Critical LensesCritical LensesFeminist, Marxist, Psychoanalytic, and Existentialism

What are Critical Lenses?0Critical lenses are about:0Looking into elements of the world in different ways0Thinking about things from different perspectives0Finding new ways to interpret the world

Feminist Theory0A feminist critic sees cultural and economic disabilities in a

“patriarchal” society that have hindered and prevented women from realizing their creative possibilities

0Women’s cultural identification as a merely negative object or “other,” to man the defining and dominating “subject.”

This theory asks the reader to focus on the relationship between the genders.

Under this theory the reader examines the patterns of thought, behavior, values, and power relations between the sexes.

Feminist Assumptions and Concepts1. Our civilization is pervasively patriarchal.2. The concepts of “gender” are largely, if not entirely,

cultural constructs, effected by the omnipresent patriarchal biases of our civilization.

3. This patriarchal ideology also pervades those writings that have been considers great literature.

0 Such works lack autonomous female role models0 Are implicitly addressed to male readers 0 Leave the woman reader an alien outsider or else solicit her to identify

against herself by assuming male values and ways of perceiving, feeling, and acting.

Feminist CriticismKeep these questions in mind as you encounter a text:

What types of roles do the women play? (Are the intelligent? Do they follow a stereotype? Etc.)

What types of roles do the men play? (Are the strong/domineering? Do they follow a stereotype? Etc.)

Do any stereotypical characterizations of women appear?Using clues from the text, what is the author’s attitude toward

women in society?Is feminine imagery used? If so, what is the significance of such

imagery?How does the text reinforce/breakdown the “traditional” gender

roles?

MarxismKarl Marx (1818-1883) was primarily a theorist and

historian. After examining social organization in a scientific way, he perceived human history to have consisted of a series of struggles between classes--between the oppressed and the oppressing. Marx thought that "historical materialism" was the

ultimate driving force, a notion involving the distribution of resources, gain, production, and such matters.

MarxismHis inevitable political progression:

Feudalism Bourgeois Capitalism Socialism Utopian Communism

Bourgeois capitalism: The privileged bourgeoisie rely on the labor force proletariat

the labor force responsible for survival. Profits are not reinvested in the workers but in creating more

factories, the workers will grow poorer and poorer until no short-term patching is possible or successful.

At a crisis point, revolt will lead to a restructuring of the system.  

Marxist CriticismLiterature reflects class struggle and materialism. Literature as the reflection of the society’s economic and

political views rather than a purely timeless artistic work Materialism and the changes in modes of production are the

driving forces for changes in the power relations of social classes which carry on a conflict for economic, political, and social advantage.

Typically try to “explain” the literature in any era by revealing the economic, class, and ideological determinants of the way an author writes and to examine the relation of the text to the social reality of that time and place.

Marxist QuestionsWho has he money/power? Who does not? What happens as a

result?What social classes do the characters represent?What role does class play in the work?What does the work say about oppression; or are social

conflicts ignored or blamed elsewhere?Which class does the work claim to represent?What values does it reinforce/ subvert?

PsychoanalyticPsychological criticism deals with a work of literature

primarily as an expression, in fictional form, of the personality, state of mind, feelings and desires of its author.

The assumption of psychoanalytical critics is that a work of literature is correlated with its author’s mental traits and reading a text is a way of experiencing the author’s conscious or subconscious way of thinking.

Psychoanalytic QuestionsKeep these questions in mind as you are reading a text:

Who/what do the character represent in the author’s life?What traits does that main character have that could reflect the

author?Are there prominent words in the piece that could have different

or hidden meanings? Could there be a subconscious reason for the author using these "problem words"?

How can characters' behavior, narrative events, and/or images be explained in terms of psychoanalytic concepts of any kind?

What does the text say about the author’s mental state?

Existentialist Criticism Existentialism was an answer to romanticism which tended to be more

oriented to the whole of nature and saw human beings as a part of that wider picture. Romanticism flourished before the wars and genocides of the twentieth century whereas existentialism is born amid those horrors.

This is the theory that humans must make their own understanding of the world. That everything is outside of them and meaningless or “absurd” until we make sense of it individually.

Each basically agrees that human life is in no way complete and fully satisfying because of suffering and losses that occur when considering the lack of perfection, power, and control one has over their life.

Even though they do agree that life is not optimally satisfying, it nonetheless has meaning. Existentialism is the search and journey for true self and true personal meaning in life.

Existentialist CriticismExistential criticism evaluates literature by assessing it in terms of its

capacity to satisfy the depths of human need, to clarify the image of "what we are yet to become" on the evolutionary spiral.

They want to know what an artist is saying, what concepts of human purpose lie in the basic assumptions of the work, and how far the work succeeds in revealing existence as potentiality.

Premises: The existential critic wants to know precisely what a book/poem/movie is

saying, not whether it is true to life or tells its story well. The existential critic is in revolt against many of the values of our time - or

the tacit assumption that values are unimportant. Existential criticism is the normal procedure with certain kinds of poetry, e.g.

“What experience of the poet led to this statement?”

Existentialist Criticism Questions0How does the text make life seem possible? (How does the

author explain how to interact with the world?)0What does the text have to say about how people fit into the

world?0What did the text teach about how to make sense of the world?0What was the text trying to say about pain, and suffering?0 In what was did the character(s) not have control of their lives?0Without considering any emotions or morals, what does the text

have to say about the human experience as a whole?0 In what ways does the author allow emotions and morals cloud

the true point of their text?0What seems to be the author’s “inevitable ending” to life?

Feminist CriticismWhat types of roles do the women play? (Are the intelligent?

Do they follow a stereotype? Etc.) What types of roles do the men play? (Are the

strong/domineering? Do they follow a stereotype? Etc.) Do any stereotypical characterizations of women appear?Using clues from the text, what is the author’s attitude toward

women in society?Is feminine imagery used? If so, what is the significance of such

imagery?How does the text reinforce/breakdown the “traditional”

gender roles?

Marxist QuestionsWho has he money/power? Who does not? What happens as a

result?What social classes do the characters represent?What role does class play in the work?What does the work say about oppression; or are social

conflicts ignored or blamed elsewhere?Which class does the work claim to represent?What values does it reinforce/ subvert?

Psychoanalytic QuestionsWho/what do the character represent in the author’s life?What traits does that main character have that could reflect the

author?Are there prominent words in the piece that could have

different or hidden meanings? Could there be a subconscious reason for the author using these "problem words"?

How can characters' behavior, narrative events, and/or images be explained in terms of psychoanalytic concepts of any kind?

What does the text say about the author’s mental state?

Existentialist Criticism Questions0How does the text make life seem possible? (How does the

author explain how to interact with the world?)0What does the text have to say about how people fit into the

world?0What did the text teach about how to make sense of the world?0What was the text trying to say about pain, and suffering?0 In what was did the character(s) not have control of their lives?0Without considering any emotions or morals, what does the text

have to say about the human experience as a whole?0 In what ways does the author allow emotions and morals cloud

the true point of their text?0What seems to be the author’s “inevitable ending” to life?