approaches to criticism

1. Approaches to Criticism Traditional, Formalistic, Mythological and Archetypal

3. Types of Traditional Approaches Textual-linguistic Not precisely a method of criticism but important tool in literary analysis Correct meaning of words in their historical context. Authenticity of text Reader may assume text has come down unchanged Poe�s original verse from �To Helen� �To the beauty of fair Greece And the grandeur of old Rome.� Revision: �To the glory that was Greece And the grandeur that was Rome.

4. Types of TraditionalHistorical-biographical Reflection of author�s life and times or the life and times of the characters in the work. The Jungle, Poe, Oliver Twist Additional approaches Expressive, which sees literature as a source of unique knowledge deriving from the artist�s imagination and therefore glorifies �self-expression� as the true function of art Impressionist is what the critic feels in presence of a work of art Poets have from earliest times been the historians, the interpreters of contemporary culture, and the prophets of their people. Remember Emerson and the �poet owns the landscape�

5. Moral-philosophical An approach as old as classical Greek and Roman critics The larger function is to teach morality Critic is not aware of form, figurative language, other aesthetic considerations, but are secondary. The important thing is the moral or philosophical teaching. All great literature teaches in the larger sense Less likely to err on side of over-interpretation

6. Formalistic approach The object of formalistic criticism is to find the key to the structure and meaning of the literary work We search for form which is necessary for real understanding A unifying pattern is the pattern that as modern critics say, informs or shapes the work inwardly and gives its parts a relevance to the whole We must narrow our attention to what the literary work says but we must first consider how it is said Suggests that the reader see what is in the poem, novel, or the play rather than to consider what is outside it. First step in explaining the literary work is to discover what the words actually mean in their full denotative and connotative value. Find point of view used by author Principle by which content and form inseparable� Imagery, tone, meters, rhymes, etc

7. Psychological approach Most controversial, most abused, for the most part the least appreciated Trad. Overlooks structure, Formal neglects historical and biographical, Psychological�s limitation is its aesthetic inadequacy. Abuses and Misunderstandings: Aristotle used it to define tragedy Psychoanalytic theories of Sigmund Freud and followers mistrust from abuses because sexual in nature

8. Freud�s theories Emphasis on unconscious aspects of the human psyche Most actions are motivated by psychic forces over which we have limited control Most of the individual�s mental processes are unconscious All human behavior is motivated ultimately by sexuality

9. Freud Id�primary source of psychic energy Ego�protects the individual; rational governing agent of the psyche; the conscious mind Super-ego�to protect society, moral censoring agency. Acting either directly through the Ego, the super-ego serves to repress or inhibit the drives of the Id, to block off and thrust back into the unconscious those impulses toward pleasure that society regards as unacceptable. Parental influence develops super-ego.

10. Freud Concerning child psychology Infancy and childhood a period of intense sexual experience

11. Mythological and Archetypal approaches Myth critic seeks out those mysterious artifacts built into certain literary forms which elicit dramatic and universal human reactions. To discover how it is that certain works of literature, image a kind of reality to which readers give response A close connection between mythological criticism and the psychological approach: both are concerned with the motives underlying human behavior

12. Archetype cont. Psychology tends to be experimental and diagnostic; its is related to biological sciences Mythology tends to be speculative and philosophic; its affinities are with religion, anthropology, and cultural history Mythology is wider in scope Psychoanalysis attempts to disclose about the individual personality, the study reveals about the mind and character of the people. Myths are symbolic projections of a people�s hopes, values, fears, and aspirations. The common misconception of the term, myths are merely primitive fictions, illusions, or opinions based on false reasoning Mythology encompasses more than grade-school stories about the Greek and Roman deities or clever fables invented for the amusement of children. Myths do not meet our current standards of factual reality, they reflect a more profound reality. Metaphoric truth.

