Literary criticism Study Guide

📖 Core Concepts Literary criticism – the systematic study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Literary theory – a philosophical framework that asks why literature works and what its broader goals are. Criticism vs. Theory – Critics apply theory to specific texts; theorists develop abstract models that may never be tied to a single work. Mimesis – Aristotle’s term for literature’s imitation of reality. Catharsis – the emotional purging that tragedy provokes in the audience (Aristotle). Intentional fallacy – the error of judging a work by the author’s intended meaning (New Criticism). Affective fallacy – the error of judging a work solely by the reader’s emotional response (New Criticism). 📌 Must Remember Aristotle’s Poetics (4th c. BCE) = foundation of classical criticism (mimesis, catharsis). New Criticism → close reading, “the text itself,” rejects authorial intent and reader emotion. Structuralism = seeks underlying language/culture structures; Post‑structuralism denies fixed meanings. Marxist criticism → focuses on class struggle & ideology. Feminist criticism → interrogates gender representation and power. Deconstruction → highlights instability and contradictions in a text’s meaning. New Historicism → reads texts in their historical/cultural moment. 🔄 Key Processes Close‑reading workflow (New Criticism) Read the passage repeatedly. Identify concrete literary devices (metaphor, irony, pattern). Examine how form (structure, diction) creates meaning independently of author biography. New Historicist analysis Gather historical background (political, economic, cultural). Map textual references to contemporary events/ideologies. Argue how the work both reflects and shapes its era. Deconstructive reading Locate binary oppositions (e.g., presence/absence). Show how each term undermines the other, creating “aporia” (undecidable tension). 🔍 Key Comparisons New Criticism vs. Reader‑Response – “Text‑centred, author‑irrelevant” vs. “Meaning created by the reader’s experience.” Structuralism vs. Post‑structuralism – “Stable underlying structures exist” vs. “Structures are fluid and endlessly defer meaning.” Formalism vs. Marxist criticism – “Focus on form & language” vs. “Focus on socioeconomic power relations.” Historicist vs. Modernist approaches – “Contextual grounding” vs. “Emphasis on artistic innovation and self‑reflexivity.” ⚠️ Common Misunderstandings “All criticism is theory.” – Many critics work pragmatically without explicit theoretical jargon. “Deconstruction means ‘destroying’ a text.” – It actually reveals internal contradictions, not obliterate meaning. “New Criticism ignores all historical info.” – It ignores authorial intent and reader response, not necessarily historical context if it appears in the text itself. 🧠 Mental Models / Intuition “The Text as a Self‑Contained Machine.” – Imagine the poem as a gadget; every part (meter, image, rhyme) has a functional role that can be inspected without outside manuals. “Binary Tension Cloud.” – Any pair of opposites (e.g., nature/culture) creates a cloud of unresolved tension that fuels interpretive possibilities. 🚩 Exceptions & Edge Cases Intentional fallacy does not forbid biographical insight when the text explicitly references the author’s life. Reader‑response is still valuable for works that are deliberately open‑ended (e.g., modernist poetry). Marxist criticism may be less fruitful for texts that lack clear class references (e.g., abstract lyrical poetry). 📍 When to Use Which Close reading (New Criticism) → when the exam asks for “analysis of language, form, and structure.” Historicist lens → when a question ties the work to a specific era, social movement, or political event. Deconstruction → when the prompt highlights paradox, ambiguity, or contradictory language. Feminist/Queer/Race lenses → when the prompt explicitly mentions gender, sexuality, or racial representation. 👀 Patterns to Recognize Aristotelian pattern – mention of “mimesis” + “catharsis” → likely classical‑period question. “Author‑dead” language – phrases like “the text speaks for itself” → New Criticism/New Historicist contrast. Binary oppositions – “nature vs. culture,” “order vs. chaos” → cue for structuralist/post‑structuralist analysis. Ideological language – talk of “class struggle,” “capitalism” → Marxist approach. 🗂️ Exam Traps Distractor: “Deconstruction proves that a text has no meaning.” – Wrong; it shows meaning is unstable and multiple. Distractor: “New Criticism always ignores historical context.” – Partially true; it ignores external authorial intent, but historical allusions within the text can still be analyzed. Distractor: “All Romantic criticism rejects Enlightenment rationality.” – Over‑generalization; many Romantics still engaged with Enlightenment ideas about the sublime. Distractor: “Formalism and New Criticism are identical.” – Overlap exists, but Formalism (especially Russian) emphasizes literary devices, while New Criticism adds the “intentional/affective fallacies” doctrine.