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GUIDELINES – 5
APPROACHES TO CRITICISM
TRADITIONAL APPROACHES
Genre and Paraphrasable content
— type of work and synopsis
Textual-Linguistic — authenticity of text; variations of different
editions
Historical-Biographical — effect of historical environment and creator’s
own life on the work
Moral-Philosophical —ideas explored or set forth by author (Content)
FORMALISTIC APPROACH
Structure, arrangement, and their effect through technique =
"achieved content"
Content with Technique results in Form, or "Art"
PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH
Freud: Id - Ego - Superego
--Sexuality, symbolism
Jung: "Collective Unconscious"
MYTHOLOGICAL-ARCHETYPAL APPROACH
Recurring Literary Images and Motifs or Patterns: Archetypes
Creation Archetype
Immortality Archetype
-Escape from Time — "Return to Paradise"
-Submersion into Endless Cycle of Time — Death and Regeneration
Hero Archetype
-Quest Motif — Long journey, with numerous
tasks and obstacles
-Initiation — separation - transformation - return
-Sacrificial Scapegoat — Death of the Hero for the welfare of others
EXPONENTIAL APPROACH
"Symbolistic" Approach
— Symbols, Imagery, Patterns, Motifs
SOCIOLOGICAL APPROACH
Projection of the movement of social history
LINGUISTIC APPROACH
Precise meanings of words and passages
APPRECIATIVE APPROACH
Personal reactions and impressions
GENERIC APPROACH
The work as an example of a genre, how it compares with others
of its type, using common themes and motifs in similar or different ways
GENETIC APPROACH
Growth and development of a work from its genesis, through
revisions and editions (before and/or after intitial release to the public)