OBJECTIVES: Be able to describe different approaches to literature.

Be able to draw from only one selection questions for all the
approaches to literature to show versatility with which a piece
can be handled.

APPROACHES TO LITERATURE

FORMALISTIC OR LITERARY APPROACH

The first approach is called “formalistic” or “pure” or “literary.” The selection is

read and viewed intrinsically, or for itself; independent of author, age, or any other
extrinsic factor. This approach is close to the “art for art’s sake” dictum. The study of
the selection is more or less based on the so-called literary elements which more or less
boil down to the literal level (subject matter), the affective values (emotion, mood,
atmosphere, tone, attitudes, empathy), the ideational values (themes, “vision”, universal
truths, character), technical values (plot, structure, scene, language, pint of view,
imagery, figure, metrics, etc.) and the total effect (the interrelation of foregoing elements)
and communication. This approach could also include the selection against any literary
concept or term like “satire,” “comedy,” “symbol,” etc; or against any literary tradition or
movement like the folk tradition, classical, romantic or realistic tradition etc.

The Formalistic Approach to literature is also called “pure” or “literary.” The

selection is read and viewed fundamentally (basically), or simply for ‘itself’, independent
of author, age or other external factor. The Formalistic or Literary Approach is close to
Jose Garcia Villa’s “art for art’s sake.”

Jose Garcia Villa was a Filipino poet, literary critic, short story writer and
painter. He was awarded the National Artist of the Philippines title for Literature in
1973, as well as the Guggenheim Fellowship in creative writing by Conrad Aiken. He is
known to have introduced the “reverse consonance rime scheme” in writing poetry, as
well as the extensive use of punctuation marks-especially commas, which made him
known as the Comma Poet. He used the penname Doveglion (derived from “Dove,
Eagle, Lion”), based from the characters he derived from himself.

Villa was considered the leader of Filipino "artsakists", a group of writers who
believe that art should be "for art's sake" hence the term. He once pronounced that "art
is never a means; it is an end in itself.” Villa's tart poetic style was considered too
aggressive at that time. In 1929 he published Man Songs, a series of erotic poems, which
the administrators in UP found too bold and was even fined P70 for obscenity by the
Manila Court of First Instance. In that same year, Villa won Best Story of the Year from
Philippine Free Press magazine for Mir-I-Nisa. He also received P1,000 prize money,
which he used to migrate for the United States.
 He enrolled at the University of New Mexico, wherein he was one of the founders
of Clay, a mimeographed literary magazine. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts
degree, and pursued post-graduate work at Columbia University. Villa had gradually
caught the attention of the country's literary circles, one of the few Asians to do so at that
time. Villa was considered as a powerful literary influence in the Philippines throughout
much of the 20th century, although he had lived most of his life in the United States. His
writing style, as well as his personality and staunch opinions on writing, has often made
him considered as an eccentric. Francia explained in Asiaweek magazine, "In a world
of English-language poetry dominated by British and Americans, Villa stood out for the
ascetic brilliance of his poetry and for his national origin." Fellow Filipino writer
Salvador P. López described Villa as "the one Filipino writer today who it would be
futile to deride and impossible to ignore … the pace-setter for an entire generation of
young writers, the mentor laying down the law for the whole tribe, the patron-saint of a
cult of rebellious moderns.”

On 07 February 1997, Jose Garcia Villa died at a New York hospital, two days
after he was found unconscious in his apartment. He died of cerebral stroke and multi
lobar pneumonia at the St. Vincent Hospital in Greenwich. He was 88.

MORAL OR HUMANISTIC APPROACH

Another approach is the moral or humanistic approach where the nature of man is
central to literature. The reader or teacher or critic more or less “requires” that the piece
present man as essentially rational; that is endowed with intellect and free will; or that the
piece does not misinterpret the true nature of man. In these times of course, the true
nature of man is hotly contested, making literature all the more challenging. Whatever
the case, this approach is close to the “morality” of literature, to questions of ethical
goodness and badness.

HISTORICAL APPROACH

The very popular historical approach, based on Taine’s “moment-milieu-race,”

sees literature as both a reflection and a product of the times and circumstances in which
it was written. Man as a member of a particular society or nation at a particular time, is
central to the approach and whenever a teacher gives a historical or biographical
backgrounds in introducing a selection, or arranges a literature course in chronological
order, he is hewing close to this approach. (From this approach; the sociological
approach may be said to have branched out.) The historical approach is often suitable to
high school classes, to survey courses, for “average” classes, and for pieces tackled or
“discovered” for the first time. It operates on the premise that the history of a nation has
telling effects on its literature and that a piece can be better understood and appreciated if
one knows the times around its creation.
CULTURAL APPROACH

This approach considers literature as one of the principal manifestations and

vehicles of a nation’s or a race’s culture and tradition. It includes the entire complex of
what goes under “culture” – the technological, the artistic, the sociological, the
ideological aspects; and considers the literary piece in the total culture milieu in which it
was born.
This approach is one of the richest ways to arrive at the culture of the people and
one of the most pleasurable ways of appreciating the literature of a people. It goes by the
dictum “culture teaching through literature.”

PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH

Set in dizzying motion, principally by Freud, perhaps beyond his wildest

expectations, it considers literature as the expression of “personality,” of “inner drives” of
“neurosis.” It includes the psychology of the author, of the characters, and even the
“psychology of creation.” It has resulted in an almost exhausting and exhaustive
“psychological analysis” of characters, of symbols and images, of recurrent themes, etc.

CONCLUSION

The “formalistic” or “literary” approach is close to the “art for art’s sake” dictum
by Jose Garcia Villa.
The study of the selection is more or less based on the so-called literary elements
which more or less boil down to the literal level, the affective values, the ideational
values, technical values and the total effect and communication.
For moral or humanistic approach, the nature of man is central to literature. This
approach is close to the “morality” of literature, to questions of ethical goodness and
badness.
Historical approach is based on the “moment-milieu-race,” it sees literature as
both a reflection and a product of the times and circumstances in which it was written. It
operates on the premise that the history of a nation has telling effects on its literature and
that a piece can be better understood and appreciated if one knows the times around its
creation.
Cultural approach is one of the richest ways to arrive at the culture of the people
and one of the most pleasurable ways of appreciating the literature of a people. It goes by
the dictum “culture teaching through literature.
Psychological approach considers literature as the expression of “personality,” of
“inner drives” of “neurosis.” It has resulted in an almost exhausting and exhaustive
“psychological analysis” of characters, of symbols and images, of recurrent themes, and
the likes.
Therefore, it is possible to draw different questions from one literary selection
using the different approaches to literature. Hence, this may as well show the versatility
of a literary piece.
REFERENCES

David-Maramba, Asuncion. Philippine Contemporary Literature in English and Filipino,

Bookmark Inc, Manila, 1993
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jose_Garcia_Villa