Literary criticism involves analyzing literature through various theoretical lenses to interpret meaning and significance. The document discusses several major approaches to literary criticism including formalism, reader-response criticism, structuralism, biographical criticism, sociological criticism such as feminist and Marxist approaches, new historicism, psychoanalytic criticism, and mythological approaches. Each lens provides a different perspective for examining elements such as language, structure, context, reader experience, social forces, and psychological themes within a text.
The term "South Asian literature" refers to the literary works of writers from the Indian subcontinent and its diaspora. ... South Asian literature is written in English as well as the many national and regional languages of the region.
This Presentation Made as a Part of Group activity in context of Comparative Study'. This Presentation based upon the article "Comparative Literature and Culture" by Amiya Dev which was published by Purdue University Press
The term "South Asian literature" refers to the literary works of writers from the Indian subcontinent and its diaspora. ... South Asian literature is written in English as well as the many national and regional languages of the region.
This Presentation Made as a Part of Group activity in context of Comparative Study'. This Presentation based upon the article "Comparative Literature and Culture" by Amiya Dev which was published by Purdue University Press
Matthew Arnold (24 December 1822 – 15 April 1888) was an English poet and cultural critic who worked as an inspector of schools. He was the son of Thomas Arnold, the famed headmaster of Rugby School, and brother to both Tom Arnold, literary professor, and William Delafield Arnold, novelist and colonial administrator.
During this time Arnold wrote the bulk of his most famous critical works, Essays in Criticism (1865) and Culture and Anarchy (1869), in which he sets forth ideas that greatly reflect the predominant values of the Victorian era.
Function of Criticism by T.S Eliot, Why Criticism in Literature?, Four Parts of the essay “Function of Criticism”, Tradition and the Individual Talent, I Part: Eliot’s views on critic and critical work of art, II Part: John Middleton Murry’s Essay and Eliot’s Contradiction, III Part: Eliot’s criticism of Murry and function of criticism, IV Part: Relation of Criticism with creative work of art
The concept of imagination in biographia literariaDayamani Surya
Samuel Taylor Coleridge in his Biographia Literature considered that the mind can be divided into two faculties called as imagination and fancy.
Imagination is further divided into two types namely Primary Imagination and Secondary Imagination.
Matthew Arnold (24 December 1822 – 15 April 1888) was an English poet and cultural critic who worked as an inspector of schools. He was the son of Thomas Arnold, the famed headmaster of Rugby School, and brother to both Tom Arnold, literary professor, and William Delafield Arnold, novelist and colonial administrator.
During this time Arnold wrote the bulk of his most famous critical works, Essays in Criticism (1865) and Culture and Anarchy (1869), in which he sets forth ideas that greatly reflect the predominant values of the Victorian era.
Function of Criticism by T.S Eliot, Why Criticism in Literature?, Four Parts of the essay “Function of Criticism”, Tradition and the Individual Talent, I Part: Eliot’s views on critic and critical work of art, II Part: John Middleton Murry’s Essay and Eliot’s Contradiction, III Part: Eliot’s criticism of Murry and function of criticism, IV Part: Relation of Criticism with creative work of art
The concept of imagination in biographia literariaDayamani Surya
Samuel Taylor Coleridge in his Biographia Literature considered that the mind can be divided into two faculties called as imagination and fancy.
Imagination is further divided into two types namely Primary Imagination and Secondary Imagination.
In this ppt you know about how formalist do literary analysis of any text. They focus on different things like
Form
Diction
Unity
These three basic things focus on formalist analysis of any literary text especially poem.
In this ppt you also find comprehensive information about reader Response Theory.
And different types of reader Response Theory.
In this you will learn about New Criticism.
You will learn Traditional Critical Practice.
You will learn about characteristics of New practical critisim.
You will also learn waht is Formalism.
What is close reading method of Formalism.
Take the quiz to discover what poem you have been assigned to discus.docxbriankimberly26463
Take the quiz to discover what poem you have been assigned to discuss this week;
"On Being Brought From Africa to America" By: Phillis Wheatley
2.Look through the critical approaches in the Week 4 lesson, and CHOOSE 2 that you think could be used to analyze the poem you chose.
