Literary Theory

Lens through which we

can see a text
There is no true
evidence to say that
one theory is better
than another, but it is
interesting to decide
to read a text with one
in mind because it can
provide an entirely
new perspective on
your reading.

Different Literary Theories

Marxist

Criticism
Feminist Criticism
Mythic/Archetypal
Criticism
Psychoanalytic
Criticism
Reader Response
Historical Criticism
Post-Colonialism

Postcolonial Criticism

Deals with cultural

identity in
colonized societies
Who are we now?

To Achieve Postcolonial
Perspective
First

step for the colonized is to

reclaim their own past (i.e.. History did
not begin with the Europeans)
Second step is to erode colonialist
ideology that devalued their past
White Eurocentric norms should not be
privileged

Orientalism (continued)
Filled

with anonymous masses of

people (not individuals)
Actions determined by instinct (lust,
terror, fury, etc.) vs. logic
Their reactions are determined by
racial considerations rather than
individual circumstance

Characteristics of
Postcolonial Criticism
1.
2.

3.

An awareness of representation of
non-Europeans as exotic or Other
Emphasis on identity as doubled or
unstable (identify with colonizer and
colonized)
Stress on cross cultural interactions

Stages of Postcolonial
Criticism
Phase

1: Analyze white representation

of colonial countriesuncover bias

Phase

2: Postcolonial writers explore

selves and society
(The empire writes back)

What Postcolonial Critics Do

Reject

claims of universalism
Examine representation of other cultures
Show how literature is silent on matters of
imperialism and colonialism
Foreground questions of diversity and cultural
difference
Celebrate cultural polyvancy (belonging to
more than one culture)
Assert that marginality, plurality and
Otherness are sources of energy and potential
change

The Berlin Conference 18841885

What is Reader-Response?
RR

critics believe that a readers

interaction with the text gives the text
its meaning. The text cannot exist
without the reader.
RR critics are focused on finding
meaning in the act of reading itself and
examining the ways individual readers
or communities of readers experience
texts.

successful reader-response critic does not

just respond to a textanyone can do that
but analyzes his or her response, or the
responses of others.
Our life experiences and the communities we
belong to greatly influence our reading of a
text
Because each reader will interact with the
text differently, the text may have more than
one valid interpretation.

RR Theorists 2 Beliefs
1.The role of the
reader cannot be
omitted from our
understanding of
literature (unlike New
Critics who believe
that the meaning of a
text is contained in
the text alone).

2. Readers do not
passively consume
the meaning
presented to them
by literary text.
Instead, readers
actively make the
meaning they find
in literature.

Transaction
Transaction

between
reader and the text
This relationship is
necessary for the
production of meaning
Feelings, associations,
and memories all
influence the way we
make sense of a text