These different lenses allow critics to consider works of art based on certain assumptions within that school of theory. Its seventeen chapters are by internationallyrespected academics and explore a range of key topics and themes. Rather than being art for arts sake, modern literature tends to be more exploratory and didactic. One of literatures greatest gifts is its portrayal of realistically drawn charactershuman beings in whom. Given this controversial approach to art, its easy to see why platos position has an impact on literature and literary criticism even today though scholars who critique work based on whether or not the story teaches a moral are few virtue may have an impact on childrens literature, however. Essentially, literary theories are lenses that a reader can apply in order to view a text in a new light. Literary theory and schools of criticism introduction a very basic way of thinking about literary theory is that these ideas act as different lenses critics use to view and talk about art, literature, and even culture.
The idea of a conscious and an unconscious mind is one of the most important tools in psychoanalytic literary criticism. Jul 05, 2011 psychological criticism delving into the mind slideshare uses cookies to improve functionality and performance, and to provide you with relevant advertising. This volume of the celebrated cambridge history of literary criticism series, first published in 2000, addresses literary criticism of the romantic period, chiefly in europe. The psychological approach is responsible not only for the great achievements in the criticism of the poem, but also to some extent for the lesser achievements of the other categories. A literary text exists independent of any particular reader and, in a sense, has a fixed meaning. Psychoanalytic theory used in english literature global journals. An approach to psychological literary criticism by means of frommian humanistic psychoanalysis december 2017 in book.
These separate academic strands have developed different approaches to defining critical thinking that reflect their respective concerns. Readerresponse criticism takes as a fundamental tenet that literature exists not as an artifact upon a printed page but as a transaction between the physical text and the mind of a reader. The literary approach, with one or two exceptions, has been effective only in dealing with certain aspects of. The psychological approach to the study of literature. Freud theorized that people have a conscious part of the mind, where thinking. Psychological novels and novelists literary theory and. The study of the selection is more or les based on the socalled literary elements.
Formalist criticism examines a text as independent from its time period, social setting, and. Critical approaches to literature english iv ap excerpted from the bedford introduction to literature, 2008 formalist criticism emphasizes the form of a literary work to determine its meaning, focusing on literary elements and how they work to create meaning. One of freuds most famous theories is the oedipus complex, which deals with a childs emerging sexuality. Archetypal literary criticism took root in the rich soil of other academic. Lawrences sons and lovers 19 is a text that cries out for a psychoanalytic interpretation. A phenomenological psychological approach to the sick rose. The text is analyzed and understood together with the possible responses of the reader as well as the author of the text. Psychology has a noteworthy place in the analysis of literary works, and each field puts the. The emphasis is more on character and motivation than on form and structure. Pdf the contribution of psychological theories in literary. Literary theory and schools of criticism introduction. The child and identity later psychoanalysts have focused more alices experiences in wonderland functioning as an allegory for the developing ego, or, in other words, for growing up. As we have seen, psychological analysis of realistically drawn characters reveals them to be creations. You will be redirected to the full text document in the repository in a few seconds, if not click here.
From the ancient belief in humors to the twentieth and twentyfirst centuries psychoanalytic and pharmacological methodologies, diverse theories about the mind have affected the literary production of novelists. Archetypal and psychological criticism poetry analysis. Approaches to literary criticism literary criticism is the study, analysis, and evaluation of imaginative literature. For psychologists, identity is a set of behaviors, emotions, and thought patterns that are unique to an individual.
In this case, the object of the research is a novel. Second, literary criticism can help you in college by giving you more ways to respond to what you read. Contemporary literary theory and criticism encompasses a complex and changing group of. Psychological theories of identity and literature analysis.
