INTRODUCTION TO
LITERATURE
4 Orientation on Literary Criticism
Lia Dewinta
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Abrams’ orientation of literary criticism
mimetic
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objective
expressive
pragmatic
Mimetic

Art is essentially an imitation of aspect of the universe.

He got this idea by concluding the concept of imitation developed by Plato, Socrates
and Aristotle.

Thus, he asserted that mimetic theory is probably the most primitive theory.

As literature is imitation of the universe, we can say that theme and plot of literary
works are derived from reality.

The theories included in mimetic approach are those which deal with social issues.
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Expressive

It deals with the critical theories oriented towards the relation between the work and the
artist.

A work of art is an external manifestation of internal thoughts and feelings of the
author.

The author’s mind is the central point of attention in an expressive theory.

To fully understand the meaning of an art, analyst has to go deeper into author’s mind.

Thus, the theory used to analyze an art from expressive approach is psychology, focuses
on the psychology of the author.
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Pragmatic

Concern with the relation between text and audience/reader.

The purpose of art is to achieve an end. The value of an art is judged from its success of
achieving the end.

‘The end’ of an art is the audience.

To teach, to please and to move are the three aesthetic effects to be achieved upon a
reader.

For pragmatic, poetry is a means to achieve certain responses from its readers.

The theory uses to analyze literary work from pragmatic approach is reader response
and reception.
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Objective

Isolate a work of art and evaluate it as an independent entity.

The ultimate interpretation of an art can be gain solely from the work itself.

The analysis using objective approach deals with the internal aspect of the art which we
usually call as intrinsic elements.

The theories used are structuralism, formalism, deconstruction, philology.
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Reference

An Introduction to Literary Studies

Mirror and the Lamp