Practice of Literary Criti- Liter-

Elit ary
cism: t i -
Ideology as a Map 121 C r i
cism
Let’s Review!
Literary Criticism
 It involves the process of reading, analyzing, and interpret-
ing the text; and its representation and function in social and
cultural terms.

 It is the application of Literary Theory in reading a text .

Let’s Review!
Literary Theory
 It aims to address the question what makes a text literary.

It accomplishes two things:

1. it provides the criteria for identifying literature;

2. it provides the basis/method for interpreting a text.

Lesson Objectives:
At the end of this module, learners should be
able to:
 identify and classify the ideologies behind literary the-
ories;

discuss the assumptions of each theories guiding the

practice of criticism; and

 create a knowledge organizer distinguishing the vari-

ous ideologies.
Getting Started
• Imagine reading a book wearing a color black
eye glass. When you read the book, the words are
tainted by the color black. It affects your vision.
Same if you use a color red eye glasses.

• This is also the same in Literary Criticism: read-

ing the text and applying a theory is like wear-
ing a specific color of an eye glass, it affects
your perspective and interpretation of the
text.
Ideology as a
Map
Practice of Literary Criticism
What is • It is a system of thought or ‘world view’ which an in-

Ideol-
dividual acquires (usually unconsciously) from the
world surrounding him or her.

ogy? • Each ideology focuses attention to certain features

of the world, and hides or causes you to ignore others.

• One important aspect of thinking about ideologies is

that it introduces a lot of uncertainty into literary stud-
ies. It raises the question, “what knowledge is most
worth having?"
The Challenge of Ideology in Literary
Criticism
− One of the problems that ideologies post is that it is impossible
for anyone to see the world objectively. This is also true in read-
ing a text: what you see, how you draw meaning from it is af-
fected by your ideology.

− Because of ideological differences, it is safe to assume that a

text has no one correct interpretation.
The Challenge of Ideology in Literary
Criticism
− Hence, teachers who are
aware of this truth will al-
ways make an effort to ex-
plain from which Ideology or
perspective they are looking
at the text.
The Challenge of Ideology in Literary
Criticism
− When reading a literary text, there are three (3) main
entities involved in the reading. These are: the
writer (author), the text, and the reader.

− Therefore, you can initially say that there are

three different ideologies of literary criticism,
each one emphasizing an assumed importance.
Three Ideologies Prac-
ticed
in Literary Criticism
 Author-Centered Criti-
cism
• Most criticism prior to the 50s could be described as au-
thor centered.

• Author-centered criticism is largely concerned with

works of literature as expressions of the author’s state
of mind.

• It is the kind of criticism that places emphasis on under-

standing what is going on in the author’s mind and
what his or her intention was in writing the work.
Author-Centered Criti-
cism • The meaning of the work is what it meant to the
author.

• In this approach, there is a certain disregard for

both the text and the reader.

• The text is often supplemented with biographical

information so the critic can determine its mean-
ing.
Author-Centered Criti-
cism
• The reader is hardly considered at all -
his or her feelings, background, intu-
ition, and gender are made to seem ir-
relevant in comparison with the au-
thor’s experience.
Text-Centered Criticism
• It tends to ignore both the author and the reader in or-
der to concentrate on ‘the words on the page.”

• In the 1950s, a number of critics argued that attention

should be focused primarily on the literary work and
not on the author.

• They suggested that the critic’s main concern was

with the language and form of the text being read
and not with the author.
Text-Centered Criticism
• This kind of criticism focuses on issues such as regularities and pat-
terns which can be seen in the text, and on how a text solves the
problems which it raises.

• This criticism goes along with strong feeling nourished by the Aes-
thetic Movement.
It was a late nineteenth century movement that championed pure beauty
and 'art for art's sake' emphasizing the visual and sensual qualities of art
and design over practical, moral or narrative considerations.
 Reader-Centered Criti-
cism
• In recent years, a number of theorists
have introduced the literary theory
known as ‘reception theory’ or the
‘reader theory’ which focuses on the
reader as the central figure in the
reading and critical process.
Reader-Centered Criti-
cism
• This theory of criticism begins
with the experiences of indi-
viduals when they read texts.
 Reader-Centered Criti-
cism
• A Reader-response critic would maintain
that a text does not exist in a real sense as
‘words on the page.’

• It only takes on an existence when it en-

ters the mind of someone reading it.
 Reader-Centered Criti-
cism
• Readers give slightly different meanings to the individual
words they read, and they put them together in different
ways.

• Reader-response critics are especially interested in accounts

of how people have actually responded to texts they have
read.
Let’s Practice
• In the table in the next slide is the poem “Sonnet 116” written by
William Shakespeare.

• Read and examine the poem and create three (3)

questions based on the three criticisms in each column.

• An example is provided for you.

 Read and examine the poem and create three (3)
questions based on the three criticisms in each column
Let’s Practice
 Summary of the Lesson
• One of the main
• Author-Centered critics and historical • Text -Centered critics
critics dominate the literary profession.
achievements of liter-
are useful in making the ary theory in the past
This is illustrated by the fact that most
readers look carefully at
university courses are defined in terms twenty years has been
of the authors or the historical period. the words on the page
to direct attention to
This attitude often removes the reader in front of them. Their
what the reader expe-
and their responses in the interest of fundamental assumption
riences. A lot of criti-
“being faithful to the author’s intention” is that they can interpret
or “being accurate historically.” the words in an objec- cism today is con-
tive manner (which they cerned with how read-
• However, literature does not live ers make sense of the
cannot do).
through accuracy about the past alone. literary texts.
END