Chapter Six: Analysis of Literary Criticism Theories
Introduction
Literary criticism entails critical reading, interpretation, analysis, and judgement of a literary text. Critics do so as they engage critically with literary writings. In this chapter, you will learn the four traditional critical theories and six modern literary theories used in literary criticism. You will also learn their importance in critiquing selected literary texts. The competencies developed will enable you to critique various literary texts.
How views, perspectives and consciousness developed from reading, interpreting and analysing literary works can be theoretically analysed or measured.
Traditional Critical Theories
Four traditional critical theories are the basis for different approaches, perspectives, and tools for understanding the nature of literature as an art. The modern literary theories you will study in this chapter manifest these traditional critical theories.
Mimetic Theory
Activity 6.1
a) Read various online or library materials about mimetic theory.
b) Describe the basic assumptions of mimetic theory.
Takeaways
The word “mimetic” comes from the Greek word mimesis, which means representation or imitation. In literary criticism, mimetic theory postulates that a literary text imitates life. Imitation is used to describe a literary representation that draws from real life. In drama, for example, imitation is seen through the representation or performance of life-like events on the stage. As characters engage in conversation through dialogue, they reveal a picture of an actual encounter. In contrast, the costumes and the roles undertaken by the characters and the settings reflect that the origin of drama is the imitation of real life or the environment.
Mimetic theory holds the view that an artist mimics certain features of the world’s physical objects. That is, any artistic creation, whether it is a literary text or not, is a representation of the observable objects in the real world. According to the theory, every literary work mimics reality as it is perceived by the outside world.
Key Figures: Aristotle and Plato
Plato’s View: Earthly things are merely types or copies of the ideal forms and that only ideals are real and true. Based on this view, Plato regarded mimesis as a mere imitation or representation of ideal forms and not a creative expression.
Aristotle’s View: Counter-argued his teacher’s view by pointing out that imitation is an act of imaginative creation by which the poet draws his/her materials from the real world and makes something new out of it. He asserts that art imitates not the mere shadow of things but the ideal reality embodied in the very object of the world.
Activity 6.2
Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow.
Plato’s Allegory of the Cave
Socrates: And now, I said, let me show in a figure how far our nature is enlightened or unenlightened: Behold! Human beings living in an underground den, which has a mouth open towards the light and reaching all along the den; here they have been from their childhood, and have their legs and necks chained so that they cannot move, and can only see before them, being prevented by the chains from turning round their heads. Above and behind them a fire is blazing at a distance, and between the fire and the prisoners there is a raised way; and you will see, if you look, a low wall built along the way, like the screen which marionette players have in front of them, over which they show the puppets.
Glaucon: I see.
Socrates: The low wall, and the moving figures of which the shadows are seen on the opposite wall of the den. And do you see, I said, men passing along the wall carrying all sorts of vessels, and statues and figures of animals made of wood and stone and various materials, which appear over the wall? Some of them are talking, others silent.
Source: Adopted from Plato’s Republic
Questions
- How do the following images from the text represent the role of ideology in human realities?
- a) Caveb) Firec) Daylightd) The walle) The shadow
- How do the assumptions of mimetic theory manifest in the story above?
- Referring to the text, discuss the view that art merely imitates actual worldly reality.
- Use online or library materials to read and evaluate Plato and Aristotle’s arguments on imitation in art.
Pragmatic Theory
Activity 6.3
a) Read various online or library materials about pragmatic theory.
b) Examine the basic assumptions of pragmatic theory.
Takeaways
Pragmatic theory dates back from pragmatism, a philosophical movement of the 1870s. Recently, the theory is associated with the works of Philip Sidney, Jeremy Bentham, and Stanley Fish. The theory focuses on the relationship between a literary text and the reader. It considers the practical effects of reading a literary text on the reader. It assumes that a literary text’s creation and interpretation are social actions in which the text’s producers, authors, and the readers, are actively engaged. As a result, literary texts inform or educate readers, entertain them or influence their thoughts and feelings about what they depict.
Key Figures: Philip Sidney, Jeremy Bentham, Stanley Fish
Expressive Theory
Activity 6.5
a) Read various online or library materials on expressive theory.
b) Examine the basic assumptions of expressive theory.
Takeaways
Expressive theory is said to have begun in the 1800s following the writings of Longinus, Bacon, Wordsworth, and, later, the radical Romantics of the 1830s. According to this theory, a work of art is essentially an artist’s internal made external. It is a revelation of a creative process that operates under the influence of the artist’s feelings, thoughts and perceptions. Thus, from 1800 to 1900, the task of the artists, specifically those of England and Germany, was to express to the world (readers) their inner genius (internal life or inner life or inner feelings and thoughts).
Through this theory, scholars highlighted the difference between pre-modern and modern theories of imagination. The mimetic paradigm notion that imagination functions as a mirror reflecting some external realities was replaced by the productive paradigm notion that imagination means the author projects his own internally generated light onto things. Due to this notion, the “mirror,” the conventional symbol for the artist, changed to the “lamp”. Generally, the work of art seeks to reveal what the author feels or the view of the writer with regard to the external world. Therefore, a literary text results from the author’s need to express their concerns orally or in writing.
