CRITICAL

APPROACHES TO
LITERATURE
Literary Theory
Critical approaches to literature

 The simplest definition of a

critical approach to literature is:
the lens through which we
understand a piece of writing
Some critical approaches to consider
1. Reader-Response Criticism
2. Formalist Criticism
3. Sociological Criticism
A. Feminist/Gender Criticism
B. Marxist Criticism
4. Biographical Criticism
5. Historical Criticism
6. New Historicist Criticism
7. Deconstructionist Criticism
Questions to Ponder for Each
Theory/Approach
 What are the benefits of each
form of criticism?
 What are potential problems

with each form?

 Is there a “right” or a

“wrong” form?
 Can the mode of criticism

alter the entire meaning of a

text?
1. The Reader-Response Approach
Reader-Response Criticism: studies the interaction of
reader with text, holding the text as incomplete until it
is read. This critical approach can be, and often is,
combined with other approaches. Also, it:
 Focuses on the act of reading and how it affects our
perception of meaning in a text (how we feel at the beginning
vs. the end).
 Deals more with the process of creating meaning and
experiencing a text as we read. A text is an experience, not
an object.
 Believes there is no single, fixed interpretation for any work.

READER + READING SITUATION + TEXT = MEANING

 1. The Reader-Response Approach
2 Important Ideas in Reader-Response
1. An individual reader’s interpretation
usually changes over time.
2. Readers from different generations and
different time periods interpret texts
differently.

Ultimately… How do YOU feel about

what you have read? What do YOU
think it means?
2. The Formalist Approach
Formalist Criticism emphasizes the form of a
literary work to determine its meaning, focusing on
literary elements and how they work to create
meaning.
 Examines a text as independent from its time period,
social setting, and author’s background. A text is an
independent entity.
 Focuses on close readings of texts and analysis of the
effects of literary elements and techniques on the text.
2. The Formalist Approach

Two Major Principles of Formalism

1. A literary text exists independent
of any particular reader and, in a
sense, has a fixed meaning.
2. The greatest literary texts are
“timeless” and “universal.”
A formalist reading of “The 3 Little
Pigs”
 What does the wolf symbolize?
 Notice the consonance of “I’ll huff and I’ll puff…”
 How does the story foreshadow the final fate of the
pigs?
 What does the wolf’s dialogue tell us about his
character?
3. The Sociological Approach
Sociological criticism argues that social
contexts (the social environment) must
be considered when analyzing a text.
 Focuses on the values of a society and
how those views are reflected in a text
 Emphasizes the economic, political,
and cultural issues within literary
texts
 Core Belief: Literature is a reflection
of its society.
 3A. The Marxist Approach
Marxist Criticism
emphasizes economic and
social conditions. It is
based on the political theory
of Karl Marx and Friedrich
Engels.
 Concerned with

understanding the role of

power, politics, and
money in literary texts
3A. The Marxist Approach
Marxist Criticism examines literature to see how
it reflects
1. The way in which dominant groups
(typically, the majority) exploit the
subordinate groups (typically, the minority)
2. The way in which people become alienated
from one another through power, money,
and politics
3A. Questions in Marxist theory
 Whom does it benefit if the work or effort is
accepted/successful/believed, etc.?
 What is the social class of the author?
 Which class does the work claim to represent?
 What values does it reinforce?
 What values does it subvert?
 What conflict can be seen between the values the work
champions and those it portrays?
 What social classes do the characters represent?
 How do characters from different classes interact or conflict?
3B. Feminist/Gender Approach
 Feminist Criticism examines works by and about
women. Gender Criticism evolved out of feminism
to address issues of masculinity/femininity as
binaries, sexual orientation, heterosexism, and
differences in sexes. Both are typically concerned
with fair representation and treatment of people. A
critic using Feminist Studies or Gender Studies might
ask, "How is gender constructed or deconstructed in
this text? Is the view of the text gendered or sexist?"
3B. The Feminist Approach
Feminist Criticism is concerned
with the role, position, and
influence of women in a literary
text.
 Asserts that most “literature”

