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Literary theory

2014-04-25T15:25:27Z

WireHeather:

==Introduction==

According to the Collins English Dictionary, literary theory is defined as "the systematic analysis and study of [[literature]] using general principles". A common misconception about literary theory is that it is focused on the meaning of a work of literature, whereas the actual study involves the tools by which people attempt to understand literature. <ref name=Ref1/> With different schools of theory critics of different literary works can focus on those works through different aspects they consider the most important(for example a Marxist theory may focus on how [[character|characters]] in a story react to an economic situation). <ref name=Ref2/> Critics use more than one school of literary theory when analyzing a work.

==Types of Literary Theory==

=== Archetypal/Myth Criticism ===

Archetypal/Myth critics, such as C.G. Jung and Joseph Campbell, view the genres and individual plot patterns of literature, including highly sophisticated and realistic works, as recurrences of certain archetypes and essential mythic formulae.<ref name=Ref10/> Archetypes are "repeated types of experience in lives of ancient ancestors which inherited the collective unconscious of the human race and are expressed in myths, dreams, religion, and private fantasies, also in the work of literature." - C.G. Jung

Examples of Archetypes: the sun, the moon, circles, colors, Wise Old Man, the Great Mother, etc. Another archetype would be the color white, signifies death and is associated with innocence.

Archetypal/Myth Authors:
*[[C.G. Jung]]
*[[Joseph Campbell]]
*[[Robert Graves]]

===Psychoanalytic Criticism===
Psychoanalytic criticism, is one of the initial approaches within the school of literary criticism. This concept is used by critics to analyze the unconsciousness of the mind; which consists of desires, fears, enjoyments or anything that causes human to be driven without knowledge of their actions. Psychoanalytic method was originally constructed by [[Sigmund Freud 1856-1939|Sigmund Freud]], when he was studying patients in an asylum.

The ''Introductory Guide to Critical Theory'' says, Freud began his researches into the workings of the human mind in 1881, after a century during which Europe and America saw the reform of the insane asylum and an ever-increasing interest in "abnormal" psychological states, especially the issue of "nervous diseases" (which was the first phenomenon that Freud studied, examining the nervous system of fish while gaining his medical degree at the University of Vienna from 1873 to 1881).<ref name=Ref3/>

Holland says, the psychoanalytic literary critic's primary job is to foreground that psychological element in what he or she says about books. In other words, the psychoanalytic critics should be interpreting their own, if you will, counter-transference to the text or whatever else they are describing.<ref name=Ref4/>

For example if the literary critic wants to apply the psychoanalytic approach to a specific piece of work or literature, the theory is applied directly with the following the concepts:<ref name=Ref5/>
<ol>
<li>Consider the author’s personality to explain and interpret a text
<li>What psychological theories are present in the characters (Oedipal complex, obsessive compulsive, sexual repression, denial, guilt)?
<li>What repressed material is expressed in imagery or symbols?
</ol>

The literary critic will then be able to exhibit to the reader the images that are needed to properly interpret and grasp the message of the writer.

===Feminist Criticism===

Feminist Criticism is the analysis of the thoughts on feminism, feminist theory, or feminist politics. Authors use this to change the way literature portrays woman characters. Feminist theory has raised questions towards society. It asks if the world values male characters over females or if they feel that females are not as strong as males.<ref name=Ref6/> When feminist criticism began is focused on politics of women authorship and the representation of woman’s conditions in literature.<ref name=Ref7/> Currently, feminist criticism focuses on certain aspects of society with women; such as education, politics, and the work force. <br /><br/>

Feminist Writers:
*[[Mary Wollstonecraft]]
*[[Julia Kristeva]]
*[[Elaine Showalter]]

===Marxist Criticism===

In literature, Marxist criticism focuses on money and power.<ref name=Ref8/> It was founded on the ideals of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. The story lines are usually affected or influenced by the economy or social classes. This criticism usually exposes the way a socioeconomic system is the ultimate source of our experience.<ref name=Ref9/> The notions of Marxism places emphasis on the convergence between the dominant and repressed classes. Also, Marxism encourages art to imitate what is often termed an "objective" reality. Contemporary Marxism is more general in its desired goal and views art as simultaneously reflective and autonomous to the era in which it was produced.<ref name=Ref10/>
<br /><br/>

Marxist Authors:
*[[Karl Marx]]
*[[Leon Trotsky]]
*[[Georg Lukács]]

===New Criticism===

New Criticism is a literary movement beginning in he late 1920's and 1930's. This movement derived from the reaction to traditional criticism that new critics believe were considered highly important, such as the biography or psychology of the author or the work's relations to the history of literature. The notion of New Criticism is that a work of literary art should be considered autonomous so that it is not judged, or stereotyped, by reference to considerations beyond the work.<ref name=Ref10/>

Major New Criticism Figures:
*[[I. A. Richards]]
*[[T. S. Eliot]]
*[[Cleanth Brooks]]
*[[David Daiches]]
*[[William Empson]]

===Formalist Criticism===

Formalist criticism is an approach that emphasizes literary form and and studies the structural purposes or literary devices of a text. Formalism seeks to study literature on a scientific base using objective analysis from the motifs, devices, techniques, and other functions. The literariness of the text served the Formalists the most importance. It was what they considered to separate their literary aspects from all other types of writing. They cared most that their narrative had meaning and displayed the "hero function."
<ref name=Ref11/>

===Civic Criticism===

Civic Criticism looks into the social and political ideas and attitudes of literature. Those factors are determined whether it is progressive or not.<ref name=Ref12/>

===Modernism/ Post-Modernism===

Modernism is the rejection of traditional forms of literature. It turns the work into a new experimental form. Modernism writing usually consists of several allusions. Modernism tends to focus around enlightenment ideas<ref name=Ref5/>

Post-Modernism follows the same suit as modernism, but with a twist. It forms a new framework. Post-Modernism tends to consist of free-play and disclosure. Theorist, Ihab Hassan, created a list of to show some difference between the two.<ref name=Ref10/>

<table style="width:300px">
<tr>
<td>'''Modernism'''</td>
<td>'''Post-Modernism'''</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Purpose</td>
<td>Play</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Design</td>
<td>Chance</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Hierarchy</td>
<td>Anarchy</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Totalization</td>
<td>Deconstruction</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Presence</td>
<td>Absence</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Root/Depth</td>
<td>Rhizome/Surface</td>
</tr>
</table>

===Post-Colonialism===

Post-Colonialism is a collection of theoretical and critical strategies that is used to examine culture like in literature, politics, history, etc., and their relations with the world. Post-colonial writers want to resurrect both their culture and to combat preconceptions of their culture.<ref name=Ref10/>

Major Post-Colonialism Figures:
*[[Edward Said]]
*[[Frantz Fanon]]

===Existentialism===

Existentialism is a philosophy that views each person as an isolated being and who sees the world as no value or meaning. This philosophy was promoted by Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus. Sartre saw human beings as being free to choose whatever conscious decision that they wanted to. "Man/Women are condemned to be free," -Jean-Paul Sartre. Most defined existence as absurd and anguished because there would be a world without sense and people are free to do whatever they want.<ref name=Ref10/>

Major Existentialism Figures:
*[[Jean-Paul Sartre]]
*[[Albert Camus]]

===Structuralism===

Structuralism is the concern for descriptions and perceptions of structures. Human activity is constructed, not natural or essential, according to Structuralist. This means, in any situation has to have some reasoning/meaning behind it.<ref name=Ref10/>

Major Structuralism Figures:
*[[Terence Hawkes]]
*[[ Roman Jakobson]]
*[[ Claude Lévi-Strauss]]

===Deconstruction===

Ross Murfin states that “deconstruction involves the close reading of texts in order to demonstrate that any given text has irreconcilably contradictory meanings, rather than being a unified, logical whole.”<ref name=Ref14/> J. Hillis Miller, the preeminent American deconstructor, also described how deconstruction does not involve the dismantling of a structure, but rather highlighting the fact that the text dismantles itself.

