Literary Criticism

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purposes
LITERARY
CRITICISM
TODAY'S
DISCUSSION
What is Literary Criticism?

What is the purpose of Literary
Criticism?
Traditional Critical Approaches
Benefits of Literary Criticism
WHAT IS
LITERARY
CRITICISM?
Literary criticism is the practice of studying,
evaluating, and interpreting works of literature.
Similar to literary theory, which provides a
broader philosophical framework for how to
analyze literature, literary criticism offers
readers new ways to understand an author’s
work.
What Is the Purpose of Literary
Criticism?
• The purpose of literary criticism is to
broaden a reader’s understanding of an
author’s work by summarizing, interpreting,
and exploring its value.
• After giving the text a close reading, a critic
formulates a comprehensive literary
analysis that can inform or challenge
another reader’s understanding of the text.
• The practice of literary criticism creates
space for readers to better understand the
beauty and complexity of the world through
literature.
READER-RESPONSE CRITICISM
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-RESPONSE CRITICISM
• An individual reader’s interpretation usually
changes over time.
• 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?
FORMALIST APPROACH
Formalist Criticism emphasizes the form of a literary
work to determine (FORMALISM)
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.
FORMALIST APPROACH
Two Major Principles of Formalism
1. A literary text (FORMALISM)
exists independent of any particular
reader and, in a sense, has a fixed meaning.
2. The greatest literary texts are “timeless” and
“universal.”
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.
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.
MARXISM
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
MARXISM
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
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.
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.
BIOGRAPHICAL APPROACH
Biographical Criticism argues that we must take an
author’s life and background into account when
we study a text.
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.
NEW HISTORICIST APPROACH
New Historicist Criticism argues that every literary
work is a product of its time and its world.
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.
REMEMBER
We will never look at a text STRICTLY from
one standpoint or another, ignoring all
other views. That is antithetical to what
we are trying to do.
We should always keep our focus on the

text and use these critical approaches to
clarify our understanding of a text and
develop an interpretation of it.

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Literary Criticism

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English for academic and professional

What is Literary Criticism?

Ultimately… How do YOU feel about what you

New historicist critics often compare the language

We should always keep our focus on the

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