Literary Critical Theory:
Interpretive Strategies
1. Historicism considers the literary work in light of "what really happened" during the period reflected in that work. It insists that to understand a piece, we need to understand the author's biography and social background, ideas circulating at the time, and the cultural milieu. Historicism also "finds significance in the ways a particular work resembles or differs from other works of its period and/or genre," and therefore may involve source studies. It may also include examination of philology and linguistics. It is typically a discipline involving impressively extensive research.
2. New Criticism examines the relationships between a text's ideas and its form, "the connection between what a text says and the way it's said." New Critics/Formalists "may find tension, irony, or paradox in this relation, but they usually resolve it into unity and coherence of meaning." New Critics look for patterns of sound, imagery, narrative structure, point of view, and other techniques discernible on close reading of "the work itself." They insist that the meaning of a text should not be confused with the author's intentions nor the text's affective dimension--its effects on the reader. The objective determination as to "how a piece works" can be found through close focus and analysis, rather than through extraneous and erudite special knowledge.
3. Archetypal criticism "traces cultural and psychological 'myths' that shape the meaning of texts." It argues that "certain literary archetypes determine the structure and function of individual literary works," and therefore that literature imitates not the world but rather the "total dream of humankind." Archetypes (recurring images or symbols, patterns, universal experiences) may include motifs such as the quest or the heavenly ascent, symbols such as the apple or snake, or images such as crucifixion--all laden with meaning already when employed in a particular work.
4. Psychoanalytic criticism adopts the methods of "reading" employed by Freud and later theorists to interpret what a text really indicates. It argues that "unresolved and sometimes unconscious ambivalences in the author's own life may lead to a disunified literary work," and that the literary work is a manifestation of the author's own neuroses. Psychoanalytic critics focus on apparent dilemmas and conflicts in a work and "attempt to read an author's own family life and traumas into the actions of their characters," realizing that the psychological material will be expressed indirectly, encoded (similar to dreams) through principles such as "condensation," "displacement," and "symbolism."
5. Femini.
Browse these common theories. When considered singularly and collectively, they're useful approaches to great works of literature for interpreting and finding meaning.
Ethnobotany and Ethnopharmacology:
Ethnobotany in herbal drug evaluation,
Impact of Ethnobotany in traditional medicine,
New development in herbals,
Bio-prospecting tools for drug discovery,
Role of Ethnopharmacology in drug evaluation,
Reverse Pharmacology.
The Indian economy is classified into different sectors to simplify the analysis and understanding of economic activities. For Class 10, it's essential to grasp the sectors of the Indian economy, understand their characteristics, and recognize their importance. This guide will provide detailed notes on the Sectors of the Indian Economy Class 10, using specific long-tail keywords to enhance comprehension.
For more information, visit-www.vavaclasses.com
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What is the purpose of the Sabbath Law in the Torah. It is interesting to compare how the context of the law shifts from Exodus to Deuteronomy. Who gets to rest, and why?
We all have good and bad thoughts from time to time and situation to situation. We are bombarded daily with spiraling thoughts(both negative and positive) creating all-consuming feel , making us difficult to manage with associated suffering. Good thoughts are like our Mob Signal (Positive thought) amidst noise(negative thought) in the atmosphere. Negative thoughts like noise outweigh positive thoughts. These thoughts often create unwanted confusion, trouble, stress and frustration in our mind as well as chaos in our physical world. Negative thoughts are also known as “distorted thinking”.
This is a presentation by Dada Robert in a Your Skill Boost masterclass organised by the Excellence Foundation for South Sudan (EFSS) on Saturday, the 25th and Sunday, the 26th of May 2024.
He discussed the concept of quality improvement, emphasizing its applicability to various aspects of life, including personal, project, and program improvements. He defined quality as doing the right thing at the right time in the right way to achieve the best possible results and discussed the concept of the "gap" between what we know and what we do, and how this gap represents the areas we need to improve. He explained the scientific approach to quality improvement, which involves systematic performance analysis, testing and learning, and implementing change ideas. He also highlighted the importance of client focus and a team approach to quality improvement.
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2. Literary criticism is the study, discussion, evaluation,
and interpretation of literature.
DEFINITION …
3. "Literary criticism is the evaluation of literary works.
