English 300: Introduction to Literature

1
English 300 Introduction to Literature

• Lesson 3 Literary Criticism and Literary
  Theory
• Presented by
• Prof. Mercedes Torres Almodóvar

2
Terminology

• Literary Theory
• a term used to describe the assumptions that
  underlie literary study and the presentation of
  its principles and procedures
• Concept of an author
• The makeup of the canon
• The nature of narrative
• The roles of gender, class and race
• The definition of literature

Poetics (fourth century B. C.)
(Edward Quinn, 2006)
3
Terminology

• Literary Theory
• refers to the examination of basic principles
  from a variety of perspectives such as
• Biographical criticism
• Formalist criticism
• Mythic criticism
• Freudian criticism
• Marxist criticism
• Feminist criticism
• Readers response criticism
• Deconstructive criticism

(Edward Quinn, 2006)
4
Terminology

• Literary Criticism is a general term for the
  analysis, interpretation, and evaluation of
  literature through a particular perspective

(Edward Quinn, 2006)
5
Various points of view

• Formalism
• Looks at a literary piece as complete within
  itself
• All features of the literary piece work together
  in a unified, meaningful whole
• Structure
• Imagery character development
• Setting
• Language
• Other elements
• Technique (close reading)

6
Various points of view

• Historical Approaches
• Emphasizes the writers life in a particular
  period in history
• Events in personal life and in the world affect
  the literature produced
• Examines the work in context of time

7
Various points of view

• Historical Approaches
• Biographical
• Diaries, letters, journals, biographies and
  autobiographies are tools of the critic
• Cultural
• Use materials beyond biographical information
• Cultural artifacts
• Advertisements
• Architecture
• Journalism
• Campaign speeches

Poem Aids
8
Various points of view

• Historical approaches
• Marxist
• Literature is the artifact of history
• Driven by economic and social class forces
• Reflection of values of the privileged class

9
Various points of view

• Psychological Approaches
• Human motivation is examined
• Freuds theories
• Characters subconscious motivations, defenses,
  inner conflicts, symbolic acts
• Mythological Approaches
• Examines commonalities among dreams, myths,
  legends, religion, visual arts and literature

10
Various points of view

• Archetypal Approaches
• Associated with the Swiss psychologist Carl Jung
• Collective unconscious
• Universal fictional characters
• The fool
• The wise man
• Gender focus or feminist approach
• How do sex roles, sexual identity and
  relationships between the sexes affect the way a
  work is written?
• Women strategies to cope with their powerlessness
  in the male-oriented world

11
Various points of view

• Reader response
• Each person brings his or her own experience and
  points of view to bear while reading
• Projections of the readers own fears
• Deconstruction
• Work of literature is unstable
• Look for ways in which the elements contradict
  themselves
• Words cannot accurately express meaning

12
References

• Landy, A. (2000). Introduction to Literature.
  New York Houghton Mifflin
• McMahan, E. et.al (2005). Literature and the
  Writing Process. New Jersey Prentice Hall
• Quinn, E. (2006). A Dictionary of Literary and
  Thematic Terms. New York Checkmark Books