More Literary Criticism

Mythological / Archetypal / Symbolic
Note: "Symbolic" approaches may also fall under the category of formalism because they involve a close reading of the text. Myth criticism generally has broader, more universal applications than symbolic criticism, although both assume that certain images have a fairly universal affect on readers.
Definition:
A mythological / archetypal approach to literature assumes that there is a collection of symbols, images, characters, and motifs (i.e. archetypes) that evokes basically the same response in all people. According to the psychologist Carl Jung, mankind possesses a "collective unconscious" that contains these archetypes and that is common to all of humanity. Myth critics identify these archetypal patterns and discuss how they function in the works. They believe that these archetypes are the source of much of literature's power.
Some Archetypes (See A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature for a complete list):
archetypal women - the Good Mother, the Terrible Mother, and the Soul Mate (such as the Virgin Mary)
water - creation, birth-death-resurrection, purification, redemption, fertility, growth
garden - paradise (Eden), innocence, fertility
desert - spiritual emptiness, death, hopelessness
red - blood, sacrifice, passion, disorder
green - growth, fertility
black - chaos, death, evil
serpent - evil, sensuality, mystery, wisdom, destruction
seven - perfection
shadow, persona, and anima (see psychological criticism )
hero archetype - The hero is involved in a quest (in which he overcomes obstacles). He experiences initiation (involving a separation, transformation, and return), and finally he serves as a scapegoat, that is, he dies to atone.
Advantages:
Provides a universalistic approach to literature and identifies a reason why certain literature may survive the test of time. It works well with works that are highly symbolic.
Disadvantages:
Literature may become little more than a vehicle for archetypes, and this approach may ignore the "art" of literature.

Feminist Approach
Definition:
Feminist criticism is concerned with the impact of gender on writing and reading. It usually begins with a critique of patriarchal culture. It is concerned with the place of female writers in the cannon. Finally, it includes a search for a feminine theory or approach to texts. Feminist criticism is political and often revisionist. Feminists often argue that male fears are portrayed through female characters. They may argue that gender determines everything, or just the opposite: that all gender differences are imposed by society, and gender determines nothing.
Elaine Showalter's Theory:
In A Literature of Their Own, Elaine Showalter argued that literary subcultures all go through three major phases of development. For literature by or about women, she labels these stages the Feminine, Feminist, and Female:
(1) Feminine Stage - involves "imitation of the prevailing modes of the dominant tradition" and "internalization of its standards."
(2) Feminist Stage - involves "protest against these standards and values and advocacy of minority rights...."
(3) Female Stage - this is the "phase of self-discovery, a turning inwards freed from some of the dependency of opposition, a search for identity."
Advantages:
Women have been somewhat underrepresented in the traditional cannon, and a feminist approach to literature redresses this problem.
Disadvantages:
Feminist turn literary criticism into a political battlefield and overlook the merits of works they consider "patriarchal." When arguing for a distinct feminine writing style, they tend to relegate women's literature to a ghetto status; this in turn prevents female literature from being naturally included in the literary cannon. The feminist approach is often too theoretical.

Reader Response Criticism
Definition:
Reader response criticism analyzes the reader's role in the production of meaning. It lies at the opposite end of the spectrum from formalistic criticism. In reader response criticism, the text itself has no meaning until it is read by a reader. The reader creates the meaning. This criticism can take into account the strategies employed by the author to elicit a certain response from readers. It denies the possibility that works are universal (i.e. that they will always mean more or less the same thing to readers everywhere). Norman Holland argues that "each reader will impose his or her 'identity theme' on the text, to a large extent recreating that text in the reader's image." Therefore, we can understand someone's reading as a function of personal identity.
Advantages:
It recognizes that different people view works differently, and that people's interpretations change over time.
Disadvantages:
Reader Response criticism tends to make interpretation too subjective. It does not provide adequate criteria for evaluating one reading in comparison to another.

Structuralism: Structuralists view literature as a system of signs. They try to make plain the organizational codes that they believe regulate all literature. The most famous practitioner is Michael Foucault.

Deconstruction: This approach assumes that language does not refer to any external reality. It can assert several, contradictory interpretations of one text. Deconstructionists make interpretations based on the political or social implications of language rather than examining an author's intention. Jacques Derrida was the founder of this school of criticism.