Literary criticism: Difference between revisions

 

The critic's precise purpose may be to make value judgments on a work, to explain his or her interpretation of the work, or to provide other readers with relevant historical or biographical information. The critic's general purpose, in most cases, is to enhance the reader's understanding of the literary work. Critics typically engage in dialogue or debate with other critics, using the views of other critics to develop their own points. Unfortunately, when critics assume that their readers are already familiar with previous criticism, the argument may be difficult to follow.<ref>Hale, Steven (2007) [http://facstaff.gpc.edu/~shale/humanities/composition/handouts/crit.html “Literary Criticism as a Tool for Interpreting Literature”] Assessed on July 9, 2014</ref>

Before Plato, with the exception of a few occurrences there was no real literary criticism in the sense of theory of literature. He essentially attacked all poetry. However, Aristotle continued on his teacher’s ways, and further expanded upon Plato’s Ideas thus expanding and creating more literary criticism, and in the 4th century BC wrote the Poetics which gives specific example of critiques of contemporary works of art. These two men primarily gave birth to literary criticism. <ref name="hall">Hall, V. (1963). A Short History of Literay Criticism . London: The Merlin Press.</ref>

The beginning of the Renaissance critics started in 1498 with the translation of the classic texts. The most important of these translations was of Aristotle’s Poetics, translated by Giorgio Valla. Throughout the Renaissance many authors critiqued classic works, as well as criticizing modern works.<ref name="hall"/>

From Milton in England to Henry David Thoreau and even later with Ralph Waldo Emerson and Walt Whitman, these authors frequently questioned and criticized literature, Arts , Social Norms essentially expanding their predecessors platforms.<ref>van Gelder, G. J. H. (1982), Beyond the Line: Classical Arabic Literary Critics on the Coherence and Unity of the Poem, Brill Publishers, pp. 1–2, ISBN 90-04-06854-6</ref>. The Enlightenment was a cultural movement that focused on changing society through the use of reason and logic instead of relying on faith and religion. As such, critics during the Enlightenment criticized literature through this lens, focusing on how literature could change society using logic and facts rather than chalking everything up to religion, faith, or God. <ref>Kors, Alan Charles. Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2003. Print.</ref><br />

Moral criticism is a type of literary criticism that tends to teach someone right from wrong based on their morals. However, it also tends to end up praising or blaming morality by locating responsibility strictly within the character or nature of an individual <ref>Miller, Jessica;Mikhitarian, Michele [http://cyberenglishdhs.wikispaces.com/Moral+Criticism oral Criticism] Accessed July 10, 2014</ref>. In contrast to Plato's idea of this, Aristotle believed that poetry and drama do not teach morals or ethics, but instead are there for enjoyment and a meas to an end, influenced by a construction <ref> Karki, Roman [http://prezi.com/zfayekeiqva9/moral-criticism-and-dramatic-construction/ Moral Criticism and Dramatic Construction] Accessed July 10, 2014</ref><br />

An example of Moral Criticism can be found in the works of Plato and Aristotle.  Plato’s book "The Republic" was an example of some of the earliest literary criticism.  [[Aristotle's Poetics]] was another early writing that gave Moral Criticism a start and has continued since <ref name="brizee">Brizee, Allen;Tompkins, J.Case [https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/722/ “Literary Theory and Schools of Criticism”]Accessed July 7, 2014</ref>.<br />

Mythological criticism is a combination of anthropology, psychology, history, and comparative religion. Introduced by Carl Jung, Mythological criticism explores how the imagination uses myths, symbols to different cultures and epochs. The central concept in mythological criticism is to analyze symbols and characters to find deeper meaning. This type of criticism views literature as a gateway to reveal human desires, fears, and expectations; critics in this field uses the text to interpret how different cultures and humans in general view themselves and their place in the world. <ref> Persad, Krishen [https://prezi.com/di-rhq7ujy8i/mythological-criticism/ Mythological Criticism]Accessed July 8, 2014</ref><br />

There are works available that provide forms of Mythological Criticism, which was introduced by [[C.G. Jung]], that will give the reader a good starting point for understanding this type of literature.  "The Masks of God: Primitive Mythology" by [[Joseph Campbell]] gives the reader a good insight into this area of literary criticism. Mark Schorer, who wrote "William Blake: The Politics of Vision", provides another option for studying Mythological criticism. <ref>Rutgers [http://comminfo.rutgers.edu/~mjoseph/c-guerin.html "Mythological and Archetypal Approaches"] Accessed July 10, 2014</ref><br />

Formalism, New Criticism and Neo-Aristotelian Criticism include the concerns of the parts of a text and how each of the parts fit together to make a whole. Formalist criticism excludes any information outside the actual text; biographies, historical or literary allusions, mythological patterns, or psychological traits of characters. Formalist critics examines each part of the text, each chapter, characters, settings, tone, point of views, diction, and the fictional world created in the text; after which the critic analyzes and describes how each part work together to create the story <ref>Smith, Nicole [http://www.articlemyriad.com/overview-formalism-literature-theory/ "An Overview and Extended Definition of Formalism in Literature and Theory"] Accessed July 8, 2014</ref>. <br />

