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Critical literary approaches we will be using throughout the year.

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Presentation on theme: "Critical literary approaches we will be using throughout the year."— Presentation transcript:

1 Critical literary approaches we will be using throughout the year.
Literary Criticism Critical literary approaches we will be using throughout the year.

2 FORMALIST STRATEGIES Focus on formal elements such as language, structure, and tone Looking at literature as an independent piece of art (not necessarily a reflection of the author’s mind or a historical event) Concern with relationship between form and meaning; concern with a unified reading Famous Formalists: “The New Critics” (1940s-1960s)

3 BIOGRAPHICAL STRATEGIES
Knowledge of an author’s life helps the reader understand the piece more fully Knowing author’s life could shed light on plot, setting, characters, and tone The New Critics argued biographical reading is a guessing game based on conjecture not fact Biographical readers claim it enhances the appreciation of the artist (Milton was blind; Beethoven was deaf)

4 Psychological Strategies
Looking at literature in terms of dreams, unconscious desires and impulses, sexual repression, and other Freudian concepts Used to analyze character, symbolism, author, and even YOU, the reader. Oedipus Complex: Derived from Sophocles' Oedipus the King, based on the premise that all boys have an unconscious rivalry with their dad for their mom’s affection (Electra Complex for girls)

5 Historical Strategies
Looking at literature as a window into the past that is more nuanced and more humanistic than other historical documents Using historical knowledge as a tool to shed light on various elements in a literary text (deciphering what historical occurrences influenced the plot, setting, characters, themes, etc.)

6 New Historicist Criticism
1960s: Emphasis on interaction between historical context and modern reader’s understanding Awareness that modern readers can choose which part of historical context to examine (understanding that the modern reader’s lens is biased or limited) Exploring ALL the dimensions of the historical context (economical, political, sociological, anthropological, etc.) instead of just choosing a few to examine

7 Marxist Criticism 1930s: Looking at literature as a means of furthering the working class’s social and economic goals (based on ideas of Karl Marx) Focus on literature’s ideologies and assumptions about culture, power, race, and class (thematic emphasis) Focus on how both literature and literary criticism can support or challenge economic suppression, how they can speak loudly even just by supporting the status quo

8 Cultural Criticism Focus on “pop culture” of the time (mass produced cultural artifacts, advertisements, TV, and music) Subset: Postcolonial Criticism- Study of the popular culture of formerly colonized regions

9 Gender Strategies Working under the premise that sex is biological (nature), while gender is learned (nurture) Feminist Criticism: Concerned with including a female consciousness in a male-dominated field; concerned with literary representations of women and how women use language Gay and Lesbian Criticism: Concerned with how homosexuals are depicted in literature

10 Mythological Strategies
Explores that which provokes deep universal responses from readers Accounts for how human beings represent their lives symbolically Analyzes the collective hopes, dreams, and expectations of entire cultures Looks for recurrent patterns that reveal basic human experiences and universal meanings Archetypes: Universal symbols that evoke deep, perhaps unconscious responses in readers (e.g. death, rebirth, seasons, bodies of water, rising/setting suns, nature)

11 Reader-Response Strategies
Puts all the focus on the reader and their active construction of a text (Readers create not discover) A text is not a finished product with fixed, formal properties One text can produce a multitude of interpretations There are limits, however. An interpretation is only valid if it is grounded in the text. Each reader brings their own socio-cultural values, life experiences, and age to the table when they analyze a test. Thus, literary analysis can also be an opportunity for self-discovery and introspection.

12 Deconstructionist Strategies
Based on the premise that literary works do not yield fixed meanings There can never be absolute knowledge about anything because language can never say what we intend it to mean Language is not a precise instrument but a power with meanings caught in a web of possibilities Any statement or idea can be deconstructed to reveal contradictory or opposite meanings While New Critics are concerned with unified meaning, Deconstructionists are concerned with gaps and ambiguity, with provisional meaning

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