Critical Approaches: Ultimate UGC NET Guide
Master all literary theories and critical approaches for your UGC NET English Literature preparation
Introduction to Critical Approaches
Literary criticism provides systematic approaches to analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating literature. This comprehensive guide covers all essential theories from traditional to contemporary approaches for UGC NET aspirants.
Why This Unit Matters for UGC NET
Critical Approaches typically carries 6-9 questions in UGC NET English. Key areas include:
- Major critical theories and their proponents
- Key concepts and terminology
- Application of theories to literary texts
- Comparative analysis of different approaches
- Indian critical traditions
- Recent developments in literary theory
Formalist & Structural Approaches
Early 20th century approaches focusing on textual analysis:
Focus on literary devices and "defamiliarization"
- Key Figures: Viktor Shklovsky, Roman Jakobson
- Concepts: Defamiliarization, Fabula vs. Syuzhet
- Text Example: Analysis of Tolstoy's techniques
Close reading focusing on paradox, irony, ambiguity
- Key Figures: Cleanth Brooks, W.K. Wimsatt
- Concepts: Intentional Fallacy, Affective Fallacy
- Text Example: Analysis of Donne's metaphysical poetry
Study of signs and structures underlying texts
- Key Figures: Ferdinand de Saussure, Claude Lévi-Strauss
- Concepts: Langue/Parole, Binary Oppositions
- Text Example: Myth analysis using structural patterns
Key Characteristics
Text-Centered
Focus on the work itself, not author or context
Close Reading
Detailed analysis of linguistic features
Systematic
Scientific approach to literary study
Universal Structures
Search for underlying patterns
Poststructuralist & Deconstructive Approaches
Late 20th century challenges to structuralism:
Examines contradictions and instabilities in texts
- Key Figures: Jacques Derrida, Paul de Man
- Concepts: Différance, Logocentrism, Aporia
- Text Example: Deconstructing binary hierarchies
Applies Freudian and Lacanian theories to literature
- Key Figures: Sigmund Freud, Jacques Lacan
- Concepts: Oedipus Complex, Unconscious, Mirror Stage
- Text Example: Hamlet's Oedipal complex
Focuses on reader's role in creating meaning
- Key Figures: Wolfgang Iser, Stanley Fish
- Concepts: Implied Reader, Interpretive Communities
- Text Example: Gaps in texts filled by readers
Political & Ideological Approaches
Theories examining power relations in literature:
Analyzes class struggle and economic conditions
- Key Figures: Karl Marx, Georg Lukács, Terry Eagleton
- Concepts: Base/Superstructure, Ideology, Reification
- Text Example: Dickens' portrayal of class conflict
Examines gender representations and patriarchy
- Key Figures: Simone de Beauvoir, Elaine Showalter
- Concepts: Gynocriticism, Écriture féminine, Male Gaze
- Text Example: Analysis of female characters in Austen
Studies colonial power and its aftermath
- Key Figures: Edward Said, Homi Bhabha, Gayatri Spivak
- Concepts: Orientalism, Hybridity, Subaltern
- Text Example: Reading Kipling's Kim
Examines literature in historical context
- Key Figures: Stephen Greenblatt, Michel Foucault
- Concepts: Power-Knowledge, Thick Description
- Text Example: Renaissance texts and power structures
Indian Critical Traditions
Indigenous approaches to literary criticism:
Classical Indian theories of aesthetics
- Key Texts: Natyashastra, Dhvanyaloka
- Concepts: Rasa, Dhvani, Auchitya
- Thinkers: Bharata, Anandavardhana, Abhinavagupta
Contemporary Indian critical thought
- Key Figures: A.K. Ramanujan, G.N. Devy
- Concepts: Indianness, Subaltern voices
- Text Example: Analysis of Dalit literature
Comparative Table: Western vs Indian Approaches
| Aspect | Western Criticism | Indian Criticism |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | Text/Author/Reader | Rasa (aesthetic experience) |
| Method | Analytical | Experiential |
| Goal | Interpretation | Aesthetic enjoyment |
Historical Timeline of Critical Approaches
Aristotle's Poetics - Early Western criticism
Bharata's Natyashastra - Sanskrit poetics
Russian Formalism emerges
New Criticism dominates Anglo-American circles
Structuralism peaks; Poststructuralism emerges
Rise of political criticism (Marxist, Feminist, Postcolonial)
Digital humanities, ecocriticism, posthumanism
UGC NET Preparation Tips
Important Questions to Focus On
- Compare Formalism and New Criticism
- Explain Derrida's concept of différance
- Analyze a text using feminist approach
- Discuss Said's concept of Orientalism
- Compare Rasa theory with Western aesthetics
- Apply Marxist reading to a Victorian novel
- Explain Lacan's Mirror Stage in literary analysis
- Discuss Indian contributions to literary theory
Recommended Study Approach
- Master key concepts and terminology
- Associate theorists with their major works
- Practice applying theories to literary texts
- Create comparative charts of different approaches
- Solve previous years' UGC NET questions
Memory Aid: Critical Approaches at a Glance
Formalist: Text itself (Shklovsky, Brooks)
Poststructuralist: Deconstruction (Derrida)
Political: Power relations (Marx, Foucault, Said)
Indian: Rasa, Dhvani, Auchitya
Recent: Ecocriticism, Digital Humanities
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