CRITICAL

APPROACHES TO
LITERATURE
Literary Theory
LITERARY
THEORY
What is “literary theory?”
◻ The way people read texts
◻ The “lens” through which you view the literature
◻ There is no “right” way to look at literature
◻ All schools of thought think they are the “right”
way
The Creation of Critical Theory

◻ 20th Century: theories began

to emerge
◻ No theory is based in factual
knowledge- someone
created it and it is arguable
◻ Some theories are created in
opposition or response to
another theory
Using Theories
◻ Rigid application of a
theory can spoil a book
◻ Using multiple theories
can enhance the story
◻ This is an open ended
process- NOT a science
Critical Approaches to the Study of
Literature
Critical Approaches are different perspectives we
consider when looking at a piece of literature.
They seek to give us answers to these questions, in
addition to aiding us in interpreting literature.
1. What do we read?
2. Why do we read?
3. How do we read?
Critical Approaches to Consider
1. Reader-Response Criticism
2. Formalist Criticism
3. Psychological/Psychoanalytic Criticism
4. Sociological Criticism
A. Feminist/Gender Criticism
B. Marxist Criticism
5. Biographical Criticism
6. New Historicist 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 asserts that a great deal of
meaning in a text lies with how the reader responds to
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.
The text is a living thing that lives in the reader’s
imagination.

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?
Reader Response
◻ Making a connection
between your
experiences and the text
◻ Literature has no
objective meaning
◻ A reader brings their
own thoughts and
experiences
Reader Response

For Example:
◻ Connect the literature to your
life
◻ Connect the literature to current
events
◻ Discuss how the literature
makes you feel
◻ Compare the literature to the
way you view the world
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.”
Formalist Criticism
◻ Scientific “dissection”
of texts
◻ Focus on literary
elements
◻ Analyze: setting,
character, plot, theme,
imagery,
foreshadowing, irony,
etc.
 3. The Psychological/ Psychoanalytic
Approach
Psychological Criticism views a
text as a revelation of its author’s
mind and personality. It is based
on the work of Sigmund Freud.
Also focuses on the hidden
motivations of literary characters
Looks at literary characters as a
reflection of the writer
Psychological Criticism
◻ Deals with the work of literature
as a fictional expression of the
personality, state of mind,
feelings, and desires of the
author
◻ The idea is to evaluate the
psychology of the character or
the author to find meaning in the
text
 Common Assumptions of
Psychological Theory
◻ The author’s psychological conflicts are
revealed in his or her work
◻ Readers can do an in-depth analysis of the
characters as if they were real people
◻ The reader’s psychological analysis of a
piece of text might analyze the author’s
psychological state or the readers own
psychological state of mind
4. 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.
 4A. 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
4A. 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
 Marxist Criticism
◻ Based on the economic and
cultural theory of Karl Marx
◻ founder of communism
◻ Communism: a
statelessstateless, classless
society
◻ Wrote The Communist
Manifesto (1848)
May 5, 1818 – March 14, 1883
Marxist Criticism
◻ Marx believed that groups
of people that owned and
controlled major industries
could exploit the rest of the
population by forcing their
own values and beliefs onto
other social groups
How to Use Marxist Theory
◻ Focus on power and
money in the literature
◻ Who has the power or
money?
◻ Who does not?
◻ What happens as a
result?
4B. 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
4B. 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.
Feminist Criticism
◻ Realizes cultural and
economic problems in a
“patriarchal” society
◻ Realizes issues that have
hindered or prevented women
from achievement
◻ Recognizes that society sees
women as “other” to man
Common Assumptions of
Feminist Criticism
◻ Our civilization is pervasively patriarchal
◻ The concepts of “gender” are cultural constructs
Common Assumptions of
Feminist Criticism
◻ The patriarchal ideology pervades writing that has
been considered “great literature”
◻ “Great literature” lacks autonomous female role
models
◻ Primarily addresses male readers
◻ Makes the female reader an “outsider”- assumes
male values to identify
 Strategies for Using
Feminist Criticism
◻ Consider the gender of the author and the
characters- what role does gender or sexuality
play in this work?
◻ How are sexual stereotypes reinforced?
◻ How does the work reflect or distort the place of
women or men in society?
5. The Biographical Approach
Biographical Criticism
argues that we must take
an author’s life and
background into account
when we study a text.
5. 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.
Historical\Biographical
Criticism
According to Wilfred Guerin,
historical/biographical
criticisms
"...sees a literary work chiefly, if
not exclusively, as a reflection
of the author's life and times or
the life and times of the
characters in the work"
(Guerin, 22).
Common Assumptions of
Historical/Biographical Criticism

