Pearly Corbeta BSED-English III Block B

EL19: Literary Criticism

MODULE: 6

1. The Five Authors from Afro-Asian to Anglo-American and the Literary Criticisms of Their Literary Works

AUTHOR: Walt Whitman

LITERARY PIECE: A Song of Myself
This literary piece is under the category of Biographical Literary Criticism and Social Literary Criticism. This
is Biographical Literary Criticism in the sense that this literary piece talks about the personality and the life
of the author. The author of this literary work, Walt Whitman, announces that he will use this poem to
celebrate himself. He then invites his soul to come sit with him and gaze at a blade of grass and it's the
most important gathering of the year. In this literary work, the author divides his personality into at least
three parts: first, the "I," which is concerned with everyday matters such as politics, fashion, and what he
will eat. Second, there's the "Me Myself," who stands away from the "I" and smiles as he views the
universe; and third, there's the "Soul," which reflects his deepest and most universal essence.
On the other hand, this is Social Literary Criticism in the sense that this literary piece depicts the author's
interaction with the society in which he live, since the world has an impact in his life . He describes how
much he admires the world, particularly nature, and how everything works together perfectly. To him,
everything is good, and nothing is evil if it contributes to a greater good. Like a well-built house, nature has
patterns that fit together.

AUTHOR: Henry James

LITERARY PIECE: The Portrait of a Lady
The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James is under the category of Historical Literary Criticism because this
literary piece was written when the author visited Europe. The author reflects his writing process with what
he experienced in Europe. Throughout the preface, James makes a case for his novel's worth by
questioning its characters and settings. His reflections can be seen as a reference to his novel's aesthetic
and commercial worth. In terms of setting, James concedes that his exotic European locales had a positive
and negative impact on his writing. The Portrait of a Lady was originally published as a complete piece in
1881. It was first published as a serial between 1880 and 1881. Despite being an American writer, Henry
James visited and wrote about Europe frequently. James is recognized for being a member of the literary
realism movement, which means he tried to portray life in his writing as genuinely as possible rather than
romanticizing or exaggerating it. Although Henry James wrote the novel when he was only 37 years old, it
is often regarded as one of his best.
AUTHOR: Edith Wharton
LITEARY PIECE: The House of Mirth
This literary piece is under the Social Literary Criticism because the House of Mirth is more on societal
issues. It's central issue is the economic condition of women in upper-class American society at the turn of
the century. Women were required to make themselves beautiful and submissively charming in order to
marry a wealthy man or suffer poverty or dependency. The character depiction of Lily Bart, who battles
between her society's money-oriented norms and an underlying sense of decency, which hinders her from
achieving her goals, is one of the novel's secondary themes. The House of Mirth was also manners novel
that examined the stratified society in which she was raised and its reaction to social upheaval.
Edith Wharton's novel The House of Mirth was released in 1905. The plot follows the unfortunate fate of Lily
Bart, a beautiful and well-connected but poor woman who, at the age of 29, lacks a husband to protect her
social standing. She meets both Simon Rosedale, a wealthy guy beyond her social class, and Lawrence
Selden, who is personally appealing and socially acceptable but not affluent, while she tries to fix the
situation. The House of Mirth maintains a light satirical tone until the final chapters, when it becomes
emotional. The narrator strikes a delicate balance between a sarcastic description of her protagonist and
the society in which she lives, and a caring handling of her complexities, allowing the reader to like her.