Jacques Derrida, a French philosopher, first coined deconstruction. He demonstrates how in Western Culture, there is a heavy reliance on “binary oppositions”. This occurs when two concepts are given, one that is inherently superior, the other slightly inferior (even slightly). Some examples include black vs white, feminine vs masculine, beginning vs end, etc. Deconstruction is the method used by Derrida to break down these oppositions and display the inevitable hierarchies within them.

===Reader Response===
Reader response criticism is a method through which authors are able to receive real feedback about how their work is experienced by readers. In essence, a reader is given a work, the reader actively experiences the work, and then they provide a response to the author. The advantage to this process, is that every reader will experience the work in their own way, influenced by their experiences and psychological needs. This provides the author with an authentic response every time, as no two readers will experience the work in the same way.

Louise Rosenblatt is credited with the creation of this approach. In 1969, she defined reader response criticism as, “A poem is what the reader lives through under the guidance of the text and experiences as relevant to the text…the idea that a poem presupposes a reader actively involved with a text is particularly shocking to those seeking to emphasize the objectivity of their observations.” Opposition to this idea was very heavy. Formalists had no interest in what a reader goes through, and claimed the idea of a reader’s response being relevant to a work as a fallacy.

In recent years, with the redefinition of literature into something the readers’ minds experience, the process of reader-response has been adapted. The most common form of response is done with college classes. The students read the work and describe their experiences at key points throughout the work. This can be done even while the work is still being written, which makes it particularly powerful.<ref name=Ref15/>

==References==
<references>
*<ref name=Ref1>“Literary Theory” by Vince Brewton, ''The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', ISSN 2161-0002, <http://www.iep.utm.edu/literary/>, accessed 16 April 2014 </ref>
*<ref name=Ref2>"Literary Theory and Schools of Criticism" by Allen Brizee, J. Case Tompkins. ''Purdue OWL'', <https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/722/>. </ref>
*<ref name=Ref3>"Modules on Freud: On Psychosexual Development." by Felluga. Dino.''Introductory Guide to Critical Theory''.<http://www.cla.purdue.edu/english/theory/psychoanalysis/freud.html>. July 12, 2002. accessed 21 April 2014 </ref>
*<ref name=Ref4>The Mind and the Book: A Long Look at Psychoanalytic Literary Criticism by N Holland, Norman. ''University of Florida'', <http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/nholland/mindbook.htm>.1998. accessed 21 April 2014 </ref>
*<ref name=Ref5>''Literary Theories: A Sampling of Lenses'' by Daniel Mesick.''Como Park Senior High School'', <http://comosr.spps.org/lit_theory>, accessed 21 April 2014 </ref>
*<ref name=Ref6>Napikoski, Linda. Feminist Literary Crticism. <http://womenshistory.about.com/od/feminism/a/feminist_criticism.htm>, accessed 21 April 2014</ref>
*<ref name=Ref7>Allen Brizee, J. Case Tompkins . 2010-04-21. Feminist Criticism (1960s-present).<https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/722/11/>, accessed 21 April 2014</ref>
*<ref name=Ref8>'Literary Theories: A Sampling of Critical Lenses.'
<http://www.mpsaz.org/rmhs/staff/rkcupryk/aa_jr/files/microsoft_word_-_literary_theories.pdf>, accessed 21 April 2014</ref>
*<ref name=Ref9>Allen Brizee, J. Case Tompkins . 2010-04-21. "Marxist Criticism (1930s-present)."<https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/722/05/>, accessed 21 April 2014</ref>
*<ref name=Ref10>"Introduction to Modern Literary Theory" by Dr. Kristi Siegel,
<http://www.kristisiegel.com/theory.htm>, accessed 22 April 2014</ref>
*<ref name=Ref11>"Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy" by Vince Brewton,
<http://www.iep.utm.edu/literary/#H3>, accessed 22 April 2014</ref>
*<ref name=Ref12>Cuddon, J. A. (2013). "Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory."</ref>
*<ref name=Ref14>“Critical Approaches” by Ross Murfin, ''VirtuaLit Interactive Poetry Tutorial'',
<http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/virtualit/poetry/critical_define/crit_decons.html/>, accessed 23 April 2014 </ref>
*<ref name=Ref15>“Critical Approaches” by Ross Murfin, ''VirtuaLit Interactive Poetry Tutorial'',
<http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/virtualit/poetry/critical_define/crit_reader.html/>, accessed 23 April 2014 </ref>

==External Links==
* http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/literary-theory - The Collins English Dictionary's definition page for Literary Theory.

[[Category:Literary Terms]]

Literary theory

2014-04-25T15:24:48Z

WireHeather:

==Introduction==

According to the Collins English Dictionary, literary theory is defined as "the systematic analysis and study of [[literature]] using general principles". A common misconception about literary theory is that it is focused on the meaning of a work of literature, whereas the actual study involves the tools by which people attempt to understand literature. <ref name=Ref1/> With different schools of theory critics of different literary works can focus on those works through different aspects they consider the most important(for example a Marxist theory may focus on how [[character|characters]] in a story react to an economic situation). <ref name=Ref2/> Critics use more than one school of literary theory when analyzing a work.

==Types of Literary Theory==

=== Archetypal/Myth Criticism ===

Archetypal/Myth critics, such as C.G. Jung and Joseph Campbell, view the genres and individual plot patterns of literature, including highly sophisticated and realistic works, as recurrences of certain archetypes and essential mythic formulae.<ref name=Ref10/> Archetypes are "repeated types of experience in lives of ancient ancestors which inherited the collective unconscious of the human race and are expressed in myths, dreams, religion, and private fantasies, also in the work of literature." - C.G. Jung

Examples of Archetypes: the sun, the moon, circles, colors, Wise Old Man, the Great Mother, etc. Another archetype would be the color white, signifies death and is associated with innocence.

Archetypal/Myth Authors:
*[[C.G. Jung]]
*[[Joseph Campbell]]
*[[Robert Graves]]

===Psychoanalytic Criticism===
Psychoanalytic criticism, is one of the initial approaches within the school of literary criticism. This concept is used by critics to analyze the unconsciousness of the mind; which consists of desires, fears, enjoyments or anything that causes human to be driven without knowledge of their actions. Psychoanalytic method was originally constructed by [[Sigmund Freud 1856-1939|Sigmund Freud]], when he was studying patients in an asylum.

