MACT Lesson 6.ppt

1、Critical Theory and American Literature: MA Level,Lesson Six: New Criticism: Application to “Everyday Use” and Introduction to Reader-Oriented Criticism,Conclusion to “The New Criticism”Application to “Everyday Use.”,Suppose as a term assignment you were asked to write a paper that was a “close crit

2、ical reading” of Alice Walkers “Everyday Use.” How would you begin? That is, what should be your first step after reading (and re-reading) the story? Step One: Identify the literary devices used in the story that attracted your attention. (e.g., narrative structure, words and word patterns; image pa

3、tterns; point-of-view; speakers voice; parallelism; tension, irony, and paradox.) List Step Two: Ask specific questions about the use of these devices in the story. (e.g., How does its narrative structure contribute to the overall unity of “Everyday Use?”) List Step Three: Answer your question in th

4、e form of an argument. (i.e., build a case to support your answer based on examples from the story.) vagueness of vision to certainty of vision,Introduction to “Reader-Oriented Criticism” (Reader-Response Criticism),What problems do you perceive to be shared by both “Traditional” criticism and “The

5、New Criticism?” What might be the basic premise of a reader-oriented approach to literary criticism? What problems might arise from the premise that it is the reader who must ultimately say what a text means?,Overview of “Reader-Response Criticism”,Reader-response criticism arose as a reaction again

6、st the elitism of “The New Criticism.” Reader-response critics feel that readers should be of central concern when reading a literary text critically, because readers play a central part in creating the meaning of a text. A text, they argue, does not even exist until it is read; thus it is the reade

7、r who should ultimately say what a text means. Reader-response critics have tended to employ the research of psychologists, linguists, philosophers, and others working in the field of mental functioning to develop their theories about the processes involved in reading a text. By the mid-1960s, reade

8、r-response critics had gained enough advocates to mount an assault on the dominance of Formalism over academic literary studies.,Basic Premises of “Reader-Response Criticism”,1) In literary interpretation, the text is not the most important component; the reader is. 2) There is no text unless there

9、is a reader; and the reader is the only one who can say what the text means. In a sense, the reader creates the text as much as the author does. 3) To arrive at meaning, critics should reject the autonomy of the text and concentrate on the reader and the reading processthe interaction that takes pla

10、ce between the reader and the text. 4) Objective knowledge does not exist; thus all interpretations of literary works are subjective and relative.,Diversity in “Reader-Response Criticism”,Since reader-response criticism itself is subjective and relative, it should come as no surprise that there are

11、diverse views among its adherents concerning what it entails. Some envisage a dialogue between the narrator and the reader overheard by the critic, who can thereby discern the authors persuasive strategies; some assert that gaps exist in texts by which readers “co-author” a work; some speculate upon

12、 the relationship between what a reader already knows about a genre in forming meaning of a text; some do research into public reception of texts; some see a reader as interpreting a text as an expressions of their psyche; and some see meaning being negotiated by readers a line at a time. To all, th

13、e text becomes of secondary importancea shift from objectivity to subjectivitythe authority of the text and author are subsumed to “the reader.”,Lets give it a try,Become aware of the dialogue ongoing between the author and you, the reader, concerning the following characters in the story “Everyday Use”: Asalamalakim Dee Maggie Mamma What do you perceive the author to be saying to you about each, and what strateg