Key Figures: Longinus, Bacon, Wordsworth
Objective Theory
Activity 6.7
a) Read various online or library materials about objective theory.
b) Examine the basic assumptions of objective theory.
Takeaways
The objective theory dates back to the late 18th century and early 19th century. Unlike the other three primary or traditional theories, objective orientation principally disassociates art from all the external points of reference (audience and nature). It looks at a work of art as a self-sufficient entity ingrained in its internal relations and which, in principle, has to be judged by criteria integral to its own mode of being.
According to this idea, the work of art is an agent that creates an effect on the audience through its internal elements (plot, character, thought, diction/language, melody, and spectacle). These elements are designed in such a way that they work together in perfect unison to produce meaning. The theory also aligns with T.S Eliot’s view that when we analyse poetry, we must consider it primarily as poetry and not another thing. It should not mean but be.
Scholars around the world have expanded this theory. For example, the Chicago Neo-Aristotelians and John Crew Ransom are known for their advocacy for a work of art to be recognised as an autonomous entity existing for its own sake. Therefore, the objective theory of literary criticism asserts that the work’s value rises from its internal formal structure, that is, art-for-art’s-sake.
Key Figures: T.S. Eliot, Chicago Neo-Aristotelians, John Crew Ransom
Traditional Literary Theories Comparison
| Theory | Focus | Key Proponents | Main Principle |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mimetic | Art as imitation of reality | Plato, Aristotle | Literature represents real life |
| Pragmatic | Effect on reader | Sidney, Bentham, Fish | Literature should instruct and delight |
| Expressive | Artist’s expression | Wordsworth, Romantics | Literature expresses inner feelings |
| Objective | Text itself | Eliot, Ransom | Art for art’s sake |
Modern Literary Theories
Modern literary theories build on the four traditional theories you have studied in the previous unit. The modern literary theories you will study in this chapter emanated from the four primary literary theories you have already learned about. Some contemporary literary theories combine elements from multiple traditional literary theories.
Relationship Between Traditional and Modern Theories
| Traditional/Primary Literary Theories | Modern Literary Theories |
|---|---|
| Mimetic/Imitation | Post-colonial theory, Feminism and Marxism |
| Pragmatic | Post-colonial theory, Feminism, Social Learning Theory and Marxism |
| Expressive | Marxism, Post-colonial theory and Feminism |
| Objective | Formalism and Structuralism |
In reading literary works, modern literary theories provide the reader with knowledge of different cultural, historical and sociological perspectives and the ability to situate a literary text’s meaning within various contexts.
Formalism Theory
Activity 6.9
a) Read various online or library materials about formalism theory.
b) Explain the formalism theory based on the following headings:
- (i) Origin and development
- (ii) Focus
- (iii) Principles
Takeaways
Formalism is a modern theory that emerged during the first half of the 20th century. It is closely related to aestheticism, a literary and artistic movement in the 18th and 19th centuries that focused on the importance of the beauty of a literary text. Formalism focuses on a text’s element of form in an objective manner. For formalists, the author’s attitude towards reality is not necessary, but their attitude towards language is. While the materials of a literary text are feelings and thoughts, the author’s focus has to be on how the qualities of elements of literature provide a text’s aesthetic value and affect its delivery of meaning. For them, the purpose of a literary text is not to reflect reality but how it makes that reality perceived differently.
Critical Movements in Formalism:
Russian FormalismExisted between the 1910s and 1930s. Propounded by Russian scholars, led by Viktor Shklovsky and was further expanded by members of the Prague Linguistic Circle.New CriticismA 20th century literary movement that emphasised close reading of a text. It was dominant in British and American literary traditions. Its proponents include I.A. Richards and T.S. Eliot.StructuralismA dominant movement in France in the 1950s and 1960s. It was initially developed to study languages, but it was later adapted for literary studies. Proponents included Claude Levi-Strauss, Roman Jakobson and Ferdinand de Saussure.
Principles of Formalism Theory
- The primary focus of analysis is a text. In that regard, a text should be examined on the basis of its own internal structure and not in relation to external factors.
- Form and style are inherent aspects of what a text means.
- Close reading of a text is essential to the understanding a text. This suggests that textual details of a text can significantly contribute to the understanding of its meaning.
- The author’s biography and intentions are less valued in the process of understanding a text.
Marxism Theory
Activity 6.11
a) Read various online or library materials on Marxism.
b) Explain the theory of Marxism based on the following headings:
- (i) Origin and development
- (ii) Focus
- (iii) Principles
Takeaways
Marxism is a materialist theory that interprets the text, measuring it against the concrete, natural world around us and our society. It is based on Karl Marx’s criticism of the inherent injustice in the European capitalist system of economics of the 19th century. Marx viewed society and history as progressing through the struggle between opposing forces, such as the oppressed and the oppressors. He opines that this struggle between opposing classes results in social transformations.
