Literary Critical Perspectives and Strategies The Art and Science of Interpretation
Objectives and Standards Objective: categorize, compare, and contrast various critical perspectives Distinguish between critical perspectives Standards: 11.3.7: Analyze the clarity and consistency of political assumptions (statements that take for granted something is true), beliefs, or intentions in a selection of literary works or essays on a topic. 11.3.8: Analyze the philosophical arguments presented in literary works to determine whether the authors’ positions have contributed to the quality of each work and the credibility of the characters.
What We Read. What is literature and who determines what counts as literature? What are the criteria for determining literary value?
Why We Read. What is literature’s place or role in society? Why should we study it? Why do we read?
How We Read. How do we read? How should we read? Where does a text’s meaning reside? What do we owe a text? What does a text owe us? How do a reader’s interests, experiences, and concerns shape/re-shape/misshape a text?
Formalist Perspectives Concerned with the text itself Meaning can be established and understood A text exists independent of a reader Great literature is universal “New” Criticism Texts are complex: characterized by tension, ambiguity, opposition, irony, levels of meaning Goal is to explain text’s organic unity
Reader-Response Criticism Since we can’t know what an author intended, a text is meaningless without a reader Readers create (rather than discover) meaning Meaning is process, not product To what degree does the text limit the reader?
Historical Perspectives Texts are a product of their time and place in history How does a text reflect, challenge, or betray the attitudes and ideas of its time How was it perceived/received in its time History creates context or background
Historical Perspectives “New Historical” Criticism Examines “real-life” texts, i.e. diaries and historical documents, alongside a literary text Attempts to ascertain any hidden assumptions, biases, or prevailing cultural attitudes History is not mere background, it is an equally important “text”
Historical Perspectives “Biographical” Criticism Facts about an author’s experience help readers make decisions Adds to reader appreciation knowing possible struggles of an author in creating a text How does an author’s experience translate to the text? What does this reveal about the author?
Psychological Perspectives A text is the revelation of an author’s mind or personality Requires an understanding of basic psychology: Interpreter applies a developmental concept to the text Can be applied to both author of a text and characters within a text
Political, or Sociological, Perspectives Interpretation influenced by status: gender, race, class, religion, and more Emphasizes power relations Belief that not all people have had equal access to writing, publishing, and reading Marxist and Feminist interpretations are examples
Deconstruction A “structuralist” perspective that emphasizes difference, and the instability of language Meaning through binary opposition: happy/sad, man/woman, black/white Encourages imaginative and playful reading, hoping to undermine conventional thinking, showing meaning to be open-ended and unstable
Other Perspectives Mythological: deals with archetypal symbols, universal story patterns Cultural Studies: an umbrella term for that includes political and sociological categories Includes interdisciplinary studies: women’s studies, Asian studies, Native American, Latino, etc.
Conclusions None of these are set in stone Multiple perspectives are often combined in the act of interpretation Which perspectives do you identify with? Which are intriguing to you? For which do you still have questions?