The ''Introductory Guide to Critical Theory'' says, Freud began his researches into the workings of the human mind in 1881, after a century during which Europe and America saw the reform of the insane asylum and an ever-increasing interest in "abnormal" psychological states, especially the issue of "nervous diseases" (which was the first phenomenon that Freud studied, examining the nervous system of fish while gaining his medical degree at the University of Vienna from 1873 to 1881).<ref name=Ref3/>

Holland says, the psychoanalytic literary critic's primary job is to foreground that psychological element in what he or she says about books. In other words, the psychoanalytic critics should be interpreting their own, if you will, counter-transference to the text or whatever else they are describing.<ref name=Ref4/>

For example if the literary critic wants to apply the psychoanalytic approach to a specific piece of work or literature, the theory is applied directly with the following the concepts:<ref name=Ref5/>
<ol>
<li>Consider the author’s personality to explain and interpret a text
<li>What psychological theories are present in the characters (Oedipal complex, obsessive compulsive, sexual repression, denial, guilt)?
<li>What repressed material is expressed in imagery or symbols?
</ol>

The literary critic will then be able to exhibit to the reader the images that are needed to properly interpret and grasp the message of the writer.

===Feminist Criticism===

Feminist Criticism is the analysis of the thoughts on feminism, feminist theory, or feminist politics. Authors use this to change the way literature portrays woman characters. Feminist theory has raised questions towards society. It asks if the world values male characters over females or if they feel that females are not as strong as males.<ref name=Ref6/> When feminist criticism began is focused on politics of women authorship and the representation of woman’s conditions in literature.<ref name=Ref7/> Currently, feminist criticism focuses on certain aspects of society with women; such as education, politics, and the work force. <br /><br/>

Feminist Writers:
*[[Mary Wollstonecraft]]
*[[Julia Kristeva]]
*[[Elaine Showalter]]

===Marxist Criticism===

In literature, Marxist criticism focuses on money and power.<ref name=Ref8/> It was founded on the ideals of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. The story lines are usually affected or influenced by the economy or social classes. This criticism usually exposes the way a socioeconomic system is the ultimate source of our experience.<ref name=Ref9/> The notions of Marxism places emphasis on the convergence between the dominant and repressed classes. Also, Marxism encourages art to imitate what is often termed an "objective" reality. Contemporary Marxism is more general in its desired goal and views art as simultaneously reflective and autonomous to the era in which it was produced.<ref name=Ref10/>
<br /><br/>

Marxist Authors:
*[[Karl Marx]]
*[[Leon Trotsky]]
*[[Georg Lukács]]

===New Criticism===

New Criticism is a literary movement beginning in he late 1920's and 1930's. This movement derived from the reaction to traditional criticism that new critics believe were considered highly important, such as the biography or psychology of the author or the work's relations to the history of literature. The notion of New Criticism is that a work of literary art should be considered autonomous so that it is not judged, or stereotyped, by reference to considerations beyond the work.<ref name=Ref10/>

Major New Criticism Figures:
*[[I. A. Richards]]
*[[T. S. Eliot]]
*[[Cleanth Brooks]]
*[[David Daiches]]
*[[William Empson]]

===Formalist Criticism===

Formalist criticism is an approach that emphasizes literary form and and studies the structural purposes or literary devices of a text. Formalism seeks to study literature on a scientific base using objective analysis from the motifs, devices, techniques, and other functions. The literariness of the text served the Formalists the most importance. It was what they considered to separate their literary aspects from all other types of writing. They cared most that their narrative had meaning and displayed the "hero function."
<ref name=Ref11/>

===Civic Criticism===

Civic Criticism looks into the social and political ideas and attitudes of literature. Those factors are determined whether it is progressive or not.<ref name=Ref12/>

===Modernism/ Post-Modernism===

Modernism is the rejection of traditional forms of literature. It turns the work into a new experimental form. Modernism writing usually consists of several allusions. Modernism tends to focus around enlightenment ideas<ref name=Ref5/>

Post-Modernism follows the same suit as modernism, but with a twist. It forms a new framework. Post-Modernism tends to consist of free-play and disclosure. Theorist, Ihab Hassan, created a list of to show some difference between the two.<ref name=Ref10/>

<table style="width:300px">
<tr>
<td>'''Modernism'''</td>
<td>'''Post-Modernism'''</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Purpose</td>
<td>Play</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Design</td>
<td>Chance</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Hierarchy</td>
<td>Anarchy</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Totalization</td>
<td>Deconstruction</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Presence</td>
<td>Absence</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Root/Depth</td>
<td>Rhizome/Surface</td>
</tr>
</table>

===Post-Colonialism===

Post-Colonialism is a collection of theoretical and critical strategies that is used to examine culture like in literature, politics, history, etc., and their relations with the world. Post-colonial writers want to resurrect both their culture and to combat preconceptions of their culture.<ref name=Ref10/>

Major Post-Colonialism Figures:
*[[Edward Said]]
*[[Frantz Fanon]]

===Existentialism===

Existentialism is a philosophy that views each person as an isolated being and who sees the world as no value or meaning. This philosophy was promoted by Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus. Sartre saw human beings as being free to choose whatever conscious decision that they wanted to. "Man/Women are condemned to be free," -Jean-Paul Sartre. Most defined existence as absurd and anguished because there would be a world without sense and people are free to do whatever they want.<ref name=Ref10/>

Major Existentialism Figures:
*[[Jean-Paul Sartre]]
*[[Albert Camus]]

===Structuralism===

Structuralism is the concern for descriptions and perceptions of structures. Human activity is constructed, not natural or essential, according to Structuralist. This means, in any situation has to have some reasoning/meaning behind it.<ref name=Ref10/>

Major Structuralism Figures:
*[[Terence Hawkes]]
*[[ Roman Jakobson]]
*[[ Claude Lévi-Strauss]]

===Deconstruction===

Ross Murfin states that “deconstruction involves the close reading of texts in order to demonstrate that any given text has irreconcilably contradictory meanings, rather than being a unified, logical whole.”<ref name=Ref14/> J. Hillis Miller, the preeminent American deconstructor, also described how deconstruction does not involve the dismantling of a structure, but rather highlighting the fact that the text dismantles itself.

Jacques Derrida, a French philosopher, first coined deconstruction. He demonstrates how in Western Culture, there is a heavy reliance on “binary oppositions”. This occurs when two concepts are given, one that is inherently superior, the other slightly inferior (even slightly). Some examples include black vs white, feminine vs masculine, beginning vs end, etc. Deconstruction is the method used by Derrida to break down these oppositions and display the inevitable hierarchies within them.

===Reader Response===
Reader response criticism is a method through which authors are able to receive real feedback about how their work is experienced by readers. In essence, a reader is given a work, the reader actively experiences the work, and then they provide a response to the author. The advantage to this process, is that every reader will experience the work in their own way, influenced by their experiences and psychological needs. This provides the author with an authentic response every time, as no two readers will experience the work in the same way.

Louise Rosenblatt is credited with the creation of this approach. In 1969, she defined reader response criticism as, “A poem is what the reader lives through under the guidance of the text and experiences as relevant to the text…the idea that a poem presupposes a reader actively involved with a text is particularly shocking to those seeking to emphasize the objectivity of their observations.” Opposition to this idea was very heavy. Formalists had no interest in what a reader goes through, and claimed the idea of a reader’s response being relevant to a work as a fallacy.

