Literary Criticism

1. Literary Criticism The Basics of Criticism

2. The Basic Idea • The point of criticism is to argue your opinion of a work of literary, visual, or performance art. • You don’t have to “criticize” a text; you analyze, interpret, and then evaluate a piece. • Support your opinions (rational thoughts, not emotional responses) with specific evidence from the text.

3. The Purpose of Criticism • A critic must answer these questions… Why? or So what? • For example… -Why does an author use a particular recurring symbol (leitmotif)? or, -Why is the development of a particular character significant to the theme of the piece?

4. The Basic Idea • The following slides explain different approaches a critic may use (note that a critic can use multiple approaches in a critique). • Also, a critic will not identify the specific approach used, but, instead, uses it as a starting point for analysis.

5. Biographical Criticism • Involves examining art as the reflection of an artist's life. • Thus, it is necessary to know about an artist's life to understand this aspect of his/her works.

6. Biographical Criticism Disadvantage: • Looking only at the life of an artist tends to reduce art to the level of biography and make it relative to the author, rather than universal.

7. Historical Criticism Advantages: • Works well for some pieces which are obviously political or biographical in nature. • Places allusions in their proper classical, political, or biblical background.

8. Moral/Philosophical Criticism • Asserts that the larger purpose of literature is to teach morality and to probe philosophical issues. • Authors intend to instruct the audience in some way(e.g., rightvs.wrong, the purpose of mankind,.

9. Moral / Philosophical Criticism Recognizes that art can affect readers and their beliefs and that the message of a work is important.

10. Formalism/Literature-Based Criticism • Involves a close reading of the text. • Focuses on analyzing irony, paradox, imagery, metaphor, setting, characters, symbols, point of view, and other literary devices.

11. Formalism/Literary Criticism • This is the type of literary interpretation most often studied in literature classes. • Can be performed without research. • Emphasizes the value of literature apart from its context. • Most critical approaches begin here.

12. Psychological Criticism • Examines works through the lens of psychology. • Looks either at the psychological motivations of the characters or of the authors themselves. • Frequently applies Freudian psychology to works, but other approaches also exist.

13. Psychological Criticism Advantages: • can be a useful tool for understanding character development and conflict. Disadvantages: • can turn a work into a psychological case study, • some works do not lend themselves readily to this criticism.

14. Reader Response Critiques • Opposite of formalism/literary. • The reader creates the meaning. • Can take into account the strategies employed by the author to. elicit a certain response from readers • Makes someone's reading a function of personal identity.

15. Reader Response Criticism Advantages: • Recognizes that different people view works differently and that interpretations can be subjective. Disadvantages: • Tends to make interpretation too subjective. Forexample, CharlesManson's murderousinterpretationofthesong, “HelterSkelter” by Beatles. Thesong wassimplyintended to be aboutanamusementpark slide.

16. Archetypal Criticism • Which universal/archetypalcharacter types, symbols, themes, and storylines does the author use? • In what ways is the piece about universal parts of human life common in all cultures? • Art (literature) is a window to creating meaning for human life. • In other words, stories make us feel like our lives are more significant.

17. Archetypal Critiques • A collection of symbols, images, characters, and motifs (i.e., archetypes) which people recognize, based on their background knowledge of other stories. • They evoke similar responses in people. • Archetypes are the source of much of literature's power.

18. Archetypal Criticism • Oftentimes we only subconsciously recognize archetypes. • This makes the author even more effective at his/her craft since the reader is unaware and (and therefore more susceptible) to hidden themes and ideas the author may attempt to place in the readers’ minds.

19. Sample Archetypes • Water - creation, birth-death-resurrection, purification, redemption, fertility, growth. • Garden - paradise (Eden), innocence, fertility. • Desert - spiritual emptiness, death, hopelessness. • Red - blood, sacrifice, passion, disorder. • Green - growth, fertility, nature. • Serpent - evil, sensuality, mystery, wisdom, destruction. • Seven - seven deadly sins. • Epic Hero -  the hero is involved in a quest (in which he overcomes obstacles).

20. Female Characters Archetyped (& Stereotyped) throughout History • The Good Wife/Mother • The Evil Mother/Woman • The Virgin (often a Damsel in Distress) • The Whore (Fallen Woman) • Notethattheseimagesofwomen reflect theirrelationshipswith men. • Is there a connection between these flat, one-dimensional archetypes and the fact that most published writers throughout history have been male?

21. Archetypal Criticism Advantages: • Provides a universal Criticism to art and explains why certain literature may survive the test of time. • Works well with works that are highly symbolic. Disadvantages: • Can become a list of symbols without much analysis.

22. And There are Many More Approaches to Art Critiques • Reader Response • Biological • Cognitive scientific • Feminist • Freudian • Socio-political • Marxist • And many more …

23. Critics Have Many Analytic/Critical Techniques • Different approaches or lenses help us to discover rich and deeper meaning. • Each lens has its strengths and weaknesses. • Each lens is valuable. • Strive to become a pluralist rather than an inflexible supporter of one.

24. In Summation Literary criticism is the method used to interpret any given work of literature. The different theories of literary criticism provide us with various lenses which ultimately reveal important aspects of the literary work.