Critical Approaches to Literature

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Critical Approaches to Literature

• Critical Theory

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Introduction

• Formed during the 20th century to develop the
  study of literature as a discipline
• All critical approaches ask some fundamental
  questions
• What is literature? What does it do? What is
  literatures primary purpose? In addition to
  expressing ideas, what else does literature do?
  How does it contribute to artistic, political and
  social thought and history?

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Introduction

• None of these theories reflect the way to study
  literature they reflect major tendencies not
  absolute straight-jacketing.
• Some critics may consider themselves Feminist
  Theorists but utilize strategies from New
  Criticism.
• In other words, literary criticism is pragmatic
  or eclectic rather than rigid

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Why study the theories?

• To help develop your own capacities as a reader
  and a writer
• To expand the lens you use to analyze literature

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Types Of Critical Approaches
Moral/Intellectual
Topical/Historical
New Critical/Formalist
Structuralism
Feminist Criticism/Gender Studies
Queer Theory
Marxist
Psychological/Psychoanalytical
Archetypical/Symbolic/Mythic
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More Theories

• Deconstruction
• New Historicism
• Reader Response
• Post-Colonialism
• Race Theory

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Topical/Historical

• Stresses the relationship between literature and
  its historical period
• Although great literature often applies to
  various time periods, much of it also directly
  reflects the intellectual and social worlds of
  their authors.
• This approach investigates authors biographies,
  concepts and words that todays reader may not
  immediately understand.
• This approach requires the theorist to utilize
  footnotes, dictionaries, historical references,
  and other reference materials.

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Historical Cont

• A common criticism of the historical/topical
  approach is that in the extreme, it deals with
  background knowledge rather than the literature
  itself.

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New Historicism

• A reaction against Historical Criticism
• The New Historicist justifies the parallel
  reading of both literary and non literary works
  in other to form an informed understanding of the
  context of the literary work.
• This approach assumes that history is not a
  fixed essence but a literary construction
• Combining the history with literary understanding
  readers must achieve a deeper understanding of
  the literature

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Formalism/Structuralism

• Also known as New Criticism, the Formalist
  focuses on literary texts as formal works of art.
• The Formalist examines the meanings of
  literature asking the questions what does a
  work say? And How well is it said.
• A major idea in this approach is that all the
  contents of the work, including its subtleties,
  ideas, ambiguities and contradictions were in the
  conscious or subconscious of the author. There
  are no accidents.

• Finds relationships between things that seem to
  be separate and unique
• Enables critics to study literature from a
  variety of cultures and historical periods
• Focuses on a comprehensiveness of description
• Best when utilized for larger texts

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Examples My Last Duchess

• Formalism
• The text is termed a dramatic monologue because
• it contains three formal elements- an occasion a
  speaker
• and a hearer.
• The inflexible format is deceptive creating the
  contrast between
• obsessive, psychological dysfunction and power.
• The utilization of iambic pentameter and couplets
  clarify
• the Dukes insanity in the face of frightening
  control.

Historical Browning lived in Italy thus creating
a sense of authenticity to the poem.
New Historicism The use of the artists names and
the titles of the artwork add a sense of
verisimilitude (reality). Browning utilizes his
knowledge of the Renaissance to create a reality
which emphasizes The Dukes insanity.
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More Definitions

• Deconstruction
• A strategy not an approach for reading
• Developed by Jacques Derrida
• These theorists assume the instability of
  language
• They criticize Western assumptions that speech is
  a direct expression of the speakers intention, a
  direct correspondence to reality.
• Standard deconstruction may begin with a
  traditional reading/ interpretation of the text
  and then rip it apart in order to form a new
  understanding
• Another deconstructionist approach is to examine
  the text in light of gaps, or missing elements or
  even words or phrases with multiple
  interpretations

• Reader Response
• Rooted in phenomenology a philosophy that is
  rooted in how things appear
• Thus the quest for truth in the world is to be
  found not in the external world but in our
  perception and interpretation of the external
  signals
• Reader Response theorists believe that the text
  is not complete until readers make a transaction
  with it by assimilating it and intertwining with
  their own knowledge and experience
• This theory supports continual learning-the more
  I learn about art, politics, science, history,
  the more I will bring to the text
• Questions What does this work mean to me? How
  can the work widen my insights? What knowledge
  do I need to acquire to deepen my understanding
  of the text?