In recent years, with the redefinition of literature into something the readers’ minds experience, the process of reader-response has been adapted. The most common form of response is done with college classes. The students read the work and describe their experiences at key points throughout the work. This can be done even while the work is still being written, which makes it particularly powerful.<ref name=Ref15/>

==References==
<references>
*<ref name=Ref1>“Literary Theory” by Vince Brewton, ''The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', ISSN 2161-0002, <http://www.iep.utm.edu/literary/>, accessed 16 April 2014 </ref>
*<ref name=Ref2>"Literary Theory and Schools of Criticism" by Allen Brizee, J. Case Tompkins. ''Purdue OWL'', <https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/722/>. </ref>
*<ref name=Ref3>"Modules on Freud: On Psychosexual Development." by Felluga. Dino.''Introductory Guide to Critical Theory''.<http://www.cla.purdue.edu/english/theory/psychoanalysis/freud.html>. July 12, 2002. accessed 21 April 2014 </ref>
*<ref name=Ref4>The Mind and the Book: A Long Look at Psychoanalytic Literary Criticism by N Holland, Norman. ''University of Florida'', <http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/nholland/mindbook.htm>.1998. accessed 21 April 2014 </ref>
*<ref name=Ref5>''Literary Theories: A Sampling of Lenses'' by Daniel Mesick.''Como Park Senior High School'', <http://comosr.spps.org/lit_theory>, accessed 21 April 2014 </ref>
*<ref name=Ref6>Napikoski, Linda. Feminist Literary Crticism. <http://womenshistory.about.com/od/feminism/a/feminist_criticism.htm>, accessed 21 April 2014</ref>
*<ref name=Ref7>Allen Brizee, J. Case Tompkins . 2010-04-21. Feminist Criticism (1960s-present).<https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/722/11/>, accessed 21 April 2014</ref>
*<ref name=Ref8>'Literary Theories: A Sampling of Critical Lenses.'
<http://www.mpsaz.org/rmhs/staff/rkcupryk/aa_jr/files/microsoft_word_-_literary_theories.pdf>, accessed 21 April 2014</ref>
*<ref name=Ref9>Allen Brizee, J. Case Tompkins . 2010-04-21. "Marxist Criticism (1930s-present)."<https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/722/05/>, accessed 21 April 2014</ref>
*<ref name=Ref10>"Introduction to Modern Literary Theory" by Dr. Kristi Siegel,
<http://www.kristisiegel.com/theory.htm>, accessed 22 April 2014</ref>
*<ref name=Ref11>"Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy" by Vince Brewton,
<http://www.iep.utm.edu/literary/#H3>, accessed 22 April 2014</ref>
*<ref name=Ref12>Cuddon, J. A. (2013). "Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory."</ref>
*<ref name=Ref13>"Introduction to Literature" by Michael Delahoyde,
<https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/722/06/>, accessed 25 April 2014</ref>
*<ref name=Ref14>“Critical Approaches” by Ross Murfin, ''VirtuaLit Interactive Poetry Tutorial'',
<http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/virtualit/poetry/critical_define/crit_decons.html/>, accessed 23 April 2014 </ref>
*<ref name=Ref15>“Critical Approaches” by Ross Murfin, ''VirtuaLit Interactive Poetry Tutorial'',
<http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/virtualit/poetry/critical_define/crit_reader.html/>, accessed 23 April 2014 </ref>

==External Links==
* http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/literary-theory - The Collins English Dictionary's definition page for Literary Theory.

[[Category:Literary Terms]]

Literary theory

2014-04-25T12:36:57Z

WireHeather:

==Introduction==

According to the Collins English Dictionary, literary theory is defined as "the systematic analysis and study of [[literature]] using general principles". A common misconception about literary theory is that it is focused on the meaning of a work of literature, whereas the actual study involves the tools by which people attempt to understand literature. <ref name=Ref1/> With different schools of theory critics of different literary works can focus on those works through different aspects they consider the most important(for example a Marxist theory may focus on how [[character|characters]] in a story react to an economic situation). <ref name=Ref2/> Critics use more than one school of literary theory when analyzing a work.

==Types of Literary Theory==

=== Archetypal/Myth Criticism ===

Archetypal/Myth critics, such as C.G. Jung and Joseph Campbell, view the genres and individual plot patterns of literature, including highly sophisticated and realistic works, as recurrences of certain archetypes and essential mythic formulae.<ref name=Ref10/> Archetypes are "repeated types of experience in lives of ancient ancestors which inherited the collective unconscious of the human race and are expressed in myths, dreams, religion, and private fantasies, also in the work of literature." - C.G. Jung

Examples of Archetypes: the sun, the moon, circles, colors, Wise Old Man, the Great Mother, etc. Another archetype would be the color white, signifies death and is associated with innocence.

Archetypal/Myth Authors:
*[[C.G. Jung]]
*[[Joseph Campbell]]
*[[Robert Graves]]

===Psychoanalytic Criticism===
Psychoanalytic criticism, is one of the initial approaches within the school of literary criticism. This concept is used by critics to analyze the unconsciousness of the mind; which consists of desires, fears, enjoyments or anything that causes human to be driven without knowledge of their actions. Psychoanalytic method was originally constructed by [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/questionofgod/twolives/freudbio.html Sigmund Freud], when he was studying patients in an asylum.

The ''Introductory Guide to Critical Theory'' says, Freud began his researches into the workings of the human mind in 1881, after a century during which Europe and America saw the reform of the insane asylum and an ever-increasing interest in "abnormal" psychological states, especially the issue of "nervous diseases" (which was the first phenomenon that Freud studied, examining the nervous system of fish while gaining his medical degree at the University of Vienna from 1873 to 1881).<ref name=Ref3/>

Holland says, the psychoanalytic literary critic's primary job is to foreground that psychological element in what he or she says about books. In other words, the psychoanalytic critics should be interpreting their own, if you will, counter-transference to the text or whatever else they are describing.<ref name=Ref4/>

For example if the literary critic wants to apply the psychoanalytic approach to a specific piece of work or literature, the theory is applied directly with the following the concepts:<ref name=Ref5/>
<ol>
<li>Consider the author’s personality to explain and interpret a text
<li>What psychological theories are present in the characters (Oedipal complex, obsessive compulsive, sexual repression, denial, guilt)?
<li>What repressed material is expressed in imagery or symbols?
</ol>

The literary critic will then be able to exhibit to the reader the images that are needed to properly interpret and grasp the message of the writer.

===Feminist Criticism===

Feminist Criticism is the analysis of the thoughts on feminism, feminist theory, or feminist politics. Authors use this to change the way literature portrays woman characters. Feminist theory has raised questions towards society. It asks if the world values male characters over females or if they feel that females are not as strong as males.<ref name=Ref6/> When feminist criticism began is focused on politics of women authorship and the representation of woman’s conditions in literature.<ref name=Ref7/> Currently, feminist criticism focuses on certain aspects of society with women; such as education, politics, and the work force. <br /><br/>

Feminist Writers:
*[[Mary Wollstonecraft]]
*[[Julia Kristeva]]
*[[Elaine Showalter]]

===Reader-response Criticism===

Reader-response Criticism is the focus of the reader's reaction to a particular work of literature.<ref name=Ref13/> The reader takes into account their own personal beliefs and background knowledge to analyze the author's work.

