Critical Approaches to Literature and Criticism

(Thanks to Marilyn Patton with a few additions)

1. Reader-Response - Focuses on the reader (or "audience") and his or her
experience of a literary work, in contrast to other schools and theories that focus
attention priarily on the author or the content and for of the work.
!. Feminist CriticismFocuses on feale representation in literature, payin"
attention to feale points of #iew, concerns, and #alues. Three underlyin"
assuptions in this approach are$ %estern &ociety is per#asi#ely patriarchal, ale
centered and controlled, and is or"ani'ed in such a way as to su(ordinate woen)
the concept of "ender is socially constructed, not (iolo"ically deterined) and that
patriarchal ideolo"y per#ades those writin"s which ha#e (een considered *"reat
works of literature.+

,. Queer Theory$ -o(ined area of "ay and les(ian studies and criticis, includin"
studies of #ariations in (iolo"ical sex, "ender identity, and sexual desires.
.phasis on disantlin" the key (inary oppositions of %estern culture$ ale/
feale, heterosexual/ hoosexual, etc. (y which the first cate"ory is assi"ned
pri#ile"e, power, and centrality, while the second is dero"ated, su(ordinated, and
ar"inali'ed.
0. Marxist Criticism1Focuses on how literary works are products of the econoic
and ideolo"ical deterinants specific to that era. -ritics exaine the relationship
of a literary product to the actual econoic and social reality of its tie and place
(-lass stratification, class relations, and doinant ideolo"y).
2. New Historical Criticism1Focuses on exainin" a text priarily in relation to
the historical and cultural conditions of its production, and also of its later critical
interpretations. -ultural aterialis, a ode of 34-, ar"ues that whate#er the
*textuality+ of history, a culture and its literary products are always conditioned (y
the real aterial forces and relations of production in their historical era.

5. sycholo!ical Criticism1Focuses on a work of literature priarily as an
expression, in fictional for, of the state of ind and the structure of personality
of the indi#idual author. 6n other words, a literary text is related to its author7s
ental and eotional traits. Furthest extension is sychoanalytic Criticism"
ephasis on phallic sy(ols, wo(s, (reasts, etc. Theorists include 8acan and
9lein.
:. New Criticism ; The proper concern of literary criticis is not with the external
circustances or effects or historical position of a work, (ut with a detailed
consideration of the work itself as an independent entity. .phasis on *the words
on the pa"e.+ &tudy of poetry focuses on the *autonoy of the work as existin"
for its own sake,+ analysis of words, fi"ures of speech, and sy(ols. <istincti#e
procedure is close readin" and attention to recurrent ia"es) these critics deli"ht in
*tension,+ *irony,+ and *paradox.+ (&iilar to Foralis or 3eo-=ristotelian)
>. #econstructionFocuses on the practice of readin" a text in order to *su(#ert+ or
*underine+ the assuption that the text can (e interpreted coherently to ha#e a
uni#ersal deterinate eanin". Typically, deconstructi#e readin"s closely
exaine the conflictin" forces/eanin"s within the text in order to show that the
text has an indefinite array of possi(le readin"s/si"nifications.
?. Archetypal$Mythic Criticism1Focuses on recurrent narrati#e desi"ns, patterns
of action, character types, or ia"es which are said to (e identifia(le in a wide
#ariety of literary works, yths, dreas, and e#en rituali'ed odes of (eha#ior.
-ritics tend to ephasi'e the ythical patterns in literature, such as the death-
re(irth thee and @ourney of the hero.
For ore on 8iterary Theory, check out the Purdue Anline %ritin" 8a($
http$//owl.en"lish.purdue.edu/owl/resource/:!!/1/