This includes the classification by genre, analysis of
structure, and judgement of value."
Let's try again …
5. Literary criticism is the method used to interpret any
given work of literature. The different schools of
literary criticism provide us with lenses which
ultimately reveal important aspects of the literary
work.
In my own words …
6. Talking about experiences enhances our
enjoyment of them
Talking about experiences involves the search
for meaning which increases our
understanding of them
Because Socrates said so: "The life which is
unexamined is not worth living."
Why do we have to analyze
everything????
7. Literary criticism helps us to understand what is
important about the text
its structure
its context: social, economic, historical
what is written
how the text manipulates the reader
To further explain …
8. Literary criticism helps us to understand the
relationship between authors, readers, and
texts
The act of literary criticism ultimately
enhances the enjoyment of our reading of
the literary work
And there's more …
9. Literary Criticism
Literary criticism has two main functions:
1. To analyze, study, and evaluate works of literature.
2. To form general principles for the examination of
works of literature.
10. What is literary theory?
The capacity to generalize about phenomena and to
develop concepts that form the basis for interpretation
and analysis—in this instance, of a “literary” text.
11. 1. Formalism
2. Marxism
3. Feminism
4. Psychoanalytic
5. Cultural Criticism
6. Structuralism
7. Post-structuralism
8. Archetypal
YOU'RE GOING TO STUDY EIGHT
PARADIGMS …
12. Author intention
Reader Response
Biological
Cognitive scientific
Moralist
Queer
Socio-political
Sociological
And so many more …
But there are many more …
13. 1. The World
2. The Author
3. The Text
Other
Texts
Real
World
4. The Reader
Beyond the
World
Text =
Objective
reality
Formalism: the TEXT (as art)
Structuralism: the TEXT (as language system)
Psychoanalytic: AUTHOR/READER/text
Reader Response: READER/TEXT/community
of readers w/shared values
THE 4 CRITICAL
VARIABLES of LITERARY
THEORY & CRITICISM
Text = Ideologically
constructed
language
ITS CONTEXT
Text = Symbol,
Archetype
Gender Studies: WORLD/author/text/reader
Postcolonial: AUTHOR/world/text/reader
Marxist: WORLD/text
Territorial: TEXT/[reader/ author/world])
14. The work itself is placed in the center because all
approaches must deal, to some extent or another,
with the text itself.
Formalism and deconstruction are placed here also
because they deal primarily with the text and not with
any of the outside considerations such as author, the
real world, audience, or other literature. Meaning,
formalists argue, is inherent in the text. Because
meaning is determinant, all other considerations are
irrelevant.
Deconstructionists also subject texts to careful,
formal analysis; however, they reach an opposite
conclusion: there is no meaning in language.
Understanding the Map
15. A historical approach relies heavily on the author and
his world. In the historical view, it is important to
understand the author and his world in order to
understand his intent and to make sense of his work.
In this view, the work is informed by the author's
beliefs, prejudices, time, and history, and to fully
understand the work, we must understand the author
and his age.
An intertextual approach is concerned with
comparing the work in question to other literature, to
get a broader picture.
Reader-Response is concerned with how the work is
viewed by the audience. In this approach, the reader
creates meaning, not the author or the work.
Cont'd …
16. Mimetic criticism seeks to see how well a work
accords with the real world (is it accurate? correct?
moral? ).
Then, beyond the real world are approaches dealing
with the spiritual and the symbolic--the images
connecting people throughout time and cultures
(archetypes). This is mimetic in a sense too, but the
congruency looked for is not so much with the real
world as with something beyond the real world--
something tying in all the worlds/times/cultures
inhabited by humans.
Cont'd …
17. The Psychological approach is placed outside these poles
because it can fit in many places, depending how it is
applied:
(1) Historical if diagnosing the author himself
(2) Mimetic if considering if characters are acting by "real
world" standards and with recognizable psychological
motivations
(3) Archetypal when the idea of the Jungian collective
unconscious is included
(4) Reader-Response when the psychology of the reader--
why he sees what he sees in the text--is examined.
Cont'd …
18. Likewise, Feminist, Minority, Marxist, and other such
approaches may fit in:
(1) Historical if the author's attitudes are being
examined in relation to his times (i.e. was
Shakespeare a feminist for his times, though he might
not be considered so today?)
