Literary Theory

Three Perspectives

THE AUTHOR

Three Perspectives

THE AUTHOR THE TEXT

Three Perspectives

THE AUTHOR THE TEXT THE READER

What is Literary Criticism?

---- Literary criticism is the evaluation, analysis, description, or interpretation of literary works.---- It is usually in the form of a critical essay, but in-depth book reviews can sometimes be considered literary criticism.---- Criticism may examine a particular literary work, or may look at an author's writings as a whole.---- Finding literary criticism can be challenging.

Mythological/Archetypal

Criticism

Archetypal CriticismIt is a type of critical

theory that interprets a text by focusing on recurring myths and archetypes in the narrative, symbols, images, and character types in a literary work.

According to Carl Jung, these patterns are embedded deep in the "collective unconscious" and involve "racial memories" of situations, events, relationships from time immemorial,

The “collective unconscious” is a set of primal memories common to the human race, existing below each person's conscious mind. Archetypal criticism assumes that there is a collection of symbols, images, characters, and motifs that suggest basically the same response in all people.  

An archetype is a generic idealized model of a person, object, or concept from which similar instances are derived, copied, patterned, or emulated.

In psychology, an archetype is a model of a person, personality, or behavior. This article is about personality archetypes, as described in literature analysis and the study of the psyche.

Archetype

Archetypal criticism is an attempt to bring psychological analysis and reflection to bear upon the imaginative experience communicated by literature, and to examine those forms or patterns in which the universal forces of human nature find objectification.

Archetypal images and story patterns can encourage readers to participate in basic beliefs, fears, and anxieties of their age. These archetypes constitute the clearness of the text but also tap into a level of desires and anxieties of people.

Archetypal criticism helps in the deepening of events into experiences. It provides a universalistic approach to literature. It works well with works that are highly symbolic

Proponents Jung addresses the

relevance of archetypal theory in literature and the arts most clearly in The Spirit in Man, Art, and Literature (1966) which contains two significant essays on literature and poetry (first published 1922 and 1930).

Carl Jung

In Jung’s archetypal theory, the unconscious mind plays a profound role, and it has a purpose, which is to assist individuals in maintaining a balanced psychological state.

Northrop Frye (1912-1991) Canadian literary critic, best

known as a major proponent of archetypal criticism.

In this branch of literary criticism, literature and other art forms are seen as manifestations of universal myths and archetypes. Frye’s most important work, Anatomy of Criticism (1957), introduced archetypal criticism, identifying and discussing basic archetypal patterns as found in myths, literary genres, and the reader’s imagination.

A. Images

Prepared byLiza B. Javier

III BSEd (English)