At the core of this theory are the social and political elements that inform a text, such as superstructure, class struggle, and oppression. In using this theory, literary critics examine class, oppression, power, economy and politics.
Principles of Marxism Theory
- The struggle for freedom is an endless process.
- Literary texts depict class oppression, strife and social inequality and, in turn, serve to critique elements of the capitalistic system.
- Literary texts subvert and even overturn ordinary forms of social and political order.
- Literary texts participate in or resist mass media and other popular and capitalistic culture forms.
- The author’s class, political positions, and other ideological positions influence their writings.
- Literary texts might suggest possibilities for social revolution.
- The ruling classes might manipulate possibilities for social revolution for social control over the other classes.
Post-colonial Theory
Activity 6.13
a) Read various online or library materials on post-colonial theory.
b) Explain the post-colonial theory based on the following headings:
- (i) Origin and development
- (ii) Focus
- (iii) Principles
Takeaways
Post-colonial theory is a cultural, intellectual, political, and literary movement of the 20th and 21st centuries characterised by the representation and analysis of historical experiences and challenging exploitative and discriminative practices. The theory critically reflects on the social, political, cultural, and economic effects of colonialism and imperialism. These effects are examined under the supposition that colonialism and imperialism impacted the colonised societies.
More than three-quarters of the people living in the world today have had their lives shaped by the experience of colonialism. Imperial Europe (Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and other nations) invaded and occupied many parts of the world, including the Americas, East Indies, India and Africa, from the 1450s to the 1950s.
Generally, a critic using post-colonial theory examines how the representation of cultural difference (how race, class, sex, gender, sexual orientation, religion, cultural beliefs, and customs combine to form individual identity) supports or challenges the colonial ideologies.
Principles of Post-colonial Theory
- Re-examining the history of colonialism from the perspective of the colonised
- Re-examining the economic, political, and cultural impact of colonialism on both the colonised peoples and the colonising powers
- Analysing the process of decolonisation
- Participating in the goals of political liberation, which include equal access to material resources and the contestation of forms of domination
- Articulating political and cultural identities
- Examining the representation of “othered” cultures
- Examining how a literary text challenges or condones/approves colonisation and imperialism
- Examining issues of hybridity (individuals and groups’ identities belonging to more than one culture at the same time)
- Perceiving marginality, plurality and ‘otherness’ as push factors for change in the society
- Critiquing the social histories, cultural differences and political discrimination practised and normalised by colonial and imperial machinery
Feminism Theory
Activity 6.15
a) Read various online or library materials on feminism.
b) Explain the theory of feminism based on the following headings:
- (i) Origin and development
- (ii) Focus
- (iii) Principles
Takeaways
Four Waves of Feminism
First Wave (19th-early 20th centuries)Involves liberal feminists such as Elizabeth Candy Stanton and Matilda Joslyn Gage. Focused on women’s suffrage and legal rights.Second Wave (1960s-1990s)Grew out of anti-war and civil rights movements. Focused on sexuality, family, workplace, and reproductive rights.Third Wave (1990s)Mainly informed by post-colonial and post-modern thinking. Demands equal right for men and women in politics, decision-making, careers, and having children.Fourth Wave (2010s-present)Involves use of online platforms to protest against violence on women and children. Looks at gender representation in media, politics and influential structures.
Principles of Feminism Literary Criticism
- Examining elements of texts, including gendered language
- Examining stereotypical or unconventional portrayals of female characters
- Studying works of female writers
- Studying how gender, class and sexuality shape the depiction of characters in a story
- Critiquing gender and gendered oppression
Assessment Questions
- Explain the key differences between traditional and modern literary theories.
- Apply formalist theory to analyse a poem or short story of your choice.
- Which literary theory do you find most effective in analysing literary texts? Give reasons.
- How does one’s understanding of literary theories enhance his/her appreciation and interpretation of literary texts?
- Use feminism theory to examine how a given text handles gender, race and ethnicity issues.
- Perform an eco-critical analysis of a selected text and identify how it addresses environmental concerns.
- With reference to any two readings you have read, use ideas from social learning theory to analyse how stories might teach their readers moral and human rights issues.
- How can different readers’ interpretations vary based on the theories they apply in the analysis?
- Referring to Mimetic theory and examples from a story you read, justify the contention that authors do not just imitate; they imitate and represent things we know, aiming to change our perceptions about life.
- Using ideas from mimetic and pragmatic theories, analyse how effective writers imitate to shape human behaviour.
Exercise: Theory Application
Select a literary text you have studied and analyze it using three different literary theories from this chapter. For each theory, address the following:
- Briefly explain the main principles of the theory
- Identify specific elements in the text that can be analyzed using this theory
- Analyze how the theory helps reveal new meanings or perspectives in the text
- Discuss the strengths and limitations of using this particular theory for your selected text
- Compare the insights gained from each of the three theories