LESSON 2
A. INTERPRETING
AND
EVALUATING FICTION
1 Define fiction
2 Discuss critical approaches in
literature.
Objectives 3 Perform evaluation of fictional
literary pieces using the guide
questions.
4 Apply the critical approaches
based on their respective
classifications.
FICTION
• The Latin word fictus means “to form".
• It can also be a literary work based on
A fiction is a deliberately fabricated account of something.
imagination.
• A fiction is a deliberately fabricated account
of something.
Raymond Mar and his colleagues (2005)
"Comprehending characters in narrative
fiction appears to the parallel the
A fiction is a deliberately fabricated account of something.
comprehension of peers in the actual world."
Maria Bortolussi & Peter Dixon
(2003)
"..readers commonly create representation of
characterA that are based on the same
fiction is a deliberately fabricated account of something.
processes that are used for real people"
Joanne Kathleen Rowling (1997-
2005)
Lucy Maud Montgomery
(1908/1942)
Miall & Kuiken (2002)
"The reader implicity is taking on the
embodied perspective"theof a figure in the text"
Guide Questions:
1. How does this fiction connect to its reader (generally)?
2. How does the work of fiction connect to you
(specifically)?
3. How does the work of fiction connect to other works of
fiction?
4. How does the work of fiction connect to the world?
B. CRITICAL
APPROACHES
TO
LITERATURE
1 FORMALIST CRITICISM
"a unique form of human knowledge that
needs to be examined on its own terms.“
Formalist critic are elements of form -
style, structure, tone, imagery, etc.
… FORMALIST CRITICISM
A primary goal formalist critics is to
determine how elements work together
with the text's content to shape its effects
upon readers.
2 BIOGRAPHICAL CRITICISM
“begins with the simple but central insight
that literature is written by an actual people
and that understanding an author’s life can
help readers more thoroughly comprehend
the work.”
… BIOGRAPHICAL CRITICISM
A biographical critic must be careful not to
take the biographical facts of a writer’s life
too far.
EXAMPLE:
Biographical Criticism: To Build a Fire by Jack London
The short story ―To Build a Fire‖ is not the typical man versus man struggle. It is more of a man versus nature, or in
other perspective, a man versus himself struggle. It only has two characters, a man and a dog, both traversing a snowy path
towards a certain place, despite knowing the inevitability of danger or even death itself. In the end, death was sure for the man,
as his struggle against himself and against nature ended drastically.
The dog, following his instinct, went away towards safety. But the story is not only a work of fiction. It is in itself, a
combination of the writer‘s imagination and his real life. Jack London is one of those writers who lived a very colorful life. Jack
London is not the typical writer who wrote for pleasure in his pastime or has made a living out of writing. London grew up
without knowing his dad, and eventually lived his life under the care of a foster parent.
He worked manual labor in both land and sea, and when he finds a free time, that‘s when he scribbles down his
thoughts. London literally struggled against himself and his environment. When the time came that he has to live by himself, he
worked hard in order to sustain his needs. It was like trying to create a fire in a vast land covered by snow so that you would
survive the night and would not freeze to death. He has to take care of everything in order to survive.
As a man, Jack London grew up in a hostile environment full of snow which would kill him anytime if he doesn‘t take care
of himself. The story ―To Build a Fire‖ is not just the work of imagination by Jack London. Somehow, it is affected by his
outlook in life, as well as his influences in life. All of his struggles against himself and his harsh environment were reflected in
the story. These struggles would literally make or break you. It made Jack London, and it killed the man in the story
3 HISTORICAL
CRITICISM
This approach “seeks to understand a
literary work by investigating the social,
cultural, and intellectual context that
produced it—a context that necessarily
includes the artist’s biography and milieu.”
EXAMPLE:
Historical: Post-Colonial (The Lion King)
Note how the obviously
‘native’ characters
(pumba, the Meerkat,
the crazy monkey) are
shown as strange and
‘other’.
4 GENDER
CRITICISM
This approach “examines how sexual identity
influences the creation and reception of
literary works.”
It has two approach: “masculinist” (Robert Bly)
and “feminist”.
… GENDER CRITICISM
Other goals of feminist (1)“analyzing how
sexual identity influences the reader of a text”
and (2)“examin[ing] how the images of men and
women in imaginative literature reflect or reject
the social forces that have historically kept the
sexes from achieving total equality.”
EXAMPLE:
Gender: Feminist (The Lion King)
Shows the helpless role
females have in society.
The female lions are
exploited to provide food
and care for the young,
while the males have all
the power and status.
5 PSYCHOLOGICAL CRITICISM
is an approach to literary criticism that interprets
writings, authors, and readers through a
psychological lens.
Fundamental figures in psychological criticism
include Sigmund Freud (about the psychoanalytic
theory) and Carl Jung (about the unconscious).
