Table of ContentsTraditional ApproachesTextual ScholarshipGenderStudy of SourcesHistorical/BiographicalMoral/PhilosophicalFormalismMaterialismBritish Cultural MaterialismLiterature and LinguisticsPsychologicalMythological and ArchetypalFeminism and Gender StudiesCultural StudiesPostcolonial StudiesTraditional ApproachesLiterature did not begin to be studied in the classroom in the 1920s. The first approach to appear is the traditional approach. This can be seen as "old" historicism as opposed to post-modern new historicism. Historical criticism is common in the traditional approach and is often biographical in nature. These historical approaches test mimetic accuracy and show the limits of historical interpretation. Another common route of the traditional approach is to analyze allusions from one work to another, called source study. Literary study became less author and story focused as works began to have autonomous meaning and critical study moved toward textual analysis in "new" criticism, called formalism, but the study of texts and sources remained constant. However, later approaches will return to historical study. The traditional approach presented literature as a network of symbols and tropes that reappear everywhere. There are, however, certain limitations associated with the traditional approach. Historical studies are considered outdated and out of reach. The philosophical approach is criticized because it is only interested in morality and does not consider writing as an art. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay Textual Scholarship Textual scholarship focuses on the authentic text or what the author intended the work to be. Readers wrongly assume that the form of the work they are reading is the original, because most are textual variations rich in corrections. Textual criticism is responsible for the purest forms of published writing, one of the greatest contributions of the traditional approach. Textual criticism also tracks how a piece of literature develops over time. Textual critics are interested in alterations such as spelling, punctuation, capitalization, italics, and paragraphing, but also in skills such as literary history, bibliography, paleography, and typography. These critics also look to the substance to evaluate the text. There is debate about the scientific contribution of textual critics. Keywords may include dialect, vernacular, prose, and diction, among other literary terms. Genre It was once thought that readers could learn a lot about a work itself by knowing the genre. The labels novel, short story, drama, parody, and others give the reader a glimpse into the idea of ​​the work they will be reading. Different genres have different methodologies and need to be recognized. As in dramas and epics, feelings of catharsis, tragedy and hubris are often associated. Although this study had diminished since the 19th century, romantic and lyrical works were still categorized, and genre criticism has reappeared in recent critical reviews. This review was not created to classify the works, but rather to focus on the traditions of the time. Key words can be mood, tragic hero, central character, or any other name of a genre. Source Study Although the source study approach does not have a widely accepted name, it is associated with theorigins of a work. Separate from textual study, source study examines the origin of references and ideas contained in a writing and the allusions to other works that appear. Manuscripts are analyzed in this approach and can link one author to another to depict the genesis of ideas and influences. Keywords can be a reference, a manuscript or an allusion. Historical/Biographical Historical and biographical approaches continue to be present in the study of literature. This approach focuses on the author's life and the social and political environment surrounding him when the work was written. The context that a historical or biographical approach gives to a work gives the reader a better understanding of the purpose of the writing and the mindset of the author, because all writers write with an inherent bias. This approach is applied to characters in novels and even poems. For example, any war occurring at the time of writing, political change, publicized trial, and even the experiences of the author must be taken into account in the study of a piece of writing. The insight that this study gives to a critic is crucial for organic understanding. Key words can be representation, imagery and antagonist.Moral/PhilosophicalThe moral and philosophical approach dates back to the classical period as Plato himself used this approach. A moral and philosophical approach considers a work to have a higher meaning than what is specifically written on the page. Discussions of moral superiority and aesthetic considerations often take place in a moral or philosophical journal. Critics who use this approach are concerned with what the article teaches readers and what the author intended in sharing his or her work with others. Key words can be theme, moral, figurative language, symbolism and allegory. FormalismFormalism finds individuality in the specific appreciation of form. Formalism begins with a careful reading of the word choices made by an author, examining the denotative and connotative implications and etymologies of words, as we have done in the Oxford English Dictionary. The approach then continues by examining the formal structure of the poem and the relationships between lines and words. The structure created by the text becomes the tone of the writing. Formalism can also be concerned with juxtaposition. This approach creates more ambiguity as the reader interprets it individually. Formalism then analyzes the patterns of symbols, the appearance of allusions, irony and metaphors. The formalist approach can be easily qualified because words such as structure, form, interaction, interrelationships, contexts, repeated details, denouement, rhythm, and