Different Ways of Looking at Literary Texts Types of criticism in this slideshow Readers response Formalist Structuralist Archetypal Deconstruction Feminist deconstruction Poststructural ID: 472986
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Slide1
Literary Criticism
Different Ways of Looking at Literary TextsSlide2
Types of criticism
in this slideshow
Reader’s response
Formalist
Structuralist
Archetypal
Deconstruction
Feminist deconstruction
Post-structuralSlide3
Reader’s Response
Your response.
Read the book, watch the movie. Respond.
Easy.Slide4
Reader’s Response
Good point:
Enjoyable
Bad point:
Hard to grade.Slide5
Formalist
Literary science.
The text is the evidence.
Your interpretations are strictly limited to the evidence that the text provides.
It’s
formal
because it
removes “you” from the
equation.Slide6
Formalist
Good point:
we look to authors as wiser people who can teach us. We interpret what they say in order to learn.
Bad point:
authors can be biased and prejudiced. They support power structures that
have been harmful
to
females, racial minorities, and other
groups.Slide7
Formalism cont’d
The following are some questions a formalist critic might ask:
What is the theme of the poem or play or novel?
How are symbols used to express the theme?
How are certain characters undercut with irony?Slide8
Structuralism
It is structural because it
looks at the structure of a text and also the shared structures of a variety of texts.Slide9
Structuralism Cont’d
A question a
structuralist
critic might ask is:
How does the story create and resolve dramatic tension?Slide10
Structuralism cont’d
Structural criticism also includes
archetypal criticism.
These critics look for
certain
structures, called archetypes,
that exist throughout
literature.
theme
archetypes
character archetypes
symbolic archetypes
plot archetypesSlide11
An archetype is like a blue-print or prototype of an idea.
Some archetypes are ancient and are still in use today.Slide12
Archetypal criticism
the original structures
If you ask a group of people to create an alternate universe, fill it with imaginary people, and tell a story about them, they will all do it the same way, or at least in a similar way.
Why?Slide13
One theory states that similarities arise Because of the collective unconscious
Individual
CollectiveSlide14
Carl Jung
(1875-1961)
In his famous work, Carl Jung suggested that our conscious minds are individual, but our unconscious minds share many elements; it is therefore a “collective” unconscious.Slide15
The unconscious mind
and archetypes
Carl Jung called archetypes “primordial images.” (Images left over from our primitive past.)
They are “psychic residue” of repeated patterns of experience in the lives of our very ancient ancestors.
This psychic residue survives in the “collective unconscious”.Slide16
Archetype v. Stereotype
Let’s
puttJung
, the collective unconscious, and psychic
residue aside for
a moment think of an archetype simply as an original example – one which has spawned many copies.
Hamlet is the archetype of the “tortured poet”.
James Bond is the archetype of the suave killer.
Dracula is the archetype of the, well, suave monster.Slide17
stereotype
A stereotype on the other hand is an over-simplified model of a type of
person (and sometimes of places and ideas.)
Stereotypes
are negative: groups within a culture develop them in order to mock
other groups.
There are racial and gender stereotypes. There are stereotypes for types of people: jock, nerd, blondes)Slide18
An example of an
archetypal
theme
Death and re-birth
This theme is grounded in the cycle of seasons on earth.Slide19
examples
of
archetypal
characters
Promethean rebel-hero
Earth Mother GoddessSlide20
Examples of
archetypal
symbols
The sun represents intelligence
Darkness represents the unknownSlide21
An example of an
a
rchetypal plot structure
FREYTAG’S PYRAMID
Climax
Beginning EndSlide22
A diagram of
tragedy
Beginning
Example:
Greek stories
End Slide23
The structure of Tragedy
The structure of a tragedy requires that the hero make a choice with noble intentions, only to find that the choice brings about a “reversal” of his/her fortune.
When the hero begins to realize that his destruction is at hand
(recognition scene) the
audience is moved emotionally (experiences pathos).Slide24
A diagram of
comedy
Beginning
End
Example:
Biblical Stories
Slide25
Side-point about Comedy:
The Ancient Greeks invented comedy.
Plot conflicts usually revolved around the generation gap (i.e. the younger generation’s views about life and love come into conflict with the older generation’s)
After countless funny episodes of misunderstandings and arguments, the members of the younger generation find love, the members of the older accept changing times and bless the relationships, and sometimes renew their own vows or find love of their own.Slide26
The Bible
Comedy as a term has become associated with stories that offer the U shaped plot, stories that are not necessarily funny but are restorative.
Biblical
stories are not comedies in the modern
sense. They
are not funny; they are
restorative
.
The protagonists move from a good position, experience hell (figuratively or literally), and then are restored to a good place.
The pattern of life according to Jews and Christians
.Slide27
A biblical example:
Refer to The Prodigal Son story.
