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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. | 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== | ==Types of Literary Theory== | ||
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===Psychoanalytic Criticism=== | ===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 [ | 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/> | 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/> | ||
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*[[Elaine Showalter]] | *[[Elaine Showalter]] | ||
===Marxist Criticism=== | ===Marxist Criticism=== | ||
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===Deconstruction=== | ===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= | 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. | 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=== | ||
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. | |||
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. | 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. | ||
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<http://www.iep.utm.edu/literary/#H3>, accessed 22 April 2014</ref> | <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=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'', | *<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> | <http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/virtualit/poetry/critical_define/crit_decons.html/>, accessed 23 April 2014 </ref> | ||