Literary Theories

An Introduction

•- the method used to interpret a work of literature

•- just as there are many genres of literature (romance, horror, drama, mysteries), there are various types of literary criticism

Why Learn about Literary Criticism?• Helps us understand what is important about

books / texts

• Literary critics focus on what they think is most important about texts / books.

• For example, one form of literary theory focuses on the structure of a text (plot and language), others focus on social, historical or economic times in which it was written. (think The Great Chain of Being when reading Shakespeare). Some theories focus on how the text manipulates readers into accepting its author’s beliefs.

Consider Relationships

•Literary criticism also helps us think about the relationships between authors, readers and books.▫Who has the most authority when trying to

understand a text?▫Is there a particular way the author wants

readers to read his / her book?▫Is there only one way to interpret the book?▫What happens when the reader doesn’t

agree about meaning?

•Depending on the “school” or type of literary theory, there are different answers to these questions.

Formalism•View a text / book as a complete, isolated unit.•Find meaning in the text by studying one or

more of its key elements (language, imagery, point of view, plot, character development).

•Pay no attention to either the authors or readers

•Readers should be neutral and unemotional.•Social and historical context not important

10-Minute Activity

•For each of the works, draw a plot outline, list the main characters and identify the major conflict.

•TKMB•Outsiders•Macbeth•King Lear

Structuralism

•1960’s. A reaction against Formalism.•Examine language as a system of signs

(semiology)

•A sign has two parts: a signifier and a signified▫The signifier is the word or group of words ▫And the signified is the meaning

associated with that signifier

Examples

•1. stop sign is the signifier; it means stop (signified)

Signifier and Signified

10-Minute Activity• For each of the following, indicate what the

signifier signifies in the associated work:

▫1) the mockingbird references in “To Kill a Mockingbird”

▫2) the “amen” references in “Macbeth”▫3) Two-Bit’s switchblade in “The Outsiders”▫4) the storm in “King Lear”

Without understanding the significance of these, would your understanding and appreciation of the story have been lessened?

Structuralism: Strengths & Weaknesses•Strengths: focuses on the author’s intent

& requires the reader to react objectively (to minimize our emotional interpretation)

•Weaknesses: Who controls the meaning if the readers don’t agree when interpreting the signs? Who clarifies? Arguably, it’s good to emotionally attach to the text.

Strengths & Weakness

•Strength: the reader does not need any additional knowledge for interpreting the book

•Weaknesses: 1) ignores author’s intention, 2) assumes “good literature” is coherent and books that are not coherent are not good lit, 3) divorces the book from the cultural context, 4) assumes readers can refrain from investing emotionally

Reader Response Theory•A reaction against Structuralism. •They did not agree that signifiers

(symbols) were important.•Instead, they thought that words were

“dynamic”▫“it’s the process of living interaction with

environment that gives things shape”▫No “preset” signifiers (symbols) can exist

because each reader’s thoughts, feelings & experiences are unique, so each reader responds uniquely to a book / text

More about Reader Response Theory•Meaning is not found in the book / text

but in the act of reading•Your interpretation might change every

time you read the book, because YOU have changed

•Readers from the same backgrounds & experiences are likely to have the same impression of a book.

•Readers who don’t like the book likely don’t have the same views as the writer

Strengths & Weaknesses

•Strengths: recognizes the importance of the reader

Recognizes the importance of reading Gives readers freedom to make meaning Allows for many interpretations of a book

Weaknesses: no one controls the meaning of the book.

- No objective party to help readers who don’t agree

- Who do we ask when we don’t understand?

10-Minute Activity

•With each of the following, tell what you like about the story, what you don’t like and how the story connects to your life and experiences

- TKMB- Macbeth- The Outsiders- King Lear

Archetypal Criticism

•Examines how texts / stories rely on archaic (old) patterns for their meaning.

•Greek for “first” (arche) and “form” (typos)

•Original patterns / models•Western literary texts come from Judeo-

Christian (Christianity & Judaism) scripture (a combination of their beliefs) and Greco-Roman mythology .

More on Archetypal Criticism• Critics identify how and to what extent

patterns from these ancient sources are used in folk tales, media, comics, books, etc.

