What is Literary Criticism?
Schools of literary criticism are like sunglasses
specially designed for driving.
Driving glasses make red and green particularly
bright to the wearer.
Different theories make particular aspects of a
piece of writing more obvious or crucial to the
analyst.
Why learn this?
Looking at a novel, story, or poem through a particular
lens helps us to notice things we wouldn’t otherwise.
Some schools of thought are more relevant to a given
work than others.
Discussions about relevant approaches to literature are
excellent practice in critical thinking.
So, what have we been
doing so far?
We have used the New Critical approach thus far.
The New Critical approach suggests breaking down a
work in terms of themes, symbols, and characterization
internally, seeking to attach meaning to literary elements.
We have also approached literature study from the historic,
archetypal, and multicultural lenses. More on this later…
What other “lenses” are
there?
Feminist
Reader-Response
Marxist
Historical
Multicultural
Others
Psychoanalytic
Formalism
Environmentalism
Feminist Criticism
A feminist critic sees cultural and economic
disabilities in a patriarchal society that have
hindered or prevented women from realizing their
creative possibilities
Feminist critics see males as the dominant force,
with women relegated to the role of defining
objects for men.
Assumptions of
Feminist Criticism
1. Our civilization is pervasively patriarchal.
2. Concepts of gender are cultural constructs affected
by patriarchal biases.
3. The patriarchal ideology pervades those writings that
have been considered great literature. Those
writings:
-lack autonomous female role models
-are implicitly addressed to male readers
-leave woman readers as outsiders
So, if I ask you to apply
feminist criticism…
Examine the patterns of thought and behavior in
male-female relationships.
Seek to identify values put forth about men and
women’s roles.
Look at the role of enfranchisement and power
in relations between the sexes.
Feminism and Current Works
In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Hermione is
initially depicted as unattractive, both physically and
socially. Would a smart young wizard get the same
treatment? Why is the most evil instructor at
Hogwarts a woman (Professor Umbridge)?
In The Hunger Games, although Katniss is very strong,
her mother’s weakness after her father’s death brings
the family to poverty. Although strong, she would
initially be described as masculine (a good hunter, a
risk-taker) and struggles to be feminine (she is afraid
to twirl in a dress).
Marxist Criticism
Assumptions
Human history is determined by the changing mode of its material
production--its basic economic organization.
Historical changes in the fundamental mode of production effect
essential changes in the power relations of social classes, which
carry on a conflict for economic, political, and social advantage.
A Marxist critic typically explains the literature in any era by
revealing the economic, class, and ideological determinants of
the way an author writes, and he/ she examines the relationship
of the text to the social reality of the time and place.
So if I ask you to apply Marxist
criticism…
Ask yourself: Who has the power and money in
the piece of literature?
Ask yourself: Who lacks these assets?
Ask yourself: Why is that?
Ask yourself: What is the effect?
Marxism in Current Works
The premise of The Hunger Games is based on
power concentrated in the hands of a wealthy
minority who manipulate a poor majority
through fear.
In Harry Potter, the Weasleys’ lack of wealth
(versus, say, the Malfoy family) is a recurrent
topic. The distinction between Pureblood and
Muggle-born (“Mudblood”) wizards is another
source of conflict.
Psychoanalytic Criticism
Psychoanalytic criticism deals with a work of
literature primarily as an expression of the
personality, state of mind, feelings, and desires
of its author.
The assumption of psychoanalytic critics is that a
work of literature is correlated with its author’s
life and mental traits.
Terminology of
Psychoanalytical Criticism
Freud
ID
EGO
SUPEREGO
Oedipus & Electra Complex
How to apply
psychoanalytical criticism:
Learn a little bit about the author, then look for
potential links between the work of fiction and
important elements of the author’s life.
Identify symbols of key assumptions.
Identify what issues the author seems to be
“working out” in the text.
Some examples:
Shakespeare had a son, Hamnet, who died
as a child. This tragedy caused
Shakespeare immense grief, even rage.
These emotions are expressed very clearly in
his play Hamlet.
Harper Lee calls To Kill a Mockingbird a
“simple love story.” She had a father who
was a lawyer in the South.
Back to Hogwarts…
J.K. Rowling was a single mother dependent
on social welfare. Most of her “hero, or
sympathetic characters are of a status that
causes them to be looked down upon.
Harry: orphan
Ron & Ginny: poor family
Hermione: Muggle-born
Hagrid: half-giant
Historical Criticism
Using this theory requires that you apply to a text
specific historical information about the time
during which an author wrote.
History, in this case, refers to the social, political,
economic, cultural, and/or intellectual climate
of the time.
How to apply historical
criticism:
Determine the year, or span of years, in which a
work was completed.
Research major events, issues, and concerns of
that time; then, look for links to the themes,
symbols, events, and characters of the work at
hand.
Examples
The play The Crucible is set in Puritan New
England and revolves around the Salem witch
trials. Arthur Miller wrote it in the 1950s and many
of the events and themes reflect his disgust with
the Communist “witch hunts” he observed.
Many authors of the World War I era, including F.
Scott Fitzgerald, were deeply affected by the
“war to end all wars,” and therefore their
characters embody a sense of loss, depression,
and disconnection.
Harry Potter Works With
Everything
J. K. Rowling used the Harry Potter series to convey
her thoughts on important contemporary social
issues, including class divisions (Chamber of Secrets),
the prison system (Prisoner of Azkaban), and the
British education system (Order of the Phoenix).
Reader-Response Theory
Suggests that literature does not, on its own,
have any substantial meaning.
Rather, meaning derives from the interaction
between the individual reader and the text.
If I ask you to use readerresponse analysis…
Identify key features of the text.
Identify your essential characteristics or beliefs.
Look for ways they cross, connect, contradict, or
relate to each other in interesting ways.
The Phantom Tollbooth
& Me
This novel is about a boy who is
always bored or who tires of any
activity very easily.
Milo is very independent and has no
obvious parental oversight.
The novel contains a tremendous
amount of melodrama; for
example, Milo ventures to a land
where Rhyme and Reason have
been banished…literally. They are
two girls who Milo must free from a
sky prison. “
CHAOS LURKS.
The novel relies heavily on
wordplay, searching for meaning,
and wit.
As a child, I was very bored in
school. I was much happier reading
or in unstructured environments.
My parents were very supportive,
but I couldn’t always talk with them
about certain topics, and I couldn’t
always have the autonomy I
wanted. Milo’s independence
appealed to me.
As a high school teacher,
encounter unpredictable situations
daily.
I love words of all kinds. I also love
learning.
Assumptions of
Multiculturalism
Race is biological, but culture is environmental.
Literature can reinforce prejudices.
Multicultural critics want us to learn about other
cultures correctly. They believe that:
1. every human being deserves to be treated with integrity.
2. educators should teach about multi-cultural authors.
3. stories that are truthful about other cultures are celebrated
4. stories that have stereotypes or prejudices are identified/
challenged
If I ask you to use
multicultural analysis….
1. Find all of the cultures in the literature,
especially minority cultures.
2. Try to see how each culture is portrayed in the
text.
3. Comment on stereotypical language and
assumptions found in the text.
Examples
John Steinbeck’s novels challenge stereotypical
beliefs about and the treatment of African
Americans in mid-century America. For example, he
portrays the black farm hand, Crooks, in a
sympathetic light.
Sandra Cisneros depicts the firm bond of Latino
families in A House on Mango Street. Cisneros
provides a rare glimpse of the both minority culture
and minority experience.