Consider how the story develops and resolves dramatic tension:
1. Is there a reversal of fortune?
2. Is there a recognition scene?
3. How is the story similar to or different from a Greek tragedy?Slide28
Structuralism
archetypal criticism
Good points:
Patterns in literature reveal the
nature of a culture and a structure of a people’s mind
Bad
point:
It reveals
the mind of only
those who are allowed to write and publish. (i.e. a culture’s mythology is biased.)Slide29
Structuralism
archetypal criticism
2
nd
Good point:
A
knowledge of structure gives one greater insight into any particular work of
art, because one sees how it fits in.
2
nd
Bad point:
It reduces each work of art to one simple design.Slide30
Deconstructive criticism
We live in a deconstructive age.
The deconstructive critic seeks NOT to learn from the author’s wisdom,
BUT INSTEAD to reveal the
inconsistencies
and
contradictions
in the author’s words.Slide31
Deconstruction CONT’D
Deconstruction did not originate as a form of literary criticism.
It began as a criticism of language itself and of any system of signs (signifiers) that we use to communicate our thoughts.Slide32
To the Deconstructionist
Words are slippery
Signified
(idea)
Author
Signifier:
cat
(word)Slide33
Signifiers (words)are unreliableSlide34
Deconstruction CONT’D
There is no standard, objective form of
cat
of which we all think when we read or hear the word cat.
There are only infinite varieties of cats.
According to deconstructionists, the word cat is, therefore, meaningless. Slide35
To the deconstructionist words suggest power
Deconstructionists also look at common word pairs, often words that are opposites, and suggest that one word in the pair has been designated by the culture as dominant.
teacher
studentSlide36
Reversing the pairs
A deconstructionist asks what happens when we reverse the power order?
The deconstructive critic might ask how teachers are subordinate to students?
teacher
studentSlide37
Teacher / student
question
teachers were once students themselves
teachers need students in order to be teachers
The term teacher contains within it the concept of student. And the two turn out to be mutually dependent.
Also, each era will re-define what a teacher is and what a student is. Any statement that uses these words is limited by the definition of the era. Slide38
Deconstruction asks:
What happens when we reverse the power hierarchy of the language?
Refer to the Rousseau passage.Slide39
Rousseau asserts that
nature
is superior to
society
nature
societySlide40
Reversing the pairs:
nature
society
A deconstructionist asks what happens when we reverse the power order?
The deconstructive critic might ask how
is nature
subordinate to
society?Slide41
The nature/society question
The origins of society is found in a state of nature. It grew out of nature.
Therefore society contains
within it
aspects of the
concept of
nature. (And also therefore, the
two turn out to be mutually dependent
.)
The idea of “nature” grew out of a civilized mind. Whatever we think of as “nature” has come through the filter of a mind raised in society.
Also, each era will re-define what
“nature” and “society” mean.
Any statement that uses these words is limited by the definition of the era. Slide42
Deconstruction as literary criticism
Deconstruction seeks to find
biases
,
prejudices
,
and
value
judgments
that are
implied
through
sub-text
.
The deconstructive critic is guided by one
main question
:
Who has the power?Slide43
Forms of literary Deconstruction
Feminist Deconstruction
: who has the power, men or women?
Marxist Deconstruction
: who has the power,
rich or poor?
Racial Deconstruction
: who has the power,
black or white?Slide44
Feminist
Deconstruction 101
Is the hero a man?
Does the woman only aid the man on his journey?
Does the woman have a voice?
Does the woman have an objective of her own? Or is she subordinate to the male hero’?
Does the woman have a personality or is she a stereotype?
Did a man write and publish the book? Were women allowed to write and publish at that time?
Does the school system seek out new female voices in literature, or is it stuck in the male dominated past?Slide45
Faq’s
re:
Feminist deconstruction
Q: If
men have the hero’s journey, what do women have
?
A: Variety. Step outside the mono-myth and look around.
Q: Is every view-point outside the mono-myth a feminist viewpoint?
A: Yes
Q: How do you come up with a female hero?
A
:
Come up with something new
Q: Is
Katniss
a feminist
hero?
Q: Or is she just
a Greek hero repackaged with a
female
anatomy
?Slide46
Good Point:
Literary deconstruction rescues our literary heritage from its affluent, white-male tunnel vision.
Bad Point:
Deconstruction robs every word and therefore every narrative of any meaning whatsoever.Slide47
post-structuralism
Post-structuralism goes hand-in-hand with deconstruction
However, it is used more often to describe the art (almost like a genre) than to describe the form of literary criticism
Post-structural artists are self-conscious about the very structure they are working within. They are deconstructing themselves.Slide48
post-structuralism
Examples
Meta-fiction (referring to the process of writing while writing)
Corrupting the classic plot structures in order to frustrate the audience, provoke them to think, or produce some other emotional
effectSlide49
post-structuralism
Good Point:
rejecting established structures opens the road for innovation and creativity. Post-structural art also expresses the angst (and hope) of living in a universe without underlying meaning.
Bad Point:
Post-structural art often seeks NOT to satisfy the audience or even entertain them. Its
self-conscious approach often
strikes the audience as pretentious and annoying.Slide50
The end