• The main plot archetype is “the journey”, a protagonist moves from a state of innocence to experience.▫They often battle monsters or some form of

oppression▫They start in familiar environments, but move

to unfamiliar environments▫They often are able to make their world “a

better place”

Strengths & Weaknesses

•Encourages a close and careful reading•Exciting and interesting theory because it

can link a story to an idea from 500 yrs ago

•It limits personal interpretation•It analyses only one aspect (archetypes)

of literature

10-Minute Activity

•For each of the following, briefly examine the journey the main character took (Did he or she move from innocence to experience? Did he or she move from a familiar environment to an unfamiliar environment? Did he or she “make a better world”?)

•TKMB Macbeth•The Outsiders King Lear

Feminist Criticism• 20th century

▫ Virgina Woolf’s “A Room of One’s Own”▫ The authors examines why there was no female

Shakespeare by highlighting the social and political conditions that made writing for women difficult or impossible

Since then, feminist critics have also examined 1) how women write their own experiences, 2) how women read about themselves, 3) how to make feminist readings visible to readers, 4) how women writers have done in different eras (were they published or not and under what conditions), 5) how traditional texts by women challenge the social order

Strengths & Weaknesses

•Finally examines how women and men are represented and deals with the importance of women in literature

•If this is the only theory applied to a text / book, it can be limiting (only looks at one thing about the text)

10-Minute Activity• Think about how women are represented in

the following works. They are all from different generations. Are women important to the story? Are they stereotyped in some way? Are they round characters or flat characters? Do they “get to talk” or do we learn about them from male characters? Do they have any power in their world?

• TKMB The Outsiders• Macbeth King Lear

Marxist Criticism

•19th Century as a result of the theories of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels▫Economic struggles for power between the

working class & the ruling class▫They believed that a classless society with

communal ownership of all natural and industrial resources was the way to go

More Marxism

•When the theories are applied to literature, they give a way to assess the social significance of a book / story

•Literature is ONE way of cultural production of a society – it reflects the forces shaping the society’s culture

•Literature is not only a mirror that reflects society, but also is a PARTICIPANT in shaping the culture

Still More Marxism• Literature expresses the ideas & beliefs &

values of a culture• Good literature engages in controversy• Literature reveals power struggles (sexual

power, economic power, social power, etc)• Literature reveals how the author, reader

and characters demonstrate an awareness or lack of awareness of their economic & social situations (that oppress them)

• Literature & authors can manipulate readers into sympathizing (rather than critiquing) the oppressive social order.

Strengths & Weakness•Encourages careful reading of the text•Does not limit a reader, but allows the

reader to think about the text in its social, historical, and current contexts

•Only examines a limited aspect of the story •Some people feel threatened by the focus

of this theory (go figure)•Dismisses the beauty of writing, and

reading just to enjoy

10-Minute Exercise•For each of the following stories, 1) tell

who has power (people / systems, etc), 2) tell who doesn’t have power, 3) is social class an issue? Does it affect power? 4) is anyone or any group in the story being oppressed? 5) what “dominant stories” are “sold” to the characters – The American Dream, Happily Ever After, Obey Your Parents, etc)

•TKMB Macbeth•The Outsiders King Lear

Post Structuralism•Examines how narrative conventions and

structures contain meaning and perpetuate certain kinds of meaning

•For example, the fairy tale’s “happily ever after” when applied to a romance novel suggests that all conflict is resolved when you get married.▫It suggests that getting married is what you

should want to do (even if other circumstances in the book suggest it’s not a good idea)

Most Post Structuralism•Argue that structure and convention of

popular romance set the reader up to be satisfied only with an ending in which marriage takes place

•Critics want to get outside the structure of the texts and ask: 1) who gets read and why, 2) what gets published and why, 3) what is literature? Who says?

•These critics are often also Marxist and Feminist

•DECONSTRUCTING is one type of Post-Structuralism

Even More Post-Structuralism• DECONSTRUCTIONISTS:

▫Look at binary opposites (good/bad, male/female, happy/unhappy, day/night) and challenge it

▫Looks for problems with this type of pattern: for example, how can Hansel and Gretel live happily ever after with a father who sent them away??

▫They ask “says who”; they challenge the status quo

▫Good because each reader makes meaning, based on his or her experience and beliefs

▫Criticized by some for “just playing with ideas” and for rejecting accepted theories and for being more concerned with “mechanics” than the story

10-Minute Activity

•Consider each of the following stories. Is there a “binary opposite”? Is there “a story” that is supposed to be accepted by society, but that doesn’t really make sense (like Hansel and Gretel)?

•TKMB Macbeth•The Outsiders King Lear