A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature

by Guerin, Wilfred; Labor, Earle; Morgan, Lee; Reesman, Jeanne; Willingham, John

• ISBN13: 9780195394726
• ISBN10: 0195394720
• Edition: 6th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-02-10
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Ranging from traditional approaches to the most contemporary perspectives, such as feminist and gender studies, cultural studies, and postcolonial studies, A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature offers readers a variety of clearly articulated approaches to interpreting literature. This thoroughly updated sixth edition applies these diverse approaches to the same six classic works--"To His Coy Mistress," "Young Goodman Brown," "Everyday Use," Hamlet, Huckleberry Finn, and Frankenstein--in a way proven to elicit student analysis by enriching their response to and understanding of the individual works and critical theory. (Andrew Marvell's poem "To His Coy Mistress," Nathaniel Hawthorne's story "Young Goodman Brown," and Alice Walker's story "Everyday Use" are included in full within this volume.) New to this edition: · Three new chapters--Materialisms (Chapter 4), Literature and Linguistics (Chapter 5), and Postcolonial Studies (Chapter 10)--present some of the latest theory and criticism, including ecocriticism, Literary Darwinism, third-wave feminism, and black maternal theory, as well as expansion of foundational topics such as Marxism · Expanded discussions of film and visual texts link analysis of images--such as Velázquez's Las Meniñas (front cover) and Picasso's interpretations of this painting--to analysis of literature · Summaries of key points at chapter ends reinforce concepts · A glossary of literary terms (boldfaced at their first appearance in each chapter) helps students master and apply these terms in criticism · Updated Quick Reference sections at chapter ends reflect the latest research · A companion website (www.oup.com/us/guerin) features essay assignments, self-tests, PowerPoint presentations, and helpful links

Author Biography

Wilfred L. Guerin, Professor Emeritus of English, Louisiana State University
Earle Labor, George A. Wilson Professor of American Literature, Centenary College
Lee Morgan, Professor Emeritus of English, Centenary College
Jeanne C. Reesman, Ashbel Smith Professor of English, University of Texas at San Antonio
John R. Willingham, Late, Professor Emeritus of English, University of Kansas

Table of Contents

Preface

Getting Started: The Precritical Response

Setting

Plot

Character

Structure

Style

Atmosphere

Theme

Traditional Approaches

First, a Note on Traditional Approaches

First Things First: Textual Scholarship, Genres, and Source Study

Textual Scholarship: Do We Have an Accurate Version of What We Are Studying?

General Observations

Text Study in Practice

Matters of Genre: What Are We Dealing With?

An Overview of Genre

Genre Characteristics in Practice

Source Study: Did Earlier Writings Help this Work Come into Being?

Historical and Biographical Approaches

General Observations

Historical and Biographical Approaches in Practice

To His Coy Mistress

Hamlet

Huckleberry Finn

Young Goodman Brown

Everyday Use

Frankenstein

Moral and Philosophical Approaches

General Observations

Moral and Philosophical Approaches in Practice

To His Coy Mistress

Hamlet

Huckleberry Finn

Young Goodman Brown

Everyday Use

Frankenstein

Summary of Key Points

Limitations of Traditional Approaches

The Formalist Approach

The Process of Formalist Analysis: Making the Close Reader

A Brief Overview of Formalist Criticism

The Course of Half a Century

Backgrounds of Formalist Theory

The New Criticism

Reader-Response Criticism: A Reaction

Constants of the Formalist Approach: Some Key Concepts, Terms, and Devices

Form and Organic Form

Texture, Image, Symbol

Fallacies

Point of View

The Speaker's Voice

Tension, Irony, Paradox

The Formalist Approach in Practice

Word, Image, and Theme: Space-Time Metaphors in To His Coy Mistress

The Dark, the Light, and the Pink: Ambiguity as Form in Young Goodman Brown

Virtues and Vices

Symbol or Allegory?

Loss Upon Loss

Romance and Reality, Land and River: The Journey as Repetitive Form in Huckleberry Finn

