Literary Approaches

1. Formalistic or Literary Approach

The formalistic approach is a way of looking at a literary work regardless of
generally established terms such as: the name of the author, the author's
background, or any biographical detail. This approach expanded after 1930
especially with English and American critics, who therefore are called formalists.
This critical approach interprets the inherent features such as: syntax, grammar and
literary devices (tropes). It focuses on: language, form, structure, organization and
multiple meanings.
2. Moral or humanistic Approach
Another approach is the moral or humanistic approach where the nature of man is
central to literature. The reader, teacher or critic more or less require that the
piece presents man as essentially rationale ; that is endowed with intellect and free
will or that the piece does not misinterpret the true nature of man . In these time 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 question of ethical goodness and badness
3. Historical Approach
The historical approach to literature uses the social implications, cultural events and
intellectual levels that produced a work in an attempt to understand it. Often, this
requires the critic to know the biography and education level of the author. The
main goal of this approach is to comprehend how the original readers of the work
understood and intended it.
Some of the specific events typically used to examine a text with historical criticism
include the time period and place in which the text was written, events within the
text, specific adjectives, customs, people and the courses that are mentioned or
implied within the text.
4. Sociological Approach
Like historical criticism, sociological criticism examines literature in the cultural,
economic, and political context in which it is written or received. This type of
criticism may analyze the social content of a literary work the cultural, economic, or
political values a particular text implicitly or explicitly expresses.
This approach examines literature in the cultural, economic and political context in
which it is written or received, exploring the relationships between the artist and
society. Sometimes it examines the artists society to better understand the
authors literary works; other times, it may examine the representation of such
societal elements within the literature itself.

5. Cultural Approach
This Approach considers literature as one of the principal manifestation and vehicles
of a nation or race, culture and tradition. It includes the entire complex of what goes
under culture the technological , the artistic, the sociological , the ideological
aspects ;and consider the literary piece in the total culture it was born
6. Psychological Approach
The psychological approach leads most directly to a substantial amplification of the
meaning of a literary work. When we discuss psychology and its place in a literary
work, we are primarily studying the authors imagination. As all literary works are
based on some kind of experience, and as all authors are human, we are necessarily
caught up in the wide spectrum of emotional problems (caused by experience). Not
all recourse of psychology in the analysis of literary work is undertaken to arrive at
the understanding of the literary work, to a certain extent; we must be willing to use
psychology to discuss probability.
7. Impressionistic Approach
Impressionistic literature can be defined as a work created by an author that
canters on the thinking and feelings of the characters and allows the reader to
draw his or her own interpretations and conclusions about their meaning.
Reference:
http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-formalistic-approach-359403
https://www.reference.com/art-literature/historical-approach-literature4b34746b2a42586#full-answer
http://hhh.gavilan.edu/kwarren/LitCrit.html
http://awinlanguage.blogspot.com/2012/03/psychological-approach-to-analyze.html
https://www.scribd.com/doc/27042364/APPROACHES-TO-LITERATURE
http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-impressionism-joseph-conrad-animpressionist-193739