Introduction to Critical
Theory
Formalism and New Criticism
What do Literary Critics do?
• Literary critics make observations about and
connections between works of literature, and
between literature and its social and historical
contexts.
• A literary critic might…
– Explain how a certain literary effect is achieved using
examples from a work of literature.
– Explore how a work (or an author, or a group of
authors) treats a theme.
– Explore a work in the context of another academic
discipline.
What do Literary critics not do?
• Most literary critics are not interested in making
judgments about whether a work of literature is
“well written” or “poorly written.” If a literary
critic is writing about a work, he or she most
likely believes that there is something interesting
and worthwhile to say about it.
• Most literary critics are not interested in making
moral judgments about a work of literature. They
are usually not concerned about whether a book
is morally “bad” or “good,” and they don’t write
about the work in terms of “agreeing” or
“disagreeing” with it.
What is “Critical Theory”?
• A Critical Theory is like a set of “lenses” that literary
critics put on in order to bring certain elements of
the work into focus. As is true with real lenses, every
critical "lens" will make the work "look" a little bit
different.
• Every critical theory has a set of assumptions about
what is most important to look at in a work of
literature. By "trying on" these assumptions for
yourself, you can broaden your appreciation for the
work, and for the critical theory or strategy.
Critical "Lens:" Formalism
Formalism assumes that all that is needed in order to
interpret a poem or a work of literature is contained
within the poem itself.
Formalist critics…
• are mostly unconcerned about historical/cultural
context and biographical information about the
author.
• are very concerned with sound, form, word choice,
literary effects, and "close reading." ("Close reading"
is a detailed analysis of the literary effects produced
by a work without referring to outside influences.)
Formalism in a Nutshell:
• “A key belief underlying New Critical analysis [.
. .] is that literature expresses ‘universal’
meanings beyond its own time period and
cultural context. The New Critics asserted that
the sole task of the critic is to explore
precisely how, through language and form,
those meanings are expressed and powerfully
impressed upon readers” (Hall 14).
History of Formalism
• “New Criticism,” which is another name for
formalism, began in the 1920's as a reaction
against the a current trend in literary criticism
that New Critics (Formalists) did not like. Before
the New Critics, most literary criticism focused
heavily on the life of the author and concerns
outside of the literature itself.
Three Influential Formalist Critics:
• T.S. Elliot
• Robert Penn Warren
• Cleanth Brooks
If any of this sounds familiar…
• You are probably are already familiar with many of the
tools that formalists used to analyze literature, and you
may have already practiced formalist criticism yourself.
• This is because formalists were so influential that they
changed the way that literature (especially poetry) was
taught to elementary and high school students.
• So, if you have ever figured out the rhyme scheme of a
poem, discussed how alliteration draws attention to
certain words, or pointed out that a line break in just
that place in a poem enhances the theme of the whole
work, you have done what formalist critics do.
Formalism’s Continuing Impact
• The bad news (for fans of formalism): Not a lot of
literary critics write “pure” formalist criticism any
more. Most modern literary criticism does deal with
social and cultural contexts, a practice that Formalists
thought unnecessary.
• The good news: Every other type of literary criticism
uses the assumptions and vocabulary of Formalism as a
base to build on, and all of them share Formalism’s
assumption that a close reading of a work that pays
attention to word choice, sound, form, and other
literary elements is a vital part of the interpretive
process.
Questions formalists might ask:
• What are the effects produced by this work? (Formalists
differentiate between effects and feelings.) For example, they
might be drawn to the way Robert Browning cleverly unfolds
the story of "My Last Duchess" or the use of irony in
"Ozymandias."
• How do individual word choices, sound patterns, and other
literary devices combine to create this effect?
• What are some of the tensions in this work (between ideas,
between forces, between people…)? How do the things
discussed above (rhyme, sound patterns, imagery, etc.)
create, then heighten or lessen those tensions?
• Is this work internally consistent? How does it maintain that
consistency?
• If the work contains literary allusions, how do those allusions
function within the confines of the poem?
To Become Proficient at Formalism, a
Student Should…
• Be familiar with the vocabulary specific or common to the
study of literature. Concepts like “stanza,” “motif,” “metaphor,”
and “alliteration” are central to a Formalists discussion of how
a work of literature does what it does.
• Read an introduction to Formalist criticism. Many “Intro to
Critical/Literary Theory” books have chapters about
Formalism/New Criticism. Find one of these books and read
the chapter carefully, looking up unfamiliar words/concepts as
you go.
• Read examples of Formalist criticism. If a critic announces that
he/she is doing a “close reading” or an “explication” of a
poem, there’s a good chance that critic is relying heavily on
Formalist assumptions. (There’s even a journal called The
Explicator that only publishes close readings of works of
literature.)