rhyme are often found in the writings of formalist critics. In its early days, formalism was called New Criticism, teaching writing as an object of art. To study the object, you must first observe its appearance or organic shape. The Romantic movement in Europe sparked interest in the literary form with the idea of ​​imagination and a concern for the relationship between the whole and the parts. This new criticism had distinct characteristics. Eliot was influential on the idea of ​​the objective correlative, or the emotion evoked by words. He also supported metaphysical poets who blended states of mind and feelings into one. This criticism was widespread in the 1950s and was notable for its sharp form. In reaction against New Criticism, critics formulated the theory of reader response. Formalism allows any extremely subjective and relative interpretation based on the reader's prejudices, sothat reader response critics viewed readers as the most crucial element of a work. The reader plays a role in the creation of a text and without a reader, the text does not exist. Reader-response critics viewed formalist criticism as narrow and elitist, while formalist critics believed that the reader was the source of literature's affective fallacy. From this, reception theory was formed, which analyzed responses to literature as a sign of public acceptance of the work. Associated with this was the term “horizon of expectation” which meant reading publicly. The final change in formalism lies in Stanley Fish's idea of ​​effective stylistics. Fish argued that writing was not stagnant, but neither should meaning be extracted from a text and taught. Instead, meaning is what occurs in the reader during their own mental negotiations while reading. Regardless of the differences between these movements, all formalism focuses on texture, images, symbols, allegories, error, speaker reliability, point of view, irony, and paradox. Any dece would be keywords associated with the formalist approach. The limitations faced by formalist criticism are that it only applies to lyric literature and that there is more to appreciate than just the meaning of the work.MaterialismMarxismThe idea of ​​a materialistic and socially driven by economics was started by Karl Marx who believed that a socialist future would arrive when the proletariat (working class) would revolt and defeat the bourgeoisie (class that owns the wealth) based on the dialectic of evidence/ historical examples. He viewed spiritual expressions as a cultural ideology intended to meet the needs of the ruling class. His main argument was that the division of labor between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie as well as between labor and capital would ultimately lead to the collapse of capitalism in favor of socialism in which the proletariat would ultimately reap the direct products of its labor. Leon Trotsky was influenced by Marxism and believed that mimesis (imitation) in literature should give us a “slice of life” without commenting on it. On the other hand, Georg Lukacs said that authors should strive to describe not a slice of life but the forces that act on society to bring about social change. He believed that modernism was too fragmented and too focused on form and technique. This sacrificed the content of his beloved social realism. He also attacked naturalists for presenting characters as simply trapped in a social order. Antonio Gramsci criticized the central Marxist notion of economic determinism and distinguished between government and culture. He argued that the proletariat did not revolt because of hegemony (the way dominant groups maintain their power) and that it does not dominate through violence or coercion, but by subtly obtaining the consent of the masses (people think they make their own decision, but marketing and advertising have the power). already decided for them).Frederic Jameson, a prominent American Marxist critic, focused on the psychological aspect of Marxism (the political unconscious). The point of view and position of the subject were important to him. He believed that formalism was a mistake because art is not free from historical and political influence. According to him, postmodernism was weak because modernism degenerated into a playful game without serious political direction. Other key terms: exchange value, commodity fetishism, reification, determinism, capitalcultural. British cultural materialism In the 1950s, an influential group of British intellectuals began to analyze Marxist texts, arguing that culture belongs to the working class and the elite and that there is no stable cultural center in a company. Feminism was also very important to cultural materialists. New Historicism This approach looks for surprising coincidences and correlations between literature and history to see how similar they are ("The text is historical and history is a text.") They view literature and history as narratives of power and exchange.EcocriticismEcocriticism is the study of ecological concepts in literature, and its advocates are environmental activists. Ecofeminism notes the patriarchal system found in ecology and argues that there are parallels between the way the environment and women are treated. Literary Darwinism Using natural selection as a basis, this approach argues that the human mind is built to think in stories and that literature, as behavior, can be best interpreted with reference to its evolutionary characteristics which often focus on "the selective mating, parental preference, adaptability, child-rearing competition for resources, cooperation,” among others. Darwinists answer the question "Why does literature continue to exist?" » by studying sociobiology, evolutionary psychology, genetics, etc. Literature and linguisticsStructuralism and poststructuralismStructuralism focuses on the structures of language, or systems of relationships, that assign signs (such as words) or objects (fashion, automobiles, shopping