literary lens

Moral Criticism - 360 BC

Moral Criticism is based on the idea that literature should be judged by its moral or ethical qualities. This approach emphasizes the moral lessons or teachings of a work and evaluates its characters, themes, and actions for their moral value. The focus is on whether literature promotes good or bad behavior, often with the intent of guiding or improving the reader's character.

• Key Focus: Morality, ethical lessons in literature.

  
  Psychoanalytic Criticism 1930

  Psychoanalytic Criticism, grounded in the theories of Sigmund Freud, examines the unconscious desires, repressed emotions, and psychological conflicts of characters, authors, and readers. It analyzes how these unconscious forces manifest in a text and explores the psyche of characters, often interpreting their actions as expressions of hidden desires or anxieties.

  • Key Focus: Unconscious desires, psychological conflicts, Freudian analysis.

    
    Biographical Criticism 1800

    Biographical Criticism uses an author’s life experiences, personal history, and background to understand and interpret their works. This school of thought posits that understanding the author’s life and context can reveal deeper meanings in their writing, often connecting personal experiences to the themes, characters, and style found in the text.

    • Key Focus: Author’s life, personal context, life experiences reflected in the work.

      
      Marxist Criticism 1930

      Marxist Criticism focuses on class struggle, economic forces, and power dynamics, analyzing how literature reflects, reinforces, or critiques societal structures. It considers how texts may perpetuate or challenge capitalist ideologies, with particular attention to social inequality, economic class, and the effects of capitalism on culture and society.

      • Key Focus: Class struggle, economic forces, social inequality, critique of capitalism.

      
      Reader Response Criticism 1960

      Reader-Response Criticism emphasizes the role of the reader in interpreting a text. It posits that meaning is not solely inherent in the text but is created in the interaction between the reader and the text. This theory explores how different readers bring their own experiences, emotions, and cultural backgrounds to their interpretation of a work.

      • Key Focus: Reader's experience, interpretation, interaction between text and reader.

      
      Post Modern Criticism 1966

      Postmodern Criticism challenges the ideas of universal truths, objective meaning, and traditional structures of narrative. It emphasizes subjectivity, fragmentation, irony, and playfulness. Postmodern criticism questions established conventions in literature and embraces ambiguity, multiple interpretations, and self-reflexivity.

      • Key Focus: Fragmentation, irony, questioning of objective truth, multiple meanings.

        
        Post Colonial Criticism1990

        Post-Colonial Criticism examines the impact of colonialism and imperialism on cultures, identities, and societies. It focuses on the experiences of colonized people, exploring themes of power, identity, and resistance. Post-colonial critics analyze how literature reflects or critiques the effects of colonization and the struggle for independence.

        • Key Focus: Colonialism, imperialism, identity, resistance, cultural oppression.

          
          Feminist Criticism 1960

          Feminist Criticism examines literature from the perspective of gender, specifically focusing on the representation of women, the construction of gender roles, and the marginalization of women in literature. It critiques how patriarchal systems shape literature and society, advocating for gender equality and highlighting women’s voices and experiences.

          • Key Focus: Gender inequality, women’s representation, critique of patriarchy.

          
          Gender/Queer Studies 1970

          Gender/Queer Studies focuses on the exploration of gender identity and sexual orientation in literature. It challenges binary gender norms and heterosexual assumptions, highlighting LGBTQ+ perspectives. This approach looks at how gender and sexuality are socially constructed and how these identities intersect with power, culture, and history in literary texts.

          • Key Focus: Gender identity, sexual orientation, LGBTQ+ perspectives, deconstruction of gender norms.