13. Cont. �Myth is fundamental, the dramatic representation of our deepest instinctual life, of primary awareness of man in the universe, capable of many configurations, upon which all particular opinions and attitudes depend.��Mark Schorer �Myth is to be defined as a complex of stories�some no doubt fact, and some fantasy�which, for various reasons, human beings regard as demonstrations of the inner meaning of the universe and of human life.�

14. Archetypes Similar motifs and themes may be found among many different mythologies. Images that widely separated have a common meaning or, tend to elicit comparable psychological responses and to serve similar cultural functions. Universal symbols The myth critic is interested more in pre-history and the biographies of gods. Form concentrated on the shape of the work itself. The myth critic probes the inner spirit which gives that form its vitality, its enduring appeal.

15. archetypes This approach is relatively new and poorly understood: Proper interpretive tools become available through the development of such disciplines as anthropology, psychology, and cultural history.

16. Cont. As with psychological approach, the reader must take care that his enthusiasm for a new-found interpretive key does not tempt him to discard other valuable critical instruments or to try to open all literary doors with this single key. Myth critic tends to forget that literature is more than a vehicle for archetypes and ritual patterns. He runs the risk of being distracted from the essential experience of the artifact itself; he forgets that literature is above all else, art.

17. Jungian psychology and its archetypal insights Primary contribution to myth criticism is his theory of racial memory and archetypes. Beneath the personal unconscious�primeval, collective unconscious shared in the psychic inheritance of all members of the human family. Jung believed: �Mind is not born as a tabula rosa (clean slate). Like the body, it has its pre-established individual definiteness; namely forms of behaviour. They become manifest in the ever-recurring patterns of psychic functioning.� �Myth-forming� structural elements are ever-present in the unconscious psyche; he refers to the manifestations of these elements as �motifs� �primordial images,� or �archetypes.�

18. Jung cont. Theorized that myths do not derive from external factors such as the seasonal or solar cycle but are the projections of innate psychic phenomena. Myths are the means by which archetypes become manifest Archetypes reveal themselves in dreams; dreams are personalized myths/myths are personalized dreams.

19. Jung cont. Personal unconscious is private to the individual�experiences which have been forgotten, suppressed, repressed, ignored. Includes fantasies and dreams

20. Joseph Campbell Four functions of myth: 1. Mystical/spiritual Faith is believing in something when there is no reason to or when there is no scientific explanation. 2. Scientific function: This explains the physical workings of nature and natural phenomena according to the scientific understanding of the time. 3. Sociological function: Supports and validates social order of the society in which the myth took place. It conservatively defends the status quo. 4. Pedagogical/Instruction: Shows how one should live one�s daily life; rules to live by.

21. The Archetype of the hero Part I: Departure The Call to Adventure Refusal of the call�not always Supernatural aid�benefit of wisdom of others, can�t succeed entirely by self, the force which is within. Crossing the first threshold�separation from home, present comforts of home Belly of the whale�death experience�death of old self. The whale is the unconscious unknown fears. Usually there is a mentor or wise person somewhere in here.

22. Part II: Initiation The road of trials: the adventure�to prove status Meeting with the goddess/woman�not enslaved to lust�avoiding temptations Atonement with the father�must in course of journey to adulthood be on same level Apotheosis�transformation The Ultimate Boon�reward�sometimes physical sometimes knowledge

23. Part III: The Return Refusal of the return�not always, but must return to society and responsibility Magic Flight�sign of favor

24. Common Archetypes Golden Age or Garden�early man Loss of innocence�the �fall�--childhood The flood�destructive but cleansing; renewal The hero�model for us; standard to judge our lives by; of man but apart Wise old man/wizard�helpful to man Trickster�achieves goal by cunning; not always good Metamorphosis�transformation into something else Giants�Neanderthals Dragons�Western world=greed; Eastern world=wealth and wisdom Snake/serpent�knowledge and immortality Tree/tree of life�symbol of connection of all levels from underground to heavens�Christ�s cross God teacher�bridge between man and God; brings gift to man but with consequences Demon god�not in all Woman: Maiden/Wife/Mother Magic Objects: rings, staves, swords, etc.