malls) to identities and meanings that show how we let's think. Philosophy and linguistics are essential in this approach. Particularly in this approach: The linguistic model - Ferdinand de Saussure makes the distinction between language (language possessed by the community) and parole (application of language orally or in writing in which words and meaning are related). French structuralism followed these ideas and believed that the text was a message requiring a "code" to read it, such as symbolic or cultural codes. Lévi-Strauss proposed the paradigmatic approach which attempts to find "embedded" structures in a text that appear to escape a conscious or rational arrangement of the author (called binary oppositions). Deconstruction - states that the linguistics of a text are constantly changing and therefore they can only provide provisional meanings (words often have more than one meaning to different people or different cultures). Dialogicals - Mikhail Bakhtin considered any language as "addressed" to someone and assumed that the derived meaning depends not on its structure as a system but on the relationship between the two people addressing each other. Keywords include polemic, humanist, polyphonic discourse, and chronotope.PsychologicalThis approach provides insight into the thematic and symbolic mysteries of a literary work by searching for possible motivations behind an author's work in order to divine the author's psychological conflicts and characters. This approach tends to completely miss aesthetic appreciation and limit the interpretation of the text itself. The idea of ​​promoting this approach because it is based on many other approaches. The psychological approach dates back to Aristotle and is not new in our time. This approach was at one time associated with offensive terms such as anal eroticism, the phallic symbol and the Oedipal complex. Since then, these terms no longer have shock value.Sexual imagery is often analyzed using this type of approach. Key Points: Freud's Theories - The mind is divided into the id (unconscious desire/pleasure), the ego (self-conscious feeling/reality), and the superego (learned rules and customs/morality). .Phallic and yonic symbols/male and female genital symbolsOedipus complex- strong feelings and attachment of the son to the mother and subsequent struggle with the father.Jacques Lacan- Kingdom of the Mother, the “Imaginary” and source of creativity, and Kingdom of the Father, representing the symbolic order and linguistic source. Mythological and ArchetypalMythological approaches tend to look for those parts of literature that evoke a dramatic response from people universally. How do some works become “classics” while others are forgotten? These critiques attempt to define these symbols that lead to influence our cultural behavior. Sometimes myths aren't just fictional remnants of the Greeks and Romans! This approach can also rely on archetypal models. This approach has a deep connection with the psychological approach. Mythological and archetypalists can look to myths, motifs, ideologies, and symbols for analysis, often observing the images the author creates in their writing. This approach offers unique opportunities for literary study, but has some drawbacks. Critics may tend to disagree about the universal patterns evoked by archetypal critics. Additionally, critics are moving away from this approach and toward more defined areas of study to avoid ambiguity. Notable Points: Archetypes - recurring imagery patterns found in several mythologies (sun, water, colors, circles, snakes, numbers, trees, gardens, deserts). Archetypal Woman - Great Mother, Horrible Mother, or Soul Mate Wise Old Man - Help Him hero to achieve his goalDemon lover - represents the devilTicksterCreation, Immortality, HeroGenres: spring/comedy, summer/romance, autumn/tragedy, winter/ironyFeminism and gender studiesHowever, there is incredible speculation as to the definition of feminism, feminist studies in literature are interested in the marginalization of women in their patriarchal system.culture. Like the Marxist approach, feminist criticism is highly political. Recently, feminist criticism has shifted from the sole interests of women to education, civil rights, response to war, urbanization, and open sexuality. Feminist criticism leads to the movements of ethnic studies, queer theory, postcolonial studies or identity politics. These critiques relied heavily on the observation of male-centered beliefs, otherness, and hegemony. Each of the three waves of feminism had its own type of criticism. The first wave of feminism held the right to vote and practiced birth control, establishing that women were also human beings and not property. The second wave of feminism followed World War I, moving toward equal rights in social, political, legal, and economic spheres. Common expressions indicating second-wave feminism are cultural feminism, where women are more caring than men, and differential feminism, where women have established themselves as better, or even superior, to men. The third wave of feminism arrived in the 1990s and represented women from all minority groups. Some women's critiques of feminist studies use a psychoanalytic approach, although Freud is not an approach that feminists admire. The psychoanalytic literary study of feminism highlightshighlights the subtexts and strives to deepen their understanding. Myth criticism also takes place in feminist studies, as critiques of feminist myths turn to archetypal female figures like the Virgin Mary and goddesses. Feminists of color rejected the Western literary canon that favored men and included African American women. Marxist and materialist feminisms focused on social constructs and attacked the classist values ​​of capitalist societies. Another branch of women's studies is feminist film studies, which had the unique ability to communicate feminist issues. Outside of the critical feminist approach is the study of gender