Formalist critics, Roman Jakobson and Viktor Shklovsky are two of the most well-known for this type of criticism.  Jakobson’s Closing Statement: Linguistics and Poetics, and Sholovsky’s Theory of Prose are good examples of this kind of writing.  [[Cleanth Brooks]], [[David Daiches]], John Crowe Ransome, and [[T. S. Eliot]] are all authors where examples of New Criticism can be found. Ransome’s book "The New Criticism", or Eliot’s essay "Tradition and the Individual Talent" provide some of the best examples of New Criticism.  R.S. "Crane’s Critics and Criticism: Ancient and Modern", and Wayne C. Booth’s "The Rhetoric of Fiction" are works that can be read to get a better understanding on the subject of Neo-Aristotelian Criticism<ref name="brizee"/>

Biographical criticism examines the effect and influence of a writer’s life on his work, whether be it intentional or not. Biographical critics consider the author’s life and recognizes literary study as being an art not a science; discovering details about the author’s life and times, providing ways to develop ideas about the story <ref>Wikipedia [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biographical_criticism Biographical criticism] Accessed July 6, 2014</ref><br />

Some of the best examples of biographical criticism can be found in studies of Charles Dickens and F. Scott Fitzgerald, among others. The authors of this type of criticism attempt to give a better understanding the elements in the work. "Charles Dickens: A Critical Introduction" by K. J. Fielding; and "The Far Side of Paradise: A Biography of F. Scott Fitzgerald" by Arthur Mizener are titles that provide examples of biographical criticism. <ref>CLA [http://www.cla.purdue.edu/blackmon/engl360k/critical.html "Critical Approcahes to Literature"] Accessed July 10, 2014</ref><br />

Psycholoanalytic Criticism and Jungian Criticism interpret writings, authors, and readers through a psychological lens. The main focus for Psychological Criticism is on the expression of the unconscious mind in the work, looking at psychology in the narrative itself as well as in the author. Psychological critics consider the symbols in the work and what they might mean; they evaluate the psychological state of characters and examine their motivations and actions with an understanding of psychology in mind. This type of criticism also explores matricide as a literary theme and can explore the author’s own history to determine why they chose to tell that particular story.<ref>wiseGEEK [http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-psychological-criticism.htm "What Is Psychological Criticism?"] Accessed July 2, 2014</ref><br />

Sociological criticism involves discussions of society, social relationships, and historical events that may affect society; shows the relationship between the artist and the society in which they live and how society affects an artist. Introduced by Kenneth Burke, Sociological Criticism is literary criticism directed to understanding literature in its larger social context. It examines the work of art in its social context and studies its social effects. Sociological critics focus on ideologies and experiences of people who lived in the specific time period and their culture; they look for themes of oppression and liberation. <ref name="mmaurno"> mmaurno [http://www.scribd.com/doc/18167893/Types-of-Literary-Criticism Types of Literary Criticism] Accessed July 8, 2014</ref><br />

Sociological Criticism author, Austin Harrington, discusses in "Art and Social Theory" ways in which art can be approached from a sociological standpoint. Kenneth Burke and "Literature as Equipment for Living" were at the forefront of examining sociological criticism.  Burke provided refinement to the way the world is experienced through his examination of sociological criticism. <ref>Anders, Abram [http://kbjournal.org/anders"Pragmatisms by Incongruity: ‘Equipment for Living’ from Kenneth Burke to Gilles Deleuze"] Accessed July 10, 2014</ref> <br />

Marxist criticism was developed by Karl Marx and influenced by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. This literary criticism is written in an attempt to reveal ways in which the socioeconomic system is the ultimate source of our experience. It uses material dialect, which is what drives the historical change in the material realities of the economic based society rather than just using the ideological superstructures, such as law, philosophy, politics and art built upon that economic base <ref name="brizee"/>. <br />

Reader-response criticism is a literary criticism that focuses on what texts do. These critics raise rhetorical questions that regard how the readers join in with the author in a way of being able to help the text have meaning. Instead of being an impressionistic free-for-all, subjective or legitimizing of all half-baked personal comments on a literary work. Instead, reader-response criticism is focused on finding the in the act of reading and looking at the ways readers or communities responses through examination of their individual experiences through texts. <ref> Delahyde, Michael [http://public.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/reader.crit.html Reader Response Criticism] Accessed July 10, 2014</ref><br />

New Historicism is a method of literary criticism that looks to the historicty of the text by using relations to the configuration of power, society or ideology at a specific time within the past. This type of criticism notes the important of the text, but make sure to use historical events in assessing and examining the work. Through this, new historicism critics see whether or not the past ideologies are being passed from the past to the present, and possibly even to the future. <ref>Murfin, Ross;Ray, Supryia M. [http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/virtualit/poetry/critical_define/crit_newhist.html Definiton of New Historicism] Accessed July 10, 2014</ref><br />