What is literary criticism?

1. Before you get lost in reading comments on returned work, please hand in your responses for this quick feedback check to help me out. • Yes/ No responses please! • Have you finished reading all of “The Metamorphosis”? • Have you started on the Critical Lens write-up? • Are you FINISHED with the Critical Lens write-up? • Do you need clarification on what your critical lens is all about? • Do you need help writing your thesis statement?

2. What is literary criticism? The application of theoretical principles for the purpose of • analyzing, • interpreting, • and evaluating literary texts.

3. The main reason for studying theory at the same time as literature is that it forces you to deal consciously with the problem of ideologies...There are many truths and the one you will find depends partly on the ideology you start with. [Studying theory] means you can take your own part in the struggles for power between different ideologies. It helps you to discover elements of your own ideology, and understand why you hold certain values unconsciously. It means no authority can impose a truth on you in a dogmatic way--and if some authority does try, you can challenge that truth in a powerful way, by asking what ideology it is based on... Theory is subversive because it puts authority in question. - Bonnycastle, In Search of Authority, p. 34

4. For example… • Marxist theorists might focus on how the characters in a story interact based on their economic situation. • Someone applying a post-colonial theory, might consider the same story but look at how characters from colonial powers (Britain, France, and even America) treat characters from, Africa or the Caribbean.

5. Timeline (most of these overlap) • Moral Criticism, Dramatic Construction (~360 BC-present) • Formalism, New Criticism, Neo-Aristotelian Criticism (1930s-present) • Psychoanalytic Criticism, Jungian Criticism(1930s-present) • Marxist Criticism (1930s-present) • Reader-Response Criticism (1960s-present) • Structuralism/Semiotics (1920s-present) • Post-Structuralism/Deconstruction (1966-present) • New Historicism/Cultural Studies (1980s-present) • Post-Colonial Criticism (1990s-present) • Feminist Criticism (1960s-present) • Gender/Queer Studies (1970s-present)

6. THE 4 CRITICAL VARIABLES of LITERARY THEORY & CRITICISM 1. The World 2. The Author 3. TheText Other Texts Beyond the World Real World ITS CONTEXT Text = Ideologically constructed language Text = Symbol, Archetype Text = Objective reality 4. The Reader Gender Studies: WORLD/author/text/reader Postcolonial: AUTHOR/world/text/reader Marxist: WORLD/text Territorial: TEXT/[reader/ author/world]) Formalism: the TEXT (as art) Structuralism: the TEXT (as language system) Psychoanalytic: AUTHOR/READER/text Reader Response: READER/TEXT/communityof readers w/shared values

7. What we are going to focus on… • Psychoanalytic Criticism(1930s-present) • Marxist Criticism (1930s-present) • Structuralism (1920s-present) • Post-Structuralism (1966-present) • New Historicism/Cultural Studies (1980s-present) • Gender/Feminist Criticism (1960s-present) • Existentialism

8. Critical Approaches to Literature Literary Theory

9. Structuralism/ 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.

10. STRUCTURALISM: The Form & Structure of Language • 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 • Interpret a text or part of a text by taking its language apart (study word derivations, sentence syntax, etc.)

11. Deconstructionist: BREAK down of language • Texts—composed of language, an unstable sign system that always “defers” meaning. • Truth is constructed, not “given,” so there’s no such thing as A correct interpretation • Look for an apparent meaning of some aspect of the text ; show how the text undermines (deconstructs) it; look again & show how the text undermines the latest interpretation, etc. Look for oppositions: good vs. evil, e.g. Show how the text undermines first one, then the other so that good and evil are exposed as “empty” concepts

12. 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

13. Application of Freud’s ideas • Id, ego, superego • Subconscious vs conscious motivations • Dream analysis • Oedipal complex

14. 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

15. The Marxist Approach Marxist Criticism examines literature to see how it reflects • The way in which dominant groups (typically, the majority) exploit the subordinate groups (typically, the minority) • The way in which people become alienated from one another through power, money, and politics

16. 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.

17. The Feminist Approach 4 Basic Principles of Feminist Criticism • Western civilization is patriarchal. • The concepts of gender are mainly cultural ideas created by patriarchal societies. • Patriarchal ideals pervade “literature.” • Most “literature” through time has been gender-biased.

18. The New Historicist Approach New Historicist Criticism argues that every literary work is a product of its time and its world.

19. The New Historicist Approach New Historicism: Provides background information necessary to understand how literary texts were perceived in their time. 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.

20. Existentialist Theory • analysis of individual existence in an unfathomable universe • the plight of the individual who must assume ultimate responsibility for acts of free will • without any certain knowledge of what is right or wrong or good or bad.

21. What you will do by FRIDAY! Present with your group members: • Thesis: specific, logical, argument • Evidence: 3 quotations (minimum) • Commentary: HOW your evidence supports the thesis. How this influences our reading and interpretation of the text.

22. What is due MON when we return from break? • Revised paragraph on Gregor’s dual identity. • Your thesis MUST be SPECIFIC and ARGUMENTATIVE! • You must INTEGRATE & CITE EVIDENCE • Your analysis must logically link back in support of your thesis. • You must carefully PROOF-READ your writing! • NO CARELESS ERRORS or SLOPPY WORK!