Literary-Approaches powerpoint presentation

1. GOOD DAY  !!!

2. CONTEMPORARY LITERARY THEORY

3. a - a proposed explanation whose status is still conjectural and subject to experimentation

4. How do we study literature? How do viewpoint and bias affect our perception of reality?

5. Literary Theory: is the body of ideas and methods we use in the practical reading of literature refers to any principles derived from internal analysis of literary texts or from knowledge external to the text that can be applied in multiple interpretive situations

6. Critical Approaches to the Study of Literature They seek to give us answers to these questions, in addition to aiding us in interpreting literature. What do we read? Why do we read? How do we read?

7. Critical Approaches to Consider: Reader-Response Criticism Formalist/ Structuralist Criticism Moralist/Philosophical Criticism Marxist Criticism Feminist/Gender Criticism Biographical/New Historicist Criticism Psychological/Psychoanalytic

8. Questions to Ponder for Each Theory/Approach : What are the benefits of each form of criticism? b) What are potential problems with each form? c) Is there a “right” or a “wrong” form? d) Can the mode of criticism alter the entire meaning of a text?

9. 1. The Reader-Response Approach √ asserts that a great deal of meaning in a text lies with how the reader responds to 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 √ the text is a living thing that lives in the reader’s imagination

10. ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS OF READER’S RESPONSE THEORY: ● How would you describe the author’s writing style? ● Could you relate with any of the characters? Why or why not? ● What do you think are the motivations of each character in the text? ● What is the text’s theme and mood?

11. Two 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.

12. 2. The Formalist Approach √ 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 √ the text is an independent entity √ focuses on close readings of texts and analysis of the effects of literary elements and techniques on the text

13. ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS OF THE FORMALIST APPROACH: ● How does the writer’s choice of words reveal the text’s meaning? ● What figures of speech used by the author? ● What are the recurring patterns in the text (such as repeated words or symbols)? What effect do they lend to the text? ● How do the various elements in the text interact to create a unified whole?

14. Two Major Principles of Formalism 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.”

15. 3. The Moralist/ Philosophical Approach √ a type of literary critique that judges the value of literature based on its moral or ethical teaching √ determines the worth of literature by seeing if it encourages good out of the reader √ focuses on themes, view of the world, moral statements, author’s philosophy, etc.

16. ● What view of life does the story present? Which character best articulates this viewpoint? ● According to this work’s view of life, what is mankind’s relationship to God? To the universe? ● What moral statement, if any, does this story make? Is it explicit or implicit? ● What is the author’s attitude toward his world? Toward fate? Toward God? ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS OF MORALIST APPROACH:

17. ● What is the author’s conception of good and evil? ● What does the work say about the nature of good or evil? ● What does the work say about human nature? ● What enduring truth is revealed in the theme of this work? ● How are the actions of the protagonist rewarded and the actions of the antagonist punished?

18. 4. The Marxist Approach √ emphasizes persons of the lower class and their constant oppression by the upper class √ viewed as the product of work and whose practitioners emphasize the role of class and ideology as they reflect, propagate, and even challenge the prevailing social order

19. Core Marxist Principles & Basic Terms Proletariat: that class of society, which does not have ownership of the means of production. Bourgeoisie: wealthy class that rules society. Power of the Base: Marx believed that the economic means of production in a society (the base) both creates and controls all human institutions and ideologies (the superstructure). This superstructure includes all social and legal institutions, all political and educational systems, all religions, and all art. These ideologies develop as a result of the economic means of production, not the reverse.  

20. ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS OF MARXISTAPPROACH: ● Who are the powerful people in the text? ● Who are the powerless? Who receives the most attention? ● Why do the powerful have the power? ● Why are the powerless don’t have the power? ● Is there class conflict and struggle? ● Do the powerful in the text suppress the powerless? How? News? Media? Religion? Literature?

