Approaches in

Appreciating Literature
What is Literary
Criticism?
 “Criticism asks what
literature is, what it does,
and what it is worth.”
Literary Theory vs. Literary
Criticism

• Literary Theory
– Philosophical discussions of the
methods and goals of literary
criticism.
– It is not judgment but
understanding of the frames of
judgment.
 Literary Theory vs. Literary
Criticism

• Literary Criticism
– Is the study, evaluation, and
interpretation of a literary text, and
finding out what makes it
outstanding.
 Literary Theory

• Author-dependent Approach
• Text-dependent Approach
• Reader-dependent Approach
 Author-dependent Approach
• Historical- Biographical Approach
o Assumes that a text is a reflection of
the author’s life and times.
o Critics ask, “What does the work
reveal about the author or the
history?”
 Author-dependent Approach
• Moral- Philosophical Approach
o An approach as old as classical
Greek and Roman critics.
o The larger function is to teach
morality.
o Critic is not aware of form, figurative
language, other aesthetic
considerations, but are secondary.
 Text-dependent Approach
• Formalism
o Roman Jakobson is one of the
significant proponent.
o A style of inquiry that focuses on the
features of the literary text itself.
o Emphasis on the FORM.
o Evaluates inherent features of a text.
 Formalism
• Formalist criticism usually takes
one of two forms:
o Explication– the examination of
the relations of parts
o Exegesis– the unfolding of
meaning, line by line or even
word by word
 Text-dependent Approach
• Structuralism
o Proposed by Ferdinand de Saussure
o Identifies textual feature of a literary
text
o Semiotics– study of signs
Sign= Signifier
Signified
Reader-dependent Approach

• Also known as reader response

criticism.
• The “meaning” is an interpretation
created or constructed or
produced by the reader (informed
readers or competent readers).
Reader-dependent Approach
• Readers are asked to examine,
explain, and defend her/his personal
reaction to a reading.
o Why
• like or dislike the reading,
• agree or disagree with the author,
o Identify the reading's purpose, and
critique the text.
 Other Schools of Criticism
• Mythological Criticism
o The recurrent universal patterns
underlying most literary works.
o Archetype
• A symbol, character, situation, or image
that evokes a deep universal response.
 Other Schools of Criticism
• Marxism
o Illuminate political and economic
dimensions of literature.
• Feminism
o Questions the patriarchal thoughts
that have dominated the world.
 Reference
Solmerano, E., Ondevilla, M., Palencia, M., Jerusalem,
V., & Cruz, J. (2017). 21st century literature
from the Philippines and the world (2nd ed.).
Manila: Fastbooks Educational Supply, Inc.