[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-364766-105":59,"doc-detail-364766-en":131},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":124,"head_meta":126,"extra_data":128,"updated_unix":130},105,"en","literary-theory-and-schools-of-criticism-introduction","Literary Theory and Schools of Criticism - Introduction","","Literary Theory and Schools of Criticism introduces literary theory as a set of different lenses critics use to analyze art, literature, and culture. It explains how each school rests on specific assumptions and helps critics spotlight particular features of a work. The material illustrates this approach through Marxist and post-colonial examples, where critics focus on economic conditions and colonial power relationships. A timeline of major schools—from moral and formalist approaches to psychoanalytic, structuralist, deconstructive, historicist, post-colonial, and feminist criticism—sets the framework for deeper discussion of how literature is evaluated and interpreted.",{"@graph":69,"@context":123},[70,84,106],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":15,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/literature/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/literary-theory-and-schools-of-criticism-introduction/364766/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/literary-theory-and-schools-of-criticism-introduction/364766.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Asher","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-31","2026-09-23",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":105},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",13,{"@type":107,"mainEntity":108},"FAQPage",[109,115,119],{"name":110,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":112},"What is meant by “literary theory” in this document?","Question",{"text":113,"@type":114},"Literary theory consists of different lenses critics use to view and discuss art and literature. Each lens is tied to assumptions that guide what critics consider important in a work.","Answer",{"name":116,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":117},"How do Marxist and post-colonial theories differ in analyzing the same story?",{"text":118,"@type":114},"A Marxist approach emphasizes how characters interact based on economic situations. A post-colonial approach examines how characters from colonial powers treat characters from places such as Africa or the Caribbean.",{"name":120,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":121},"What are the main ideas behind Formalism as described here?",{"text":122,"@type":114},"Formalism argues that intrinsic features within the text define its literary qualities, aiming to treat each work as distinct from its environment, era, and author. It emphasizes interpreting “the text itself,” focusing strongly on form.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":125,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":127,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":129,"site_id":62},364766,1790381361,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":132},{"doc_id":129,"user_id":133,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":134,"doc_module":4,"category_id":14,"category_name":15,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":135,"file_id":136,"file_url":137,"file_type":138,"file_size":139,"view_count":105,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":140,"language":141,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":142,"faqs":143,"seo_title":144,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":145,"read_time":146},687197207639,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_a8503ba1806abce46bf441b54a3ca4cd","Literary Theory and Schools of Criticism  \nIntroduction  \nA very basic way of thinking about literary theory is that these ideas act as different lenses critics use to view and talk about art, literature, and even culture . These different lenses allow critics to consider works of art based on certain assumptions within that school of theory. The different lenses also allow critics to focus on particular aspects of a work they consider important.  \nFor example, if a critic is working with certain Marxist theories, he might focus on how the characters in a story interact based on their economic situation . If a critic is working with post-colonial theories, she might consider the same story but look at how characters from colonial powers (Britain, France, and even America) treat characters from, say, Africa or the Caribbean . Hopefully, after reading through and working with the different literary theories, you will gain new ammunition in your battles of literary analysis .  \nTimeline  \n● Moral Criticism, Dramatic Construction (c . 360 BC-present)  \n● Formalism, Neo-Aristotelian Criticism (1930s-present)  \n● Psychoanalytic Criticism (1930s-present)  \n● Marxist Criticism (1930s-present)  \n● Reader-Response Criticism (1960s-present)  \n● Structuralism/ Semiotics (1920s-present)  \n● Post-Structuralism/ Deconstruction (1966-present)  \n● New Historicism/ Cultural Studies (1980s-present)  \n● Post-Colonial Criticism (1990s-present)  \n● Feminist Criticism (1960s-present)  \n● Gender/Queer Studies (1970s-present)  \nMoral Criticism and Dramatic Construction (c. 360 BC-present)  \nPlato  \nIn Book X of his Republic, Plato may have given us the first volley of detailed and lengthy literary criticism. The dialog between Socrates and two of his associates shows the participants of this discussion concluding that art must play a limited and very strict role in the perfect Greek Republic. Richter provides a nice summary of this point: \"Poets may stay as servants of the state if they teach piety and virtue, but the pleasures of art are condemned as inherently corrupting to citizens\" ( Richter 19) .  \nOne reason Plato included these ideas in his Socratic dialog is because he believed that art was a mediocre reproduction of nature: \"What artists do …is hold the mirror up to nature: They copy the appearances of men, animals, and objects in the physical world … and the intelligence that went into its creation need involve nothing more than conjecture\" (19) . So in short, if art does not teach morality and ethics, then it is damaging to its audience, and for Plato this damaged his Republic.  \nGiven this controversial approach to art, it's easy to see why Plato's position has an impact on literature and literary criticism even today (though scholars who critique work based on whether or not the story teaches a moral are few-virtue may have an impact on children's literature, however) .  \nAristotle  \nIn Poetics, Aristotle breaks with his teacher (Plato) in the consideration of art. Aristotle considers poetry (and rhetoric), a productive science, whereas he thought logic and physics to be theoretical sciences, and ethics and politics practical sciences (38) . Because Aristotle saw poetry and drama as means to an end (for example, an audience's enjoyment) he established some basic guidelines for authors to follow to achieve certain objectives.  \nTo help authors achieve their objectives, Aristotle developed elements of organization and methods for writing effective poetry and drama known as the principles of dramatic construction (39) . Aristotle believed that elements like \"language, rhythm, and harmony\"as well as \"plot, character, thought, diction, song, and spectacle\" influence the audience's catharsis (pity and fear) or emotional satisfaction with the work (39) . And so here we see one of the earliest attempts to explain what makes an effective or ineffective work of literature.  \nLike Plato, Aristotle's views on art heavily influence Western thought. Th","cbCaiqH8wOlX2kdT","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiqH8wOlX2kdT","pdf",475834,33,"English","# Introduction\n# Timeline of Literary Criticism Schools\n# Moral Criticism and Dramatic Construction\n# Aristotle\n# Formalism (1930s-present)\n## Form Follows Function: Russian Formalism, Neo-Aristotelianism\n## Key Questions for Formalist Analysis","[{\"question\":\"What is meant by “literary theory” in this document?\",\"answer\":\"Literary theory consists of different lenses critics use to view and discuss art and literature. Each lens is tied to assumptions that guide what critics consider important in a work.\"},{\"question\":\"How do Marxist and post-colonial theories differ in analyzing the same story?\",\"answer\":\"A Marxist approach emphasizes how characters interact based on economic situations. A post-colonial approach examines how characters from colonial powers treat characters from places such as Africa or the Caribbean.\"},{\"question\":\"What are the main ideas behind Formalism as described here?\",\"answer\":\"Formalism argues that intrinsic features within the text define its literary qualities, aiming to treat each work as distinct from its environment, era, and author. It emphasizes interpreting “the text itself,” focusing strongly on form.\"}]","Literary Theory and Schools of Criticism - Introduction | PDF",1790158949,51]