AUTHOR: Caedmon
LITERARY PIECE: Caedmon's Hymn
Caedmon's Hymn is under the category of Textual Literary Criticism because it is concerned with the
analysis and determination of textual accuracy. This literary piece also get some text from the Bible as this
is related to God. This marks the heralds a period of enormous change in both textual transmission and the
heroic genre itself. Caedmon's Hymn could be considered a predecessor of the dream vision story. This
type of poetry is written by someone who has had a hallucinatory revelation in which they are guided by a
powerful person, in Caedmon's case, God. Although the "hero" mentioned in the poem is unorthodox in
modern terms, the Christian God in Caedmon's Hymn represents a hero to the people of Caedmon's
society, just as the Gods of classical literature were recognized as heroes within their cultural context.
The poem makes extensive use of Anglo-Saxon poetry's archetypal stylistic qualities. It's apparent that the
work is infused with orality's numerous distinguishing qualities. Ian Lancashire analyzes the poem's musical
quality in his commentary, and claims that the poem is only two sentences long. The poem itself frequently
repeats terms that refer to God as an omnipotent person who created the world in which we live, phrases
that can be loosely translated as "the Father of Glory" and "the Almighty Lord." These descriptions, which
were used to create a romanticized image of an all-powerful God, could be considered a forerunner to later
buzz words associated with heroes as they are depicted in numerous books.
AUTHOR: Venerable Bede
LITERARY PIECE: Ecclesiastical History of the English People
This literary piece is under the category of Historical Literary Criticism because this talks about the
Ecclesiastical History of the English People. Many historians who are interested in learning more about the
background of the people in this region read this book, which not only analyzes their religious history but
also their political history. The book will also be useful to anyone interested in learning about the history of
the Romans and the Britons. Bede utilizes the book to outline the geography of the area, among other
things.
The eminent historian draws attention to previous clashes between Celtic Christians and Romans in the
book. The book also discusses political upheavals, particularly those that occurred in the 600s. As a result,
'The History' presents a thorough history of the region to modern scholars. The majority of the events
discussed in the book are political and religious in nature. In some cases, the author goes so far as to
outline the dates and locations of significant historical events.
The information for the book was gathered from a variety of sources. Government publications, documents
from many monasteries, data from early churches, and oral narrations collected from Romans and Britons
are among the sources. The diversity of sources included in the book demonstrates Bede's extensive
investigation before to assembling the text.
As a result, many researchers still regard the book as a notable work of art illustrating the Anglo-Saxons'
historical heritage. 'The History,' for example, has been translated into various languages around the world
to assist specialists in this field in better understanding the history, politics, and religious beliefs of the
English and Roman peoples.

2. Definition of the following categories of literary criticism:

BIOGRAPHICAL LITERARY CRITICISM

Biographical criticism is a type of literary criticism that examines a writer's biography in order to show the
connection between their lives and their works of literature. Like any critical methodology, biographical
criticism can be used with discretion and insight or used as a superficial shortcut to understanding the
literary work on its own terms using strategies like Formalism. As a result, the so-called New Critics of the
1920s derided 19th century biographical criticism, coining the term "biographical fallacy" to designate
criticism that ignored literature's imaginative origins. Despite this criticism, biographical criticism remained
an important mode of literary inquiry in the twentieth century, particularly in studies of Charles Dickens and
F. Scott Fitzgerald. Scott Fitzgerald is one of them. The approach is still used to examine authors including
John Steinbeck, Walt Whitman, and William Shakespeare.
COMPARATIVE LITERARY CRITICISM
Comparative criticism is a type of literary criticism that investigates the connections between literature and
other forms of cultural expression from other civilizations, nations, and genres. Questions like, "What is the
place of literature in society?" are addressed in Comparative Literature. What is the evolution of literature
as an art form over time and in comparison to other forms of expression? What is the role of literature in
shaping and responding to ideals, social movements, and political contexts? You'll be able to explore texts
from a variety of cultural contexts, historical periods, and literary movements as a comparative literature
student. You'll also explore literature in relation to other fields (e.g., religious studies, philosophy, ethnic
studies) and other forms of art and cultural creation, as well as more sophisticated concerns of comparison,
translation, and transmission across cultural, linguistic, and national boundaries (e.g., film, digital culture,
performance). Comparative literature also encompasses historical and contemporary literary theory and
criticism.

ETHICAL LITERARY CRITICISM

From an ethical standpoint, ethical literary criticism reads, interprets, and analyzes literature. It claims that
literature is a unique representation of ethics and morals within a historical epoch, and that literature is a
textual art rather than a linguistic art. However, ethical literary criticism differs from that of Greek literary
theorists in that it has the potential to take a fresh look at Homer's epics and tragedies. In general, ethical
literary criticism is comparable to moral criticism in terms of the object of study, but it differs significantly
from the latter in terms of research techniques, objectives, and possible outcomes. Ethical literary criticism,
on the other hand, is still open to some contemporary theories and approaches, such as bio-criticism, in
order to establish a comparative stance in the study of literature.

EXPRESSIVE LITERARY CRITICISM

Expressive criticism is a type of literary criticism that focuses on the author of a piece of literature. Poetry is
defined as an expression, overflow, or utterance of feeling, or as the products of the poet's feelings.
Expressive literary criticism assesses a work's truthfulness to the poet's vision or state of mind. Such
viewpoints were primarily created by Romantic critics and are still relevant today. The fundamental principle
of the expressive theory of art is based from Wordsworth's definition of expressive literary criticism as "the
spontaneous effusion of great sentiments recollected in tranquility."

