Critical Approaches to Literature
(with brief explanations)
1. The formalist approach:
literary analysis: what the work means (theme) and how it conveys its meaning
(style); the relation of theme to style. Good work is one that is interesting
because it conveys meaning in an interesting way, an intriguing way to say the
"same old thing" (Pope: "True wit is Nature to advantage
dressed. . .")
2. The humanist/ethical approach:
the effect the work has on the audience/ reader. The larger function of
literature is to teach morality and to probe philosophical issues. Literature
should instruct and delight
"Good" work has a positive,
enriching, impact on the reader; "bad" work has negative, dulling,
impact.
Examples: Christian humanist, Marxist,
feminist, "moral crusader " (censorship)
3. The historical approach:
the relationship of the work to history. The impact of the work on history and
the importance of historical knowledge in understanding a work. How history and
literature inform and affect each other
1) Social / political history; 2) Literary
history (the development of the literary tradition)
4. The biographical approach:
the relationship of the writer's life to the work.
5. The psychological approach:
what the work tells us about the human mind. Literature as a tool of
psychoanalysis.
Freudian
literary analysis; e.g., the unconscious, dream interpretations, sexual
motivation, the importance of childhood on adult development, neuroses, the
tripartite scheme of the human mind (id, ego, superego), the "talking
cure," etc.
6. The mythic
approach: universal patterns of human behavior and thinking as conveyed in
literature.
Jungian
literary analysis. Archetypal story patterns; e.g., stories of creation, of
"the fall," of social / sexual initiation, of the Quest. Archetypal
image patterns, colors -- red, black =?)
7. The textual
approach: 1) what is the actual text? changes in the history of a text; 2)
impact of translation 3) oral tradition 4) Changes in the text: substantive
& accidental; authorial v. those made by editor 5) Pre & post 1455
8. The linguistic approach:
what the text tells us about the language of the time of the work.
9. The subjective or personal
approach: 1) Reader Based criticism -- the effect that the
differences of readers has on reading common "text"; 2) Personal
reaction -- that which is beyond literary analysis; did you enjoy the
work?
A. The literal (surface) meaning of
the work (paraphrase to test for this) -- what actually happens or goes on.
B. Dramatic situation: Who is
speaking to whom? When? Where? Why?
C. Tone: The relation of the writer
to the work and the audience/reader.
Examples:
straight, ironic, paradoxical, puzzling, humorous, satirical, bitter,
pessimistic, cheerful, dark, elevated, low (vulgar), inconsistent, ambiguous.
D. Theme: What is the
meaning, message? What is the writer's purpose or point? What do we learn from
reading the work?
E. Style: What literary devices or
techniques are used, and are they effective?
Some selected terms used in critical
analysis:
1) Poetry: rhyme pattern, rhythm,
alliteration, enjambment, figurative language (imagery, metaphor, symbol,
allusion), paradox, verbal irony, paradox, allusion, etc.
2) Drama: character (caricature v.
character, development), "plot," setting, dramatic irony, poetic
language, motifs, mood (tone) levels of conflict, poetic devices (see #1
above), etc.
3) Fiction: narrative technique (1st,
3rd person narrator, objective, omniscient points of view),
reliability of narrator, tone, setting, sequencing of events
("plot"), poetic language (see #1 above), levels of irony, motifs
(image patterns) Genre (literary form): types of poems, plays, stories
("fiction" -- epic, novel, short, picaresque, fable, allegory,
romance), non-fiction (essay, biography, autobiography, history, philosophy )
The Internet
Public Library has numerous critical references, and can be browsed by
author, title, or literary period.
The Problem of Meaning in
Literature
Writing Papers
of Literary Analysis
The Brown
University Women Writers' Project
A Celebration
of Women Writers
Voices from the Gap: Women
Writers of Color