1. BBL 3103 LITERARY THEORY FROM PLATO TO T. S. ELIOT Dr. IDA BAIZURA BAHAR

2. 01 N ATURE OF L ITERARY C RITICISM i. Definition Literary criticism is the exercise of judgment upon literature ii. Diversity Most literary theories can be divided into: Aesthetic : inclusive; pure aesthetic appreciation; art-for-art’s sake Utilitarian : relating to real world; literature with social function Constant tension, vacillation between both iii. Function The evaluation, interpretation, explanation of literature

3. 02 T YPES OF L ITERARY C RITICISM i. Legislative A ‘how-to’ guide by a critic teaching a writer how to write ii. Judicial Neoclassical (derived from ancient Greeks) Author/work judged based on rules of classical composition iii. Theoretical Literary aesthetics Scope: literature in general, not a particular work iv. Evaluative Assessment of worth and significance of art Standards of evaluation may be aesthetic, moral, personal v. Historical A work set against historical context

4. 02 T YPES OF L ITERARY C RITICISM vi. Biographical A work set against personal life of the author vii. Comparative A work set against other similar works viii. Descriptive Analysis of existing literary works—aims, methods, effects ix. Impressionistic Analysis of the critic’s personal response to a work of art x. Textual/Ontological/Formalist No outside considerations, text as a thing in itself

5. 02 T YPES OF L ITERARY C RITICISM xi. Psychological/Psychoanalytic Based on psychological motivations of the author/characters Freudian, Jungian xii. Sociological/Marxist A work set against social milieu (akin to Historical Criticism.) Marxist: sociological, but using Marxist framework xiii. Archetypal A work’s relation to the collective unconscious (akin to Psychological Crit.) Jungian