New criticism new criticism is an american literary theory in the 20 th century. A video presentation about psychological literary criticism prepared by saint paul school of business and law students enrolled in world literature. We noticed that literary criticism has used psychoanalysis theory to interpret literature and literature has also attempted to exploit and use psychoanalysis for creative purposes. Eliot abstract psychology considers art as the expression of artistsa unconscious self under the influence of freud, whose interpretation of. Psychoanalysis is a psychological approach that focuses on the concepts of sigmund freud and helps us to understand human behavior. Richards in which only words onpage were analyzed very closely in a. The most important for investigation include the writer himself as a psychologically complex person involved in the creative process, the work of art itself as a psychological stimulus, and the response to the work by the audience. Introduction in order to understand any genres, it is essentially indispensable to catch up on literary criticism because it is considered as a first step toward developing an understanding of some rather difficult and at times provocative concepts. Literary criticism is concerned with the most recent, the present state of literature. Literary theory many, many dissertations have been written about what exactly literary theory is, but to put it briefly, literary theory describes different approaches to studying literature. The object of psychoanalytic literary criticism, at its very simplest, can be the psychoanalysis of the author or of a particularly interesting character in a given work. A clear rationale is provided for its necessity in the study and understanding of the individual and identity in a discipline that is occupied.
Sociological criticism is an approach to literary criticism that focuses on positioning works of literature or literary theory in a broader social context. Literary criticism of edgar poes the telltale heart from a. Pdf an approach to psychological literary criticism by. Readerresponse criticism takes as a fundamental tenet that literature exists not as an artifact upon a printed page but as a transaction between the physical text and the mind of a. Nov 19, 20 psychoanalytic literary criticism adopts the methods of reading employed by freud and later theorists to interpret texts. The criticism is similar to psychoanalysis itself, closely following the analytic interpretive process discussed in freuds the interpretation of dreams and other works. Pdf the contribution of psychological theories in literary criticism. Literary criticism, literary theory, approaches to literature, traditional. This includes the classification by genre, analysis of structure, and judgement of. Literature is viewed intrinsically independent of the author, age, or any other extrinsic factor. Psychoanalytic literary criticism is literary criticism or literary theory which, in method, concept, or form, is influenced by the tradition of psychoanalysis begun by sigmund freud. Critical theories and applied criticism, types of literary criticism. Sigmund freud put forward the theory that literary texts are a manifestation of the secret unconscious desires and anxieties of the author.
Psychological criticism, they suggest, typically attempts to do at least one of the following. Traditional literary criticism tends not to focus on a particular aspect of or approach to a literary text in quite the same manner that literary theory usually does. Gender criticism queer theory gender criticism and queer theory analyze literature through the lens of sociallyconstructed gender roles. Volume 8 of the cambridge history of literary criticism deals with the most influential and hotly debated areas of literary theory. Sternberg 1986 has also noted a third critical thinking strand within the field of education. Richards, was an english educator, literary critic, and rhetorician. The psychological approach is placed outside these poles because it can fit. The following article is from the great soviet encyclopedia 1979. And, indeed, as psychoanalysts began to further refine the freudian theories, psychoanalytic criticism of alice began to evolve. A humanities approach to the psychology of personhood in this set of insightful essays, the concept of the psychological humanities is defined and explored. Biographical criticism relies on knowledge of an authors life to understand a work more fully, believing that biography can assist in guiding a readers interpretation. Introduction he early 20th century marking the begaining of modern psychology and with the pace of this psychology the psychological analysis of literary texts evolved. Formalism or new criticism reader response theory psychological theory new historicism analysis what is formalism theory or new criticism.
Literary criticism in the strict sense is not universally accepted as being part of the scholarly discipline of literary theory and criticism. Literary theory and criticism article about literary theory. The contribution of psychological theories in literary. Each of these approaches is explored more fully below. Psychological criticism has proved the most adequate. The potentials of psychological approaches to literature. The psychological approach to literary criticism is very controversial and is easily abused.
