Courtesy of handouts by Ms. Landry, Mrs. Smid, and Mr.

Dunbar

ENG4U – Literary Theory & Literary Lenses

A. What is Literary Theory?

 Literary theory refers to “ideas and methods” applied when reading literature.
 One applies these “underlying principles” or “tools” in an attempt to understand
literature.
 There are many literary theories with different focuses; however, you are probably
most familiar with looking for influences and motivations in the author’s life to
explain the text and looking to social and historical context to understand clues to
unlocking the text.
Source: Vince Brewton, Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy, University of North Alabama

B. All reading is theory-based.

 All readers approach reading from a critical or theoretical perspective, even though
they may not be aware of it. There are many perspectives – some practical, others
more abstract and philosophical.
 Having an awareness of critical and theoretical perspectives helps as you read literary
works themselves.
C. There are lenses through which you view literature.
 Literary theories were developed as a means to understand the various ways people
read texts. Those who support each theory believe their theory is the theory.
 All theories are lenses through which we can see texts. There is nothing to say that
one is better than another, or that you should read according to any of them, but if you
consider one lens as you read a text, it will often create a whole new perspective on
your reading.

Psychoanalytical Theory

Principles:
Psychoanalytical theory dictates that
 there is a human unconscious (that explains our impulses, desires, and feelings) about which
one is unaware, but which influences emotions and behaviours
 biological determinism exists (all behaviour is rooted in biology & driven by irrational
forces in conflict with the rational ones of the psyche)
 we are slave to three masters, three components of the personality, which are
1) id – biological component, the internally driven, instinctual self, driven by the pleasure
principle
2) ego-psychological component connected to the external world; governs personality
3) superego – social component of the psyche; includes a moral code; determines action
based on whether it fits a moral ideal
*conflict arises over the control of the available psychic energy between these three forces of the
personality
 defense mechanisms help individuals cope with the anxiety & prevent the ego form being
overwhelmed:
Repression –of painful thoughts and feelings
Denial –of threatening situations
Projection-of one’s unacceptable desires and impulses onto another
Courtesy of handouts by Ms. Landry, Mrs. Smid, and Mr. Dunbar

Displacement-of threatening objects

Regression-to early behaviour
Introjection-of others’ standards & values
Identification-with successful people or causes
Compensation-for limitations

Origin:
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) and Jacques Lacan (1908-1981)

Freud believed in Five Stages of Development

1) oral (birth -> 2 years)
2) anal (2-3 years)
3) phallic (3-5 years; sexual attraction to opposite-sex parent)
4) latency (5-12 years; sexual interest low)
5) genital (12+ years; sexual desire moves from opposite-sex parent to “real” partners)
6) Oedipal complex (12+; unhealthy attraction to opposite-sex parent continues)

Archetypal Theory

Principles:
Archetypes are
 the original pattern from which copies are made
 basic universal themes, situations or characters that recur in life and are reflected in literature
of all ages and languages
 narrative designs, character types, images, and plot patterns, which are identifiable in a wide
variety of works of literature, as well as in myths, dreams, and even ritualized modes of
social behaviour
 reflective of human nature, essential experiences in the human life cycle, human
psychological growth, and the universal needs of socialization
 universal, part of a “collective unconscious” shared across time, cultures, and individuals; the
artist draws on this inherited memory as a well of material

Common Archetypes:
-genres: satire, comedy, romance, tragedy,
-seasons :winter, spring, summer, fall
-astrology: moon, sun, stars
-elements: earth, fire, wind, water
-colours
-biblical: Golden age, temptation, serpent, loss of innocence, murder, sin, flood, death, journey
underground, rebirth, change or metamorphosis, heavenly ascent, and so on
-characters: the child, the mother, the father, the old wise man, the old wise woman, the student,
the mentor, the hero (anti-, rebel-, defeated-, etc.), the warrior, the martyr, the damsel in distress,
the villain, the devil, the trickster, the scapegoat, and the list goes on

Origin:
Carl Jung (1875-1961), student of Sigmund Freud
Courtesy of handouts by Ms. Landry, Mrs. Smid, and Mr. Dunbar

Marxist Theory

Principles:
Marxist theory dictates that
 economy is the basis of society
 the evolving history of humanity, its institutions and its ways of thinking are determined by
the changing mode of its “material production”
 literature is a reflection of historical forces; historical changes in the fundamental mode of
production affect essential change in both the constitution and power relations of social
classes, which carry on a conflict for economic, political and social advantage
 one undertakes to “explain” the literature in any era by revealing the economic, class, and
ideological determinants of the way and author writes, and to examine the relation of the text
to the social reality of that time and place
 literature be analysed by looking at the material conditions in which texts were formed (who
had the resources, who controlled the resources, who used the resources, who produced the
resources); those who control these elements, are the dominant class
 focuses on the clash between the dominant and the repressed classes in any age
 simplistically, reflects the notion that money is power

Origin:
Karl Marx (1818-1883), who wrote Communist Manifesto (1848), and Friedrich Engels (1820-
1985), who was considered a father of Marxist theory

Existentialism

Principles:
Existentialism
 emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining
his own development through acts of the will
 views each person as an isolated being who is cast into an alien universe
 conceives the world as possessing no inherent human truth, value or, meaning
 dictates that a person’s life moves from nothingness to nothingness – resulting in an
existence that is both anguished (def: experiencing or expressing severe mental or physical
pain or suffering) and absurd (def: wildly unreasonable, illogical, or inappropriate)
 dictates that in a world without sense, all choices are possible: “Man [woman] is
condemned to be free” (Sartre)
 views that belief in God requires a conscious “leap of faith” (Kierkegaard) which lessens the
despair of an absurd world

Origin:
Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, and Sartre are names often associated with this philosophy.