(2) Mimetic--when asking how well characters accord
with the real world. Does a black character act like a
black person would, or is he a stereotype? Are women
being portrayed accurately? Does the work show a
realistic economic picture of the world?
Cont'd …
19. What does this literary work mean?
Different approaches or lenses help us to
discover rich and deeper meaning
Each lens has its strengths and weaknesses
Each lens is valuable
Try to become a pluralist rather than an
inflexible supporter of one
There are so many possible answers
…
21. Formalism
Has the advantage of forcing writers to evaluate a
work on its own terms rather than to rely on
“accepted” notions of the writer’s work
Works best when applied to poetry and short fiction.
22. Formalism
Attempts to discover meaning by close reading of a
work of literature. Focus is on:
Form, organization, and structure
Word choice and language
Multiple meanings
Considers the work in isolation, disregarding author’s
intent, author’s background, context, and anything
else outside of the work itself.
23. Formalism/New Criticism
The formalist movement began in England
with the publication of I.A. Richards’ Practical
Criticism (1929).
American critics (such as John Crowe Ransom,
Robert Penn Warren, and Cleanth Brooks)
adapted formalism and termed their
adaptation “New Criticism.”
24. Formalism/New Criticism
New Criticism varied from formalism in that
New Criticism focuses on image, symbol, and
meaning. Traditional formalists often
attacked New Critics for their lack of attention
to the form of the work.
Seminal works on New Criticism include John
Crowe Ransom’s The New Criticism (1941) and
Cleanth Brooks’ The Well Wrought Urn (1947).
25. NEW CRITICISM
Meaning resides in the text—not in reader,
author, or world
Texts may contain numerous messages, but
must have a unifying central theme created by
the perfect union of all artistic elements.
Texts are artistic creations
Close reading is the basis of new critical
analysis
The methodology for finding meaning is clear-
cut; the tools are unique to literary analysis
*one type of formalism
26. Impact of Formalism
Today, few critics adhere only to the formalist or New
Criticism theory. However, its back-to-the-basics
approach pervades many other critical theories.
27. Reader-Response Criticism
Sees the reader as essential to the interpretation of a
work.
Each reader is unique, with different educations, experiences,
moral values, opinions, tastes, etc.
Therefore, each reader’s interaction with a work is unique.
Analyzes the features of the text that shape and guide a
reader’s reading.
Emphasizes recursive reading—rereading for new
interpretations.
28. Reader-Response Criticism
Reader-response theory has been criticized as
being overly impressionistic and guilty of the
affective fallacy (too focused on the
emotional effect of the work). Less tactful
critics have plainly said that it is not
intellectual.
These attacks resulted in an adaptation of
reader-response criticism called reception
theory.
29. READER RESPONSE
Text has many interpretations—text & reader interact to
create meaning
Meaning ultimately resides in the reader’s mind
or the consensual “mind” of a community of readers
(this class, for example)
A text’s truth is relative
Readers may reach the same conclusions about a
work--but approach the task quite differently
30. Reader-Response/Reception Theory
Reception theory is applied to the general reading
public rather than an individual reader.
Each generation has different experiences, values,
issues, etc.
Therefore, each generation will read a work
differently.
31. STRUCTURALISM
Meaning resides in the structure of language, not in art
nor in the reader’s mind
Scientific approach to literary analysis:
structure of language as a logical sign system
determines meaning
Two levels of language: langue (“the King’s English”) &
parole (everyday speech)
Interpret a text or part of a text by taking its language
apart (study word derivations, sentence syntax, etc.)
32. Biographical Criticism
Analyzes an author’s life in regard to their work
Can enhance the understanding of a work
Must be used carefully—example: Kate Chopin
33. Sociological Criticism
Maintains that the literary work cannot be
separated from the social context in which it
was created. In general, sociological criticism
examines one of these two aspects:
Conditions of production, such as schools,
magazines, publishers, and fashions.
The applicability of a given work—fiction
especially—in studying the dynamics of a given
society.
34. Types of Sociological Criticism
Sociological theory is so broad that it can be subdivided
in many different categories. Two dominant theories
we’ll study are
Feminist criticism
Marxist criticism
35. Feminist Criticism
Feminist criticism grew out of the women’s
movement that followed World War II.