Dialectic as Form: The Trap Metaphor in Hamlet

The Trap Imagery

The Cosmological Trap

Seeming and Being

Seeing and Knowing

Irony and Narrative Voice: A Formalist Approach to Everyday Use

Frankenstein: A Thematic Reading

Summary of Key Points

Limitations of the Formalist Approach

Materialisms

Marxism

British Cultural Materialism

New Historicism

Ecocriticism

Literary Darwinism

Materialisms in Practice

A New History of To His Coy Mistress

Hamlet's Evolution

Frankenstein: The Creature as Proletarian

The Lore of Fiends: Hawthorne and his Market

Fathers and Sons, Gods and Slaves in Huckleberry Finn

But they're priceless! Material versus Exchange Value in Everyday Use

Summary of Key Points

Limitations of Materialist Approaches

Literature and Linguistics

Structuralism and Post-structuralism, Including Deconstruction

Structuralism: Contexts and Definitions

The Linguistics Model

Russian Formalism: Extending Saussure

Structuralism, Levi-Strauss, and Semiotics

French Structuralism: Coding and Decoding

British and American Interpreters

Post-Structuralism, Deconstruction

Dialogics

Linguistic Approaches in Practice

Deconstructing To His Coy Mistress

The Deep Structure of Hamlet

Language and Discourse in Frankenstein

Huck and Jim: Dialogic Partners

Speak of the Devil!: The Sermon in Young Goodman Brown

Asalamalakim! Linguistic Distortion in Everyday Use

Summary of Key Points

Limitations of Linguistic Approaches

The Psychological Approach: Freud

Aims and Principles

Abuses and Misunderstandings of the Psychological Approach

Freud's Theories

Other Theories

The Psychological Approach in Practice

Hamlet: the Oedipus Complex

Rebellion Against the Father in Huckleberry Finn

Prometheus Manqué: The Monster Unbound

Young Goodman Brown: Id over Superego

Sexual Imagery in To His Coy Mistress

Morality Principle Over Pleasure Principle in Everyday Use

Summary of Key Points

Other Possibilities and Limitations of the Psychological Approach

Mythological and Archetypal Approaches

Definitions and Misconceptions

Some Examples of Archetypes

Images

Archetypal Motifs or Patterns

Archetypes as Genres

Myth Criticism in Practice

Anthropology and Its Uses

The Sacrificial Hero: Hamlet

Archetypes of Time and Immortality: To His Coy Mistress

Jungian Psychology and Its Archetypal Insights

Some Special Archetypes: Shadow, Persona, and Anima

Young Goodman Brown: A Failure of Individuation

Creator or Creator: Who is the Real Monster in Frankenstein?

Syntheses of Jung and Anthropology

Myth Criticism and the American Dream: Huckleberry Finn as the American Adam

Everyday Use: The Great [Grand]Mother

Summary of Key Points

Limitations of Myth Criticism

Feminisms and Gender Studies

Feminisms and Feminist Literary Criticism: Definitions

First-, Second-, and Third-Wave Feminisms

The Literary Woman: Created or Constructed?

Feminism and Psychoanalysis

Feminists of Color

Marxist and Materialist Feminisms

Feminist Film Studies

Gender Studies

Feminisms and Gender Studies in Practice

The Marble Vault: The Mistress in To His Coy Mistress

Frailty, Thy Name Is Hamlet: Hamlet and Women

The Workshop of Filthy Creation: Men and Women in Frankenstein

Mary and Percy, Author and Editor

Masculinity and Femininity in the Frankenstein Family

I Am Thy Creature. . .

Men, Women, and the Loss of Faith in Young Goodman Brown

Women and Sivilization in Huckleberry Finn

In Real Life: Recovering the Feminine Past in Everyday Use

Summary of Key Points

The Future of Feminist and Gender Studies: Some Problems and Limitations

Cultural Studies

What Is (or Are) Cultural Studies?

United States Ethnic Studies

African American Writers

Latina/o Writers

Native American Literatures

Asian American Writers

Postmodernism and Popular Culture

Postmodernism

Popular Culture

Cultural Studies in Practice

Two Characters in Hamlet: Marginalization with a Vengeance

To His Coy Mistress: Implied Culture

From Paradise Lost to Frank-N-Furter: The Creature Lives!

Revolutionary Births

A Race of Devils

The Frankenpheme in Popular Culture: Fiction, Drama, Film, Television

A Postmodern Goodman Brown

Telling the Truth, Mainly: Huck and Twain as Tricksters

Cultures in Conflict: A Story Looks at Cultural Change

Summary of Key Points

Limitations of Cultural Studies

Postcolonial Studies

Postcolonialism: Definitions

Some Key Figures

Postcolonial Critical Practices

Seventeenth-Century English Colonization and To His Coy Mistress

Hamlet: Postcolonial Adaptations

Frankenstein: Are There Any New Worlds?

Jim's Superstitions in Huckleberry Finn

Salem: A City Upon a Hill?

The End of an Era: Everyday Use

Summary of Key Points

Limitations of Postcolonial Studies

Epilogue

Andrew Marvell, To His Coy Mistress

Nathaniel Hawthorne, Young Goodman Brown

Alice Walker, Everyday Use

Glossary of Literary Terms

Bibliography

Index

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