Interpretive Criticism:

reviews, interpretive essays, critical commentary

Genre featuresReviews– Context– Description– Evaluation

Essays/Commentary Context/Contention Arguments/Analysis Evaluation in Context Review by

Lorien Kaye,The Age 4/2/12.

Discussion questions1. What are your own personal criteria for

evaluating a text (eg. novel, film, poem)?2. How and why might different readers view a

text differently?3. What assumptions about the

purpose/function of literature do you think underpin your own criteria?

Literary theory basics* Ideology Kind of literary

theoryBelief as to the purpose/importance of literature

Characteristics of ‘good’ literature, according to this theory

New criticism(aka ‘Liberal humanism’)

Literature is ‘timeless’--the best that has been thought and felt. It enhances life and promotes humane values, teaching us to be better people, sending us to a ‘higher realm’.

Good literature must contain its own meaning within itself. It also avoids cliché, ‘shows ‘rather than ‘tells’, and is concerned with honesty towards the self and the capacity for human empathy & compassion

Feminist criticism

Literature is a central means of constructing ideas about gender and providing role models for men and women to aspire to.

Good literature challenges stereotypical views of gender, particularly ideas of woman as ‘nature’. It also provides an equal focus on women’s experience and exposes power relations in society as constructed rather than ‘natural’.

Marxist criticism

Literature, often ‘despite itself’, conveys ideas about the social and political context of the time in which was produced. It can be ‘decoded’ to reveal themes of class struggle and conflict.

Good literature furthers the cause of a classless society by exposing the structures through which the rich exploit the poor. It champions the cause of the underprivileged.

Postmodern readings

Literature is no more, or less, important than anything else. No ‘grand narratives’ exist: everything borrows from everything else—the key is to revel in the freedom from absolute meaning.

Good literature blurs former distinctions between ‘high’ and ‘low’ culture. It celebrates the mixing of genres and borrowing from elsewhere and often draws attention to its own construction.

Postcolonial criticism

Literature is a central means of constructing ideas about culture and imperialism, and providing a framework for thinking about ‘centre and margins’, ‘self and “Other”’

Good literature questions the ‘universality’ of ‘Western’ experience by presenting cultural diversity and the voices of the marginalised.

Ecocriticism Literature is a central means of constructing ideas about nature and providing a framework for thinking about growth and energy, balance and imbalance, interrelationships and sustainability.

Good literature promotes balance and sustainability through foregrounding the claims of the natural world and environmental issues.

* Note that there are many other literary theories & these examples have been simplified!

Literary theory basics*Kind of literary theory

Belief as to the purpose/importance of literature

Characteristics of ‘good’ literature, according to this theory

Lesbian/gay criticism

Literature is a central means of constructing ideas about gender and providing role models for men and women to aspire to.

Good literature resists established norms and boundaries about sexuality and celebrates homo-erotic themes

Psychoanalytic criticism

Literature is a central means of both expressing and revealing the unconscious mind and is interesting for what it reveals about the human psyche.

Good literature often displays symptoms that can be psychoanalysed; its ‘covert’ (hidden) content is more important than its ‘overt’ content—and is not always controlled by the writer.

* Note that there are many other literary theories & these examples have been simplified!

Approaching interpretive criticism1. Read2. Mark the Stages3. Guided questions– Positive/negative language

used?– Main interest identified?– Assumptions made?– Judgements made and how

supported?– Significance identified?– What critical position is the

writer coming from?