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Literary theory: Difference between revisions
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*[[ Roman Jakobson]] | *[[ Roman Jakobson]] | ||
*[[ Claude Lévi-Strauss]] | *[[ 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== | ||
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*<ref name=Ref13>"Introduction to Literature" by Michael Delahoyde, | *<ref name=Ref13>"Introduction to Literature" by Michael Delahoyde, | ||
<https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/722/06/>, accessed 25 April 2014</ref> | <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== | ==External Links== | ||