◻ Understanding the social structure or way of life

of a certain time period will help the reader draw
conclusions and better understand the story
◻ Discovering details about the author's life and
times will help the reader develop ideas about a
story
6. The New Historicist Approach
New Historicist Criticism argues that every literary
work is a product of its time and its world.
 6. The New Historicist Approach
New Historicism:
1. Provides background information necessary to

understand how literary texts were perceived in their

time.
2. Shows how literary texts reflect ideas and attitudes of the

time in which they were written.

◻ New historicist critics often compare the language in

contemporary documents and literary texts to reveal

cultural assumptions and values in the text.
New Historical Criticism
◻ New Historicism seeks to find meaning in a text by
considering the work within the framework of the
ideas and assumptions of its historical era
◻ Concerned with the political function of literature
and with the concept of power
New Historical Criticism
◻ Focused on revealing the historically specific
model of truth and authority (not a "truth" but a
"cultural construct") reflected in a given work.
◻ Literature will tell us about ways of thinking at the
time: ideas of social organization, prejudices,
taboos, etc.
 New Historical Criticism
◻ New Historicism is more "sociohistorical" than it is
a delving into facts
◻ concerned with cultural constructs of society
New Historical Criticism
◻ It's not just where would Keats have
seen a Grecian urn in England, but
from where he may have absorbed the
definitions of art and beauty
Archetypal Criticism
◻ Archetypes are
universal symbols that
appear in literature,
myth, dreams, oral
tradition, songs, etc.
Examples of Archetypes
Images such as:
water
sun
certain colors or numbers
circles
the serpent
garden
tree
desert
Examples of Archetypes
Characters such as:

“the hero”
"the earth mother"
"the soul mate"
"the trickster"
“the damsel in distress”
Examples of Archetypes
Ideas such as:

◻ Light vs. Darkness

◻ Good vs. Evil

◻ The Journey/Quest
Common Assumptions of
Archetypal Criticism
◻ Certain images recur in texts

◻ Certain characters/character types recur in texts

◻ Certain motifs and patterns recur in texts

Structuralism
◻ Structuralism is a way of thinking about the world
in relationship to structures
◻ Every element in the literature has no significance
by itself- it is determined by all the other elements
involved in the literature
◻ The literature is a stable, closed entity with definite
meaning
Postmodern Theory
◻ A reaction to
structuralism
◻ The reader can find
endless meaning
◻ There is no single
center, essence, or
meaning in the literature
Modern Vs. Postmodern
Theory
Modernist:
◻ WWI: The belief in human goodness is splintered
◻ Yeats says, “The center will not hold”
◻ People feel alienated from one another
◻ Can no longer could count on unifying beliefs or
behaviors
◻ Veered away from linearity or harmony
Modern Vs. Postmodern
Theory
Postmodernist:
◻ WWII: The Holocaust and atomic bomb took the
splintered views of modernism and destroyed them
entirely
◻ “There never was a center”
◻ Stresses absences, contradictions, sub-texts, and the
inability of language to connect one human being
with another
Modernism Vs.
Postmodernism
Modernism Postmodernism
◻ There is an absolute, ◻ There is no universal
universal truth that we truth. Rationality by
can understand itself does not help us
through rationalism truly understand the
and logic world
◻ "disenchantment with ◻ "There is no universal
material truth and truth, abstract or
search for abstract otherwise."
truth."
Many Modernists Think:
◻ Works of art can
provide the unity,
coherence, and meaning
which has been lost in
most of modern life
◻ Art will do what other
human institutions fail
to do
Postmodernists

◻ Postmodernism doesn’t mind fragmentation or

incoherence, but rather celebrates that lack of
meaning
◻ Let's not pretend that art can make meaning then, let's
just play with nonsense
(From Mary Klages, 2007)
Postmodern Theory
◻ No objective and absolute truth
◻ Rather, ideas are viewed as being social constructions
◻ It is a broad movement with many different writers,
often disagreeing among themselves