===Marxist Criticism===

In literature, Marxist criticism focuses on money and power.<ref name=Ref8/> It was founded on the ideals of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. The story lines are usually affected or influenced by the economy or social classes. This criticism usually exposes the way a socioeconomic system is the ultimate source of our experience.<ref name=Ref9/> The notions of Marxism places emphasis on the convergence between the dominant and repressed classes. Also, Marxism encourages art to imitate what is often termed an "objective" reality. Contemporary Marxism is more general in its desired goal and views art as simultaneously reflective and autonomous to the era in which it was produced.<ref name=Ref10/>
<br /><br/>

Marxist Authors:
*[[Karl Marx]]
*[[Leon Trotsky]]
*[[Georg Lukács]]

===New Criticism===

New Criticism is a literary movement beginning in he late 1920's and 1930's. This movement derived from the reaction to traditional criticism that new critics believe were considered highly important, such as the biography or psychology of the author or the work's relations to the history of literature. The notion of New Criticism is that a work of literary art should be considered autonomous so that it is not judged, or stereotyped, by reference to considerations beyond the work.<ref name=Ref10/>

Major New Criticism Figures:
*[[I. A. Richards]]
*[[T. S. Eliot]]
*[[Cleanth Brooks]]
*[[David Daiches]]
*[[William Empson]]

===Formalist Criticism===

Formalist criticism is an approach that emphasizes literary form and and studies the structural purposes or literary devices of a text. Formalism seeks to study literature on a scientific base using objective analysis from the motifs, devices, techniques, and other functions. The literariness of the text served the Formalists the most importance. It was what they considered to separate their literary aspects from all other types of writing. They cared most that their narrative had meaning and displayed the "hero function."
<ref name=Ref11/>

===Civic Criticism===

Civic Criticism looks into the social and political ideas and attitudes of literature. Those factors are determined whether it is progressive or not.<ref name=Ref12/>

===Modernism/ Post-Modernism===

Modernism is the rejection of traditional forms of literature. It turns the work into a new experimental form. Modernism writing usually consists of several allusions. Modernism tends to focus around enlightenment ideas<ref name=Ref5/>

Post-Modernism follows the same suit as modernism, but with a twist. It forms a new framework. Post-Modernism tends to consist of free-play and disclosure. Theorist, Ihab Hassan, created a list of to show some difference between the two.<ref name=Ref10/>

<table style="width:300px">
<tr>
<td>'''Modernism'''</td>
<td>'''Post-Modernism'''</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Purpose</td>
<td>Play</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Design</td>
<td>Chance</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Hierarchy</td>
<td>Anarchy</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Totalization</td>
<td>Deconstruction</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Presence</td>
<td>Absence</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Root/Depth</td>
<td>Rhizome/Surface</td>
</tr>
</table>

===Post-Colonialism===

Post-Colonialism is a collection of theoretical and critical strategies that is used to examine culture like in literature, politics, history, etc., and their relations with the world. Post-colonial writers want to resurrect both their culture and to combat preconceptions of their culture.<ref name=Ref10/>

Major Post-Colonialism Figures:
*[[Edward Said]]
*[[Frantz Fanon]]

===Existentialism===

Existentialism is a philosophy that views each person as an isolated being and who sees the world as no value or meaning. This philosophy was promoted by Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus. Sartre saw human beings as being free to choose whatever conscious decision that they wanted to. "Man/Women are condemned to be free," -Jean-Paul Sartre. Most defined existence as absurd and anguished because there would be a world without sense and people are free to do whatever they want.<ref name=Ref10/>

Major Existentialism Figures:
*[[Jean-Paul Sartre]]
*[[Albert Camus]]

===Structuralism===

Structuralism is the concern for descriptions and perceptions of structures. Human activity is constructed, not natural or essential, according to Structuralist. This means, in any situation has to have some reasoning/meaning behind it.<ref name=Ref10/>

Major Structuralism Figures:
*[[Terence Hawkes]]
*[[ Roman Jakobson]]
*[[ Claude Lévi-Strauss]]

===Deconstruction===

Ross Murfin states that “deconstruction involves the close reading of texts in order to demonstrate that any given text has irreconcilably contradictory meanings, rather than being a unified, logical whole.”<ref name=Ref14/> J. Hillis Miller, the preeminent American deconstructor, also described how deconstruction does not involve the dismantling of a structure, but rather highlighting the fact that the text dismantles itself.

Jacques Derrida, a French philosopher, first coined deconstruction. He demonstrates how in Western Culture, there is a heavy reliance on “binary oppositions”. This occurs when two concepts are given, one that is inherently superior, the other slightly inferior (even slightly). Some examples include black vs white, feminine vs masculine, beginning vs end, etc. Deconstruction is the method used by Derrida to break down these oppositions and display the inevitable hierarchies within them.

===Reader Response===

Reader response criticism is a method through which authors are able to receive real feedback about how their work is experienced by readers. In essence, a reader is given a work, the reader actively experiences the work, and then they provide a response to the author. The advantage to this process, is that every reader will experience the work in their own way, influenced by their experiences and psychological needs. This provides the author with an authentic response every time, as no two readers will experience the work in the same way.

Louise Rosenblatt is credited with the creation of this approach. In 1969, she defined reader response criticism as, “A poem is what the reader lives through under the guidance of the text and experiences as relevant to the text…the idea that a poem presupposes a reader actively involved with a text is particularly shocking to those seeking to emphasize the objectivity of their observations.” Opposition to this idea was very heavy. Formalists had no interest in what a reader goes through, and claimed the idea of a reader’s response being relevant to a work as a fallacy.

In recent years, with the redefinition of literature into something the readers’ minds experience, the process of reader-response has been adapted. The most common form of response is done with college classes. The students read the work and describe their experiences at key points throughout the work. This can be done even while the work is still being written, which makes it particularly powerful.<ref name=Ref15/>

==References==
<references>
*<ref name=Ref1>“Literary Theory” by Vince Brewton, ''The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', ISSN 2161-0002, <http://www.iep.utm.edu/literary/>, accessed 16 April 2014 </ref>
*<ref name=Ref2>"Literary Theory and Schools of Criticism" by Allen Brizee, J. Case Tompkins. ''Purdue OWL'', <https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/722/>. </ref>
*<ref name=Ref3>"Modules on Freud: On Psychosexual Development." by Felluga. Dino.''Introductory Guide to Critical Theory''.<http://www.cla.purdue.edu/english/theory/psychoanalysis/freud.html>. July 12, 2002. accessed 21 April 2014 </ref>
*<ref name=Ref4>The Mind and the Book: A Long Look at Psychoanalytic Literary Criticism by N Holland, Norman. ''University of Florida'', <http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/nholland/mindbook.htm>.1998. accessed 21 April 2014 </ref>
*<ref name=Ref5>''Literary Theories: A Sampling of Lenses'' by Daniel Mesick.''Como Park Senior High School'', <http://comosr.spps.org/lit_theory>, accessed 21 April 2014 </ref>
*<ref name=Ref6>Napikoski, Linda. Feminist Literary Crticism. <http://womenshistory.about.com/od/feminism/a/feminist_criticism.htm>, accessed 21 April 2014</ref>
*<ref name=Ref7>Allen Brizee, J. Case Tompkins . 2010-04-21. Feminist Criticism (1960s-present).<https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/722/11/>, accessed 21 April 2014</ref>
*<ref name=Ref8>'Literary Theories: A Sampling of Critical Lenses.'
<http://www.mpsaz.org/rmhs/staff/rkcupryk/aa_jr/files/microsoft_word_-_literary_theories.pdf>, accessed 21 April 2014</ref>
*<ref name=Ref9>Allen Brizee, J. Case Tompkins . 2010-04-21. "Marxist Criticism (1930s-present)."<https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/722/05/>, accessed 21 April 2014</ref>
*<ref name=Ref10>"Introduction to Modern Literary Theory" by Dr. Kristi Siegel,
<http://www.kristisiegel.com/theory.htm>, accessed 22 April 2014</ref>
*<ref name=Ref11>"Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy" by Vince Brewton,
<http://www.iep.utm.edu/literary/#H3>, accessed 22 April 2014</ref>
*<ref name=Ref12>Cuddon, J. A. (2013). "Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory."</ref>
*<ref name=Ref13>"Introduction to Literature" by Michael Delahoyde,
<https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/722/06/>, accessed 25 April 2014</ref>
*<ref name=Ref14>“Critical Approaches” by Ross Murfin, ''VirtuaLit Interactive Poetry Tutorial'',
<http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/virtualit/poetry/critical_define/crit_decons.html/>, accessed 23 April 2014 </ref>
*<ref name=Ref15>“Critical Approaches” by Ross Murfin, ''VirtuaLit Interactive Poetry Tutorial'',
<http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/virtualit/poetry/critical_define/crit_reader.html/>, accessed 23 April 2014 </ref>

==External Links==
* http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/literary-theory - The Collins English Dictionary's definition page for Literary Theory.

