CRITICAL
APPROACHES TO
LITERATURE
Literary Theory
Critical approaches to literature
The simplest definition of a
critical approach to literature is:
the lens through which we
understand a piece of writing
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Some critical approaches to consider
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Reader-Response Criticism
Formalist Criticism
Sociological Criticism
A. Feminist/Gender Criticism
B. Marxist Criticism
Biographical Criticism
Historical Criticism
New Historicist Criticism
Deconstructionist Criticism
Questions to Ponder for Each
Theory/Approach
What are the benefits of
each form of criticism?
 What are potential problems
with each form?
 Is there a “right” or a
“wrong” form?
 Can the mode of criticism
alter the entire meaning of a
text?

1. The Reader-Response Approach
Reader-Response Criticism: studies the interaction of
reader with text, holding the text as incomplete until it
is read. This critical approach can be, and often is,
combined with other approaches. Also, it:
Focuses on the act of reading and how it affects our
perception of meaning in a text (how we feel at the
beginning vs. the end).
 Deals more with the process of creating meaning and
experiencing a text as we read. A text is an experience,
not an object.
 Believes there is no single, fixed interpretation for any work.
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READER + READING SITUATION + TEXT = MEANING
1. The Reader-Response Approach
2 Important Ideas in Reader-Response
1.
An individual reader’s interpretation
usually changes over time.
2.
Readers from different generations and
different time periods interpret texts
differently.
Ultimately… How do YOU feel about what
you have read? What do YOU think it
means?
2. The Formalist Approach
Formalist Criticism emphasizes the form of a literary
work to determine its meaning, focusing on literary
elements and how they work to create meaning.
 Examines
a text as independent from its time period,
social setting, and author’s background. A text is an
independent entity.
 Focuses on close readings of texts and analysis of the
effects of literary elements and techniques on the text.
2. The Formalist Approach
Two Major Principles of Formalism
1.
A literary text exists independent
of any particular reader and, in a
sense, has a fixed meaning.
2.
The greatest literary texts are
“timeless” and “universal.”
A formalist reading of “The 3 Little Pigs”
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What does the wolf symbolize?
Notice the consonance of “I’ll huff and I’ll puff…”
How does the story foreshadow the final fate of the
pigs?
What does the wolf’s dialogue tell us about his
character?
3. The Sociological Approach
Sociological criticism argues that social
contexts (the social environment) must be
considered when analyzing a text.
 Focuses on the values of a society and
how those views are reflected in a text
 Emphasizes the economic, political,
and cultural issues within literary texts
 Core Belief: Literature is a reflection
of its society.
3A. The Marxist Approach
Marxist Criticism emphasizes
economic and social
conditions. It is based on
the political theory of Karl
Marx and Friedrich Engels.
 Concerned with
understanding the role of
power, politics, and
money in literary texts
3A. The Marxist Approach
Marxist Criticism examines literature to see how
it reflects
1. The way in which dominant groups
(typically, the majority) exploit the
subordinate groups (typically, the minority)
2. The way in which people become
alienated from one another through power,
money, and politics
3A. Questions in Marxist theory
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Whom does it benefit if the work or effort is
accepted/successful/believed, etc.?
What is the social class of the author?
Which class does the work claim to represent?
What values does it reinforce?
What values does it subvert?
What conflict can be seen between the values the work
champions and those it portrays?
What social classes do the characters represent?
How do characters from different classes interact or
conflict?
3B. Feminist/Gender Approach

Feminist Criticism examines works by and about
women. Gender Criticism evolved out of feminism
to address issues of masculinity/femininity as
binaries, sexual orientation, heterosexism, and
differences in sexes. Both are typically concerned
with fair representation and treatment of people. A
critic using Feminist Studies or Gender Studies might
ask, "How is gender constructed or deconstructed in
this text? Is the view of the text gendered or sexist?"
3B. The Feminist Approach
Feminist Criticism is concerned with
the role, position, and influence of
women in a literary text.
 Asserts that most “literature”
throughout time has been
written by men, for men.
 Examines the way that the
female consciousness is
depicted by both male and
female writers.
3B. The Feminist Approach
4 Basic Principles of Feminist Criticism
1.
Western civilization is patriarchal.
2.
The concepts of gender are mainly cultural
ideas created by patriarchal societies.
3.
Patriarchal ideals pervade “literature.”
4.
Most “literature” through time has been
gender-biased.
A Feminist reading of “Goldilocks”
As a single, young woman, Goldilocks finds
herself without means or opportunity because
she is unattached to a father or a husband.
Perhaps this is why she’s alone in the woods.
 An independent woman, then, is a threat to the
“normal” nuclear family, represented by the
three bears.
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4. The Biographical Approach
Biographical Criticism
argues that we must take
an author’s life and
background into account
when we study a text.
4. The Biographical Approach
Three Benefits:
1.
Facts about an author’s experience can help a
reader decide how to interpret a text.
2.
A reader can better appreciate a text by knowing
a writer’s struggles or difficulties in creating that
text.
3.
A reader can understand a writer’s preoccupation
by studying the way they apply and modify their
own life experiences in their works.
5. The Historical Approach
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It is concerned with how the author’s original audience
would have understood the writing. It takes into account
the author’s biography and the time and place in which
the author wrote.
For example—How accurate is Arthur Miller’s depiction of
the Salem Witch trials?
Miller wrote the play in the 1950’s. Would his audience
have connected McCarthyism and the people of Salem?
What aspects of America’s political climate from the
1950’s matter to this work?
6. The New Historicist Approach
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New Historicism is a literary theory based on the
idea that literature should be studied and
interpreted within the context of both the history of
the author and the history of the critic.
New Historicism acknowledges not only that a work
of literature is influenced by its author's times and
circumstances, but that the critic's response to that
work is also influenced by his environment, beliefs,
and prejudices.
New Historicists
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Believe "history" cannot be truly objective or
comprehensive because it is constantly written and
rewritten
Believe studying the historical context of a work can
illuminate our biases and hopefully enable us to
understand the text (and the culture, context,
ourselves) better.
Historicism vs. New Historicism
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Historians ask, 'What happened?' and 'What does the event
tell us about history?' In contrast, new historicists ask, 'How
has the event been interpreted?' and 'What do the
interpretations tell us about the interpreters?'" (278).
New historicists do not believe that we can look at history
objectively, but rather that we interpret events as products
of our time and culture and that "...we don't have clear
access to any but the most basic facts of history...our
understanding of what such facts mean...is...strictly a matter
of interpretation, not fact" (279). Moreover, New Historicism
holds that we are hopelessly subjective interpreters of what
we observe.
And in case this hasn’t overwhelmed your brain…
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There is always
Deconstructionist theory
7) Deconstructionist Approach (simplified)
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Deconstructionists believe that language cannot
accurately represent reality.
It seeks to break down binaries—good/bad,
mind/body, rational/emotional, man/woman
They believe that literary texts cannot possibly have
a single meaning.
Ex. What does this sentence mean to you?
 Time
flies like an arrow.
A deconstructed text—
from OWL/Purdue University
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Time (noun) flies (verb) like an arrow (adverb
clause) = Time passes quickly.
Time (verb) flies (object) like an arrow (adverb
clause) = Get out your stopwatch and time the
speed of flies as you would time an arrow's flight.
Time flies (noun) like (verb) an arrow (object) =
Time flies are fond of arrows (or at least of one
particular arrow).
Did your brain just implode?
Deconstruction in the news
"It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is."
 Bill
Clinton, during his 1998 grand jury testimony on the
Monica Lewinsky affair
Deconstructionism
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There is much more to this. If it interests you, talk to
me about the founders of this theory.