Feminist critics analyze the role of gender in
works of literature. Leading critic Elaine
Showalter describes two purposes of feminist
criticism:
Feminist critique: The analysis of works by male
authors, especially in the depiction of women’s
writing
Gynocriticism: The study of women’s writing
36. Feminist Criticism
Feminist critics have been responsible for
recovering neglected works by women
authors through the ages and creating a
canon of women’s writing.
A case in point is Kate Chopin. She was fairly
widely published in the 1890s, but her work
was largely neglected by literary critics until
the 1960s, when Chopin was “rediscovered”
by feminist critics.
37. FEMINIST CRITICISM
Meaning is socially constructed.
Texts have more than one interpretation
Texts are commodities (products of
society)
Truth is relative, highly dependent on
arbitrary categories of difference, esp.
those based on “sex” and “gender”
Look for systems of containment; for evidence
of repression, oppression, suppression,
subversion, & rebellion in texts by women;
study women’s unique ways of understanding
and writing about the human condition.
38. Marxist Criticism
Marxist criticism is based on the social and economic
theories of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Their
beliefs include the following:
Value is based on labor.
The working class will eventually overthrow the capitalist
middle class.
In the meantime, the middle class exploits the working class.
Most institutions—religious, legal, educational, and
governmental—are corrupted by middle-class capitalists.
39. Marxist Criticism
Marxist critics apply these economic and
social theories to literature by analyzing:
Ideologies that support the elite and place the
working class at a disadvantage
Class conflict
Marxism strongly influenced fiction,
particularly American fiction, in the 1930s.
40. New Historicism
New historicist critics view literature as part of
history, and furthermore, as an expression of
forces on history.
New historicism compares literary analysis to
a dynamic circle:
The work tells us something about the surrounding
ideology (slavery, rights of women, etc.)
Study of the ideology tells us something about the
work.
41. New Historicism
New historicism takes two forms:
Analysis of the work in the context in which it was
created
Analysis of the work in the context in which it was
critically evaluated.
New historicists assert that literature “does
not exist outside time and place and cannot
be interpreted without reference to the era in
which it was written” (Kirszner and Mandell
2038).
42. New Historicism
Readers are influenced by their culture, so no
objective reading of a work is possible.
Critics should consider how their own culture affects
their interpretation of the historical influence on a
work.
43. NEW HISTORICISM
Literature is one among many socially constructed texts. If there is a
difference, it’s the intentional use of the imagination to convey ideas.
History is every bit as subjective as intentionally imaginative texts
Purpose of analyzing literature is to locate hidden social messages,
especially those that promote oppression.
Texts have no final interpretation
Language, though socially constructed, is stable enough to be useful.
Find a small intriguing or odd piece of the text and interpret it by
comparing it to contemporary sign systems—magazines, newspapers,
fads, laws. Try to locate uses & abuses of power.
44. Psychoanalytic Criticism
Analyzes literature to reveal insights about the way
the human mind works.
Is based on the work of Sigmund Freud and his
disciples.
Works well as a method of analyzing characters’
actions and motivations.
45. Basic Freudian Concepts
All actions are influenced by the unconscious.
Human beings must repress many of their desires to
live peacefully with others.
Repressed desires often surface in the unconscious,
motivating actions.
46. Basic Freudian Concepts
The mind has three major areas of activity:
Id: Area in the unconscious that works for
gratification through the pleasure principle
Superego: An internal censor bringing social
pressures to bear on the id.
Ego: Area in the consciousness that mediates
among demands of social pressure, the id, and the
superego.
47. Mythological Approach
Largely attributed to Carl Jung, a disciple of Sigmund
Freud
Archetype: a model or pattern from which all other
things of a similar nature are made
48. Mythological Approach
Collective Unconscious--there are certain basic
and central images and experiences that are
inherent in the human psyche
Analyzes what in a work evokes a similar
response in people, regardless of culture
Concerned with enduring patterns and how
they are reflected in literature
49. Examples of Archetypes
Common Themes:
Stories of quest and initiation
Descents into the underworld
Ascents into heaven
Search for father/mother
Fall from innocence