Download critical approaches in the study of literature

CRITICAL APPROACHES IN
THE STUDY OF LITERATURE
I. Background
• A. Questions for discussion
– 1.
– 2.
– 3.
– 4.
What is literature?
What does it do?
Is it private?
What is the value of literature to society?
• a. In the past?
• b. Now?
5. What can it contribute to intellectual, artistic, &
social history?
– 6. How is literature used/misused?
– 7. To what degree is literature an art as
opposed to an instrument for imparting
knowledge?
B. Purposes of Literary Criticism
– 1. Establishes theoretical understanding of
purpose etc.
– 2. Helps to comprehend & interpret stories,
poems, & plays
– 3. Criticism is NOT rigid but eclectic or
pragmatic
II. TYPES OF CRITICISM
• A. Moral/Intellectual
• 1. Concerned with content & values
• 2. Traditional mode of imparting morality, religion, &
philosophy
• 3. Not only to discover meaning, but also to determine
whether works of literature are BOTH True and Significant
• 4. To study literature from a moral/intellectual perspective
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–
–
–
a.
b.
c.
d.
Determine whether work conveys lesson or message
Can it help readers lead a better life
Can it help readers improve understanding of world
What idea(s) do/does the work contain?
– 5. When writing this type of criticism
– a. Don’t sermonize
– b. Let reader make own decision based on your writing
– c. Let reader decide if ideas/values are
personally/morally acceptable
B. TOPICAL/HISTORICAL
– 1. T/H stresses the relationship of literature to
its historical period
– 2. Directly reflects intellectual & social worlds
of author(s)
– 3. Use of words & concepts reflect time
period of author
– 4. Must relate to T/H to story not just
summary of ideas or time period
C. New Critical/Formalist
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Most dominant force in contemporary literary studies
Literary text AS art
Can be seen as reaction to Topical/Historical
From the French: explication de texte – emphasizes detailed
examination & explanation
New criticism does best
a. With poems & short stories
b. With specifics: point of view, tone, plot, character, structure
c. To provide insights needed for evaluating artistic quality of
literature
Content & form were originally within conscious & unconscious
control of author
There are NO accidents
Sometimes accused of ignoring relevance of historical context of
work
E. Feminist
• 1. Believes most literature presents masculinepatriarchal view in which role of women is negated or at
best minimized
• 2. Feminist view attempts :
– a. To show that writers of traditional literature have ignored
women & have also transmitted misguided & prejudiced views of
them
– b. To stimulate creation of balanced view of nature & value of
women
– c. To recover works of past women writers & to encourage
publication of present women writers to expand the literary
canon
– D. To urge transformations in language to eliminate inequities &
inequalities that have resulted from historical anti-feminism
• 3. Requires evaluation of literary works from the
standpoint of representation of women
– a. How important are women characters
– b. How is individual in own right?
– c. Are women credited with own existence & own
character
– d. How are they treated in relationship with men
– e. Are women ignored, patronized, demeaned,
pedestalized
F. ECONOMIC
DETERMINISM/MARXIST
•
1. Karl Max (1818-1883) – primary
influence is life is economic
– a. Society is opposition between capitalist
and working class
– b. Economic determinism
2. Literature that emerged from this kind of
analysis features individuals in grips of class
struggle
3. Proletarian Literature: emphasizes persons
of lower class
– a. Poor & oppressed who spend their lives
in endless drudgery & misery
– b. Attempts to rise about disadvantages
usually result in renewed oppression
– c. Related to Social Darwinism
4. What to look for in literature for this
criticism?
a. What is economic status of characters?
b. What happens to them as result of status?
– c. How do they fare against economic &
political odds?
– d. What other conditions stemming from
their class does writer emphasize?
•
•
•
•
e.
1. Lack of/poor education
2. Poor nutrition
3. Poor health care
4. Inadequate opportunity
To what extent does the work fail by overlooking
economic, social & political implications of its
– e. material
– f. In what other ways does economic
determinism affect work?
– g. How should readers consider story in
today’s developed/underdeveloped world?
G.
PSYCHOLOGICAL/PSYCHOANAL
ITICAL
• 1. Key to understanding of character by
claiming behavior is caused by hidden &
unconscious motives (Freud)
• 2. Way of analyzing authors & artistic
process
• 3. Critics using this approach treat
literature somewhat like information about
patients in therapy
– a. Obvious/hidden motives that cause
characters behavior & speech
– b. How much background does author reveal
about character (repressed childhood trauma,
adolescent memories)
– c. How purposeful is information with regard
to character’s psychological condition?
– d. How much is important in analysis &
understanding of character?
• 4. Critics often use this model to analyze
author’s intent
– a. What particular life experiences explain
characteristic subjects or preoccupations
– b. What kind of life did author have?
– c. Does death in author’s life affect tone of
piece
H. ARCHETYPAL/SYMBOLIC/
MYTHIC
• 1. This approach derived from Carl Jung
(1875-1961)
• 2. Jung proposes that human life is built
up out of patterns (archetypes) that are
similar throughout various cultures &
historical times
– a. Claim best literature is grounded in
archetypal patterns
•
•
•
•
b.
c.
d.
4.
1. Search for God?
2. Sacrifice of hero?
3. Search for paradise
4. God’s creation of humans
How does story, play, poem fit into pattern
What truths does correlation provide?
How closely does work fit archetype?
This approach encourages analysis of variations
on same theme
I. DECONSTRUCTIONIST
• 1. Developed by French critic Jacques
Derrida (1930-2004)
• 2. Stresses ambiguity & contradictions
• 3. Major principle of deconstructionism is
based on Western philosophy saying
ideas are based on central truths which
are knowable; D say no central truths
– a. Times & circumstances are changeable &
arbitrary
– b. “All interpretation is misinterpretation”
– c. There is no one correct interpretation, only
interpretations each possessing its own
validity
– 4. Related to principle that language is
unstable & words’ meanings change
– 5. Major problem with D: Deconstructionists
must recognize “privileged reading” to
deconstruct it
J. READER-RESPONSE
•
1. Phenomenology deals with
understanding of how things appear
– a. Reality is not found in external world, but
in our perception of external world
– b. Reader is necessary third party in authortext-reader relationship that constitutes
literary work
2. Questions of theory
a. What does work mean to me in my present
intellectual & moral makeup?
– b. What particular aspects of my life can help
me understand & appreciate the work?
– c. How can the work improve my
understanding & widen my insights
– d. How can my increasing understanding
help me understand the work more deeply?
3. By asking & answering questions leads to
interest & growth so reader can assimilate
works & accept them as part of our lives
• 4. Stressing response rather than
interpretation poses problem about the
work’s objective identity
– a. Reader-Response theory is open so
beginners can do this
– b. This is transaction between reader &
literary work