A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature

Transcription

1 A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature Sixth Edition Wilfred Guerin, Earle Labor, Lee Morgan, Jeanne Reesman, and John Willingham Publication Date February 2010 ISBN: Table of Contents Preface 1. Getting Started: The Precritical Response I. Setting II. Plot III. Character IV. Structure V. Style VI. Atmosphere VII. Theme 2. Traditional Approaches I. First, a Note on Traditional Approaches II. First Things First: Textual Scholarship, Genres, and Source Study A. Textual Scholarship: Do We Have an Accurate Version of What We Are Studying? 1. General Observations 2. Text Study in Practice B. Matters of Genre: What Are We Dealing With? 1. An Overview of Genre 2. Genre Characteristics in Practice C. Source Study: Did Earlier Writings Help this Work Come into Being? III. Historical and Biographical Approaches A. General Observations B. Historical and Biographical Approaches in Practice 1. ʺTo His Coy Mistressʺ 2. Hamlet 3. Huckleberry Finn 4. ʺYoung Goodman Brownʺ 5. ʺEveryday Useʺ 6. Frankenstein IV. Moral and Philosophical Approaches A. General Observations

2 B. Moral and Philosophical Approaches in Practice 1. ʺTo His Coy Mistressʺ 2. Hamlet 3. Huckleberry Finn 4. ʺYoung Goodman Brownʺ 5. ʺEveryday Useʺ 6. Frankenstein V. Summary of Key Points VI. Limitations of Traditional Approaches 3. The Formalist Approach I. The Process of Formalist Analysis: Making the Close Reader II. A Brief Overview of Formalist Criticism A. The Course of Half a Century B. Backgrounds of Formalist Theory C. The ʺNew Criticismʺ D. Reader Response Criticism: A Reaction III. Constants of the Formalist Approach: Some Key Concepts, Terms, and Devices A. Form and Organic Form B. Texture, Image, Symbol C. Fallacies D. Point of View E. The Speakerʹs Voice F. Tension, Irony, Paradox IV. The Formalist Approach in Practice A. Word, Image, and Theme: Space Time Metaphors in ʺTo His Coy Mistressʺ B. The Dark, the Light, and the Pink: Ambiguity as Form in ʺYoung Goodman Brownʺ 1. Virtues and Vices 2. Symbol or Allegory? 3. Loss Upon Loss C. Romance and Reality, Land and River: The Journey as Repetitive Form in Huckleberry Finn D. Dialectic as Form: The Trap Metaphor in Hamlet 1. The Trap Imagery 2. The Cosmological Trap 3. ʺSeemingʺ and ʺBeingʺ 4. ʺSeeingʺ and ʺKnowingʺ E. Irony and Narrative Voice: A Formalist Approach to ʺEveryday Useʺ

3 F. Frankenstein: A Thematic Reading V. Summary of Key Points VI. Limitations of the Formalist Approach 4. Materialisms I. Marxism II. British Cultural Materialism III. New Historicism IV. Ecocriticism V. Literary Darwinism VI. Materialisms in Practice A. A New History of ʺTo His Coy Mistressʺ B. Hamletʹs Evolution C. Frankenstein: The Creature as Proletarian D. ʺThe Lore of Fiendsʺ: Hawthorne and his Market E. Fathers and Sons, Gods and Slaves in Huckleberry Finn F. ʺBut theyʹre priceless!ʺ Material versus Exchange Value in ʺEveryday Useʺ VII. Summary of Key Points VIII. Limitations of Materialist Approaches 5. Literature and Linguistics I. Structuralism and Post structuralism, Including Deconstruction A. Structuralism: Contexts and Definitions B. The Linguistics Model C. Russian Formalism: Extending Saussure D. Structuralism, Levi Strauss, and Semiotics E. French Structuralism: Coding and Decoding F. British and American Interpreters G. Post Structuralism, Deconstruction II. Dialogics III. Linguistic Approaches in Practice A. Deconstructing ʺTo His Coy Mistressʺ B. The Deep Structure of Hamlet C. Language and Discourse in Frankenstein D. Huck and Jim: Dialogic Partners E. ʺSpeak of the Devil!ʺ: The Sermon in ʺYoung Goodman Brownʺ F. ʺAsalamalakim!ʺ Linguistic Distortion in ʺEveryday Useʺ IV. Summary of Key Points

