critical appraches to literature

7/30/2019 critical appraches to literature

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CRITICAL

APPROACHESTO LITERATURE

Literary Theory


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Unit Focus Questions

How do we study literature?

How do viewpoint and bias affect

our perception of reality?


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Critical Approaches to the Study of

Literature

Critical Approaches are different perspectiveswe consider when looking at a piece of

literature.

They seek to give us answers to thesequestions, in addition to aiding us in

interpreting literature.

1. What do we read?2. Why do we read?

3. How do we read?


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Critical Approaches to Consider

1. Reader-Response Criticism

2. Formalist Criticism

3. Psychological/Psychoanalytic Criticism4. Sociological Criticism

A. Feminist/Gender Criticism

B. Marxist Criticism5. Biographical Criticism

6. New Historicist Criticism


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Questions to Ponder for Each

Theory/Approach

What are the benefits of

each form of criticism?

What are potential

problems with each form?

Is there a right or a

wrong form?

Can the mode of criticism

alter the entire meaning of

a text?


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1. The Reader-Response

Approach

Reader-Response Criticism asserts that a greatdeal of meaning in a text lies with how the readerresponds to it.

Focuses on the act of reading and how it affects ourperception of meaning in a text (how we feel at thebeginning vs. the end)

Deals more with the process of creating meaning andexperiencing a text as we read. A text is an

experience, not an object. The text is a living thing that lives in the readers

imagination.

READER + READING SITUATION + TEXT = MEANING


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1. The Reader-Response

Approach

2 Important Ideas in Reader-Response

1. An individual readers interpretation

usually changes over time.2. Readers from different generations

and different time periods interprettexts differently.

Ultimately How do YOU feel aboutwhat you have read? What doYOU think it means?


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2. The Formalist Approach

Formalist Criticism emphasizes the form of aliterary work to determine its meaning,

focusing on literary elements and how they

work to create meaning.Examines a text as independent from its time

period, social setting, and authors background. A

text is an independent entity.

Focuses on close readings of texts and analysis

of the effectsof literary elements and techniques

on the text.


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2. The Formalist Approach

Two Major Principles ofFormalism

1. A literary text existsindependent of any particular

reader and, in a sense, has a

fixed meaning.

2. The greatest literary texts are

timeless and universal.


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3. The Psychological/

Psychoanalytic Approach

Psychological Criticism views atext as a revelation of its

authors mind and personality.

It is based on the work ofSigmund Freud.

Also focuses on the hidden

motivations of literarycharacters

Looks at literary characters as

a reflection of the writer


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4. The Sociological Approach

Sociological criticism argues thatsocial contexts (the socialenvironment) must be consideredwhen analyzing a text.

Focuses on the values of a societyand how those views are reflected ina text

Emphasizes the economic, political,and cultural issues within literarytexts

Core Belief: Literature is a

reflection of its society.


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4A. The Marxist Approach

Marxist Criticismemphasizes economicand social conditions. It

is based on the politicaltheory of Karl Marx andFriedrich Engels.

Concerned withunderstanding the roleof power, politics, andmoney in literary texts


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4A. The Marxist Approach

Marxist Criticism examines literature to seehow it reflects

1. The way in which dominant groups

(typically, the majority) exploit thesubordinate groups (typically, theminority)

2.

The way in which people becomealienated from one another throughpower, money, and politics


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4B. The Feminist Approach

Feminist Criticism isconcerned with the role,position, and influence of

women in a literary text.Asserts that most literature

throughout time has beenwritten by men, for men.

Examines the way that thefemale consciousness isdepicted by both male and

female writers.


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4B. The Feminist Approach

4 Basic Principles of Feminist Criticism

1. Western civilization is patriarchal.

2. The concepts of gender are mainlycultural ideas created by patriarchal

societies.

3. Patriarchal ideals pervade literature.

4. Most literature through time has been

gender-biased.


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5. The Biographical Approach

Biographical Criticismargues that we must

take an authors life

and background intoaccount when we

study a text.


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5. The Biographical Approach

Three Benefits:

1. Facts about an authors experience can help

a reader decide how to interpret a text.

2. A reader can better appreciate a text by

knowing a writers struggles or difficulties in

creating that text.

3. A reader can understand a writerspreoccupation by studying the way they

apply and modify their own life experiences

in their works.


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6. The New Historicist Approach

New Historicist Criticism argues that everyliterary work is a product of its time and its

world.


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6. The New Historicist Approach

New Historicism:

1. Provides background information necessary to

understand how literary texts were perceived in

their time.

2. Shows how literary texts reflect ideas and attitudes

of the time in which they were written.

New historicist critics often compare the languagein contemporary documents and literary texts to

reveal cultural assumptions and values in the text.


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REMEMBER

We will never look at a text STRICTLY from

one standpoint or another, ignoring all other

views. That is antithetical to what we are

trying to do. We should always keep our focus on the text

and use these critical approaches to clarify our

understanding of a text and develop an

interpretation of it.

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