Literary Criticism

• Literary criticism is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often informed by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of its methods and goals. Though the two activities are closely related, literary critics are not always, and have not always been, theorists.

• Whether or not literary criticism should be considered a separate field of inquiry from literary theory, or conversely from book reviewing, is a matter of some controversy. For example, the Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism draws no distinction between literary theory and literary criticism, and almost always uses the terms together to describe the same concept. Some critics consider literary criticism a practical application of literary theory, because criticism always deals directly with particular literary works, while theory may be more general or abstract.

Types of Literary Criticism

Sociological criticism: Like historical criticism, sociological criticism examines literature in the cultural, economic, and political context in which it is written or

received. This type of criticism may analyze the social content of a literary work—the cultural, economic, or political values a

particular text implicitly or explicitly expresses.

Reader-response criticism: This type of criticism attempts to describe what happens in the reader’s mind while interpreting a text. A

reader-response critic might also explore the impact of a particular text on his or her own

ideas or values. For example, one might reflect on how a particular character seems admirable or unlikable and why. One might reflect on how

one’s religious, culture, or social values affect readings. It also overlaps with gender criticism in

exploring how men and women may read the same text with different assumptions.

Gender criticism: This type of criticism examines how sexual identity influences the creation and

reception of literary works. Gender studies originated during the feminist movement, when

critics began investigating the unexamined assumptions around gender in a piece of

literature. Feminist critics explored how an author’s gender might—consciously or

unconsciously—affect his or her writing. These critics may also explore how images of men or women in literature might reflect or reject the

social norms around gender in a particular society.

Mythological criticism: Mythological critics explore the universal patterns underlying a literary work. This type

of criticism draws on the insights of anthropology, history, psychology, and comparative religion to explore

how a text uses myths and symbols drawn from different cultures and epochs. A central concept in mythological criticism is the archetype, a symbol, character, situation, or image that evokes a deep

universal response. For example, critic Joseph Campbell, in his books like The Hero with a Thousand

Faces, demonstrates how similar mythic characters and situations, like the hero’s journey, appear in virtually

every culture.

Biographical criticism: Biographical critics explore how understanding an author’s life

can help readers more thoroughly comprehend the literary work. Note:

biographical critics are not concerned with simply describing the author’s life but

instead with interpreting the literary work using the insights provided by knowledge

of the author’s life.

New Historicism: New historicist critics look at the impact of the politics,

ideologies, and social customs of the author’s world on the themes, images,

and characterizations of a text. This type of critic considers the historical

events or conditions during which the work was written.

Psychoanalytic criticism: This type of criticism views the themes,

conflicts, and characterizations of a work primarily as a reflection of the needs, emotions, states of

mind, or subconscious desires of the author.

Formalist criticism: Formalist critics look closely at the work

itself, analyzing the various elements of the work as a way of explicating or interpreting a text.

Literary Devices

Two kinds of Literary Devices

• Literary Elements have an inherent existence in literary piece and are extensively employed by writers to develop a literary piece e.g. plot, setting, narrative structure, characters, mood, theme, moral etc. Writers simply cannot create his desired work without including Literary Elements in a thoroughly professional manner.

• Literary Techniques, on the contrary, are structures usually a word s or phrases in literary texts that writers employ to achieve not merely artistic ends but also readers a greater understanding and appreciation of their literary works. Examples are: metaphor, simile, alliteration, hyperbole, allegory etc. In contrast to Literary Elements, Literary Techniques are not unavoidable aspect of literary works.

Common Literary Elements

Plot: It is the logical sequence of events that develops a story.Setting: It refers to the time and place in which a story takes place.Protagonist: It is the main character of story, novel or a play e.g. Hamlet in the play HamletAntagonist: It is the character in conflict with the Protagonist e.g. Claudius in the play HamletNarrator: A person who tells the story.Narrative method: The manner in which a narrative is presented comprising plot and setting.Dialogue: Where characters of a narrative speak to one another.Conflict. It is n issue in a narrative around which the whole story revolves.Mood: A general atmosphere of a narrative.Theme: It is central idea or concept of a story.

Common Literary Techniques• 1. Imagery: It is the use of figurative language to create

visual representations of actions, objects and ideas in our mind in such a way that they appeal to our physical senses.

For example:

• The room was dark and gloomy. -The words “dark” and “gloomy” are visual images.

• The river was roaring in the mountains. – The word “roaring” appeals to our sense of hearing.

• 2. Simile and Metaphor: Both compare two distinct objects and draws similarity between them. The difference is that Simile uses “as” or “like” and Metaphor does not.

For example:

• “My love is like a red red rose” (Simile)• He is an old fox very cunning. (Metaphor)

• 3. Hyperbole: It is deliberate exaggeration of actions and ideas for the sake of emphasis.

For example:

• Your bag weighs a ton!• I have got a million issues to look after!

• 4. Personification: It gives a thing, an idea or an animal human qualities.

For example:

• The flowers are dancing beside the lake.• Have you see my new car? She is a real

beauty!

• 5. Alliteration: It refers to the same consonant sounds in words coming together.

