Literary Criticism Theories PDF

LITERARY CRITICISM ▪ WHAT I THINK I ▪ WHAT I WANT KNOW… TO KNOW… Literary Criticism  Literary Criticism ▪ An informed, written analysis & evaluation of a work of literature ▪ Based on a “literary theory” ▪ Literary Theories--a means to understand the...

LITERARY CRITICISM ▪ WHAT I THINK I ▪ WHAT I WANT KNOW… TO KNOW… Literary Criticism  Literary Criticism ▪ An informed, written analysis & evaluation of a work of literature ▪ Based on a “literary theory” ▪ Literary Theories--a means to understand the various ways people read & connect with texts. ▪ “lenses” through which we can see texts ▪ Usually leads to a whole new perspective  Literary Theory = Critical Theory 1. Biographical/ Historical Criticism ⚫ views literature as the reflection of an author's life and times (or of the characters' life and times). ⚫ it is necessary to know about the author and the political, economical, and sociological context of his times in order to truly understand his works.  2. Formalism / New Criticism/ Structuralism ⚫ involves a close reading of the text ⚫ all information essential to the interpretation of a work must be found within the work itself ⚫ Aesthetics ⚫ irony, paradox, imagery, and metaphor ⚫ setting, characters, symbols, and point of view ⚫ no need to bring in outside information about the history, politics, or society of the time, or about the author's life  Cinderella ⚫ Look for symbolic, or some other, significance for the specific items and animals chosen (for the coach and staff) and/or the numbers of each chosen. ⚫ Do any use more (or less) figurative or poetic language than the others? Do any speak noticeably more (or less) than the others? ⚫ Are there any internal ironies or inconsistencies that render the work disunified? 3. Psychological Criticism ⚫ views works through the lens of psychology ⚫ looks either at the psychological motivations of the characters or of the authors themselves ⚫ most frequently applies Freudian psychology to works, but other approaches also exist. Cinderella V S  4. Archetypal/Mythological Criticism ⚫ assumes that there is a collection of symbols, images, characters, and motifs (i.e. archetypes) that evokes basically the same response in all people ⚫ identifies these patterns and discusses how they function in the works  Some Archetypes ⚫ archetypal women – ⚫ the Good Wife/Mother, ⚫ the Terrible Mother, ⚫ the Virgin (often a Damsel in Distress), ⚫ and the Fallen Woman.  Some Archetypes ⚫ hero archetype – ⚫ quest (in which he overcomes obstacles) ⚫ initiation (involving a separation, transformation, and return) ⚫ scapegoat, that is, he dies to atone  A Riddle ⚫ A father and his son are in a car accident. The father dies at the scene and the son is rushed to the hospital. At the hospital the surgeon looks at the boy and says "I can't operate on this boy, he is my son".... How can this be?  The surgeon is thechild’s mother ⚫ What does this simple riddle reveal about our assumptions regarding gender?  5. Feminist/Gender Criticism ⚫ Impact of gender on writing & reading ⚫ Critique of patriarchal society: cultural & economic “disabilities” ⚫ Representations of women in the literary work; ⚫ Power structures/struggles between men and women ⚫ The female/feminine experience  Cinderella ⚫ Consider the theme of abused-girl- waiting-to-be- rescued-by-prince. ⚫ Can Cinderella save herself? Why in need of man? Can’t woman exist independent of man? ⚫ Consider the values conveyed in the portrayal of the “good girl” as physically beautiful and the “wicked girls” as physically ugly ⚫ Are women only valuable to men as sexualized objects? 6. Marxist Criticism ⚫ struggles between classes--between the oppressed and the oppressing (“the haves” and “the have- nots”). ⚫ Focus: power & money in literature  Marxist Approach ⚫ A Marxist critic asks questions like: ⚫ Who has power? Who lacks power? ⚫ What is the relationship between power and wealth? ⚫ Who is exploited by whom and why? ⚫ How does power remain constant or shift throughout a work of literature? ⚫ What makes certain characters powerful or powerless?  Cinderella ⚫ Consider Cinderella as a representative of the proletariat: ⚫ oppressed by her bourgeoisie stepmother and stepsisters, who have stolen her rightful inheritance and turned her into a servant in her own home; ⚫ desiring to join the ranks of the bourgeoisie by marrying the prince.  7. Moral/Didactic Criticism ⚫ Does the work convey a lesson? Does it teach the reader morals? Is the “meaning” how to better yourself, your life, your world? If the answer can be yes, the text can be viewed from a moral/didactic standpoint. ⚫ What lessons can you learn from Cinderella? ⚫ Focus Questions ○ What ideas does the work contain? ○ How strongly does the work bring forth its ideas? ○ How may the ideas be evaluated morally? ○ How are the actions of the protagonist rewarded and the actions of the antagonist punished?  8. Postcolonial Criticism ⚫ focuses on the reading and writing of literature written in previously or currently colonized countries. The literature is composed of colonizing countries that deals with colonization or colonized peoples. ⚫ Greatly interested in the cultures of the colonizer and the colonized, postcolonial theory seeks to critically investigate what happens when two cultures clash and one of them ideologically fashions itself as superior and assumes dominance and control over the other. ⚫ Depends on historical understanding of time and place. ⚫ What colonizer-colonized relationships have we seen in history? BETTER APPLICATIONS OF POSTCOLONIAL THEORY  9. Reader Response Criticism ⚫ analyzes the reader's role in the production of meaning ⚫ The reader creates the meaning ⚫ can take into account the strategies employed by the author to elicit a certain response from readers ⚫ denies the possibility that works are universal (i.e. that they will always mean more or less the same thing to readers everywhere) OVERVIEW AUTHOR’S WORLD LITERARY CRITICISM Historical, AUTHOR Biographical Psychological BEYOND THE OTHER WORLD REAL LITERATURE TEXT LITERARY WORLD WORK Formalist Intertextual Archetypal [Structuralism] READER Feminist, Reader- Marxist, etc. Response