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Term Paper 1 - Grade: 12

Literary Criticism (Holy Angel University)

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Cruz, Christian Wendel P.

GSLITCRIT

Literature is any written work. The term derives from Latin litaritura/litteratura “writing

formed with letters,”. "Literature is where I go to explore the highest and lowest places in

human society and in the human spirit, where I hope to find not absolute truth but the truth of

the tale, of the imagination and of the heart." (Salaman Rushdie) Literature can be also

classified according to whether it is fiction or non-fiction and whether it is a poetry or prose. It

can be further distinguished according to major forms such as the novel, short story or drama,

and the different works are often categorized according to its historical periods or their

adherence to certain aesthetic features or expectations or what we know as “genre”. Taken to

mean only written works, literature was actually first produced by some of the world’s earliest

civilizations—those of Ancient Egypt and Sumeria—as early as the 4th millennium BC; taken to

include spoken or sung texts, it originated even earlier, and some of the first written works may

have been based on a pre-existing oral tradition. (Ross, "The Emergence of "Literature": Making

and Reading the English Canon in the Eighteenth Century," 406 & Eagleton, Literary theory: an

introduction, 16). Here are how some of the well-known and timeless authors describing

literature:

“Only the very weak-minded refuse to be influenced by literature and poetry. “Cassandra Clare

“The difficulty of literature is not to write, but to write what you mean. - Robert Louis

Stevenson

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“Literature is strewn with the wreckage of those who have minded beyond reason the opinion

of others.” Virginia Woolf

“Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary

competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts

that our lives have already become.” - C.S. Lewis

“It takes a great deal of history to produce a little literature. “ - Henry James

“What is wonderful about great literature is that it transforms the man who reads it towards

the condition of the man who wrote, and brings to birth in us also the creative impulse.” E.M.

Forster

“That is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longings are universal

longings, that you’re not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong. “ F. Scott Fitzgerald

Since ancient times, readers have debated and critiqued literature from a variety of

perspectives. Some have looked at a story or play from a moral stance, considering how values

are represented in a text. Another critic might evaluate a poem in terms of its form. Recent

critics have looked at literature to see what it might be saying about our lives in society, out

political or power relations, gender roles, or sexuality. Criticizing and analyzing any literature is

a broad topic. Literary criticism, is the reasoned consideration of literary works and issues. It

applies, as a term, to any argumentation about literature, whether or not specific works are

analyzed. Plato’s cautions against the risky consequences of poetic inspiration in general in

his Republic are thus often taken as the earliest important example of literary criticism. More

strictly construed, the term covers only what has been called “practical criticism,” the

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interpretation of meaning and the judgment of quality. Criticism in this narrow sense can be

distinguished not only from aesthetics (the philosophy of artistic value) but also from other

matters that may concern the student of literature: biographical questions, bibliography,

historical knowledge, sources and influences, and problems of method. Thus, especially in

academic studies, “criticism” is often considered to be separate from “scholarship.” In practice,

however, this distinction often proves artificial, and even the most single-minded concentration

on a text may be informed by outside knowledge, while many notable works of criticism

combine discussion of texts with broad arguments about the nature of literature and the

principles of assessing it (Crews, F.C. Emeritus Professor of English, University of California,

Berkeley. Author of Skeptical Engagements and others).

We know that literature are works that are usually based from personal experiences

written in to text. I personally believe that the meaning of any literature can only be explained

by the writer itself. However, these meanings differentiate depending on who reads this text. It

says that a literature or texts without readers are no meaning. It can be compared to a falling of

a tree in a forest without no one in there hearing it. Does it make a noise? This brings up a

debate for everyone. My stand is that, whether there’s no one no one who reads the text, we

cannot remove the fact that the meanings of a text are already there. Let’s not forget the fact

that some writings are not really intended to be read by anyone. A diary is a personal account

of a writer. Does it have no meaning because it is not read by anyone? This debate has been

running around for quite some time. As I’ve said, for me the meaning of the any text are solely

exclusive to the writer itself. Authors may use persuasion as well and it will be depending on

how the readers interpret it. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and interpretations.

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These different interpretations lead to a lot of Literary Criticism theories. Some of these are the

Marxism and Historical theory which I believe that share the same way of understanding on

how literature should be interpreted.