[[Category:Literary Terms]]

Literary theory

2014-04-25T12:35:40Z

WireHeather:

==Introduction==

According to the Collins English Dictionary, literary theory is defined as "the systematic analysis and study of [[literature]] using general principles". A common misconception about literary theory is that it is focused on the meaning of a work of literature, whereas the actual study involves the tools by which people attempt to understand literature. <ref name=Ref1/> With different schools of theory critics of different literary works can focus on those works through different aspects they consider the most important(for example a Marxist theory may focus on how [[character|characters]] in a story react to an economic situation). <ref name=Ref2/> Critics use more than one school of literary theory when analyzing a work.

==Types of Literary Theory==

=== Archetypal/Myth Criticism ===

Archetypal/Myth critics, such as C.G. Jung and Joseph Campbell, view the genres and individual plot patterns of literature, including highly sophisticated and realistic works, as recurrences of certain archetypes and essential mythic formulae.<ref name=Ref10/> Archetypes are "repeated types of experience in lives of ancient ancestors which inherited the collective unconscious of the human race and are expressed in myths, dreams, religion, and private fantasies, also in the work of literature." - C.G. Jung

Examples of Archetypes: the sun, the moon, circles, colors, Wise Old Man, the Great Mother, etc. Another archetype would be the color white, signifies death and is associated with innocence.

Archetypal/Myth Authors:
*[[C.G. Jung]]
*[[Joseph Campbell]]
*[[Robert Graves]]

===Psychoanalytic Criticism===
Psychoanalytic criticism, is one of the initial approaches within the school of literary criticism. This concept is used by critics to analyze the unconsciousness of the mind; which consists of desires, fears, enjoyments or anything that causes human to be driven without knowledge of their actions. Psychoanalytic method was originally constructed by [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/questionofgod/twolives/freudbio.html Sigmund Freud], when he was studying patients in an asylum.

The ''Introductory Guide to Critical Theory'' says, Freud began his researches into the workings of the human mind in 1881, after a century during which Europe and America saw the reform of the insane asylum and an ever-increasing interest in "abnormal" psychological states, especially the issue of "nervous diseases" (which was the first phenomenon that Freud studied, examining the nervous system of fish while gaining his medical degree at the University of Vienna from 1873 to 1881).<ref name=Ref3/>

Holland says, the psychoanalytic literary critic's primary job is to foreground that psychological element in what he or she says about books. In other words, the psychoanalytic critics should be interpreting their own, if you will, counter-transference to the text or whatever else they are describing.<ref name=Ref4/>

For example if the literary critic wants to apply the psychoanalytic approach to a specific piece of work or literature, the theory is applied directly with the following the concepts:<ref name=Ref5/>
<ol>
<li>Consider the author’s personality to explain and interpret a text
<li>What psychological theories are present in the characters (Oedipal complex, obsessive compulsive, sexual repression, denial, guilt)?
<li>What repressed material is expressed in imagery or symbols?
</ol>

The literary critic will then be able to exhibit to the reader the images that are needed to properly interpret and grasp the message of the writer.

===Feminist Criticism===

Feminist Criticism is the analysis of the thoughts on feminism, feminist theory, or feminist politics. Authors use this to change the way literature portrays woman characters. Feminist theory has raised questions towards society. It asks if the world values male characters over females or if they feel that females are not as strong as males.<ref name=Ref6/> When feminist criticism began is focused on politics of women authorship and the representation of woman’s conditions in literature.<ref name=Ref7/> Currently, feminist criticism focuses on certain aspects of society with women; such as education, politics, and the work force. <br /><br/>

Feminist Writers:
*[[Mary Wollstonecraft]]
*[[Julia Kristeva]]
*[[Elaine Showalter]]

===Reader-response Criticism===

Reader-response Criticism is the focus of the reader's reaction to a particular work of literature.<ref name=Ref13/> The reader takes into account their own personal beliefs and background knowledge to analyze the author's work.

===Marxist Criticism===

In literature, Marxist criticism focuses on money and power.<ref name=Ref8/> It was founded on the ideals of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. The story lines are usually affected or influenced by the economy or social classes. This criticism usually exposes the way a socioeconomic system is the ultimate source of our experience.<ref name=Ref9/> The notions of Marxism places emphasis on the convergence between the dominant and repressed classes. Also, Marxism encourages art to imitate what is often termed an "objective" reality. Contemporary Marxism is more general in its desired goal and views art as simultaneously reflective and autonomous to the era in which it was produced.<ref name=Ref10/>
<br /><br/>

Marxist Authors:
*[[Karl Marx]]
*[[Leon Trotsky]]
*[[Georg Lukács]]

===New Criticism===

New Criticism is a literary movement beginning in he late 1920's and 1930's. This movement derived from the reaction to traditional criticism that new critics believe were considered highly important, such as the biography or psychology of the author or the work's relations to the history of literature. The notion of New Criticism is that a work of literary art should be considered autonomous so that it is not judged, or stereotyped, by reference to considerations beyond the work.<ref name=Ref10/>

Major New Criticism Figures:
*[[I. A. Richards]]
*[[T. S. Eliot]]
*[[Cleanth Brooks]]
*[[David Daiches]]
*[[William Empson]]

===Formalist Criticism===

Formalist criticism is an approach that emphasizes literary form and and studies the structural purposes or literary devices of a text. Formalism seeks to study literature on a scientific base using objective analysis from the motifs, devices, techniques, and other functions. The literariness of the text served the Formalists the most importance. It was what they considered to separate their literary aspects from all other types of writing. They cared most that their narrative had meaning and displayed the "hero function."
<ref name=Ref11/>

===Civic Criticism===

Civic Criticism looks into the social and political ideas and attitudes of literature. Those factors are determined whether it is progressive or not.<ref name=Ref12/>

===Modernism/ Post-Modernism===

Modernism is the rejection of traditional forms of literature. It turns the work into a new experimental form. Modernism writing usually consists of several allusions. Modernism tends to focus around enlightenment ideas<ref name=Ref5/>

Post-Modernism follows the same suit as modernism, but with a twist. It forms a new framework. Post-Modernism tends to consist of free-play and disclosure. Theorist, Ihab Hassan, created a list of to show some difference between the two.<ref name=Ref10/>

