Critical Perspectives Flashcards
Define Critical Perspectives
ways of looking at literature (“lenses”) that help us to understand, digest, and analyze stories.
Lenses = more than plot . . . interpretation.
Explain Biographical Criticism
Writer’s biography shows relationship between the author’s life and his or her works of literature.
Helps us better understand elements within a work as well as relate works to the author’s intention and audience.
Give an example of Biographical Criticism
When you delve into Edgar Allen Poe’s life, you get a good understanding of why he wrote about the topics he chose. Is it surprising that a man who lost the three most important women in his life consistently wrote stories about death, despair, and the loss of love?
Explain Reader-Response Criticism
“Meaning” of the work created by the writer AND the reader.
Influenced by our personal feelings, associations, memories, etc.
Even our mood while reading influences our interpretation of the text!
Give an example of Reader-Response Criticism.
Response to the story Hansel and Gretel.
Explain Mythological/Archetypal Criticism.
Symbols, images, characters, and motifs (that is, archetypes) evoke basically the same response in all people.
According to the psychologist Carl Jung, mankind possesses a “collective unconscious” that contains these archetypes and that is common to all of humanity.
Give examples of Archetypes.
Woman: The good mother, the bad mother and the soul mate
Water: creation, purification, fertility
Ex. The Wicked Witch of the West (Wizard of Oz)
What is the Hero/Myth Cycle?
Archetypal Criticism. Theorist Joseph Campbell noticed and researched the typical pattern that takes place in mythological and hero-based stories and is given credit for fleshing out the Hero-Myth cycle
Describe the Hero/Myth Cycle (Steps).
- Ordinary World
- Call to Adventure
- Refusal of the Call
- Meeting the Mentor
- Crossing the Threshold
- Tests, Allies and Enemies
- Approach
- Ordeal, Death and Rebirth
- Reward, Seizing the Sword
- The Road Back
- Resurrection
- Return with Elixer
Example of the Hero/Myth Cycle.
Harry Potter
Explain Sociological Criticism.
Considers the cultural, economic, and political context in which it is written or received, exploring the relationships between the artist and society.
It may examine the representation of such societal elements within the literature itself. (Marxist criticism is an off-shoot of this type of criticism).
Sees literature as the product of economic forces of the time period.
Example of Sociological Criticism.
Any Charles Dickens story would fit well into this idea. Would Pip or Oliver be the characters they were if there wasn’t economical poverty in 19th century London? Probably not.
Explain Psychological Criticism.
Views stories through the lens of psychology by looking either at the psychological motivations of the characters or of the authors themselves,
Most frequently, psychological critics apply Freudian psychology to works, but other approaches also exist.
Give an example of Psychological Criticism.
Shakespeare’s Hamlet is often interpreted as the story of a young man trying to discover and reveal the identity of his father’s murderer. If read through the lens of psychological criticism, we see a young man obsessed with his mother’s love life. Or, we might even see a young man slowly going crazy from grief and rage.
Explain Feminist Criticism.
Studies the work from the general position of the advocacy and encouragement of equal rights and opportunities for women – politically, socially, psychologically, personally, and aesthetically.
Recent feminist criticism has emphasized and explored the differences between men and women.