In criticizing any literature, we should take in consideration of the author’s background,

the time or setting when it was written, the significant events during the writing of the text, and

we may also check on the usual themes that author present in their writings. I chose to

compare the Marxism and Historical way of criticizing texts because I think that both of these

theories are tapping on the significant events that happened in the past. Marxism or Marxist

theory is based on some of the beliefs of Karl Marx. Marxist interpretation reads the text as an

expression of contemporary class struggle. Literature is not simply a matter of personal

expression or taste. It somehow relates to the social and political conditions of the time. The

most common issue in Marxism is the class struggle. In the eyes of Marx, class struggle will

never end, as Karl Marx said: The history of man is actually a history of class struggle. The

history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles. Freeman and slave,

patrician and plebeian, lord and serf, guild-master and journeyman, in a word, oppressor and

oppressed, stood in constant opposition to one another, carried on an uninterrupted, now

hidden, now open fight, a fight that each time ended, either in a revolutionary reconstitution of

society at large, or in the common ruin of the contending classes (Marx & Engels, 1969:98).

Proletarian-bourgeoisie relationship is a relationship of conflict, the dominant-subordinate. Karl

Marx said that one day the proletariat will realize their common interests so that they unite and

revolt. The development of capitalism divides people into two classes, one who controls and

owns the means of production (the bourgeoisie) and the other one who does not have the

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means of production (proletariat). Class is a group of people who stand in a common

relationship to the means of production - the means by which they gain a livelihood. Before the

modern industry, the means of production consisted primarily of land and instruments used to

tend crops or pastoral animals. In pre-industrial societies, therefore, the two main classes were

those who owned the land (aristocrats, gentry or slave-holders) and those actively engaged in

producing from it (serfs, slaves and free peasantry) (Giddens, 1991:210). Status refers to

differences between social groups in the social honor or prestige they are accorded by others.

Status distinction often vary independently of class divisions, and social honor maybe either

positive or negative. Positively privileged status groups include any groupings of people who

have high prestige in a given social order (Giddens, 1991:212). People were divided by class and

this made huge differentiation towards social behavior of people and how people see

themselves at the society. Power distribution and wealth was the major role of this

classification. How it relates is of course up for debate. Is the text a mirror of social values? Is it

a form of propaganda for the ruling classes? Can literature challenge social norms? These are

the questions that preoccupy Marxist literary critics. An example of a literature criticized and

analyzed using Marxist approach is the classic Cinderella film made by Walt Disney based on

European folk tale written by Charles Perrault in 1697. The film depicts the story of a girl who is

bound by the oppressive behavior of the stepmother and step- sisters, who in continuation she

wanted to change her fate in a single night. Again, generally Marxist theory focuses on the

importance of class, class relations, and power. Readers of this theory view texts through an

economic and hierarchical point of view. How the economy is ordered and how the classes are

ranked, how races relate and are treated, who holds power and how they hold it.

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Historical approach on the other hand examines the events surrounding the setting of

the text and claims that if the reader does not have access to that information, part of the text

is missing. This literary criticism in the light of historical evidence or based on the context in

which a work was written, including facts about the author’s life and the historical and social

circumstances of the time. It is also known as the historical-critical method or higher criticism, is

a branch of literary criticism that investigates the origins of ancient text in order to understand

"the world behind the text". It can be traced back to the 17th century French priest Richard

Simon, and its most influential product is undoubtedly Julius Wellhausen's Prolegomena zur

Geschichte Israels (1878), whose "insight and clarity of expression have left their mark indelibly

on modern biblical studies." A text cannot be read in a vacuum. In order to analyze it, readers

must understand the literary and historical events that impacted the author and the production

of the text. For example, to fully appreciate a text like El Filibusterismo, the reader must know

the historical background of this which happened during Spaniard colonization. The literature

focused on the abusive governance of the Spaniards. Another example, when we read the

Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf, which was written sometime around 700 to 800 AD, we notice that

the poet often refers both to pagan gods and rituals and to Christianity. At times, the poet may

refer to the pagan concept of fate, Wyrd, and two lines later refer to the will of God, clearly an

intermingling of the Anglo-Saxon's first religion, paganism, with a religion they adopted

beginning in about 600 AD, Christianity. To understand this mix of religions in the work of

literature, critics try to understand exactly how and when the Anglo-Saxon people were

converted from paganism to Christianity, so they look outside the text of Beowulf to see what

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events led to the transition from paganism to Christianity and, more important for the literary

critic, the timing of that transition. Understanding the timing may help literary critics to

understand when the poem was composed. To fully understand the meanings and scenario of

the said text, the reader should go deeper on the significant events during this time.

Given these definitions of both theories I would say that though these approaches focus

mainly on both different subjects and ideas, it is obvious that the Marxist theory and Historical

criticism both put emphasis on studying the historical events of a literature. Marxist theory

suggest that you have to analyze the hierarchy of the social status of the characters presented

in the literary piece according to when and where it was written. Basically, in my opinion,

Marxist approach is somehow like under the History approach where in it generally focuses on

the importance of the historical events present during the writing of any literature.

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