Introduction to Literary Criticism

Literary Criticism and Theory Any piece of text can be read with a number of different sets of “glasses,” meaning you are looking for different things within the text. Literary Criticism helps readers understand a text in relation to the author, culture, and other texts.

The Most Common Critical Stances for Literature Formalistic Biographical Historical/Cultural Psychological Mythological Gender Deconstructionist

Formalist Criticism A formalist (aka New Criticism) reading of a text focuses on symbol, metaphor, imagery, and so on. Formalism ignores the author’s biography and focuses only on the interaction of literary elements within the text. It’s what you do most often in English literature.

A Formalist Reading of “The Three Little Pigs” What does the wolf symbolize? Notice the consonance of “I’ll huff and I’ll puff…” How does the story foreshadow the final fate of the pigs? What does the wolf’s dialogue tell us about his character?

Biographical Criticism As the name suggests, this type of criticism reads the text looking for the author’s influence. By examining the author’s life, we can have a deeper understanding of his writing.

A Biographical Reading of My Antonia  Cather was a lesbian who could not, or did not, acknowledge her homosexuality and who, in her fiction, transformed her emotional life and experiences into acceptable, heterosexual forms and guises. (Lambert 676)  The theme of sexuality is inherent in Willa Cather’s My Antonia. Cather originally published this novel under the pseudonym, William Cather, MD, which illustrates that she was insecure about her own identity.

Historical/Cultural Criticism Of course, this critical viewpoint examines a text in relation to its historical or cultural backdrop. You may examine a text’s effect on history or culture. A historical/cultural analysis is often very similar to a biographical analysis, and it’s possible to view history, culture, and biography in a single essay.

Cultural Criticism One of the goals of cultural criticism is to oppose Culture with a capital C, in other words, that view of culture which always and only equates it with what we sometimes call "high culture." Cultural critics want to make the term culture refer to popular culture as well as to that culture we asso- ciate with the so-called classics. Cultural critics are as likely to write about Star Trek as they are to analyze James Joyce's Ulysses. They want to break down the boundary between high and low, and to dismantle the hierarchy that the distinction implies. They also want to discover the (often political) reasons why a certain kind of aesthetic product is more valued than others.

Historical/Cultural Reading of The Crucible How accurate is Arthur Miller’s account of the Salem Witch Trials? What can The Crucible reveal about colonial New England and Puritan society?

Psychological Criticism Psychological critical theory applies the theories of psychology to a text to better understand its characters Based largely on Freud, this theory hinges on the belief that an examination of people’s (characters’) unconscious desires.

Psychological Criticism Drives governing human behavior Id – the animal nature that says, “Do what feels good.” Ego – the reality-based part of your personality that makes decisions to satisfy the Id and Superego Superego – the socialized “conscience” that tells you what’s right or fair

Psychological Criticism Oedipus Complex – Every boy has the unconscious desire to have sex with their mother; consequently, sons are deeply afraid of their fathers, and fathers are deeply threatened by their sons. Elektra Complex – Every daughter has the unconscious desire to have sex with their father; consequently, daughters are deeply afraid of their mothers, and mothers are deeply threatened by their daughters.

Psychological Criticism Of course, these complexes have their origins in literature and mythology. Psychological criticism is a way to understand characters, not diagnose them.

A Psychological Reading of Macbeth Macbeth kills King Duncan because he unconsciously recognizes the king as a father-figure. Hence, Duncan is a rival for power and the affections of the people. In the latter acts of the play, Macbeth has indulged his id so often that his ego has lost the ability to restrain it.

Gender Criticism Gender criticism analyzes literature through the lens of socially-constructed gender roles. The largest part of gender criticism is feminism, which critiques and seeks to correct women’s subordination to men in society. In its purist form, feminism is about equality.

Gender Criticism A newer segment of gender criticism is “queer theory,” which looks for the influence of homosexuality within texts. Research of this type is fairly difficult because, as you’ve learned, homosexuality was largely suppressed in Europe and America, and it hasn’t been openly discussed until the last few decades.

A Feminist Reading of Goldilocks As a single, young woman, Goldilocks finds herself without means or opportunity because she is unattached to a father or a husband. Perhaps, this is why she’s alone in the woods. An independent woman, then, is a threat to the “normal” nuclear family, represented by the three bears.

Marxist Criticism A Marxist Critic grounds his theory and practice on the economic and cultural theory of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engles, especially on the following claims: 1.The evolving history of humanity, its institutions and its ways of thinking are determined by the changing mode of its “material production”—that is, of its basic economic organization. 2.Historical changes in the fundamental mode of production effect essential changes both in the constitution and power relations of social classes, which carry on a conflict for economic, political, and social advantage. 3. Human consciousness in any era is constituted by an ideology. A Marxist Critic typically undertakes to “explain” the literature in any era by revealing the economic, class, and ideological determinants of the way an author writes, and to examine the relation of the text to the social reality of that time and place.

Marxist Theory This school of critical theory focuses on power and money in works of literature. Who has the power/money? Who does not? What happens as a result? For example, it could be said that the mechanicals role in A Midsummer Night’s Dream could be a commentary on the upper class and their privilege (and absurdity) of energy given to love.

Postmodern Literature What is Postmodernist Literature? Postmodernist fiction The notion of the classic realist text is reworked to reflect, as the novelist Ian McEwan aptly puts it ‘the representation of states of mind and the society that forms them’; what postmodernist novels portray is individual and emotional realities which simultaneously reflect our contemporary and contradictory world. Postmodernist fictionIan McEwan

Postmodern Criticism / Deconstructionism Deconstructionism argues that since there is no single meaning of any word, there can be no single meaning of a text. EVERY text, therefore, has multiple valid meanings because the reader may interpret the words differently than the writer intended them.

Deconstructionism Basically because there is no concrete meaning of anything, there is no single truth applicable to all human beings. Hence, everything is relative to you. Ex: “Tortoise and the Hare” The homophone hare/hair would make this fable incomprehensible without pictures. In Native American cultures, the tortoise is a symbol of honor, so Indians would interpret the “race” as a contest of honor and fair play instead of endurance.

More Literary Theory New ways of viewing literature (and the world) continue to develop, but these are the main theories you’ll come in contact with.