4 V. Limitations of Linguistic Approaches 6. The Psychological Approach: Freud I. Aims and Principles A. Abuses and Misunderstandings of the Psychological Approach B. Freudʹs Theories C. Other Theories II. The Psychological Approach in Practice A. Hamlet: the Oedipus Complex B. Rebellion Against the Father in Huckleberry Finn C. Prometheus Manqué: The Monster Unbound D. E. Sexual Imagery in F. Morality Principle Over Pleasure Principle in III. Summary of Key Points IV. Other Possibilities and Limitations of the Psychological Approach 7. Mythological and Archetypal Approaches I. Definitions and Misconceptions II. Some Examples of Archetypes A. Images B. Archetypal Motifs or Patterns C. Archetypes as Genres III. Myth Criticism in Practice A. Anthropology and Its Uses 1. The Sacrificial Hero: Hamlet 2. Archetypes of Time and Immortality: ʺTo His Coy Mistressʺ B. Jungian Psychology and Its Archetypal Insights 1. Some Special Archetypes: Shadow, Persona, and Anima 2. ʺYoung Goodman Brownʺ: A Failure of Individuation 3. Creator or Creator: Who is the Real Monster in Frankenstein? 4. Syntheses of Jung and Anthropology C. Myth Criticism and the American Dream: Huckleberry Finn as the American Adam D. ʺEveryday Useʺ: The Great [Grand]Mother IV. Summary of Key Points V. Limitations of Myth Criticism 8. Feminisms and Gender Studies I. Feminisms and Feminist Literary Criticism: Definitions II. First, Second, and Third Wave Feminisms III. The Literary Woman: Created or Constructed?

5 A. Feminism and Psychoanalysis B. Feminists of Color C. Marxist and Materialist Feminisms D. Feminist Film Studies IV. Gender Studies V. Feminisms and Gender Studies in Practice A. The Marble Vault: The Mistress in ʺTo His Coy Mistressʺ B. Frailty, Thy Name Is Hamlet: Hamlet and Women C. ʺThe Workshop of Filthy Creationʺ: Men and Women in Frankenstein 1. Mary and Percy, Author and Editor 2. Masculinity and Femininity in the Frankenstein Family 3. ʺI Am Thy Creature...ʺ D. Men, Women, and the Loss of Faith in ʺYoung Goodman Brownʺ E. Women and ʺSivilizationʺ in Huckleberry Finn F. ʺIn Real Lifeʺ: Recovering the Feminine Past in ʺEveryday Useʺ VI. Summary of Key Points VII. The Future of Feminist and Gender Studies: Some Problems and Limitations 9. Cultural Studies I. What Is (or Are) Cultural Studies? II. United States Ethnic Studies A. African American Writers B. Latina/o Writers C. Native American Literatures D. Asian American Writers III. Postmodernism and Popular Culture A. Postmodernism B. Popular Culture IV. Cultural Studies in Practice A. Two Characters in Hamlet: Marginalization with a Vengeance B. ʺTo His Coy Mistressʺ: Implied Culture C. From Paradise Lost to Frank N Furter: The Creature Lives! 1. Revolutionary Births 2. ʺA Race of Devilsʺ 3. The Frankenpheme in Popular Culture: Fiction, Drama, Film, Television D. A Postmodern Goodman Brown E. ʺTelling the Truth, Mainlyʺ: Huck and Twain as Tricksters F. Cultures in Conflict: A Story Looks at Cultural Change V. Summary of Key Points

6 VI. Limitations of Cultural Studies 10. Postcolonial Studies I. Postcolonialism: Definitions II. Some Key Figures III. Postcolonial Critical Practices A. Seventeenth Century English Colonization and ʺTo His Coy Mistressʺ B. Hamlet: Postcolonial Adaptations C. Frankenstein: Are There Any New Worlds? D. Jimʹs Superstitions in Huckleberry Finn E. Salem: A City Upon a Hill? F. The End of an Era: ʺEveryday Useʺ IV. Summary of Key Points V. Limitations of Postcolonial Studies Epilogue Appendix A Andrew Marvell, ʺTo His Coy Mistressʺ Appendix B Nathaniel Hawthorne, ʺYoung Goodman Brownʺ Appendix C Alice Walker, ʺEveryday Useʺ Glossary of Literary Terms Bibliography Index