Lecture Literary criticism - Lecture 1: Introduction to literary criticism

INTRODUCTION TO LITERARY CRITICISM
LITERARY CRITICISM
Literary criticism is the art of judging and commenting on the
qualities and character of literary works.


PURPOSES OF LITERALY CRITICISM
• To help us solve a problem in reading
• To help us choose the better of two conflicting
readings
• To enable us to form judgments about literature


APPROACHES IN LITERARY CRITICISM
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HISTORICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL APPROACH.
MORAL/PHILOSOPHICAL APPROACH.
MIMETIC APPROACH.
FORMALISM/NEW CRITICISM.
PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH.
MYTHOLOGICAL/ARCHETYPAL/SYMBOLIC APPROACH.

FEMINIST APPROACH.
READER RESPONSE CRITICISM APPROACH.
STRUCTURALISM.
DECONSTRUCTION.


HISTORICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL APPROACH
Author’s
life & time
Character’s


ADVANTAGES
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This works well for some works which are political in nature
Also works in order to place allusions in their proper classical political
biblical background


DISADVANTAGES
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New critics criticize it because according to historic approach the value
or meaning of the work maybe determines by “Intentional faliacy”
This approach tends to make it relative rather than universal.

MORAL/PHILOSOPHICAL APPROACH
These critics believe that the larger purpose of
literature is to teach morality and to probe
philosophical issues.
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Mathew Arnold: “high seriousness”
Plato: “Literature must exhibit moralism and utilization”
Horace:”Literature should be delightful and instructive”


ADVANTAGES
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For works which have obvious moral philosophy
When considering themes of works
It does not view literature merely as “art” isolated from all moral
implications literature.


DISADVANTAGES
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Detractors:This approach is “judgemental”.
Literature should be judged on its artistic merit.

MIMETIC APPROACH

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Mimetic critics ask how well the work of literature accords with the real
world
Is it accurate?
Is it correct?
Is it moral?
Does it show how people really act?
Mimetic approach includes:
•Moral criticism.
•Psychological criticism.
•Feminist criticism.


FORMALISM/NEW CRITICISM
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All information essential to the interpretation of a work must be found
within the work.No need to bring the information from the outside about
author’s life,history and politics of the time.

It is not interested in the piece of literature’s effect on the reader.
It does not observe a piece of literature through the lens of
feminism,psychology & mythology.


FORMALIST CRITIC STUDY
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Irony.
Paradox.
Imagery.
Metaphor.
Settings.
Characters.
Symbols
Point of view.


TERMS USED IN NEW CRITICISM
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Tension
Intentional fallacy.
Affective fallacy.
External form.
Objective correlative.


ADVANTAGES
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This approach makes literature time less.
This can be done without much research.
All approaches begin at this.


DISADVANTAGES
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Text in isolation i-e cannot account for allusion.
Out of context i-e a collection of rhetorical.


PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH
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Critics look at the psychological motivation of the characters or the author
although the former one is considered a more valid approach.
(a) Freudian Approach:
• Discusses influences of a character’s id, ego & superego.
• Discusses the sexual implications of symbols and imagery.
• Concave images.
• Phallic images
• Oedipus complex.
• Freud’s philosophy of Child development i-e oral stage,anal stage & genital
stage.
(b) Jungian Approach:
• Archetypal criticism.
• Psychologic critics concerned with Jung’s process of “inviduation”
• Self including shadow(villian-the darker self),persona(hero-the social self) and
the anima(heroine-the soul image).


ADVANTAGES
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Can help in understanding works where characters have obvious
psychological image.
Knowing about the writer’s psychological approach can give us an
insight into his work.


DISADVANTAGES
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A work of art can become a psychological case study.
Tend to see sex in everything.
Some works do not tend readily to this approach.


MYTHOLOGICAL/ARCHETYPAL/SYMBOLIC
APPROACH.
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This approach says that there is a collection of
symbols,images,characters and motifs that woke the same response in
all people because Jung believes in “collective unconcious”.
• Myth critics identify these patterns.
• discuss how they function in the works.
• Believe that they are the source of literature’s power.
e–g
• Desert:emptiness,death and hopelessness.
• Red:blood,passion,sacrifice.
• Green:growth,fertility.


ADVANTAGES
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Universality.
Works well with the worls that are highly symbolic.

DISADVANTAGES
• Focus on the archetype and ignore the “art”aspect of
a piece of literature.


FEMINIST APPROACH
Focuses on
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Impact of gender on writing and reading.
Begins with a critique of patriarchal culture.
Often political and revisionist
They say that gender determines everything or just the opposite.
They argue that male fears are portrayed through female characters.


ELAINE SHOWALTER’S THEORY
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She argues that literary sub cultures go through three phasesof
development.
• These stages for literature by/about women are:
(a) The feminine stage(immitation of the prevailing modes of domination).
(b) The feminist stage(protest against the prevailing standard).
(c) The female stage(phase of self discovery).

- a turning inward.
- a search for identity.


ADVANTAGES
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Women have been underpresented in literature this approach
redreses the problem.


DISADVANTAGES
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Turns literary criticims into a political battle field.
It ignores other merits of the works they considered “patriarchal”
They relegate women literature to a particular class thus removing it
from the main stream.