For example:

• Better butter always makes the batter better.• She sells seashells at seashore

• 6. Allegory: It is a literary technique in which an abstract idea is given a form of characters, actions or events.

For example:

• “Animal Farm”, written by George Orwell, is an example allegory using the actions of animals on a farm to represent the overthrow of the last of the Russian Tsar Nicholas II and the Communist Revolution of Russia before WW II. In addition, the actions of the animals on the farm are used to expose the greed and corruption of the Revolution.

• 7. Irony: It is use of the words in such a way in which the intended meaning is completely opposite to their literal meaning.

For example:

• The bread is soft as a stone.• So nice of you to break my new PSP!

Function of Literary Devices

• In general, the literary devices are a collection of universal artistic structures that are so typical of all works of literature frequently employed by the writers to give meanings and a logical framework to their works through language. When such works are read by readers, they ultimately recognize and appreciate them. Because of their universality, they also allow the readers to compare a work of one writer to that of the other to determine its worth. They not only beautify the piece of literature but also give deeper meanings to it, testing the very understanding of the readers along with providing them enjoyment of reading. Besides, they help motivating readers’ imagination to visualize the characters and scenes more clearly.

Approaches in Literary Criticism

• Biographical criticism is a form of Literary criticism which analyzes a writer's biography to show the relationship between the author's life and their works of literature. Biographical criticism is often associated with Historical-Biographical criticism, a critical method that "sees a literary work chiefly, if not exclusively, as a reflection of its author's life and times".

• Historical criticism, also known as the historical-critical method or higher criticism, is a branch of literary criticism that investigates the origins of ancient text in order to understand "the world behind the text".

• Humanism is a group of philosophies and ethical perspectives which emphasize the value and agency of human beings, individually and collectively, and generally prefers individual thought and evidence (rationalism, empiricism) over established doctrine or faith (fideism). The term humanism can be ambiguously diverse, and there has been a persistent confusion between several related uses of the term because different intellectual movements have identified with it over time. In philosophy and social science, humanism refers to a perspective that affirms some notion of a "human nature" (contrasted with anti-humanism). In modern times, many humanist movements have become strongly aligned with secularism, with the term Humanism often used as a byword for non-theistic beliefs about ideas such as meaning and purpose; however, many early humanists, such as Ulrich von Hutten, a strong supporter of Martin Luther and the Reformation, were religious.

• Romantic criticism, then, is characterized by the neglect of the neo-classical rules which were based upon the theories of the ancient masters such as Aristotle and Horace. Instead of judging the work of art in terms of the rules of the ancients, the impressions of the work of art produces should be the standard by which is judged. A deep concern with imagination which was controlled by Neo-classicism is another characteristic of romantic criticism.

• literary realism is written from an objective perspective that simply and clearly represents the subject matter of the story, even at the expense of a well-made plot. Nineteenth-century realist writers addressed social, economic, and political concerns through their depictions of various aspects of life during that time, and they strove to accurately represent contemporary culture and people from every echelon of society.

• Formalism is a school of literary criticism and literary theory having mainly to do with structural purposes of a particular text. It is the study of a text without taking into account any outside influence. Formalism rejects (or sometimes simply "brackets," i.e., ignores for the purpose of analysis) notions of culture or societal influence, authorship, and content, and instead focuses on modes, genres, discourse, and forms.

• Existentialism is a term applied to the work of a number of 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences, generally held that the focus of philosophical thought should be to deal with the conditions of existence of the individual person and their emotions, actions, responsibilities, and thoughts. The early 19th century philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, posthumously regarded as the father of existentialism, maintained that the individual is solely responsible for giving his own life meaning and living that life passionately and sincerely, in spite of many existential obstacles and distractions including despair, angst, absurdity, alienation, and boredom.

• Feminist literary criticism is literary criticism informed by feminist theory, or by the politics of feminism more broadly. Its history has been broad and varied, from classic works of nineteenth-century women authors such as George Eliot and Margaret Fuller to cutting-edge theoretical work in women's studies and gender studies by "third-wave" authors. In the most general and simple terms, feminist literary criticism before the 1970s—in the first and second waves of feminism—was concerned with the politics of women's authorship and the representation of women's condition within literature, this includes the depiction of fictional female characters. In addition feminist criticism was further concerned with the exclusion of women from the literary canon, and Lois Tyson suggests this is because the views of women authors are often not considered to be universal ones.

• Naturalism was a literary movement taking place from the 1880s to 1940s that used detailed realism to suggest that social conditions, heredity, and environment had inescapable force in shaping human character. It was depicted as a literary movement that seeks to replicate a believable everyday reality, as opposed to such movements as Romanticism or Surrealism, in which subjects may receive highly symbolic, idealistic, or even supernatural treatment.

• Sociological Criticism is literary criticism directed to understanding (or placing) literature in its larger social context; it codifies the literary strategies that are employed to represent social constructs through a sociological methodology. Sociological criticism analyzes both how the social functions in literature and how literature works in society. This form of literary criticism was introduced by Kenneth Burke, a 20th-century literary and critical theorist, whose article "Literature As Equipment for Living" outlines the specification and significance of such a critique.