21. ● What can you infer from the setting about the distribution of wealth? ● What is the economic status of the characters? ● What happens to them as a result of this status? ● How do they fare against economic and political odds? ● What other conditions stemming from their class does the writer emphasize? (e.g., poor education, poor nutrition, poor health care, inadequate opportunity)

22. 5. The Feminist Approach √ 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

23. ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS OF FEMINIST APPROACH: ● How do both genders in the text relate to one another? ● Does the literary work defy or sustain the traditional views of women? ● Does the portrayal of the female character in the story reflect the patriarchal social forces that force them to be lesser than men? How? ● What marital and behavioral expectations are imposed on the characters? What effect do these expectations have on them?

24. Four 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.

25. 5. The Biographical Approach √ argues that we must take an author’s life and background into account when we study a text

26. ● What aspects of the author’s personal life are relevant to this story? ● Which of the author’s stated beliefs are reflected in the work? ● Does the writer challenge or support the values of her contemporaries? ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS OF BIOGRAPHICAL APPROACH:

27. ● What seem to be the author’s major concerns? Do they reflect any of the writer’s personal experiences? ● Do any of the events in the story correspond to events experienced by the author? ● Do any of the characters in the story correspond to real people?

28. Three Benefits of Biographical Approach: 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.

29. 6. The New Historicist Approach √ argues that every literary work is a product of its time and its world

30. Provides background information necessary to understand how literary texts were perceived in their time. 2. Shows how literary texts reflect ideas and attitudes of the time in which they were written. 3. New historicist critics often compare the language in contemporary documents and literary texts to reveal cultural assumptions and values in the text.

31. ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS OF NEW HISTORICIST APPROACH: ● How does it reflect the time in which it was written? ● How accurately does the story depict the time in which it is set? ● What literary or historical influences helped to shape the form and content of the work?

32. ● How does the story reflect the attitudes and beliefs of the time in which it was written or set? (Consider beliefs and attitudes related to race, religion, politics, gender, society, philosophy, etc.) ● What other literary works may have influenced the writer?

33. ● What historical events or movements might have influenced this writer? ● How would characters and events in this story have been viewed by the writer’s contemporaries?

34. ● Does the story reveal or contradict the prevailing values of the time in which it was written? ● Does it provide an opposing view of the period’s prevailing values? ● How important is it the historical context (the work’s and the reader’s) to interpreting the work?

35. 3. The Psychological/ Psychoanalytic Approach √ is based on the work of Sigmund Freud √ views a text as a revelation of its author’s mind and personality √ also focuses on the hidden motivations of literary characters √ looks at literary characters as a reflection of the writer

36. ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS OF PSYCHOANALYTIC APPROACH: ● What forces are motivating the characters? ● Which behaviors of the characters are conscious ones? Which are unconscious? ● What conscious or unconscious conflicts exist between the characters? ● Given their backgrounds, how plausible is the characters’ behavior?

37. ● Are the characters recognizable psychological types? ● How does the work reflect the writer’s personal psychology? ● What do the characters’ emotions and behaviors reveal about their psychological states? ● How does the work reflect the unconscious dimensions of the writer’s mind? ● How does the reader’s own psychology affect his response to the work?

38. REFERENCES: Mark Joseph C. Catayong , et.al. English Learning Portals Accessing Language Skills Through World Literature 10 . Quezon City : The Inteligente Publishing, Inc., 2017. pp. 249-251. https://www.iep.utm.edu/literary/ https://www.slideshare.net/MsDavis1/critical-approaches-literary-theory-power-point https://www.google.com/search?q=psychoanalysis+freud&source https://www.google.com/search?q=formalism+approach https://www.cusd80.com>cms>lib>centricity>Domain>Literary_ Critics

39. PREPARED: ERA MAE H. MANGAS SUBJECT: THEORIES OF LANGAUAGE AND LITEARTURE PROFESSOR: DON ROEL G. ARIAS EdD DALitCom