What is literary theory?

Transcription

1 What is literary theory? Literary theory is a set of schools of literary analysis based on rules for different ways a reader can interpret a text. Literary theories are sometimes called critical lenses because they provide readers with different lenses for seeing a text. What is literary criticism? Literary criticism is the activity involved in studying, interpreting, analyzing, and evaluating a work of literature. What is literary theory?

2 What is literary theory? Literary theory is a set of schools of literary analysis based on rules for different ways a reader can interpret a text. Literary theories are sometimes called critical lenses because they provide readers with different lenses for seeing a text. What is literary criticism? Literary criticism is the activity involved in studying, interpreting, analyzing, and evaluating a work of literature. What is literary theory? A. New Criticism B. Reader Response Theory C. Deconstruction D. Psychoanalytical Theory E. Feminist Theory F. Marxist Theory G. Postcolonial Theory H. Historical and Political Theories I. Biographical Theory J. Myth and Archetypal Theories

3 New Criticism is a school of criticism beginning in the 1930s until the 1960s that called for a close reading of the text to arrive at meaning. Task: Focus your analysis on the work itself. Ignore the author s intention or your own feelings about the work. New Critics, Formalism, close reading Assignment: As you read, use sticky notes to identify examples of imagery, point of view, and conflict. Use these devices to explain the theme. What is the theme? How do you know based on the literary aspects of the selection? A. New Criticism

4 Reader Response theory is a school of criticism popularized in the early 1970s that stressed the importance of the reader s interaction with the text to arrive at meaning. Task: Read the text slowly and deliberately and think about your reaction and connection to the work. I. A. Richards, Louis Rosenblatt, Reader Response Criticism Assignment: Record a minimum of five 100-word entries that include reflections, reactions, and feelings that you encounter while reading the text. You may use the following questions as your guide or you may use your own. Do any characters remind you of your family or friends? Have you experienced any similar events? Were you motivated by any of the characters? Which character would you want to be friends with? Which would you avoid? What was your favorite part? What is the main conflict in the story? How would you handle this situation? What real people remind you of the characters in the story? Why do you think the author wrote this story? How do you feel about the main character s actions in the story? B. Reader Response Theory

5 Deconstruction is a school of criticism in America that was developed by Jacques Derrida in Derrida examined the relationship of words and their meanings within a language system exposing binaries, such as good versus bad, male versus female, sun versus moon, day versus night, etc. The point is that these representations establish falsities that one of the pair is better than the other. As a literary theory, Deconstruction aims to establish that meaning is arbitrary and constantly changing; consequently, Deconstructionists state that no one can be certain about the meaning of a text. Therefore, Deconstructionists look to highlight the oppositions that exist in the text and reverse it to expose the indeterminacy of meaning. Task: Identify contradictions and oppositions in the story and decide if one side is favored over the other. Jacques Derrida, Poststructuralism Assignment: Identify a significant opposition in the work. Analyze each part of the opposition by providing at least three examples from the text. Explain which side is favored and its role in the story. Which side of the opposition is favored? How do you know? Provide evidence. C. Deconstruction

6 Psychoanalytical theory is a school of criticism that began as a psychological theory created by Sigmund Freud and his studies on the human psyche. Identifying a similarity between unconscious dreams and literary works, Freud applied his techniques to literature by examining the author s hidden desires or repressed feelings. Task: Relate repressed feelings or wishes and emotionally significant events in the story to the psychological state of the characters or author. Jacques Lacan, Psychoanalysis, Psychology Theories, Sigmund Freud Assignment: Use the chart provided or create your own chart with the character(s)/author in one column and any emotionally significant events that the character(s) or author goes through in the second column. In a third column, evaluate the characters responses to these events and identify something he/she could have done differently. Character Events Character s response D. Psychoanalytical Theory

