OUTLINE OF LITERARY CRITICISM

Siswo Harsono

Literary Criticism

Siswo Harsono

Literary sciences

• Literary theory

• Literary history

• Literary criticism

Criticism

• Literary criticism

• Social criticism

• Cultural criticism

Etymology of criticism

• French, from Greek kritike, the art of criticism, from kritikos, critical

• Latin, crtiticus, from adjective, “decisive”, from Greek kritikos, able to discern, critical from kritos, separated, chosen, from krinein, to separate, choose

• Greek kriterion, a means for judging, standard from krites, a judge, umpire, from krinein, to separate, choose (Grolier, 1986:314)

Definition of criticism

• The act of making judgements and or criticizing• A passing of unfavorable judgement, censure,

disapproval• The art, skill, or profession of making discriminating

judgements and evaluation, especially of literary or other artistic works

• A review or other article expressing such judgement and evaluation

• The detailed investigation of the origin and history of literary documents (Grolier, 1986:314)

Definition of literary criticism

• The practice of describing, interpreting, and evaluating literature (Morner and Rausch, 1998:121)

Functions of literary criticism

• Criticizing literary works

• Verifying literary theory

• Supporting literary history

Types of literary criticism

•Theoretical literary criticism•Practical literary criticism•Historical literary criticism

Types of practical literary criticism

• Impressionistic literary criticism

•Analytical literary criticism• Judicial literary criticism

Types of writing criticism

• Scientific literary criticism

• Popular literary criticism

• Creative literary criticism

Orientations of literary criticism

• Mimetic literary criticism

• Pragmatic literary criticism

• Expressive literary criticism

• Objective literary criticism

Theory of literary criticism

• Formalism

• New criticism

• Structuralism

• Stylistics

• Psychoanalysis

• Marxist criticism

• Existential criticism

• Archetypal criticism

• Hermeneutics

• Deconstruction

• Reader response

• Semiotics

• New historicism

• Feminist criticism

• Post-structuralism

• Post-colonial criticism

Objects of literary criticism

• Poetry

• Prose

• Drama

Methods of literary criticism

• Library research

• Field research

Steps of literary criticism

• Reading literary work

• Writing impressionistic comment

• Writing analytical review

• Writing judicial inference

Application of literary criticism

• Criticizing poetry

•Criticizing prose

•Criticizing drama

Criticism of poetry

• Intrinsic aspects– Typography– Sounds– Imagery– Figurative– Symbol– Tone

• Extrinsic aspects– Social– Political– Psychological– Philosophical– Religious– Cultural

Criticism of Prose

• Intrinsic aspects– Theme– Character– Plot– Setting– Point of View– Style

• Extrinsic aspects– Social– Political– Psychological– Philosophical– Religious– Cultural

Criticism of Drama

• Intrinsic aspects– Theme– Character– Plot– Setting– Style– Subtext

• Extrinsic aspects– Social– Political– Psychological– Philosophical– Religious– Cultural

Literary works

• Poetry: “Frankie and Johnny” by Anonymous

• Prose: “Exodus” by James Baldwin

• Drama: “The Sandbox” by Edward Albee

Evaluation

• Mid-semester: theoretical exam

• Final semester: practical exam

• Task assignment: paper exam

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