Approaches to Literature

Definition:

  • Looking at a piece of writing from a certain point of view

  • Analyzes and evaluates the piece using set criteria

    • Works can be studied using many different approaches

Purposes

  1. To help the reader make judgements

  2. To help the reader problem solve by examining context

Approaches to literature

  1. Formalistic

  2. Reader-response

  3. psychoanalytical

  4. mythological/ Archetypal

  5. Historical/ Biographical

  6. Moral/ Philosophical

  7. Feminist/ Gender

  8. Critical race theory

  9. Socioeconomic

  • Literary lenses allow readers to focus on particular elements in text

    • highlights patterns

The Formalistic approach

  • the interpretation can only be found in the work itself (what the writer meant to convey)

  • A close textual reading is needed

  • Literature must only be viewed in terms of plot, characterization, climax, setting, theme, mood, tone, symbols, irony, metaphors, similes, imagery, etc.

  • should begin with this approach

    • Most commonly used in school settings

Reader-Response

  • Literature does not have meaning until we create it

  • Readers impose their identity/ experiences as they read

  • Each response can be different

  • Techniques taken by the writer to elicit responses from the audience can be taken into account

  • Literature is partly shaped by the reader’s recognition/ participation in it

  • Words may evoke different responses for different readers

The Psychoanalytical Approach.

  • Sigmund Freud’s systematic study of human motivations and the unconscious mind

  • examining the motivations and conflicts of the characters carefully

  • Images in literature are associated with repressed sexuality

  • Freud: most human behavior isali motivated by the subconscious and almost all human behavior is motivated by sexuty

  • Freud believed humans have 3 psychic zones (levels of personality

            1. The ID: Pleasure-seeking

            2. The Ego: Reason principle

            3. The superego: the morality principle

The ID - devil

  • A reservoir of sexual energy (the libido)

  • Characterized as chaos

  • Source of all aggression/ desire to the point of self-destruction

The Ego - maintains balance

  • rationally governs/ controls/ regulates impulses of the ID

  • Protects individuals

The Superego - angel

  • moral censoring agency

  • represses the ID

  • conforms to behavior deemed “good” by society by blocking unconscious impulses toward pleasure

  • when overactive, it creates a sense of guilt

Freud and Dreams

  • Dreams = manifestations of our true desires/ fears

  • Dream analysis: therapy where certain symbols represent repressed sexuality

Defense Mechanisms

  • behaviors that people use to separate themselves from unpleasant events

    • denial

    • projection: psychological impulses and traits in oneself are attributed to others

    • repression: the unconscious blocking of unpleasant emotion, impulses, actions, or thoughts

    • displacement: transferring negative feelings from one thing to another

    • regression: temporary or long-term reversion of the ego to an earlier stage of development

    • sublimation: unacceptable urges can be transformed into acceptable and productive activities

    • reaction formation: people express the opposite of their true feelings, sometimes to an exaggerated extent

    • rationalization: unconscious attempt to avoid addressing the underlying reasons for a behavior

The Mythological/ Archetypal Approach

  • Myths contain similar motifs/ symbols found to be common in many cultures that evoke similar responses even though the cultures vary

  • Myths are collective/ communal:

  • Myths transcend time, unites the past with the present

  • myths are symbolic, projections of our hopes, values, fears, aspirations

  • Carl Jung

    • a psychologist believing humans have a collective “conscious” that evokes the same responses to certain universal symbols and patterns (archetypes)

Historical/ Biographical Approach

  • Literature is a reflection of the author’s life and times

  • Real life experience can shape literature

  • Literature should be analyzed according to the author’s social, cultural, historical, intellectual context

Moral/ Philosophical Approach

  • literature is used to teach morality or examine a philosophical view of life/ human behavior

  • Literature has a message which needs to be conveyed

  • Literature can be analyzed according to values

  • Literature is interpreted within a context of the philosophical thought of a period of a group

    • ex: existentialism

  • Any Philosopher

The Feminist/ Gender Approach

  • A deeply ingrained prejudice against women

  • Critiques a patriarchal society (society empowering men and reducing women to objects)

  • Often reveals/exposes male fears

  • The awakening of human consciousness to gender, limits elements of human experience

  • Gender determines nothing or everything

Three Stages

  • The Feminine Stage: female characters internalize societal expectations and behave the way they are expected to

  • The Feminist Stage: character protests against expected standards, may work

    toward the rights of the minority female (intersectionality)

  • The Female Stage: character turns inward to discover themselves, to be free

    and reborn without the constraints of opposition

  • Belle is looked down upon for being educated as a woman. She is called strange for enjoying literature and was outcasted by the other villagers. Moreover, Belle is also sexualized and objectified by Gaston. He refers to her as “[his] future wife,” only valuing her looks. She showcases the female stage by her desire to be free, ignoring the opposition from the other women.

  • Other women are all fawning over Gaston despite his retched personality.

One Flew over the Cuckoo’s nest

Chief Bromden - Outlaw/ Everyman

Nurse Ratched - Caregiver, ruler

McMurphy - Outlaw, Magician, Jester, Explorer

Socio-Economic lens

  • explores structure of text economically and socially

  • considers the role of power, money, social class, and context of the author (time period)

  • Prominent figures

    • Karl Marx

    • Friedrich Engles

  • also called Marxist lens

  • Does NOT promote communism

  • view text through an economic and hierarchical lens

  • how the economy is ordered and how the classes are ranked, how races relate and are treated, who holds power and how they hold it

  • economics drive all motivation

Aladin

  • he steals bread because he cannot afford it

  • drastic difference between rich and poor

  • they call him derogatory terms like rug rat and riffraff

  • the lawman want him dead

  • the women look down on him

  • people of privilege can pay their way out of bad situations

  • if he was wealthy they would respect him

Critical Race Theory

  • Scholars

    • Patricia Williams

    • Kimberlé Crenshaw

    • Mari Matsuda

  • affects all members of a community regardless of their racial affiliations or identifications

  • explores why this persistent racism problematically denies individuals many constitutional freedoms

  • BIPOC: Black Indigenous People of Color

  • discuss dominant culture’s tendency to normalize white individuals’ experiences and ignore the experiences of non-white people

  • microaggressions: everyday instances of prejudice that collectively contribute to racism

  • Implicit Bias: gut reaction occurring in milliseconds

    • unconscious attitude and beliefs

  • Explicit Bias: aware thoughts and emotions towards a specific group

  • intersectionality - Kimberlé Crenshaw : different lived experiences and overlapping identities

  • all experiences and voices are valuable

  • oppression is experienced differently based on lived/ identities