7 Feminist theory is a school of criticism that began as a mindset for women called, feminism, in the early twentieth century, because women felt that they were being oppressed in terms of social, political, and economic issues in a patriarchal society. Eventually, this movement translated into a literary theory because women wanted to add their conception of themselves, their point of view, and their female characters to the literary canon that had previously been dominated by men in an effort to establish equality. Therefore, feminist criticism focuses on the relationship between genders in a given text. Task: Analyze the role that gender plays in the story. Feminism, Gender Theory, Gender Studies Assignment: Use the character chart provided or create your own to analyze the role of major characters in the story in relation to societal standards for the character s gender. Provide examples that show how the character s actions and treatment relate to his/her gender. Character Gender Examples E. Feminist Theory

8 Marxism is a philosophy outlined by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. In this philosophy turned literary theory, Marx and Engels established two groups of society, the haves (Capitalists) and the have nots (the working class). The main objective of Marxism is to establish a working class revolt against the haves to redistribute the societal power. In general, Marxist criticism focuses on the interpretation of the text as either a Capitalist or working class text with particular emphasis on exploitation of different social classes. Task: Analyze the role of different social groups and how they are represented in the text. Marxism, Social Class Theory Assignment: Use the chart provided or create your own to list the social groups in the story and provide a short description of the characteristics of the group. Then, decide if the text favors the haves or the have nots. Social Group Description Which group is exploited? Give an example to support your response. F. Marxist Theory

9 Postcolonial theory is a school of criticism that expresses the relationship between colonized people and the colonizer, in which the colonizer rationalizes Imperialism and Colonialism by identifying the colonized as the other. In Postcolonial theory, the theorist aims to highlight these relationships in an attempt to rid or at least inform the colonizer of the prejudices toward the subjugated natives of the past and present colonies. Task: Define the dominate and subjugated groups in the story and determine how certain groups are dominated through colonization. Edward Said, Postcolonial Criticism, Postcolonialism, Orientalism Assignment: Use the chart provided or create your own chart to identify the different cultures present in the story. Explain how the dominate group rules the subjugated group providing examples from the selection. Dominate Group: Subjugated Group: Example 3 Example 2 Example 1 G. Postcolonial Theory

10 Historical theory studies the text in terms of historical themes, time periods, and cultures. The text can either be historically significant for the context or the time period for which it was written can also be relevant. Historical theorists believe that the text is always influenced by history; therefore, the text serves as historical data to be studied to arrive at meaning Political theory is a school of criticism that assumes political movements always influence the text; therefore, political theorists examine the text for support or rejection of particular political movements. Task: Examine the text for support or rejection of particular political movements. Study the historical background relevant to the story and explain the significance of this background in the story. Michel Foucault, New Historicism Assignment: Research the political and historical background of the work and record notes about the significance of the background to the story. Use the format below as your guide for writing your own notes or use your own format. Topic: Main Points: Notes: What is the significance of the background to the work as a whole? H. Historical and Political Theories

11 Biographical theory assumes that the text is always heavily influenced by the life, thoughts, and feelings of the author. Therefore, biographical theorists believe that it is necessary to study the life of the author in order to truly understand the text. Additionally, the theory also assumes that the text is an extension of the author s psychological state at the time it was written. Task: Study the life of the author in order to understand the text. Author Studies, Biographical Criticism Assignment: Research the life of the author in relation to the story, and record notes about the relationship between author s life and the story. Use the format below as your guide for writing your own notes or use your own format. Topic: Main Points: Notes: What is the significance of the background to the work as a whole? I. Biographical Theory

12 Archetypal theory is a school criticism that was developed from the psychological theories of Carl Jung, who identified the personal unconscious, a place where thoughts and images are stored in an unconscious safe box completely forgotten by the person s conscious state. Archetypes are recurring patterns or images relevant to the human experience. Therefore, archetypal theorists examine texts for commonalities with other stories, themes, or symbols representative of larger patterns in society. Myth theory, developed by Northrop Frye, is similar to archetypal theory in that it uses archetypal themes to categorize literature. The point of this theory is to compare works to other stories within the same categories. Task: Examine texts for commonalities with other stories, themes, or symbols representative of larger patterns in society then compare works within categories. Universal characters, universal themes, archetypal characters, Carl Jung, Northrop Frye Assignment: Identify universal elements in the text. Then, compare these commonalities with other texts. Use the provided chart or create your own. Archetypal Elements Other texts J. Myth and Archetypal Theories