AudBall_Guide

Home

AudBall's Guide To Literary Theory

Periodicals

Liberal Humanism

The following is my own personal attempt to define some of the most common literary and cultural theories that are applied to literature as well as some links to other points of view. As always, keep an open mind and cite original sources. Thanks.

Structuralism

Post-Structuralism & Deconstruction

Liberal Humanism: a response to the philosophies that say that 1) the only way something can be understood is to compare it to something else, and 2) the powers of fate are stronger than that of the will of the individual, meaning that you don't have any control over your life. Liberal Humanism is a spiritual philosophy that is anti-materialistic (live moderately) and focuses on the improvement of the self and one's character through self-examination and self-regulation. Peter Barry calls Liberal Humanism the "theory before theory" because it attempts to define what literature is (Barry, 17). Barry's ten tenets of liberal humanism are that 1) literature is timeless and applicable to any age, 2) literature has meaning without context, 3) texts must be studied objectively, without a priori assumptions, and in isolation, 4) literature is more important than technology because human nature does not change, 5) the individual transcends all else, 6) literature reflects life, it does not control it, 7) the form of literature follows its function, 8) literature is sincere in holding some truth, 9) literature shows rather than explains, and 10) criticism is a mediator between the literature and the reader (Barry 17-21) Liberal Humanist criticism focuses on the content of literature, its moral interpretation, and measures it against "art for art's sake (Barry 32)."

Structuralism:emerged from linguistic semiotics to the scientific study of the language of literature in literary criticism based on three premises: language is greater than the sum of its parts, words/expressions are defined in relation to one another, and language is arbitrary-it means what everyone agrees that it means and has no inherent meaning. Structural criticism examines the linguistic structure of the language of a literary text to discover its relationships and contrasting elements. Literature is best understood when one understands the structure of the language that comprises it (ex. semantics, syntax, grammar, etymology, phonemes, morphemes, etc.) Structuralists refer to well-known linguists in their writing.

Post-Strucuturalism & Deconstruction: an extention of Structuralism that derives ultimately from the philosophy that we cannot be sure that we do or do not know anything for sure. Critics look for meaning that is contrary to the surface meaning of the text, demonstrate "disunity (Barry 73)," and point out breaks in tone, viewpoint, time, person, etc.(Barry 72-73). "Linguistic anxiety (Barry 65)" prevails in that meaning can never be guaranteed (Barry 64).

Postmodernism:a relatively young philosophy in comparison to the ones above, a direct and deliberate contrast to modernism in its rejection of the faiths and authorities of the past. Postmodernism emphasizes that we live in a system that is unfixed and fragmented. Postmodern art is anti-minimalistic and excessive, with an emphasis on the arbitrary selection of styles. Postmodernists measure everything against the falacy of tradition and discard anything that resembles it. "The application of reason and logic by the disinterested individual can bring about a solution to the problems of society ( Habermas in Barry 85)." Criticism focuses on identifying postmodern thought, levels of reality and the disappearance of the real, intertextual elements or cross-references between works, irony, and challenges the distinction between high and low culture.

Psychoanalytic Criticism:

Feminist Criticism:

Lesbian/Gay Criticism:

Marxist Criticism:

New Historicism & Cultural Materialism:

Postcolonial Criticism:

Stylistics:

Narratology:

Ecocriticism:

New Historicism & Cultural Materialism

Postcolonial

Stylistics

Narratology

Ecocriticism

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws