Literary Theory & CriticismA Brief Introduction

What is Literary Theory & Criticism?Simply put, Literary Criticism is a set of lenses through which to read, understand, and interpret literature.

Different schools of thought use different sets of assumptions when reading and interpreting literature.

Many of these theories are based in sociological or psychological schools of thought. Others are based in linguistic theories.

A Few Brief Examples:Marxist Theory:

● How does this work illustrate economic struggles and oppression?

Gender Theory:

● How does this work reinforce or fight against gender stereotypes?

Reader-Response Theory:

● How does the reader’s knowledge and experience affect their understanding of the text?

How is Literary Theory & Criticism Used?● Understand the fundamentals of reading, understanding, and interpreting

literature● Understand the fundamentals of the particular theory● “Put on that set of lenses” to read, understand, and interpret a piece of

literature

Why is Literary Theory & Criticism Used?● To give a new perspective to a piece of literature● To understand a piece of literature within its social,

political, or psychological context● To understand how a piece of literature can influence

social and political thought● To understand ourselves and how the human experience

is illustrated in literature

Social / Political / Psychological Theories● Moral / Philosophical Criticism● Freudian (Psychoanalytical) Criticism● Marxist Criticism● Feminist / Gender / Queer Criticism● Critical Race Theory● Historical Criticism

Moral / Philosophical Criticism● Explores the moral and philosophical nature of literature.● Asks how a piece of literature teaches a particular moral or philosophical

ideal.● Obvious examples:

○ Aesop’s Fables○ Jesus’ Parables

Moral / Philosophical CriticismQuestions to ask when reading a text:

● What moral / philosophical ideals does the text advocate?● Is the story didactic in nature? What is the “moral of the story”?● Does the moral of the story support or oppose the values of the culture in

which it was written? Does it support or oppose the values of today?

Freudian (Psychoanalytic) CriticismBased on the psychological theories of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung

● Human behavior is driven by desires, fears, needs, and conflicts that we are not even aware of, that exist in our subconscious mind

● These desires, fears, needs and conflicts are often the result of childhood experiences (mostly with our parents)

● They also come from desires to gratify - and the need to repress the desire to gratify - basic physical pleasures in childhood, as well as the repression of childhood fears and negative experiences

Freudian (Psychoanalytical) Criticism● Repression does not make our problems go away; instead, our

subconscious causes us to “play out” these negative feelings and experiences

● We also develop coping/defense mechanisms, such as selective perception, selective memory, denial, projection, and fear of intimacy

Freudian (Psychoanalytical) CriticismThe Conflict of the Id, Ego, and Superego

● Id: the location of drives, desires, and appetites (libido)

● Ego: the location of decision-making● Superego: The location of judgment (of self and

others); the “conscience”

These three (particularly the Id and Superego) battle for control and dominance as the person grows into adulthood; not necessarily a moral battle

Freudian (Psychoanalytical) CriticismThe Oedipus Complex

● Comes from a child’s need/desire for their parents, and the realization that the child is not the most important thing in the parents’ lives

● Desire for opposite sex parent; see same sex parent as competition

● This unresolved internal conflict leads to frustration and anxiety, which is central to all internal conflicts later in life

Freudian (Psychoanalytical) CriticismJungian Criticism

● Taken from the ideas of Carl Jung (student of Freud)● Internal conflicts described by Freud are universal ones, creating a

“collective unconscious” (archetypal models)● It is through the archetypal struggles that we try to find wholeness

Freudian (Psychoanalytical) CriticismQuestions to ask when reading a text (Freudian Criticism):

● Are there themes of repression in the story?● Are there oedipal conflicts - or other family conflicts - at play in the story?● Can a character’s actions be explained through a psychoanalytical lens?● Can internal conflicts be viewed in the context of the struggle between the

id, ego, and superego?● What might the text reveal about the internal conflicts of the writer? Of

the reader?● Are there words or phrases that might have hidden meaning that reveal

repressed feelings or struggles?

Freudian (Psychoanalytical) CriticismQuestions to ask when reading a text (Jungian Criticism):

● What connections can be made between the text and the archetypal models?○ Characters○ Narrative structures○ Symbolic elements

● Is the story structured as a quest/journey narrative?

Marxist CriticismBased on the writings of Karl Marx, Marxist criticism ultimately asks the simple question of “Whom does it (the work, the effort, the struggle, etc.) benefit?”

Marxist Criticism concerns itself primarily with issues of economics and socio-economic class struggles. All of our experience is dictated by our lot in life.

Marxist CriticismThe Material Dialectic

● What drives a society is the tangible forces of its economy, not the abstract forces of its philosophy, law, religion, or art.

● There will always be conflict between upper, middle, and lower classes○ The “Haves” and “Have Nots”

● Cycle of Contradiction, Tension, and Revolution repeats over and over● The ultimate goal of society is economic equality.● This will be brought about by a revolution of the lower class to overthrow

the upper and middle classes.● After the revolution, the intellectuals will create the perfect communist

society

Marxist CriticismQuestions to consider:

● Which class(es) benefit from the action in the text? Which one(s) are hurt?

● What values (socioeconomic) does the text reinforce? What values does it subvert?

● How do characters of different social classes interact?

Feminist/Gender & Queer CriticismFeminist Criticism concerns itself with how women are treated and/or portrayed in a piece of literature. It also focuses on the marginalization of women writers.

● Historically, most of Western Civilization has been dominated by the patriarchy. “Male-ness” is the norm.

● Historically, women have been marginalized in most areas of Western life.

● Sex is determined by biology, but gender is a social construct.● These ideas have pervaded much of Western literature.

The goal of Feminist Theory is to confront these gender stereotypes to bring about gender equality.

Gender & Queer TheoryGender and Queer Theory evolved out of Feminist Criticism as the ideas about gender expanded beyond the Male/Female Binary.

Historically, Western Civilization has been dominated by cisgender/heterosexual norms.

The same issues of oppression, marginalization, and desires for equality apply to Gender and Queer Theory.

Feminist/Gender & Queer CriticismQuestions to ask when reading a text:

● How is the relationship between men and women portrayed?● What roles/activities are designated to each gender?● Are gender and/or sexual stereotypes supported or opposed by the text?● How does the text address issues of sexuality and gender identity?● How does the text support or oppose the ideals of gender equality?

Critical Race TheoryCritical Race Theory concerns itself with issues of social racism that permeate into literature.

In American literature, it traces the history of systemic racism from the time of slavery, through the Civil Rights Movement, to current events.

CRT confronts beliefs and practices that enable racism, and seeks liberation from systemic racism.

CRT emphasizes the importance of allowing diverse voices to be heard.

Critical Race TheoryQuestions to ask when reading a text:

● What issues of racism or prejudice existed in the time and culture in which the book was written?

● How are members of ethnic minorities portrayed in a text?● Does the text support or confront racial prejudices?

Historical & Cultural CriticismThe emphasis in Historical & Cultural Criticism is on the context in which a work was written.

Every work is the product of its social, political, historical, and cultural context.

But, history cannot always be viewed objectively; our cultural context affects how we read and understand things.

Historical & Cultural CriticismQuestions to ask when reading a text:

● What is the historical context in which the text was written?● What cultural influences are apparent in the text?● How was the text originally received?● How do these things affect our reading of the text today?

Linguistic Theories● Reader Response ● Deconstructionist

Reader Response CriticismFoundational Principle: THE AUTHOR IS DEAD

The focus of Reader Response is on the reader’s reactions to the text. The reader can view the text through any number of lenses.

Two key ideas:

1. The role of the reader cannot be omitted from our understanding of text2. The reader does not consume the meaning of the text passively

Reader Response CriticismQuestions to ask when reading a text:

● How does the interaction between text & reader create meaning?● How might we interpret a text to show that the reader’s response in

similar to the topic and themes of the text?● What does the body of criticism show us about readers who produced it?

Deconstructive CriticismDeconstruction is based on the ideas of Jacques Derrida. It is both a philosophical and linguistic theory.

The primary emphasis in Deconstruction is on close reading. In that close reading, a text is taken apart (deconstructed) and the individual parts are examined.

Deconstructive CriticismThe text itself is deconstructed into its individual parts, along with commonly held assumptions about the text and its parts.

New meaning is found/given to the parts of the text.

The text can be (but is not always) reconstructed with this new meaning and understanding.

Deconstructive CriticismQuestions to ask when reading a text:

● What are the basic parts of the text / story?● What are commonly held assumptions / understandings of the text?● Are these previous assumptions / understandings correct?● What new / different meanings can be found in the parts of the text?