2018

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Literary Approach - Freudian Criticism

The Norton Introduction to Poetry
Editor: J. Paul Hunter, University of Chicago
(Norton & Company, 1999)


The Norton Introduction to Poetry: Freudian Criticism

University of Chicago professor emeritus J. Paul Hunter defines critical approaches to evaluating poetry and prose in this excellent text published by Norton & Company. The book is now in its ninth edition with contributing editors Alison Booth, University of Virginia, and Kelly J. Mays, University of Nevada.

“Based on the work of Sigmund Freud (1856-1939). Many of its practitioners assert that the meaning of a literary work does not lie on its surface but in the psyche of the author. The value of the work, then, lies in how powerfully and convincingly it expresses the author's unconscious and how universal the psychological elements are.”

A literary work's psychological meaning—conscious or unconscious—depends on the author's objective. Words composed for commercial value cannot be scrutinized for universal truths when monetary considerations and publishing guidelines obscure the mind of the writer. Marketing tactics snuff out genuine components, passion and spirit smothered beneath industry expectations that conflict with original intent.

Literary Approach - Lacanian Criticism

The Norton Introduction to Poetry
Editor: J. Paul Hunter, University of Chicago
(Norton & Company, 1999)


The Norton Introduction to Poetry: Lacanian Criticism

University of Chicago professor emeritus J. Paul Hunter defines critical approaches to evaluating poetry and prose in this excellent text published by Norton & Company. The book is now in its ninth edition with contributing editors Alison Booth, University of Virginia, and Kelly J. Mays, University of Nevada.

“Based on the work of Jacques Lacan. Accepting the Oedipal paradigm and the unconscious as the realm of repressed desire, Lacanian psychology conflates these concepts with the deconstructionist emphasis on language as expressing absence—you use a word to represent an absent object but you cannot make it present. The word, then, like the unconscious desire, is something that cannot be fulfilled. Language, reaching out with one word after the other, striving for but never reaching its object, is the arena of desire.”

Famous for a controversial method of psychoanalysis, Lacan can be interpreted like any work of literature. His theories are a manifestation of Western culture and Roman Catholic indoctrination. Repression may spur creative impulses, yet the assumption that words seek a pathway to undefined fulfillment defies credibility.

Literary Approach - Deconstruction

The Norton Introduction to Poetry
Editor: J. Paul Hunter, University of Chicago
(Norton & Company, 1999)

The Norton Introduction to Poetry: Deconstruction

University of Chicago professor emeritus J. Paul Hunter defines critical approaches to evaluating poetry and prose in this excellent text published by Norton & Company. The book is now in its ninth edition with contributing editors Alison Booth, University of Virginia, and Kelly J. Mays, University of Nevada.

“Deconstruction takes the observations of structuralism to their logical conclusion, arguing that the elaborate web of semiotic differentiations created by the principle of difference in language means that no text can ultimately have any stable, definite, or discoverable meaning. Its most famous proponent is the French philosopher Jacques Derrida. Many deconstructionists have strong radical political commitments, but the retreat from meaning and denial of clear signification that characterize deconstruction also have affinities with formalism and structuralism. Unlike structuralism it denies that the verbal world adds up to anything coherent, consistent, or meaningful in itself.”

A deconstructionist evaluates a conglomeration of words with a cynical attitude that renders the text meaningless. Interesting to contemplate and difficult to analyze, language cannot be trusted, so nothing ever written is credible to this critic. Any narrative may describe, insinuate, or express, yet no one can fathom the infinite details, connotations, or emotions that remain subject to interpretation. Deconstruction dismantles the notion that a solid foundation exists in linguistics.

Literary Approach - Phenomenological Criticism

The Norton Introduction to Poetry
Editor: J. Paul Hunter, University of Chicago
(Norton & Company, 1999)


The Norton Introduction to Poetry: Phenomenological Criticism

University of Chicago professor emeritus J. Paul Hunter defines critical approaches to evaluating poetry and prose in this excellent text published by Norton & Company. The book is now in its ninth edition with contributing editors Alison Booth, University of Virginia, and Kelly J. Mays, University of Nevada.

“Another kind of subjectivist criticism. These critics consider all the writings of an author as the expression of his or her mind-set or way of looking at reality. Such a critic looks for repeated or obsessive use of certain key words, incidents, patterns, and angles of vision, and, using these, maps out thereby the inner world of the writer.”

A revealing examination of an author's worldview, this approach is reliable within an artistic medium but not a commercial market. Monetary considerations may influence the act of creation, skewing an accurate analysis. The phenomenological critic appeals to academics. Immersion in this method can be obsessive in itself, for repetition in a writer's work is often due to poor editing rather than a deep-seated vision.

Literary Approach - Pluralism

The Norton Introduction to Poetry
Editor: J. Paul Hunter, University of Chicago
(Norton & Company, 1999)


The Norton Introduction to Poetry: Pluralism

University of Chicago professor emeritus J. Paul Hunter defines critical approaches to evaluating poetry and prose in this excellent text published by Norton & Company. The book is now in its ninth edition with contributing editors Alison Booth, University of Virginia, and Kelly J. Mays, University of Nevada.

“Many approaches overlap. Pluralists contend that they make use of promising insights or methods wherever they find them and argue that putting together the values of different approaches leads to a fairer and more balanced view of texts and their uses.”

Like any scientific or artistic inquiry, the method used is at an individual's discretion. Rather than asserting that one approach has value over another, a pluralist scrutinizes a text from various angles, even opposing viewpoints, to create a broader perspective than a limited school of thought can accomplish. The result may be enlightening or contradictory, an impression created at the critic's volition.