. Marginalised voice A perspective often excluded from dominant narratives. Ideology Beliefs and values presented as natural. Ask: Who speaks and who is silenced? Who has power? How are groups represented?
The full notes, worked example and check questions for this subtopic are in the app.
Exam tip: Link any critical lens directly to evidence: one quotation analysed through a lens is worth more than a paragraph of theory.
2.4 Literary periods and movementsKey terms Romanticism Late 18th–19th century: emotion, nature, imagination, the individual. Realism 19th century: ordinary life, social detail, plausibility. Modernism Early 20th century: fragmentation, stream of consciousness, experiment. Postcolonial literature Writing that responds to colonialism and its legacies. Postmodernism Late 20th century: self-awareness, irony, metafiction, mixed genres. Movements are labels for shared tendencies, not strict rules; many works mix features.
The full notes, worked example and check questions for this subtopic are in the app.
Exam tip: One precise sentence on a movement, linked to a technique, is enough. Avoid long background paragraphs.
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