1. The paradigms and the possibilities—
English III: American Literature
David Glen Smith, Instructor
Literary Criticism 2
The paradigms and the possibilities—

2. Mythic Criticism-definition
Joseph John Campbell (March 1904 – October 1987) was an American mythologist who worked in comparative mythology and comparative religion. His work covers many aspects of the human experience. Campbell's book The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949) discusses his theory of the journey of the archetypal hero found in world mythologies. Since the book's publication, Campbell's theory has been consciously applied by a wide variety of modern writers and artists. (
Mythic (Archetypal) criticism deals with what Joseph Campbell called a “very deep chord” shared by all humans; the myth critic seeks out those mysterious elements that inform literary works and elicit near-universal human reactions, though there is no completely universal symbol.
Mythic Criticism-definition

3. Mythic Criticism-Archetypes
Images: Water, sun, colors, circle, serpent, apple, pomegranate, numbers, demon lover, wise old man, trickster, garden, tree, desert, mountain, soulmate archetypal woman (Good Mother, Terrible Mother)
Archetypal Motifs: Creation, immortality hero/heroine > quest, initiation, scapegoat)
Mythic Criticism-Archetypes

4. Mythic Criticism-Archetypes
Seasonal Tropes:
Spring—comedy, lust, birth
Summer—romance
Autumn—tragedy, murder
Winter—irony, death
Archetypes in William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury
Mythic Criticism-Archetypes

5. Sociological Criticism - definition
Sociological criticism analyzes both how the social functions in literature and how literature works in society.
“Sociological critics argue that literary works should not be isolated from the social contexts in which they are embedded” (DiYanni 1571) unlike criticism that focuses only on the work itself.
Sociological critics examine expressions of specific areas in literary works, including:
Economic conditions during which a piece was written
Political arena and popular political beliefs
Cultural issues
Sociological Criticism definition

6. Sociological Criticism - Questions to Explore
How do dominant elites exploit subordinate groups?
How do people become alienated from each other?
How do middle-class values cause society to suppress the working class?
(DiYanni 1571)
Sociological Criticism Questions to Explore

7. Sociological Criticism - in other words
What social forces and institutions (marriage, racial groups) are represented in the work? How are these forces portrayed? What is the author’s attitude toward them?
What political economic elements appear in the work? How important are they in determining or influencing the lives of the characters?
To what extent are the lives of the characters influenced or determined by social, political, and economic forces? To what extent are the characters aware of these forces?
Sociological Criticism in other words

8. Formalist Criticism- definition
The formalist perspective concentrates on the form of the literature itself.
“Formalist criticism regards literature as a unique form of human knowledge that needs to be examined on its own terms” (Kennedy 1468).
The main question formalists ask is:
What is the structure of the piece?
By structure, these critics investigate not only grammar and  syntax but also literary devices such as meter and tropes. The formalistic approach reduces the importance of a text’s historical, biographical, and cultural context but places emphasis on a work’s components.
Formalist Criticism definition

9. Formalist Criticism- definition
Another way of explaining it, the critic examines the literary work in a more scientific process: identifying the elements of the work and how they operate independent of the author.
Formalism allows the reader to analyze a literary piece with complete objectivity. However:
Formalist Criticism definition

10. Formalist Criticism- What it ignores
The name of the author is not important.
The time in which the author lived is not important.
Any cultural impact on the author’s life is not important.
The political beliefs of the author are not important.
The actual reader is not important. Likewise:
Formalist Criticism What it ignores

11. Formalist Criticism- What it Focuses on
Formalists believe that looking at the psychology and biography of the author inform the writing process, but not the composition itself (Kennedy 1469).
Formalism does not evaluate or consider the religious, moral, or political value of a piece.
Formalism does not evaluate or consider symbolism in a piece. It only mentions that it is there.
Formalism strives to force literary or artwork to stand on its own – the author and/or reader are not considered so the piece can be analyzed as a separate, independent entity.
Formalist Criticism What it Focuses on

12. Formalist Criticism- A checklist
How is the work structured or organized? How does it begin? Where does it go next? How does it end? What is the work’s plot? How is its plot related to its structure?
What is the relationship of each part of the work to the work as a whole? How are the parts related to one another?
Who is narrating or telling what happens in the work? How is the narrator, speaker, or character revealed to readers? How do we come to know and understand this figure?
What are the time/place of the work – the setting?
What kind of language does the author use to describe, narrate, explain, or otherwise create the world of the literary work?
Formalist Criticism A checklist

13. Formalist Criticism- A checklist
How is the work structured or organized? How does it begin? Where does it go next? How does it end? What is the work’s plot? How is its plot related to its structure?
What is the relationship of each part of the work to the work as a whole? How are the parts related to one another?
Who is narrating or telling what happens in the work? How is the narrator, speaker, or character revealed to readers? How do we come to know and understand this figure?
What are the time/place of the work – the setting?
What kind of language does the author use to describe, narrate, explain, or otherwise create the world of the literary work?
Formalist Criticism A checklist