… PSYCHOLOGICAL
CRITICISM
Psychological criticism has a number of
approaches, but in general, it usually employs one
(or more) of three approaches:
1. An investigation of “the creative process of the
artist: what is the nature of literary genius and how
does it relate to normal mental functions?”
… PSYCHOLOGICAL
CRITICISM
2. The psychological study of a particular artist,
usually noting how an author’s biographical
circumstances affect or influence their motivations
and/or behavior.
3. The analysis of fictional characters using the
language and methods of psychology.
EXAMPLE:
Psychological: sibling rivalry (Mufasa and Scar)
struggle to overcome feelings of guilt or
inadequacy (Simba)
6 SOCIOLOGICAL CRITICISM
It is a literary criticism directed to understanding
literature in its larger social context; it codifies the
literary strategies that are employed to represent
social constructs through a sociological methodology.
This approach "examines literature in cultural,
economic, and political context in which is written or
received," exploring the relationship between the
artist and the society.
… SOCIOLOGICAL CRITICISM
One of the influential type of sociological
criticism is Marxist criticism, which focuses on
economic and political elements of art, often
emphasizing the ideological content of
literature.
EXAMPLE:
White Man by
Langston Hughes
7 MYTHOLOGICAL CRITICISM
It is the combination of anthropology, psychology, history, and
comparative religion.
This approach emphasizes “the recurrent universal patterns underlying
most literary works.”
..mythological criticism “explores the artist’s common humanity by
tracing how the individual imagination uses myths and symbols common
to different cultures and epochs.”
… MYTHOLOGICAL CRITICISM
It is a central archetypes that analysis symbols and characters to find a
deeper meaning.
Northop Frye, defined archetypes as “a symbol, usually an image, which
recurs often in enough literature to be recognizable as an element of one’s
literary experience as a whole.”
Carl Jung introduced this literary criticism
EXAMPLE:
Greek Mythology Harry Potter
8 READER-RESPONSE
CRITICISM
Reader-response criticism is a school of literary theory that
focuses on the reader (or audience) and their experiences of
a literary work, in contrast to other schools and theories that
focus attention primarily on the author or the content and
form of the work.
… READER-RESPONSE
CRITICISM
This approach takes as a fundamental tenet that “literature”
exists not as an artifact upon printed page but as a
transaction between physical and the mind of the reader.
Reader-response theory recognize the reader as an active
agent who imparts “real-existence” to the work and
completes its meaning through interpretation.
… READER-RESPONSE
CRITICISM
According to reader-response critics, literary text
do not "contain" a meaning; meanings derive only
from act of individual readings.
Reader-response criticism, then, emphasizes
how "religious, cultural, and social values affects
readings; it also overlap gender criticism in
exploring how men and women read the text with
different assumptions."
EXAMPLE:
9 DECONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM
Deconstruction, in essence, allows the reader to “ take a part” a
text in order to decipher a new meaning.
The reader would look for meaning, not only hidden, but
possibly unintended by the author.
Deconstruction uses concept of binaries in which one object has
been given sort if privilege, the better appeal i.e. good/bad,
love/hate, white/black, and male/female.
… DECONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM
This approach “rejects the traditional assumption that language
can accurately represent reality.”
The most famous Deconstructionists is Jacques Derrida who
described language as never being able to stable because any
signifier (the object) can mean a range of signified (the idea or
symbolism of the object) at any given moment therefore making
language as ideological; we give it meaning.
… DECONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM
As a result, deconstructionist critics tend to
emphasize not what is being said but how
language is used in a text.
EXAMPLE:
… SUMMARY
Fiction is a literary work based on imagination. As
psychologist Raymond Mar and his colleagues (2005)
suggest comprehending characters in a narrative fiction
appears to parallel the comprehension of peers in actual
worlds.
Interpreting and evaluating a fiction uses different critical
approaches in literature. These are Formalist Criticism, Biographical
Criticism, Historical Criticism, Gender Criticism, Psychological
Criticism, Sociological Criticism, Mythological Criticism, Reader-
Response Criticism, and Deconstructive Criticism.
REFERENCES:
Britannica. (n.d.). Fiction literature. https://www.britannica.com/art/fiction-
Literature
Literary Devices. (2020). Definition of fiction. https://literarydevices.net/fiction/
Stultz, M. (2020). What are the criteria for evaluating fiction?
https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-criteria-evaluating-fiction-
160277
Study.Com. (n.d.). What is fiction? Definition and types.
https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-fiction-definition-types.html
Zackheim, A. & Zackheim, A. (n.d.). Exploring the different types of fiction.
https://www.dummies.com/education/language-arts/creative-
writing/exploring-the-different-types-of-fiction/
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