itself. Feminist and gender studies criticize society's creation of binary divisions regarding gender, sexuality, race, etc. Within these are subsets of lesbian and queer critics, notable for being interested in otherness and vernacular idioms. Key words used in the feminist and gender critical approach include binary, sexuality, patriarchy, femininity and masculinity. Limitations of this approach include the strong opposition to the principles of this literature such as the separation of masculine and feminine language. This area of ​​study will continue to confront long-held beliefs, but also offers education to its readers. Cultural Studies The term “culture” has various meanings and connotations, thus making cultural studies more of a set of practices than an approach. Cultural studies consists of questions, issues, and trends of groups. This approach was created in response to the cultural upheavals of the 1960s in the United States and is linked to all other approaches that study the division and otherness of communities. Cultural critics aim to remove the stratification between cultures, literary texts and other discourses. Like feminism and the gender approach, psychoanalytic theory is applied to cultural studies. Cultural studies appears in the majority of the approaches discussed above, but these focus more on American ethnic studies and postmodern culture. However, cultural studies has four overarching goals. First, culture transcends any particular disciple. Second, culture is political. Third, culture negates any elitism in society. Finally, cultural studies is interested not only in work, but also in the means of production. Cultural studies is subjective and engages in humanism. Cultural studies is limited in that, when talking about diversity and minorities, that study can be seen as illegitimate and blindly linking objects to deeper connections than those they call for. American Ethnic Studies Ethnic studies in the United States in particular are rich. Beginning in the 1960s, numerous civil rights movements and protests impacted change in the United States. In this critique, race begins to become an idea and no longer a classification term. Questions such as whether ethnicity is the only distinct culture have been raised. The feeling of being the “Other” is celebrated and integrated into the general public. The United States specifically had a multitude of ethnic writers. African American writers embraced naturalism and literary modernism. Black culture was enhanced by the use of dialect in many of these writings. Latino and Hispanic writers analyze code-switching, an identity phenomenon occurring at borders. TheseLatin American and Hispanic authors created their own archetypes in the United States, transforming American literature into literature of the Americas. Native American literature was often autobiographical and spoke through metaphors. Native American literature, however, is limited due to the oral nature of their stories. Asian-American writers have addressed the feeling of alienation in the United States, dominated primarily by women. texts. Postmodernism built on these ideas but introduced fragmentation and ambiguity. This approach often appears skeptical of classical notions of identity and truth. Postmodernism was nothing more than a style of culture that blurs art and everyday experiences. This postmodern approach also emphasizes historical context and how expectations change over time, rejecting dualism and reductionism. The analysis of popular culture also falls under postmodernism. There are four ways to study popular culture: production analysis, textual analysis, audience analysis, and historical analysis. However, the analysis of popular culture can sometimes overwhelm a work and change an author's intention forever. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom EssayPostcolonial StudiesPostcolonialism most often refers to historical changes after colonialism declined. Postcolonial writing can be seen by third world writers with a unique perspective on colonialism and its subsequent effects. In this day and age, we are unable to go back to understand the pre-colonial mindset and we cannot see the current neocolonial domination happening. These critiques focus on European colonization of the Americas and mainly concern the phenomenon of colonization of colored races by Whites. This approach is not limited to simple political and historical approaches, but to reflections which have focused on social development. It is specifically postcolonial studies that has sparked interest in spatial, geographic and ecofeminist studies. One of the cornerstones of postcolonial study is Orientalism, which considers the differences between what we call the East and the West. In the same way, postcolonialism attacks the internalized racism stemming from orientalism which leads to neocolonialism. Emerging relationships between different ethnicities have been termed hybridity and constitute a dialogical model of false binaries. Mimicry is also recurrent in this literature, as colonized peoples often assimilate by adopting the culture, clothing, habits, and more of their colonizers. However, postcolonial studies are not based solely on European colonization of the Americas. This study is applied to regions of the world, particularly to diasporic texts, giving the point of view of those from foreign countries. Postcolonial feminism also developed in literature, often viewing women as the underclass of the third world. More recent critiques in this area see postcolonialism as a way of seeing the world from another perspective and understanding exactly why, but it also seeks to blame and influence developing countries. Instead of having a one-size-fits-all approach, postcolonialism compares cultural values ​​to each other and views the world as an ever-changing environment to be observed. Spatial theory was born to study human constructions not only of physical but also mental space, as.