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Literary Criticism Theory - (ANSWER)A very basic way of thinking about literary
theory is that these ideas act as different lenses critics use to view and talk about
art, literature, and even culture. These different lenses allow critics to consider
works of art based on certain assumptions within that school of theory. The
different lenses also allow critics to focus on particular aspects of a work they
consider important.
For example, if a critic is working with certain Marxist theories, s/he might focus
on how the characters in a story interact based on their economic situation. If a
critic is working with post-colonial theories, s/he might consider the same story
but look at how characters from colonial powers (Britain, France, and even
America) treat characters from, say, Africa or the Caribbean. Hopefully, after
reading through and working with the resources in this area of the OWL, literary
theory will become a little easier to understand and use.
Moral Criticism and Dramatic Construction (~360 BC-present) - (ANSWER)Plato
In Book X of his Republic, Plato may have given us the first volley of detailed and
lengthy literary criticism. The dialog between Socrates and two of his associates
shows the participants of this discussion concluding that art must play a limited
and very strict role in the perfect Greek Republic. Richter provides a nice
,2
summary of this point: "...poets may stay as servants of the state if they teach
piety and virtue, but the pleasures of art are condemned as inherently corrupting
to citizens..." (19).
Aristotle
In Poetics, Aristotle breaks with his teacher (Plato) in the consideration of art.
Aristotle considers poetry (and rhetoric), a productive science, whereas he
thought logic and physics to be theoretical sciences, and ethics and politics
practical sciences (Richter 38). Because Aristotle saw poetry and drama as means
to an end (for example, an audience's enjoyment) he established some basic
guidelines for authors to follow to achieve certain objectives.
Formalism (1930s-present) - (ANSWER)Formalists disagreed about what specific
elements make a literary work "good" or "bad"; but generally, Formalism
maintains that a literary work contains certain intrinsic features, and the theory
"...defined and addressed the specifically literary qualities in the text" (Richter
699). Therefore, it's easy to see Formalism's relation to Aristotle's theories of
dramatic construction.
Formalism attempts to treat each work as its own distinct piece, free from its
environment, era, and even author. This point of view developed in reaction to
"...forms of 'extrinsic' criticism that viewed the text as either the product of social
and historical forces or a document making an ethical statement" (699).
Formalists assume that the keys to understanding a text exist within "the text
itself," (..."the battle cry of the New Critical effort..." and thus focus a great deal
on, you guessed it, form (Tyson 118).
Russian Formalism authors - (ANSWER)Victor Shklovsky
,3
Roman Jakobson
Victor Erlich - Russian Formalism: History - Doctrine, 1955
Yuri Tynyanov
New Criticism authors - (ANSWER)John Crowe Ransom - The New Criticism, 1938
I.A. Richards
William Empson
T.S. Eliot
Allen Tate
Cleanth Brooks
Neo-Aristotelianism (Chicago School of Criticism)
authors - (ANSWER)R.S. Crane - Critics and Criticism: Ancient and Modern, 1952
Elder Olson
Norman Maclean
W.R. Keast
Wayne C. Booth - The Rhetoric of Fiction, 1961
Psychoanalytic Criticism (1930s-present) - (ANSWER)Sigmund Freud
, 4
Psychoanalytic criticism builds on Freudian theories of psychology. While we don't
have the room here to discuss all of Freud's work, a general overview is necessary
to explain psychoanalytic literary criticism.
The Unconscious, the Desires, and the Defenses
Freud began his psychoanalytic work in the 1880s while attempting to treat
behavioral disorders in his Viennese patients. He dubbed the disorders 'hysteria'
and began treating them by listening to his patients talk through their problems.
Based on this work, Freud asserted that people's behavior is affected by their
unconscious: "...the notion that human beings are motivated, even driven, by
desires, fears, needs, and conflicts of which they are unaware..." (Tyson 14-15).
Psychoanalytic Criticism (1930s-present) and
Id, Ego, and Superego - (ANSWER)Freud maintained that our desires and our
unconscious conflicts give rise to three areas of the mind that wrestle for
dominance as we grow from infancy, to childhood, to adulthood:
id - "...the location of the drives" or libido
ego - "...one of the major defenses against the power of the drives..." and home
of the defenses listed above
superego - the area of the unconscious that houses Judgment (of self and others)
and "...which begins to form during childhood as a result of the Oedipus complex"
(Richter 1015-1016)
Psychoanalytic Criticism (1930s-present) and
2025 Newest|Literary Criticism|
UPDATE|COMPREHENSIVE FREQUENTLY
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VERIFIED ANSWERS|GET IT 100%
ACCURATE!!