FEMINIST LITERARY CRITICISM

Feminist literary criticism is a feminist approach to literary criticism. According to Paul Ady, associate
professor of English at Assumption College in Worcester, Massachusetts, feminist literary critics reject
patriarchal literary conventions "that favours masculine modes of thinking/points of view and marginalizes
women politically, economically, and psychologically." Instead, feminist critics approach literature in a way
that empowers women's voices, generally rejecting patriarchal vocabulary. Feminist criticism gives
women's voices a voice that was previously silenced or drowned out by patriarchal literary criticism."
In this way, feminist literary criticism stands in opposition to what the academic world perceives to be the
standard for what constitutes "literature."

HISTORICAL LITERARY CRITICISM

Historical criticism is a type of literary criticism that looks beyond the text to the larger historical and cultural
events of the time. The fundamental focus of historical literary criticism is on the subject's connection to,
relationship with, and influence on the historical period in which it was written. A historical critic examines
how events in the author's life influenced the work's writing as well as how the time period influenced the
work's writing. Based on the subject, a historical criticism piece proposes a thesis about the author or time
period. As a result, historical criticism examines texts in the same manner that historians examine historical
documents: to discover what they indicate about the historical and socio-cultural contexts in which they
were created.

MIMETIC LITERARY CRITICISM

Mimetic literary criticism is a method of analyzing writings in terms of their literary or cultural models. Until
the romantic emphasis on originality in the 18th century, it was a widely utilized rhetorical tactic in antiquity.
Mimetic literary criticism aims to find intertextual connections between two texts that go beyond basic
echoes, allusions, citations, and redactions. In the latter literature, the impacts of imitation are frequently
shown through distinctive characters, motifs, and/or story structure. Mimetic literary criticism frequently
considers how well a literary work communicates universal truths and instills in the reader beneficial moral
attitudes and behaviors.

PRAGMATIC LITERARY CRITICISM

Pragmatic criticism is primarily concerned with the ethical impact that any literary composition has on its
audience. Art's core role or function is societal in nature, regardless of its other merits or flaws. The first
responsibility of an artist should be to assess, fulfill, and shape the requirements, wants, and desires of an
audience. Though pragmatic critics believe that art has the power to bring about major societal change,
art's ability to promote good or evil is strikingly ambiguous. The goal of pragmatic criticism is to establish a
moral criteria for artistic quality.

PSYCHOLOGICAL LITERARY CRITICISM

In literature, psychological literary criticism refers to how a writer's work is examined via a psychological
perspective. This method examines the author of the work or a character in his work from a psychological
standpoint. It aids readers in comprehending the writer's and characters' motivations. In other words, critical
criticism enables us to comprehend why the writer writes the way he does, how his personal circumstances
have influenced his work, and why the characters in the novel act the way they do. The author's intentions
are unimportant in psychological liteary criticism. Rather, it is concerned with what the writer did not intend,
i.e., what the writer inadvertently incorporated in the work.

SOCIAL LITERARY CRITICISM

Social literary criticism is a type of academic or journalistic criticism that focuses on social concerns in
modern society, particularly perceived injustices and power dynamics. It's a sort of criticism that can cover
topics including society, social relationships, and historical significance. It depicts the artist's interaction with
the society in which they live, since society has an impact on the artist. It concentrates on the ideologies
and experiences of those who lived during that time and culture. It also looks at how different political
"isms" differentiate amongst people of different races, social classes, genders, or cultures.

TEXTUAL LITERARY CRITICISM

Textual literary criticism is a subfield of literary criticism concerned with the analysis and determination of
textual accuracy. Textual literary criticism try to discover and correct flaws originating from repeated
transcriptions and printings by reviewing the documents themselves in print and manuscript form, as well
as any supporting material such as letters, journals, or notebooks. They also try to offer the text in a way
that is useful to readers and researchers, often by including facsimile copies of original manuscripts or print
editions, as well as a critical apparatus that explains textual differences across versions, critical
commentary, and bibliographies. Textual criticism arose from ancient, classical, and Biblical research, but
it is now widely utilized to address differences in current literature, whether due to typographical error,
authorial modification, or historical and cultural textual support.

THEORETICAL LITERARY CRITICISM

Theoretical literary criticism is the set of ideas and practices we employ when reading literature in practice.
We don't mean the meaning of a work of literature when we say literary theory; we mean the ideas that
explain what literature might signify. Literary theory is an explanation of the fundamental ideas, or
instruments, by which we try to comprehend literature. All literary interpretation has a theoretical
foundation, yet it can be used to justify a variety of critical activities. Literary theory examines the
significance of race, class, and gender for literary research, both from the position of the author's biography
and an analysis of their thematic presence within texts.