Approaches to Literary Criticism

Formalist criticism is placed at the center because it deals primarily with the text and not with
any of the outside considerations such as author, the real world, audience, or other literature.
Meaning, formalists argue, is inherent in the text. Because meaning is determinant, all other
considerations are irrelevant.

Deconstructionist criticism also subject texts to careful, formal analysis; however, they reach
an opposite conclusion: there is no meaning in language. They believe that a piece of writing
does not have one meaning and the meaning itself is dependent on the reader.

Historical criticism relies heavily on the author and his world. In the historical view, it is
important to understand the author and his world in order to understand his intent and to make
sense of his work. In this view, the work is informed by the author’s beliefs, prejudices, time,
and history, and to fully understand the work, we must understand the author and his age.

Inter-textual criticism is concerned with comparing the work in question to other literature, to
get a broader picture. One may compare a piece of work to another of the same author, same
literary movement or same historical background.

Reader-response criticism is concerned with how the work is viewed by the audience. In this
approach, the reader creates meaning, not the author or the work. Once the work is published, the
author is no longer relevant.

Mimetic criticism seeks to see how well a work accords with the real world. How does a piece
of literature accurately portrays the truth is the main contention of this literary approach.

Psychological criticism attempts to explain the behavioral underpinnings of the characters

within the selection, analyzing the actions and thoughts committed fall under any of the
identifiable neuroses, whether a psychological disorder is evident among them. Aside from the
characters, the author and even the reader may be criticized as why they exhibit certain behavior
during the actual writing and reading experience.

Archetypal criticism assumes that there is a collection of symbols, images, characters, and

motifs (i.e. archetypes) that evokes basically the same response in all people which seem to bind
all people regardless of culture and race worldwide. This can also be labelled as Mythological
and Symbolic criticisms. Their critics identify these archetypal patterns and discuss how they
function in the works.

Marxist criticism concerns with the analysis of the clash of opposing social classes in society,
namely; the ruling class (bourgeoisie) and the working class (proletariat) as it shaped the events
that transpired in the story.
Feminist criticism concerns with the woman’s role in society as portrayed through texts. It
typically analyzes the plight of woman as depicted in the story. Generally, it criticizes the notion
of woman as a construct through literature.