Lecture Literary criticism - Lecture 1: Introduction to literary criticism

Lecture Literary criticism - Lecture 1: Introduction to literary criticism. The contents of this chapter include all of the following: Purposes of literaly criticism, approaches in literary criticism, historical/biographical approach, moral/philosophical approach,...

INTRODUCTION TO LITERARY CRITICISM

LITERARY CRITICISM

Literary criticism is the art of judging and commenting on the

qualities and character of literary works

PURPOSES OF LITERALY CRITICISM

¢ To help us solve a problem in reading

¢ To help us choose the better of two conflicting

readings

¢ To enable us to form judgments about literature

APPROACHES IN LITERARY CRITICISM

READER RESPONSE CRITICISM APPROACH

STRUCTURALISM

DECONSTRUCTION.

ADVANTAGES

¢ This works well for some works which are political in nature

¢ Also works In order to place allusions in their proper classical political biblical background

DISADVANTAGES

¢ New critics criticize it because according to historic approach the value

or meaning of the work maybe determines by “Intentional faliacy”

¢ This approach tends to make it relative rather than universal

MORAL/PHILOSOPHICAL APPROACH

These.critics believe that the larger purpose of literature is to teach morality and to probe

philosophical issues

Mathew Arnold: “high seriousness”

Plato: “Literature must exhibit moralism and utilization”

Horace:”Literature should be delightful and instructive”

ADVANTAGES

For works which have obvious moral philosophy

When considering themes of works

It does not view literature merely as “art” isolated from all moral implications literature

DISADVANTAGES

¢ Detractors:This approach is “judgemental”

¢ Literature should be judged on its artistic merit

Does it show how people really act?

Mimetic approach includes:

¢Moral criticism

¢Psychological criticism

«Feminist criticism.

FORMALISM/NEW CRITICISM

All information essential to the interpretation of a work must be found within the work.No need to bring the information from the outside about author’s life,history and politics of the time

It is not interested in the piece of literature’s effect on the reader

lt does not observe a piece of literature through the lens of

feminism, psychology & mythology

FORMALIST CRITIC STUDY

TERMS USED IN NEW CRITICISM

ADVANTAGES

¢ This approach makes literature time less

¢ This can be done without much research

¢ All approaches begin at this

DISADVANTAGES

¢ Text in isolation i-e cannot account for allusion

¢ Out of context I-e a collection of rhetorical.

PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH

¢ Critics look at the psychological motivation of the characters or the author although the former one is considered a more valid approach

(a) Freudian Approach:

¢ Discusses influences of a character’s id, ego & superego

¢ Discusses the sexual implications of symbols and imagery

¢ Psychologic critics concerned with Jung’s process of “inviduation”

° Self including shadow(villian-the darker self),persona(hero-the social self) and the anima(heroine-the soul image).

DISADVANTAGES

¢ Awork of art can become a psychological case study

¢ Tend to see sex in everything

¢ Some works do not tend readily to this approach

MYTHOLOGICAL/ARCHETYPAL/SYMBOLIC

APPROACH

¢ This approach says that there is a collection of

symbols,images,characters and motifs that woke the same response in all people because Jung believes in “collective unconcious’”

¢ Myth critics identify these patterns

¢ discuss how they function in the works

¢ Believe that they are the source of literature’s power

c—g

¢ Desert:emptiness,death and hopelessness

¢ Red:blood,passion,sacrifice

¢ Green:growth, fertility

ADVANTAGES

¢ Universality

¢ Works well with the worls that are highly symbolic

DISADVANTAGES

¢ Focus on the archetype and ignore the “art’aspect of

a piece of literature.

FEMINIST APPROACH

Focuses on

¢ Impact of gender on writing and reading

¢ Begins with a critique of patriarchal culture

¢ Often political and revisionist

¢ They say that gender determines everything or just the opposite

¢ They argue that male fears are portrayed through female characters

ELAINE SHOWALTER'S THEORY

¢ She argues that literary sub cultures go through three phasesof

development

¢ These stages for literature by/about women are:

(a) The feminine stage(immitation of the prevailing modes of domination) (b) The feminist stage(protest against the prevailing standard)

(c) The female stage(phase of self discovery)

- aturning inward

- asearch for identity

ADVANTAGES

¢ Women have been underpresented in literature this approach redreses the problem.

DISADVANTAGES

Turns literary criticims into a political battle field

It ignores other merits of the works they considered “patriarchal” They relegate women literature to a particular class thus removing it from the main stream

READER RESPONSE CRITICISM APPROACH

¢ It analyzes the reader’s response and it’s role in the production of

meaning

¢ Inthe case a text has no meaning untill it is read by the reader

¢ This takes into account the strategies employed by the author to elicit certain responses from readers

¢ It denies the possibility that works are universal

DISADVANTAGES

¢ It makes the interpretation too subjective

STRUCTURALISM

¢ View literature as a system of signs

¢ Try to decipher the organisational codes which they believe in all literature

DECONSTRUCTION

They make interpretations based on the political or social implications of language rather than examining an author’s

intention