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(Lesson-1) English304

Literary criticism involves different ways of reading and interpreting texts through particular lenses or perspectives. There are many theories of criticism, including formalist, biographical, psychological, historical, sociological, Marxist, feminist, mythological, reader response, and deconstructionist approaches. Each theory has advantages and limitations, and no single one reveals the definitive meaning. Literary criticism allows readers to understand, discuss, interpret, evaluate, and enjoy texts from multiple viewpoints.

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34 views6 pages

(Lesson-1) English304

Literary criticism involves different ways of reading and interpreting texts through particular lenses or perspectives. There are many theories of criticism, including formalist, biographical, psychological, historical, sociological, Marxist, feminist, mythological, reader response, and deconstructionist approaches. Each theory has advantages and limitations, and no single one reveals the definitive meaning. Literary criticism allows readers to understand, discuss, interpret, evaluate, and enjoy texts from multiple viewpoints.

Uploaded by

Fedil Tina
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
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ENG.

304 LITERARY CRITICISM

LESSON 1
What is Literary Criticism?

 Ways of reading that enhance your understanding of the text by focusing on a particular element or
perspective.

 Ways of opening up the text to meanings that might otherwise never have occurred to you.

 Each approach has its advantages and limitations.


 No single theory reveals the “right” meaning of the text.

What are the main theories?


1. Formalist
 Focuses on the actual form of the text; its language, structure and tone.
 Pays attention to the intrinsic elements of the work: metaphor, symbol, character, plot, narrative
technique, etc.
 It is not concerned with the author’s intention or cultural context.

2. Biographical
 Explores the author’s life to understand the text more fully.
 Can enrich your appreciation of the work.
 Biographical information can, however, be misleading and complicate the text.
3. Psychological
 Draws upon psychoanalytic theories (Freudian, etc.) to have a fuller understanding of the text, the
writer, and the reader.
 Explores the motivations of the characters and the symbolic meanings of events.
 Investigates dreams, unconscious desires, and sexual repression.
4. Historical
 Uses history as a means of understanding a literary work more clearly.
 Places the text in the context of its time in order to shed light on some aspect of the work itself.
5. Sociological (political)
 Examines social groups, relationships, and values as they appear in the text.
 Explores the effect of social forces that shape power relationships between groups or classes of
people.
6. Marxist
 Focuses on the ideologies of work and its effect on culture, ecology, race, class and power.
 Concerned with conditions of the working class and the unequal distribution of wealth and power.
 Aims not only at revealing these issues, but also at correcting them.
7. Feminist
 Focuses on the representation and treatment of women in literature.
 Explores the patriarchal forces that have impeded women’s efforts to achieve full equality with
them.
8. Mythological
 Looks for underlying patterns in literature that reveal universal meanings and basic human
experiences for readers regardless of when or where they live.
 These underlying patterns are called “Archetypes.”
 Archetypes are a “psychic residue” that is deeply imbedded in the memory of the human race.
 This memory is called the “collective unconscious.”
 Examples of the archetypal patterns include: the hero’s quest, rites of passage, the fertile earth
mother, etc.
9. Reader Response
 Focuses attention of the reader rather than the work itself.
 The reader creates meaning in the text rather than discovers it.
 Not concerned with what the text means on the page, but with what it does to the reader.
10. Deconstructionist
 Insists that literary works do not yield fixed, single meanings.
 There can be no absolute knowledge about anything because language can never say exactly
what we intend it to mean.
 Seeks to disassemble meaning in the text rather than establish it.
Critical theory allows us to:
 Understand
 Discuss
 Interpret
 Evaluate
 Enjoy
 Most importantly, it lets us experience literature from multiple perspectives.

Steps to Literary Criticism:

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