Offering an introduction to literature courses, this text serves as a comprehensive guide to the major critical approaches to literature. Analytical psychology and literary criticism, new literary history 1 1980. What is the sociological approach to literary criticism. Literary theories that we will learn about in this class include. First, literary criticism improves your general reading skills, giving you more tools to help solve problems of understanding as you read. This approach views each piece of literature as a unique form of human knowledge that needs to be. Psychological approach literary criticism free download as word doc. The psychology of the critic and psychological criticism philip. Oct 17, 2016 this psychological approach, which reflects the effect of psychology on both literature and literary criticism, was mainly influenced by the work of sigmund freud and carl jung.
Psychological criticism is an approach in analyzing literary texts through the use of psychological concepts especially the human desires and feelings that a person is unaware of. Pdf psychological literary criticism had its base in the psychoanalytical thoughts put forwarded by sigmund freud. The closedreading approach was a method developed by i. Indeed the person who is interested in analyzing a novel using the psychological of literary criticism should study both literature and psychology at once. If you continue browsing the site, you agree to the use of cookies on this website.
One of literatures greatest gifts is its portrayal of realistically drawn characters human beings in whom. This approach regards literature as a unique form of human knowledge that needs to be examined on its own terms. A handbook of critical approaches to literature, fifth edition offers readers and students a variety of ways of looking at a piece of literature. Feb 09, 2021 psychoanalytic literary criticism aims to analyze and interpret literary works that focus on psychoanalytic theory. Contemporary literary criticism modernism through poststructuralism, robert con davis, 1986, literary criticism, 511 pages. Literary theory proposes particular, systematic approaches to literary texts that impose a particular line of intellectual reasoning to it. The researcher sees this literary work from two points of views there are intrinsic and extrinsic, the researcher uses psychological approach in doing this analysis.
His work contributed to the foundations of the new criticism, a formalist movement in literary theory which emphasized the close reading of a literary text, especially poetry, in an effort to discover how a work of literature functions as a self. The contribution of psychological theories in literary criticism. It argues that literary texts, like dreams, express the secret unconscious desires and anxieties of the author, that a literary work is a manifestation of the authors own neuroses. Historical criticism seeks to interpret the work of literature through understanding the time and culture in which the work was written.
Ivor armstrong richards 26 february 1893 7 september 1979, known as i. What is the psychological approach in literary criticism. The analysis stresses items like symbols, images, and structure and how one part of the work relates to other parts and to the whole. The contribution of neofreudian theories in literary criticism pp. Psychological criticism deals with the work of literature primarily as an expression, in. Download literary criticism and psychology books, the psychological problems within literary study are manifold. Pdf the potentials of psychological approaches to literature. It is appropriate for courses in literary criticism or theory, as well as in freshmansophomore level. By creating a fictional representation, the author is able to explore an array of concepts in a nonthreatening venue, and the literary critic is able to sift. Mar 22, 2019 psychological novels and novelists by nasrullah mambrol on march 22, 2019 0. The greatest literary texts are timeless and universal. People like to label symptoms, leading to some suspicious psychobabble. Psychological literary criticism is defined by mh abrams in a glossary of literary terms as dealing with a work of literature as an.
Gender criticism and queer theory also analyzes the influence and representation of sexuality mainly, queer sexualities within a literary text. While literary theory, as a school of thought or mode of literary criticism, is very much a product of the mid to late 20 th century academic world, the first recorded theories of literature extend back to the ancient greek philosophers plato and aristotle. As we have seen, psychological analysis of realistically drawn characters reveals th. The different lenses also allow critics to focus on. These disciplines may seem far removed from the reading of literature, but this reading approach does have both cultural and psychological dimensions.
New criticism talked about the closedreading approach. Pdf an approach to psychological literary criticism by means of. Pdf psychoanalytical theory in literary criticism debbie. Its philosophy was taken from john crowe ransoms the new criticism, 1941. Literary criticism is valuable for a number of reasons. Psychological consultation and collaboration introduction to theory and practice, duane brown, walter b.
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