<table style="width:300px">
<tr>
<td>'''Modernism'''</td>
<td>'''Post-Modernism'''</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Purpose</td>
<td>Play</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Design</td>
<td>Chance</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Hierarchy</td>
<td>Anarchy</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Totalization</td>
<td>Deconstruction</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Presence</td>
<td>Absence</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Root/Depth</td>
<td>Rhizome/Surface</td>
</tr>
</table>

===Post-Colonialism===

Post-Colonialism is a collection of theoretical and critical strategies that is used to examine culture like in literature, politics, history, etc., and their relations with the world. Post-colonial writers want to resurrect both their culture and to combat preconceptions of their culture.<ref name=Ref10/>

Major Post-Colonialism Figures:
*[[Edward Said]]
*[[Frantz Fanon]]

===Existentialism===

Existentialism is a philosophy that views each person as an isolated being and who sees the world as no value or meaning. This philosophy was promoted by Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus. Sartre saw human beings as being free to choose whatever conscious decision that they wanted to. "Man/Women are condemned to be free," -Jean-Paul Sartre. Most defined existence as absurd and anguished because there would be a world without sense and people are free to do whatever they want.<ref name=Ref10/>

Major Existentialism Figures:
*[[Jean-Paul Sartre]]
*[[Albert Camus]]

===Structuralism===

Structuralism is the concern for descriptions and perceptions of structures. Human activity is constructed, not natural or essential, according to Structuralist. This means, in any situation has to have some reasoning/meaning behind it.<ref name=Ref10/>

Major Structuralism Figures:
*[[Terence Hawkes]]
*[[ Roman Jakobson]]
*[[ Claude Lévi-Strauss]]

===Deconstruction===

Ross Murfin states that “deconstruction involves the close reading of texts in order to demonstrate that any given text has irreconcilably contradictory meanings, rather than being a unified, logical whole.”<ref name=Ref15/> J. Hillis Miller, the preeminent American deconstructor, also described how deconstruction does not involve the dismantling of a structure, but rather highlighting the fact that the text dismantles itself.

Jacques Derrida, a French philosopher, first coined deconstruction. He demonstrates how in Western Culture, there is a heavy reliance on “binary oppositions”. This occurs when two concepts are given, one that is inherently superior, the other slightly inferior (even slightly). Some examples include black vs white, feminine vs masculine, beginning vs end, etc. Deconstruction is the method used by Derrida to break down these oppositions and display the inevitable hierarchies within them.

===Reader Response===

Reader response criticism is a method through which authors are able to receive real feedback about how their work is experienced by readers. In essence, a reader is given a work, the reader actively experiences the work, and then they provide a response to the author. The advantage to this process, is that every reader will experience the work in their own way, influenced by their experiences and psychological needs. This provides the author with an authentic response every time, as no two readers will experience the work in the same way.

Louise Rosenblatt is credited with the creation of this approach. In 1969, she defined reader response criticism as, “A poem is what the reader lives through under the guidance of the text and experiences as relevant to the text…the idea that a poem presupposes a reader actively involved with a text is particularly shocking to those seeking to emphasize the objectivity of their observations.” Opposition to this idea was very heavy. Formalists had no interest in what a reader goes through, and claimed the idea of a reader’s response being relevant to a work as a fallacy.

In recent years, with the redefinition of literature into something the readers’ minds experience, the process of reader-response has been adapted. The most common form of response is done with college classes. The students read the work and describe their experiences at key points throughout the work. This can be done even while the work is still being written, which makes it particularly powerful.<ref name=Ref15/>

==References==
<references>
*<ref name=Ref1>“Literary Theory” by Vince Brewton, ''The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', ISSN 2161-0002, <http://www.iep.utm.edu/literary/>, accessed 16 April 2014 </ref>
*<ref name=Ref2>"Literary Theory and Schools of Criticism" by Allen Brizee, J. Case Tompkins. ''Purdue OWL'', <https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/722/>. </ref>
*<ref name=Ref3>"Modules on Freud: On Psychosexual Development." by Felluga. Dino.''Introductory Guide to Critical Theory''.<http://www.cla.purdue.edu/english/theory/psychoanalysis/freud.html>. July 12, 2002. accessed 21 April 2014 </ref>
*<ref name=Ref4>The Mind and the Book: A Long Look at Psychoanalytic Literary Criticism by N Holland, Norman. ''University of Florida'', <http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/nholland/mindbook.htm>.1998. accessed 21 April 2014 </ref>
*<ref name=Ref5>''Literary Theories: A Sampling of Lenses'' by Daniel Mesick.''Como Park Senior High School'', <http://comosr.spps.org/lit_theory>, accessed 21 April 2014 </ref>
*<ref name=Ref6>Napikoski, Linda. Feminist Literary Crticism. <http://womenshistory.about.com/od/feminism/a/feminist_criticism.htm>, accessed 21 April 2014</ref>
*<ref name=Ref7>Allen Brizee, J. Case Tompkins . 2010-04-21. Feminist Criticism (1960s-present).<https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/722/11/>, accessed 21 April 2014</ref>
*<ref name=Ref8>'Literary Theories: A Sampling of Critical Lenses.'
<http://www.mpsaz.org/rmhs/staff/rkcupryk/aa_jr/files/microsoft_word_-_literary_theories.pdf>, accessed 21 April 2014</ref>
*<ref name=Ref9>Allen Brizee, J. Case Tompkins . 2010-04-21. "Marxist Criticism (1930s-present)."<https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/722/05/>, accessed 21 April 2014</ref>
*<ref name=Ref10>"Introduction to Modern Literary Theory" by Dr. Kristi Siegel,
<http://www.kristisiegel.com/theory.htm>, accessed 22 April 2014</ref>
*<ref name=Ref11>"Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy" by Vince Brewton,
<http://www.iep.utm.edu/literary/#H3>, accessed 22 April 2014</ref>
*<ref name=Ref12>Cuddon, J. A. (2013). "Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory."</ref>
*<ref name=Ref13>"Introduction to Literature" by Michael Delahoyde,
<https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/722/06/>, accessed 25 April 2014</ref>
*<ref name=Ref14>“Critical Approaches” by Ross Murfin, ''VirtuaLit Interactive Poetry Tutorial'',
<http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/virtualit/poetry/critical_define/crit_decons.html/>, accessed 23 April 2014 </ref>
*<ref name=Ref15>“Critical Approaches” by Ross Murfin, ''VirtuaLit Interactive Poetry Tutorial'',
<http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/virtualit/poetry/critical_define/crit_reader.html/>, accessed 23 April 2014 </ref>

==External Links==
* http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/literary-theory - The Collins English Dictionary's definition page for Literary Theory.

[[Category:Literary Terms]]

Symbolism

2014-04-11T15:29:05Z

WireHeather: Created page with " == Symbolism == A symbol is something that stands for or suggests something else by reason of relationship, association, convention, or accidental resemblance. Authors u..."

== Symbolism ==

A [[symbol]] is something that stands for or suggests something else by reason of relationship, association, convention, or accidental resemblance. Authors use symbolic meaning to convey a deeper meaning rather than just saying it deliberately. Symbolism is the art or practice of using symbols by investing things with a symbolic meaning as artistic imitation or invention that is a method of revealing or suggesting immaterial, ideal, or otherwise intangible truth or states.

