Theories we will study in this course

1. Structuralism
2. Russian Formalism
3. Post Structuralism
4. Reader Response Theory
5. Psychoanalytic Theory
6. Deconstruction
7. Feminism
8. Post Colonialism
9. Modernism
10.Post Modernism
11.New Historicism

Recommended Books
Beginning Theory by Peter Barry
A Readers Guide to Contemporary Literary Theory
Literary Theory by Terry Eagleton

Before we begin our study of Literary theory we should understand what is the difference
between Literary theory and Literary Criticism

What is Literary Criticism

Literary criticism is the study, analysis, evaluation and interpretation of literature. In
other words, it judges the value of a work. In literary criticism, a particular work or a body of
work is evaluated according to its aesthetic value, historical/cultural/social significance of the
work, use of language, and insights and insights of the work. These qualities are often mutually
dependent or inflective. Modern literary criticism is often informed by
literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of its
(literary Criticisms) methods and goals

Literature, according to literary critics is not how things are, it is how things ought to be. They
say that sublimity is the purpose of Literature. In literary criticism we study the merits and
demerits of a piece of literature.

SO, literary criticism is

1. Subjective
2. It is Prescriptive which means that the literary critic prescribes the ways in which a
particular piece of literature must be written.
3. Evaluative. Study of Merits and Demerits of a piece of literature.
4. Normative. It means that there are certain norms or Standards which must be followed
during the writing of a piece of literature. In normative study, in literary criticism, we focus
on the form and function of the text. We study whether the form and function follow the
traditional rules or not.
 What is Literary Theory?
"Literary theory" is concerned with the methods we use in the practical understanding of literature. By
literary theory we refer not to the meaning of a work of literature but to the theories that reveal what
literature can mean.

DEF FOR RATTALISATION: Literary theory in a strict sense is the

systematic study of the nature of literature and of the methods for
analyzing literature
Note: Though the two activities are closely related, literary
critics are not always, and have not always been, theorists.
In literary theory we apply different theories especially from Humanities to interpret a piece of
literature.
So, Literary Theory is :
1. Descriptive. It describes a piece of literature as it occurs without prescribing any particular
standard.
2. It is Relatively Objective
3. It is interdisciplinary. It intermingles with other subjects such as History, Philosophy,
Psychology and Humanities.

How do we interpret a text.

There are different elements which are important to the interpretation of a text such as
1. Text itself
2. Age of the writer
3. Biography of the writer
There are basically 4 types of Interpretations
1. Author based interpretation in which we take into consideration the age in which the
author wrote and the personal life of the author
2. Text based interpretation is one in which we study the content and form of the text.
3. Reader based interpretation is based on the response of the reader about any piece of text
4. Generalized. This approach is used in literary theory. In generalized interpretation of a text
75 percent interpretation is objective and 25% Subjective. The application of a theory on
a text for the purpose of interpretation within a given framework yields 75% objectivity
while 25% of subjectivity is due to personal interference of the critic.

Here are a few types of literary criticism:

Biographical criticism is a form of Literary criticism which analyzes a writer's biography to show the
relationship between the author's life and their works of literature.
Historical criticism, also known as the historical-critical method or higher criticism, is a branch of literary
criticism that investigates the origins of ancient texts in order to understand "the world behind the text"

NEW CRITICISM
Early in the 20TH century the school of criticism known as
Russian Formalism, and slightly later the New Criticism in
Britain and America, came to dominate the study and discussion
of literature. Both schools emphasized the close reading of
texts, elevating it far above generalizing discussion and
speculation about either authorial intention (to say nothing of
the author’s psychology or biography, which became almost
taboo subjects) or reader response. This emphasis on form and
precise attention to “the words themselves” has
persisted, after the decline of these critical doctrines