JECompton
02-04-2006, 07:47 AM
This article is part of the literary criticism collection and is linked in the main crit thread.
What is literary criticism? I'll explain here since judging from the shelves at my local mega-bookstore, literary criticism takes about one shelf while sci-fi and romance take about 8 full cases each. Why is literary criticism unpopular? First, who sits down after a hard day of work to read about the use of rhetorical structures in T.S. Eliot? Second, literary criticism is relatively young as a genre in its own right. Third, literary criticism is often regarded as a punishment inflicted by ivory tower intellectuals on people who just want to have fun reading.
So here's a brief explanation of what literary criticism is and its purpose.
Literary criticism (lit crit) is like a book review, but can be much more. To put it simply, a review usually talks about the strong and week points of the book, what it's about, how long it is, and what other books are like it. It is a re-viewing of the book. Lit crit, on the other hand, is more in-depth, often talking about a particular kind of imagery (colors, flowers, death), the subconscious of a character like Hamlet, or the history behind what was going on when the work was written.
In other words a review often assumes that the reader has not read the book while lit crit generally assumes the reader already has read the book or work. Yet some lit crit can be very useful even if one hasn't read the work in question. Some lit crit borders on philosophy and only refers to the work occasionally.
Here's a good, but broad, definition from wikipedia: Literary criticism is the study, discussion, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. There's plenty of room for debate of what lit crit is, but this works for now.
So what use is it? Why should anyone care--other than poor, desparate college students trying to whip out a paper the night before? And why read about reading? And why would you even want someone else's point of view? Wouldn't it just taint your own perspective? And literature is so subjective anyway--what's the point?
You'll be able to amaze your friends by predicting the end of movies far in advance.
Seriously! That's a common side-effect. Movies are based on literature, and the popular movies are usually built on certain conventions that "work," or bring in the cash for the producer. Learning more about what's going on under the hood often helps you predict less predictible movies.
Even better, you'll likely enjoy reading even more after learning some lit crit methods.
For example, I read LOTR when I was 10-12 years old. Apart from long, boring descriptions and silly poems, I loved the intrigue, the battles, the suspension, and the drama. If that's all there was, I would have been satisfied.
But with lit crit (much later), I learned about how Norse mythology, Catholicism, other fantasy writers, and colonialism influenced the work. The first chapter of the Silmarillion (Ainulindale I think) has clear connections with the Biblical account of creation, Milton's Paradise Lost, and other creation myths and epics. It works both ways, too; I enjoy creation myths in a new way because of this.
Another example is how you can take Piaget's psych and look closely at how an author portrays children. Or perhaps think more carefully about how women are treated in the Victorian society portrayed by Jane Austen.
Sure, most people catch some of these ideas without reading any criticism, but I've found that it broadens my view and shows me things I wouldn't have seen before. I'm not a black woman who grew up in inner city Detroit, but reading a piece of lit crit that comes from an alternate perspective like this helps me read outside of my prejudice.
Finally, lit crit is very often literature in its own right. Edgar Allen Poe did a famous lit crit piece that is also a fun read. Like much of good literature, I find that good lit crit gives me insights into my life as well.
What is literary criticism? I'll explain here since judging from the shelves at my local mega-bookstore, literary criticism takes about one shelf while sci-fi and romance take about 8 full cases each. Why is literary criticism unpopular? First, who sits down after a hard day of work to read about the use of rhetorical structures in T.S. Eliot? Second, literary criticism is relatively young as a genre in its own right. Third, literary criticism is often regarded as a punishment inflicted by ivory tower intellectuals on people who just want to have fun reading.
So here's a brief explanation of what literary criticism is and its purpose.
Literary criticism (lit crit) is like a book review, but can be much more. To put it simply, a review usually talks about the strong and week points of the book, what it's about, how long it is, and what other books are like it. It is a re-viewing of the book. Lit crit, on the other hand, is more in-depth, often talking about a particular kind of imagery (colors, flowers, death), the subconscious of a character like Hamlet, or the history behind what was going on when the work was written.
In other words a review often assumes that the reader has not read the book while lit crit generally assumes the reader already has read the book or work. Yet some lit crit can be very useful even if one hasn't read the work in question. Some lit crit borders on philosophy and only refers to the work occasionally.
Here's a good, but broad, definition from wikipedia: Literary criticism is the study, discussion, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. There's plenty of room for debate of what lit crit is, but this works for now.
So what use is it? Why should anyone care--other than poor, desparate college students trying to whip out a paper the night before? And why read about reading? And why would you even want someone else's point of view? Wouldn't it just taint your own perspective? And literature is so subjective anyway--what's the point?
You'll be able to amaze your friends by predicting the end of movies far in advance.
Seriously! That's a common side-effect. Movies are based on literature, and the popular movies are usually built on certain conventions that "work," or bring in the cash for the producer. Learning more about what's going on under the hood often helps you predict less predictible movies.
Even better, you'll likely enjoy reading even more after learning some lit crit methods.
For example, I read LOTR when I was 10-12 years old. Apart from long, boring descriptions and silly poems, I loved the intrigue, the battles, the suspension, and the drama. If that's all there was, I would have been satisfied.
But with lit crit (much later), I learned about how Norse mythology, Catholicism, other fantasy writers, and colonialism influenced the work. The first chapter of the Silmarillion (Ainulindale I think) has clear connections with the Biblical account of creation, Milton's Paradise Lost, and other creation myths and epics. It works both ways, too; I enjoy creation myths in a new way because of this.
Another example is how you can take Piaget's psych and look closely at how an author portrays children. Or perhaps think more carefully about how women are treated in the Victorian society portrayed by Jane Austen.
Sure, most people catch some of these ideas without reading any criticism, but I've found that it broadens my view and shows me things I wouldn't have seen before. I'm not a black woman who grew up in inner city Detroit, but reading a piece of lit crit that comes from an alternate perspective like this helps me read outside of my prejudice.
Finally, lit crit is very often literature in its own right. Edgar Allen Poe did a famous lit crit piece that is also a fun read. Like much of good literature, I find that good lit crit gives me insights into my life as well.