Literary

Criticisms/
Literary
Theories
Literary Criticism

Literary Criticism is the art or practice of

judging and commenting on the qualities and
character of literary works.
Moral Criticism

Believes that literature has a humanizing or

civilizing mission, and the critic values work which
furthers that end: promotes tolerance, social
justice, sensitivity to individual wishes, and
talents. Critics look at whether the text seeks to
corrupt or negatively influence the reader.
New Historicism

Seeks to discover the so-called “authorial

intent” or the author’s intention for his/her text to
mean in his/her time and place. Critics of this
approach try to understand the literary work’s
social, cultural, and political context that produced
it.
Biographical Criticism

Is used to illuminate the writer’s psychology.

The literary text is analyzed for relevance to its
author.
Feminist Criticism

Focuses on how femininity is represented as being

passive and emotional—the caregiver, while the male is
associated with reason and action—the “doer”. It attempts to
present a balanced view of the nature and value of women. It
strives to raise the consciousness about the importance and
unique nature of women. The ultimate goal of Feminist theory
in literary criticism is to change the world by promoting
gender equality, thus not ignoring women and putting an end
to misguided and prejudiced views of women.
Feminist Criticism

Focuses on identifying the female’s role in a

literary work. It criticizes how the prevailing
ideology in society affects the gender and power in
literary work. It shows how literature represents
women and the relationship between men and
women.
New Criticism

Focuses on the text and structure of the

literary work. It does not include the background
of the author, the history, and the response of the
readers in criticizing a literary work.
Reader-Response Criticism

Focuses on the reader or audience and their

experience of the literary work. It recognizes the
reader as an active agent who imparts “real
existence” to the work and complete its meaning
through interpretation.
Structuralism

Examines the underlying structure of a

literary text such as the characterization and plot
(genre, intertextual connections, narrative
structure, patterns, motifs). It argues that there
must be a structure in every text.
Deconstruction

Believes that text can have several meanings

which can be contradictory to one another. It
focuses on dismantling the text.
Psychoanalytic Criticism

Believes that texts express secret

unconscious desires and anxieties of the author. It
also believes that at some point, the character of
the literary work projects the author’s psyche
which may reveal the unconscious state of the
author.
Marxism

Reflects the social institution from where the

literary work originates. It criticizes a literary work
based on the social condition of that era. It also
reflects the social struggle and the materialism
occurred in that society.
 That’s all
Thank you!