29/01/1441

Introduction to
Literary Criticism

Semester I, 1441 H
Dr. Bechir Saoudi

• “Literary criticism” is the name given to works

written by experts who critique (analyze) an
author’s work.

• (An expert is a person who has

special skills or knowledge in some
particular field; a specialist;
an authority.)

1
29/01/1441

• “Literary --------------” is the name given to ------

written by experts who ------------- (analyze) an ------
-------- work.
• “Literary criticism” is the name given to works
written by experts who critique (analyze) an
author’s work.

• An expert is a person who has ------------- skills or ---

------------ in some particular ------------; a specialist;
an --------------------.
• An expert is a person who has special skills or
knowledge in some particular field; a specialist; an
authority.

• Literary criticism does NOT mean “to criticize” (as

in complain or disapprove.)

2
29/01/1441

• So literary criticism is mainly meant to critique

and analyze, not to criticize, complain or
disapprove,

• although “to critique” can involve both

positive and negative aspects of a literary
work.

Can you pronounce the words?

3
29/01/1441

If someone criticizes you, What do

you do? how do you react?

4
29/01/1441

5
29/01/1441

6
29/01/1441

• So literary criticism is mainly meant to critique

and analyze, not to criticize, complain or
disapprove,

• although “to critique” can involve both

positive and negative aspects of a literary
work.

7
29/01/1441

• Literary criticism is often referred to as a

“secondary source”,
• because it is used to analyze/critique your
primary source—the work or text (novel, poem,
play) you are reading.

Primary and Secondary Sources

8
29/01/1441

What does a primary source tell us about?

9
29/01/1441

Give some examples of primary sources?

10
29/01/1441

What does a secondary source tell us about?

11
29/01/1441

12
29/01/1441

• Literary criticism is used by people who want to

use an expert’s opinion to support their own
ideas.

13
29/01/1441

• Remember, literary criticism is used by readers

to analyze (critique),
NOT by authors to write.

• Therefore, when you begin to analyze your novel,

poem or play, you’ll make use of expert, reliable
literary criticism to support your opinion.

• (Reliable: that may be relied on or trusted.)

14
29/01/1441

• Any piece of text can be read with a number

of different sets of “glasses” (critical lenses),
meaning you are looking for different things
within the text.

• Literary criticism helps readers understand a text

in relation to the author, other texts, the real
world, the audience…

15
29/01/1441

• The most common critical theories (lenses,

glasses) for literature are:

• Feminist
• Marxist
• Psychoanalytic or Freudian
• Archetypal or Mythological
• New Historicist
• …

16
29/01/1441

17
29/01/1441

CINDERELLA

18
29/01/1441

Feminist Criticism
• The basis of the feminist movements, both in
literature and politics, is that Western culture
is fundamentally patriarchal.

• … Western culture is fundamentally

patriarchal.

• (patriarchal: created by men, controlled by

men, viewed through the eyes of men, and
evaluated by men).

19
29/01/1441

• In British law, women were not considered

persons (human beings) before 1975.

• Women were treated as property (of the

father or husband).

20
29/01/1441

• The literary works of female writers (and

works about females) were examined by the
standards of male writers.

• The feminist approach is partly based on

finding and exposing suggestions of misogyny
in literature.
• (Misogyny: negative attitudes toward women,
hatred of women.)

21
29/01/1441

22
29/01/1441

What does feminism mean for her?

23
29/01/1441

Is it enough to talk about Feminism?

What is this woman’s dream?

24
29/01/1441

25
29/01/1441

• What was the event?

• It was the Women’s March.

• Women are ready to make a …

• …change.
• … difference.

26
29/01/1441

• What kinds of banners/slogans did women

raise?

27
29/01/1441

• The 1960s saw the rise of a new approach to

literary criticism: feminist criticism.

• Old texts are re-examined,

28
29/01/1441

• and the portrayal of women in literature is re-

evaluated.

Gender Stereotypes:

29
29/01/1441

• As children, there is no limit to what we believe

we can become. But as girls and boys, we are
steered in different directions growing up. This
is because of what we call "gender stereotypes":
traditional ideas about what boys and girls can
or should do.

• They may not always be obvious but

stereotypes are everywhere, and they start to
follow us from our earliest days in the toy
store and continue to influence us when
choosing subjects at school.

30
29/01/1441

• For instance, girls are expected to be good at

arts and humanities, while boys are led
towards maths and science.

• When we come across the same stereotypes

again and again, they begin to feel natural and
start to shape our preferences and career
paths.

31
29/01/1441

• More men go in to better paid jobs in science,

technology, engineering and mathematics field
(STEM), and women tend to choose teaching and
social work professions.

• Acknowledging gender stereotypes and their

consequences is the first step towards breaking
them all, so that we build our lives based on our
own choices.

32
29/01/1441

• … so that we build our lives based on our own

choices.

Why do men and women feel they should have

different jobs?

33
29/01/1441

34
29/01/1441

• Feminists became interested in exposing the

ways women in literature (both authors and
characters) are undervalued.

35
29/01/1441

• New writers started creating literary works

that more accurately reflect the developing
concept of the “modern woman”.

36