throughout time has been

written by men, for men.
 Examines the way that the

female consciousness is depicted

by both male and female writers.
3B. The Feminist Approach
4 Basic Principles of Feminist Criticism
1. Western civilization is patriarchal.
2. The concepts of gender are mainly cultural
ideas created by patriarchal societies.
3. Patriarchal ideals pervade “literature.”
4. Most “literature” through time has been
gender-biased.
A Feminist reading of
“Goldilocks”
 As a single, young woman, Goldilocks finds
herself without means or opportunity because
she is unattached to a father or a husband.
Perhaps this is why she’s alone in the woods.
 An independent woman, then, is a threat to the

“normal” nuclear family, represented by the

three bears.
4. The Biographical Approach
Biographical Criticism
argues that we must take
an author’s life and
background into account
when we study a text.
4. The Biographical Approach
Three Benefits:
1. Facts about an author’s experience can help a
reader decide how to interpret a text.
2. A reader can better appreciate a text by knowing
a writer’s struggles or difficulties in creating that
text.
3. A reader can understand a writer’s preoccupation
by studying the way they apply and modify their
own life experiences in their works.
5. The Historical Approach
 It is concerned with how the author’s original audience would
have understood the writing. It takes into account the
author’s biography and the time and place in which the author
wrote.

 For example—How accurate is Arthur Miller’s depiction of

the Salem Witch trials?
 Miller wrote the play in the 1950’s. Would his audience have
connected McCarthyism and the people of Salem?
 What aspects of America’s political climate from the 1950’s
matter to this work?
6. The New Historicist Approach
 New Historicism is a literary theory based on the
idea that literature should be studied and
interpreted within the context of both the history of
the author and the history of the critic.

 New Historicism acknowledges not only that a

work of literature is influenced by its author's times
and circumstances, but that the critic's response to
that work is also influenced by his environment,
beliefs, and prejudices.
New Historicists
 Believe "history" cannot be truly objective or
comprehensive because it is constantly written and
rewritten
 Believe studying the historical context of a work
can illuminate our biases and hopefully enable us
to understand the text (and the culture, context,
ourselves) better.
Historicism vs. New Historicism
 Historians ask, 'What happened?' and 'What does the event
tell us about history?' In contrast, new historicists ask, 'How
has the event been interpreted?' and 'What do the
interpretations tell us about the interpreters?'" (278).
 New historicists do not believe that we can look at history
objectively, but rather that we interpret events as products of
our time and culture and that "...we don't have clear access to
any but the most basic facts of history...our understanding of
what such facts mean...is...strictly a matter of interpretation,
not fact" (279). Moreover, New Historicism holds that we are
hopelessly subjective interpreters of what we observe.
And in case this hasn’t overwhelmed your
brain…

 There is always

Deconstructionist theory
7) Deconstructionist Approach
(simplified)
 Deconstructionists believe that language cannot
accurately represent reality.
 It seeks to break down binaries—good/bad,
mind/body, rational/emotional, man/woman
 They believe that literary texts cannot possibly
have a single meaning.
Ex. What does this sentence mean to you?
 Time flies like an arrow.
A deconstructed text—
from OWL/Purdue University
 Time (noun) flies (verb) like an arrow (adverb clause) =
Time passes quickly.
 Time (verb) flies (object) like an arrow (adverb clause)
= Get out your stopwatch and time the speed of flies as
you would time an arrow's flight.
 Time flies (noun) like (verb) an arrow (object) = Time
flies are fond of arrows (or at least of one particular
arrow).

Did your brain just implode?

Deconstruction in the news

"It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is."

 Bill Clinton, during his 1998 grand jury testimony on
the Monica Lewinsky affair
Deconstructionism
 There is much more to this. If it interests you, talk
to me about the founders of this theory.