== Etymology ==

The word “symbolism” derived from the word “symbol” which comes from the Greek word symbolon. Symbolon is an object animate or inanimate which call forth an idea.<ref>Williams, R. (n.d.). Legend and Symbol An Etymology Lesson. Retrieved April 10, 2014, from http://www.roserwilliams.com/LegendandSymbolEtymologyLesson.pdf</ref>

== Significance ==

Symbolism is not only important to literature; it has power in everyday life. In example, take a look at a wedding ring. The metal itself has no power or meaning. However, the wedding ring symbolizes the commitment two people made to each other and therein lies the power. Authors use descriptions and symbols to suggest ideas or to persuade the reader. Read the two statements below and tell me if the description or symbols presented change how you perceive the story.

'''Example 1'''

Sara is the only female working for her company. Before she walks into the building, she takes off her wedding ring and places it into her purse with a sly look on her face.

'''Example 2'''

Sara is the only female working for her company. Before she walks into the building, she takes off her wedding ring and places it into her purse because she is a construction worker.

In the first example, the symbolism associated with a wedding ring and the woman’s sly expression may suggest dishonesty or infidelity. However, in the second example, despite the symbolism tied to the wedding ring, the woman appears to have done no wrong by removing her wedding ring based on her job in the description.

Symbolism is very influential in literature and is commonly used in a [[metaphor]], [[simile]] or an [[allegory]]. It is also used to help set the [[mood]] or [[atmosphere]] of a story. Knowing different symbols and what they represent will change how a reader perceives a story. A reader cannot see or understand symbolism upon the surface; they must dig deeper to understand or interpret the true meaning.

'''Example 3'''

I feel as blue as the morning sky.

On the surface a reader would be confused about how a person could actually feel like the sky. How does the sky feel? The meaning is hidden in the symbolism of the color blue. In order to fully understand how the person in the example feels, the reader must understand what the color blue symbolizes.

== Symbolic Archetypes ==

Below are different symbolic archetypes found in literature:<ref>Gonzo, A. L. (n.d.). Common Archetypes and Symbols in Literature. Retrieved April 9, 2014, from http://www.muhsd.k12.ca.us/cms/lib5/CA01001051/Centricity/Domain/520/English%203/Unit%201%20--%20Early%20American%20Lit/ArchetypesandSymbols.pdf</ref>

=== Light vs. Darkness ===

Light usually suggests hope, renewal, OR intellectual illumination; darkness implies the unknown,
ignorance, or despair.

===Water vs. Desert===

Because water is necessary to life and growth, it commonly appears as a birth or rebirth symbol.
Water is used in baptism services, which solemnizes spiritual births. Similarly, the appearance of rain in a work of
literature can suggest a character’s spiritual birth.

===Heaven vs. Hell===

Humanity has traditionally associated parts of the universe not accessible to it with the dwelling places
of the primordial forces that govern its world. The skies and mountaintops house its gods; the bowels of the earth contain
the diabolic forces that inhabit its universe.

===Haven vs. Wilderness===

Places of safety contrast sharply against the dangerous wilderness. Heroes are often sheltered
for a time to regain health and resources.

===Supernatural Intervention===

The gods intervene on the side of the hero or sometimes against him.

===Fire vs. Ice===

Fire represents knowledge, light, life, and rebirth while ice like desert represents ignorance, darkness,
sterility, and death.

===Colors===

'''Black (darkness)''' – chaos, mystery, the unknown, before existence, death, the unconscious, evil

'''Red''' – blood, sacrifice; violent passion, disorder, sunrise, birth, fire, emotion, wounds, death, sentiment, mother, Mars,
the note C, anger, excitement, heat, physical stimulation

'''Green''' – hope, growth, envy, Earth, fertility, sensation, vegetation, death, water, nature, sympathy, adaptability,
growth, Jupiter and Venus, the note G, envy

'''White (light)''' – purity, peace, innocence, goodness, Spirit, morality, creative force, the direction East, spiritual thought

===Numbers===

'''Three''' – the Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Ghost); Mind, Body, Spirit, Birth, Life, Death

'''Four''' – Mankind (four limbs), four elements, four seasons

'''Six''' – devil, evil

'''Seven''' – Divinity (3) + Mankind (4) = relationship between man and God, seven deadly sins, seven days of week,
seven days to create the world, seven stages of civilization, seven colors of the rainbow, seven gifts of Holy Spirit.

===Shapes===

'''Oval''' – woman, passivity

'''Triangle''' – communication, between heaven and earth, fire, the number 3, trinity, aspiration, movement upward,
return to origins, sight, light

'''Cross''' – the Tree of life, axis of the world, struggle, martyrdom, orientation in space

'''Circle''' – Heaven, intellect, thought, sun, the number two, unity, perfection, eternity, oneness, celestial realm, hearing,

===Nature===

'''Air''' – activity, creativity, breath, light, freedom (liberty), movement

'''Earth''' – passive, feminine, receptive, solid

'''Fire''' – the ability to transform, love, life, health, control, sun, God, passion, spiritual energy, regeneration

'''Lake''' – mystery, depth, unconscious

'''Rivers/Streams''' – life force, life cycle

'''Forest''' – evil, lost, fear

===Objects===

'''Feathers''' – lightness, speed

'''Shadow''' – our dark side, evil, devil

'''Masks''' – concealment

'''Right hand''' – rectitude, correctness

'''Left hand''' – deviousness

===Animals/Creatures===

'''Butterfly''' - change, transformation

'''Lion''' - strength, assertiveness

'''Dove''' - hope, peace

== Examples in Literature ==

Symbols are also used throughout literature and have many different meanings based on the context of the device. Some examples are:

In the short story ''Young Goodman Brown'' by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Faith wears pink ribbons which are meant to symbolize her purity and innocence. Later in the story, one of her ribbons is seen falling from the sky, representing her innocence lost.<ref>Hawthorne, N. (1835). Young Goodman Brown. Retrieved April 9, 2014, from http://www.online-literature.com/poe/158/</ref>

In the poem ''The Raven'' by Edgar Allen Poe, the raven itself symbolizes Poe’s grief for his lost love Lenore.<ref>Poe, E. A. (1845). The Raven. Retrieved April 9, 2014, from http://www.heise.de/ix/raven/Literature/Lore/TheRaven.html</ref>

In the novel ''The Scarlet Letter'' by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the letter A is worn by Hester to signify “Adultery”. As time goes on, the symbol changes to mean “able”. This is a dynamic symbol.<ref>Hawthorne, N. (1850). The Scarlet Letter. Retrieved April 9, 2014, from http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/33/pg33.html</ref>

== Works Cited ==
{{reflist}}

<references>

Gonzo, A. L. (n.d.). Common Archetypes and Symbols in Literature. Retrieved April 9, 2014, from http://www.muhsd.k12.ca.us/cms/lib5/CA01001051/Centricity/Domain/520/English%203/Unit%201%20--%20Early%20American%20Lit/ArchetypesandSymbols.pdf

Hawthorne, N. (1850). The Scarlet Letter. Retrieved April 9, 2014, from http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/33/pg33.html

Hawthorne, N. (1835). Young Goodman Brown. Retrieved April 9, 2014, from http://www.online-literature.com/poe/158/

Poe, E. A. (1845). The Raven. Retrieved April 9, 2014, from http://www.heise.de/ix/raven/Literature/Lore/TheRaven.html

Williams, R. (n.d.). Legend and Symbol An Etymology Lesson. Retrieved April 10, 2014, from http://www.roserwilliams.com/LegendandSymbolEtymologyLesson.pdf</references>

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[[Literary Terms]]