Literary Criticism Theory - (ANSWER)A very basic way of thinking about literary
theory is that these ideas act as different lenses critics use to view and talk about
art, literature, and even culture. These different lenses allow critics to consider
works of art based on certain assumptions within that school of theory. The
different lenses also allow critics to focus on particular aspects of a work they
consider important.
For example, if a critic is working with certain Marxist theories, s/he might focus
on how the characters in a story interact based on their economic situation. If a
critic is working with post-colonial theories, s/he might consider the same story
but look at how characters from colonial powers (Britain, France, and even
America) treat characters from, say, Africa or the Caribbean. Hopefully, after
reading through and working with the resources in this area of the OWL, literary
theory will become a little easier to understand and use.
Moral Criticism and Dramatic Construction (~360 BC-present) - (ANSWER)Plato
In Book X of his Republic, Plato may have given us the first volley of detailed and
lengthy literary criticism. The dialog between Socrates and two of his associates
shows the participants of this discussion concluding that art must play a limited
and very strict role in the perfect Greek Republic. Richter provides a nice
,2
summary of this point: "...poets may stay as servants of the state if they teach
piety and virtue, but the pleasures of art are condemned as inherently corrupting
to citizens..." (19).
Aristotle
In Poetics, Aristotle breaks with his teacher (Plato) in the consideration of art.
Aristotle considers poetry (and rhetoric), a productive science, whereas he
thought logic and physics to be theoretical sciences, and ethics and politics
practical sciences (Richter 38). Because Aristotle saw poetry and drama as means
to an end (for example, an audience's enjoyment) he established some basic
guidelines for authors to follow to achieve certain objectives.
Formalism (1930s-present) - (ANSWER)Formalists disagreed about what specific
elements make a literary work "good" or "bad"; but generally, Formalism
maintains that a literary work contains certain intrinsic features, and the theory
"...defined and addressed the specifically literary qualities in the text" (Richter
699). Therefore, it's easy to see Formalism's relation to Aristotle's theories of
dramatic construction.
Formalism attempts to treat each work as its own distinct piece, free from its
environment, era, and even author. This point of view developed in reaction to
"...forms of 'extrinsic' criticism that viewed the text as either the product of social
and historical forces or a document making an ethical statement" (699).
Formalists assume that the keys to understanding a text exist within "the text
itself," (..."the battle cry of the New Critical effort..." and thus focus a great deal
on, you guessed it, form (Tyson 118).
Russian Formalism authors - (ANSWER)Victor Shklovsky
,3
Roman Jakobson
Victor Erlich - Russian Formalism: History - Doctrine, 1955
Yuri Tynyanov
New Criticism authors - (ANSWER)John Crowe Ransom - The New Criticism, 1938
I.A. Richards
William Empson
T.S. Eliot
Allen Tate
Cleanth Brooks
Neo-Aristotelianism (Chicago School of Criticism)
authors - (ANSWER)R.S. Crane - Critics and Criticism: Ancient and Modern, 1952
Elder Olson
Norman Maclean
W.R. Keast
Wayne C. Booth - The Rhetoric of Fiction, 1961
Psychoanalytic Criticism (1930s-present) - (ANSWER)Sigmund Freud
, 4
Psychoanalytic criticism builds on Freudian theories of psychology. While we don't
have the room here to discuss all of Freud's work, a general overview is necessary
to explain psychoanalytic literary criticism.
The Unconscious, the Desires, and the Defenses
Freud began his psychoanalytic work in the 1880s while attempting to treat
behavioral disorders in his Viennese patients. He dubbed the disorders 'hysteria'
and began treating them by listening to his patients talk through their problems.
Based on this work, Freud asserted that people's behavior is affected by their
unconscious: "...the notion that human beings are motivated, even driven, by
desires, fears, needs, and conflicts of which they are unaware..." (Tyson 14-15).
Psychoanalytic Criticism (1930s-present) and
Id, Ego, and Superego - (ANSWER)Freud maintained that our desires and our
unconscious conflicts give rise to three areas of the mind that wrestle for
dominance as we grow from infancy, to childhood, to adulthood:
id - "...the location of the drives" or libido
ego - "...one of the major defenses against the power of the drives..." and home
of the defenses listed above
superego - the area of the unconscious that houses Judgment (of self and others)
and "...which begins to form during childhood as a result of the Oedipus complex"
(Richter 1015-1016)
Psychoanalytic Criticism (1930s-present) and