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Examples Reader Response/Deconstruction

• The use of false names for the artists, that
  sound like actual Renaissance artists, emphasizes
  the Dukes arrogance and reminds the reader of
  the large social gap between the aristocracy and
  peasantry at this time (Reader Response)
• The reader assumes that the emissary is shocked,
  appalled by the Dukes accidental confessions.
  But, what if the Duke actually meant his
  confessions as a warning to his new duchess and
  what if the emissary is not shocked instead
  expects this behavior.. (Deconstruction)
• There is no emissary, this is not a dramatic
  situation but rather a just the insane ramblings
  of warped mind. (Deconstruction)

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New Criticism

• Developed in the 1920s known as an American
  movement
• Advocates close reading of text instead of
  overwhelming
• concern for context and history
• Generally applied to poetry encourages textual
  analysis
• rather than an exploration of poets life or
  social implications
• Example The Duke repeatedly refers to the
  Counts emissary
• as Sir indicates the Dukes belief that the
  envoy
• understands, maybe even shares the Dukes
  aberrant feelings.

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Post Modernism

• Applies to several fields philosophy, art,
  literature, architecture, history, etc.
• Skepticism to modern ideals
• Communication shaped by cultural bias, myth, etc.
• Meaning and experience created by individual,
  cannot be made objective by an author or narrator

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Methodologies

• Though postmodernism is an attack against theory
  and methodology, it uses two methods
• Deconstruction
• Intuitive Interpretation

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Post Modernist Formula developed by Chip
Morningstar

• Select a work to be deconstructed
• Decide what the text says
• Identify within the reading a distinction
• Convert into a hierarchical opposition
• Derive another self-referential reading of the
  text

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Decide Meaning

• Example Reading Poems in Public by Maurice
  Kenney
• Discusses the lack of an audience for his
  reviving of Indian heritage
• Criticism of American self-centeredness and
  ignorance
• Is a desperate plea and a scathing assault

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Identify a Distinction and Hierarchical Opposition

• Distinction hear versus listen
• Not explicit, but can be implied
• Evident in the fact that an audience is present,
  but questions are so inane
• Hierarchical opposition
• Point out that one of the two terms is inherently
  more revered or accepted
• Listen valued more than hear

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Interpretation (basic)

• One cannot listen without being able to hear,
  thus the arbitrary hierarchy established by the
  text is invalid, and the actions of the audience
  in the poem cannot be construed as reprehensible
  or evil. Kenny would not have an audience at all
  without these Americans, and thus cannot
  criticize them. They are doing enough by hearing
  his poems, regardless of their interpretations.

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Feminist Criticism Gender Studies Queer Theory
The overarching purpose is to question the traditional canon and claim a place in it for neglected women writers To delineate the ways both male and female characters are portrayed in literature, looking at how societal norms about sexual differences are either enforced or subverted in literature Close examination of patriarchal structures and institutions such as marriage. Explore issues of the feminine mystique and traditional roles assigned to women Examine the social divide between the masculine and the feminine Explore Patriarchal structures and representations Examines how homosexuals are portrayed in literature Examines veiled references to homosexuality in literature
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Archetypical

• Archetypal Criticism is closely related to
  Psychological Criticism but focuses on the work
  of Jung rather than Freud
• Presupposes that human life is built up of
  patterns or archetypes that are similar
  throughout various cultures and historical times.
• The best literature is grounded in archetypal
  patterns
• ?--How does this text fit into any archetypal
  structure? How closely does it fit the
  archetype/ What variations exist? What
  meaning(s) do the connections have?

• Examples The creation the heros journey/quest,
  the heros sacrifice Humanitys search for
  paradise or perfection
• Many critics deride this approach because of
  Jungs belief in a universal human consciousness,
  (all humans retain in their inner psyche a type
  of awareness for all that has come before and
  will come again) but they nevertheless consider
  this criticism important for comparisons and
  contrasts
• Initiation, young man discovers the power of
  literature, falling in love despite a need for
  independence are all patterns that occur across
  cultures and timelines

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Psychological Theory

• Focuses on Freuds theories utilizing his ideas
  of human behavior caused by hidden human motives
• Freuds theories has had a profound impact on all
  intellectual disciplines and all post-Freudian
  literature
• Example An exploration of character Hamlet
  suffering an Oedipus complex. An exploration of
  the authors motivation Coleridges neuroses and
  its effect on Kubla Khan

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Questions

• What are the obvious and hidden motives that
  cause a characters behavior?
• How much background does the author reveal about
  a character? (repressed childhood trauma,
  adolescent experiences and memories)
• How much is important in the analysis and
  understanding of the character

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Race Theory and Post-Colonial Theory