Looking at Literature through the Perspectives of Multiple Lenses

1
"Here's looking at you kid".
Looking at Literature through the Perspectives
of Multiple Lenses
2
Why study literary criticism?

• (1) To help us resolve a difficulty in the
  reading.
• For example, why would the conspirators in
  some literary works, despite horrible, gory
  details of their blatenly brutal plan, be
  portrayed in a sympathetic light?
• (2) To help us choose the better of two
  conflicting readings.
• A formalist approach might enable us to
  choose between a reading which sees the
  dissolution of society in Lord of the Flies as
  being caused by too strict a suppression of the
  bestial side of man and one which sees it as
  resulting from too little suppression. We can
  look to the text and ask What textual evidence
  is there for the suppression or indulgence of the
  bestial side of man? Does Ralph suppress Jack
  when he tries to indulge his bestial side in
  hunting? Did it work in the grownup world of
  the novel?(Burris).
• (3) To enable us to form judgments about
  literature.
• One of the purposes is to help us decide if
  a work is good or not. For example, we might use
  a formalist approach to argue that Huswifery is
  of high quality because it contains numerous
  intricate conceits that are well sustained. Or,
  we might use the mimetic approach to argue that a
  play is not of high quality because it fails to
  paint a realistic picture of the world.
• http//www.literatureclassics.com/ancientpaths/
  litcrit.htmlpurposes

3
Common critical theories used in Literary
Analysis

• Aesthetic/ Structuralism
• Archetypal/ Mythological
• Biographical/ Historical
• Christian/ Biblical
• Deconstructionist
• Existentialist
• Feminist
• Intertextual
• Marxist
• Mimetic
• New Critical
• Psychological/ Psychoanalytical
• Reader -Response
• Rhetorical

• A critic may
• combine two
• or more
• critical approaches
• (consciously
• or unconsciously)
• as pure forms of
• critical theory
• are seldom found.

4
Literary Criticism Map
5
Biographical / Historical

• Attempts to understand a work as the reflection
  of an author's life and times (or of the
  characters' life and times) in relation to the
  text
• For example This approach works well for some
  works like those of Alexander Pope and Milton
  which are political in nature. For instance, the
  reader must know Milton was blind, for "On His
  Blindness" to have any meaning.

6
Feminist

• Is concerned with the impact of gender on
  writing and reading as it approaches literature
• with regard to the feminine consciousness. It is
  concerned with how women are portrayed
• socially, politically, sexually, economically,
  and religiously and
• usually begins with a critique of patriarchal
  culture. Feminist
• criticism is often political and revisionist.

7
Archetypal/ Mythological

• Approaches a work in terms of universal symbols
  that evoke deep and sometimes unconscious
  responses in a reader
• The literary characters, images, and themes
  symbolically embody universal meanings and basic
  human experiences, regardless of when or where
  they live, are considered archetypes. Common
  literary archetypes include stories of quests,
  initiations, scapegoats, descents to the
  underworld, and ascents to heaven.

8
Psychological/ Psychoanalytical

Approaches literature through the text in order
to understand the characters and their
motivations (and sometimes even the authors
themselves) by applying psychoanalytical theories,
usually those of Sigmund Freuds
psychology which explores the unconscious mind
in relation to behavior and sexuality While other
approaches also exist, like Jungian psychology,
Freudian psychology is by far most frequently
used.
9
Rhetorical

• This approach takes into account
• interactions
• between the
• work, the
• author, and
• the audience.
• It observes the effect of the literary work on
• the reader or the listener and how the work
• persuades its audience.

10
Reader Response

• This approach analyzes the reader's role in the
  production of meaning, acting more like a
  producer instead of a consumer of meanings.
  Because the reader creates the meaning, we
  understand someones reading as a function of
  personal identity.
• As in reading the parable of the
  prodigal son
• From the New Testament, some readers (depending
  
• on how they lived and their personal views)
• might associate more with the older brother,
• others might be more sympathetic with the
  younger
• brother, while others might view the fathers
• unconditional acceptance as merciful or
• unwise.

11
Marxist

• This approach concentrates on issues such as
  class, capitalism, inequality, exploitation,
  revolution, and the restructuring of society. It
  is interpreted according to Karl Marxs
  philosophical and political ideology.

12
Christian/ Biblical

• Approaches literature
• through theological
• interpretation of such
• concerns as sin, evil,
• damnation, love, mercy, grace, and redemption.

13
Existentialist

• This approach sees literature as a way for the
  reader to question his or her existence. Because
  the present is all we can be sure of, and the
  future is unknown, it involves a search for
• lifes absurdity, anxiety, alienation, and
  emptiness.

14

Mimetic Approach

• This approach can be closely related to the moral
  / philosophical approach, but is somewhat
  broader. Mimetic critics ask how well the work of
  literature accords with the real world. Is it
  accurate? Is it correct? Is it moral? Does it
  show how people really act?  As such, mimetic
  criticism can include some forms of moral /
  philosophical criticism, psychological criticism,
  
• and feminist criticism.

15
New Criticism / Formalism

• A formalistic approach to literature (also
  formerly referred to as New Criticism) involves
  a close reading analysis of the text alone and
  argues that all information necessary to the
  interpretation of a work must be found within the
  work itself. There is no need to bring in outside
  information about the history, politics, or
  society of the time, or about the author's life.
• Irony, paradox, imagery, and metaphor
• are often analyzed and the critic often
• focuses on the work's setting,
• characters, symbols, and point of view.
• Title Milton, Paradise Lost, Plate 90 by
• Gustave Doré. Walk in the Garden
• While this approach to John Milton's Paradise
  Lost would not discuss the work in view of
  Miltons Puritan beliefs or his own blindness, it
  would take into account the physical description
  and location of the Garden of Eden, the symbols
  of hands, seed, and flower, the characters of
  Adam, Eve, Satan, and God, as well as the epic
  similes and metaphors, and the point of view from
  which the tale is being told (regardless if it is
  the narrator's, God's, or Satan's).

16
Deconstructionist

• This approach assumes that language does not
  refer to any firm external reality because words
  lack perfect correspondence to objects in the
  world. It can assert several, contradictory
  interpretations of one text. Interpretations are
  based on the political or social implications of
  language.

Jacques Derrida is the founder of
deconstructionist thought.
17
Aesthetic/ Structuralism

• Is independent from moral messages
• simply approaching a work
• in terms of beauty
• by examining its form
• and ability
• to embody
• artistic impression.

18
Sources Consulted

• http//www.literatureclassics.com/ancientpaths/lit
  crit.html
• http//www.literatureclassics.com/ancientpaths/lit
  crit.htmlpurposes
• http//www.bedfordstmartins.com/literature/bedlit/
  glossary_a.htm
• http//www.socialistaction.org/marxisttheory.htm
• http//msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Sections/Newswee
  k/Components/

19
http//members.telering.at/pat/01m.htm http//www
.library.utoronto.ca/utel/glossary/Reader-response
_criticism.html http//www.amazon.com/Case-Hillary
-Clinton-Susan-Estrich/dp/0060839880 http//hydra.
umn.edu/derrida/content.html