1. Literary Criticism and Literary Theory
P. Wall

2. ENG 1B: Literary Criticism
ENG 1D: Argumentation

3. ENG 1B: Literary Criticism ENG 1D: Argumentation
Appreciation, evaluation, and interpretation
ENG 1D: Argumentation
Writing logically and persuasively

4. criticism (n)
The act of passing judgment; faultfinding.
A judgment of the quality of an artistic work.
The act of studying texts.

5. The study of texts:
Textual Criticism = studying the origin and authenticity of texts
Historical Criticism = studying the world in which texts were written
Literary Criticism = analyzing the content and style of texts for purposes of evaluation and interpretation

6. The study of texts:
Textual Criticism = studying the origin and authenticity of texts
Historical Criticism = studying the world in which texts were written
c. Literary Criticism = analyzing the content and style of texts for purposes of evaluation and interpretation

7. Interpretation: What Does the Text MEAN?

8. Option 1:
It means whatever it meant AT THE TIME IT WAS WRITTEN, to its ORIGINAL AUDIENCE.

9. Option 2:
It means whatever its AUTHOR intended it to mean.

10. It means whatever various READERS determine it to mean.
Option 3:
It means whatever various READERS determine it to mean.
Therefore it does not have one single meaning.

11. Option 4:
The text interprets itself.

12. Every interpreter functions in accordance with a particular literary theory. This theory will have a major influence on the interpreter’s conclusions.

13. The main reason interpreters don’t agree about particular works of literature is that they are operating under conflicting literary theories.

14. Here, then, are the main literary theories, also called schools of literary criticism.

15. 1. Psychological Criticism
Psychological critics explore inner motives of author, readers, and characters within a text.
They love symbolism and believe that a text’s meaning is determined by unconscious cultural and psychological beliefs.
Example: the deep, dark forest

16. 2. Formalism
Formalist critics focus on the text itself. They ignore the author, reader, the historical milieu in which the text was written, and other works of literature that might shed light on the text.
They focus exclusively on character, setting, plot, tone, symbols, etc.
An author interview would be pointless.

17. 3. Moral Criticism
Moral critics evaluate and interpret literature
from a particular moral or ethical standpoint:
Feminist criticism studies how literature reinforces or undermines the oppression of women.
Race criticism examines how literature reinforces or undermines racial attitudes.
Queer theory examines how literature reinforces or undermines gender stereotypes.
Marxist criticism examines issues of power, economics, politics, and religion in the relationships between powerful and powerless societies.
Ecocriticism studies the relationship between literature and our physical environment.

18. 4. Deconstructionism
This theory questions the possibility of
determining meaning at all in literature!

19. 5. Reader-Response Theory
The meaning of a text is not determined by the author or even by the text itself.
It is the READER who ultimately determines what a text means.

20. So… what kind of literary critic are YOU?