Common Critical

Approaches in
Analyzing Literary
Pieces
A. Cultural Studies
a multi-disciplinary approach which
includes the perspectives of
humanistic disciplines such as
literature and art and the social and
behavioral sciences such as
anthropology, economics, and
psychology.
As a critical perspective, it contests
the older definition of culture and
looks not on the stable coherences of
a society or a civilization’s history but
its dissensions and conflicts.
QUESTIONS FOR ANALYSIS
1. What kinds of gender identify,
behavior, and attitudes are reflected
in the work?
2. Is there any overtly or covertly
expressed view of same-sex unions or
relationships?
Literary pieces that can be studied
using Cultural Studies:
1. Blue Blood of the Big Astana by
Ibrahim Jubaira
2. Surveyors of the Liguasan Marsh
by Antonio Enriquez
3. We Filipinos Are Mild Drinkers by
Alejandro Roces
B. New Historical Perspective
an approach in studying literature which
provides a context or background
information on how literary works were
perceived in their time. It shows how
literary
works reflect ideas and attitudes of the
time in which they were written.
QUESTION FOR ANALYSIS
1. How do power relations reflected
in the literary work manifest
themselves in
the cultural practices and social
institutions prevalent during the time
the work was written and published?
Literary pieces that can be studied
using New Historical Perspective:
1. Samboangan: The Cult of War by
Antonio R. Enriquez
2. Spots on Their Wings by Antonio
R. Enriquez
3. Cave and Shadows by Nick
Joaquin
C. Marxist Perspective
an approach that examines literature for
its reflections on how dominant elites
exploit subordinate groups, how people
become “alienated” from each other, and
how middle-class values lead to the
control and suppression of the working
classes.
It sees literature’s value in promoting
social and economic revolution and
considers the literary work as a
“product” in relation to the actual
economic and social conditions that
exist at the time of the work’s
composition or the time and place of the
action it describes.
QUESTION FOR ANALYSIS
To what extent are the lives of the
characters influenced or
determined by the social,
political, and economic forces?
Literary pieces that can be
studied using Marxist
Perspective:
1. Progress by F. Sionel Jose
2. Dhowli by Mahasweta Devi
3. Poor Folk by I.V. Mallari
D. Feminist Perspective
an approach that typically sees
literature as an arena in which to
contest for power and control
and thus an agent for social
transformation.
Like Historicism and Marxism, this
approach also examines the social,
economic, and cultural aspects of
literary works especially for what
those works reveal about the role,
position, and influence of women.
QUESTIONS FOR ANALYSIS
1. How are the relations between men
and women, or those between members
of the opposite sex, presented in the
work?
2. What roles do men and women
assume and perform and with what
consequence?
studied using Feminist
Perspective:
1. . “The Wedding Dance” by
Amador Daguio
2. “The Virgin” by
KerimaTuvera
3. “I’m Wife” by Emily
Dickinson