Master of Arts (English) 1st Semester
(2023)
APPROACHES TO LITERARY CRITICISM–I
Paper–II
Time Allowed: Three Hours
Maximum Marks: 80
Note: Attempt all questions. Each question carries 16 marks.
1.
How would you respond to M.H. Abrams’ take on varied orientations of critical theories?
OR
Discuss comparatively pragmatic and expressive theories as discussed by M.H. Abrams.
2.
Analyze critically the characterizing features and limitations of moral and philosophical approaches.
OR
What are the three major determinants of a writer’s work according to Hippolyte Taine? Do you agree with him? Why/why not?
3.
Define and discuss the formalist approach to study literature and thereby dwelling upon the process of formalist analysis.
OR
What does Cleanth Brooks think about paraphrase? Do you personally favour paraphrasing of poetry? Why/why not?
4.
Describe and critically discuss major Freudian concepts that are employed in psychological approach to study literature.
OR
What is Lionel Trilling’s take on literature? Discuss in the light of Trilling’s admiration of Freud.
5.
Archetypes being ‘universal symbols’ discuss various archetypes along with their symbolic implications and significance in literary studies.
OR
Critically discuss Northrop Frye’s understanding of various archetypes of literature.
ma english question paper punjabi university 2023 with solution
MASTER OF ARTS (ENGLISH) 1st SEMESTER
(2123)
APPROACHES TO LITERARY CRITICISM–I
PAPER–II
COMPLETE SOLUTIONS
Time Allowed: Three Hours
Maximum Marks: 80
1. How would you respond to M.H. Abrams’ take on varied orientations of critical theories?
Answer
M. H. Abrams provides a systematic account of literary criticism by identifying the different relationships around which critical theories are organized. His famous work The Mirror and the Lamp explains the major orientations of literary theory through four basic elements: the universe, the artist, the work, and the audience.
On this basis, Abrams identifies four major orientations:
1. Mimetic Orientation
The mimetic orientation considers the relationship between the literary work and the universe.
Literature is viewed as an imitation, representation or interpretation of reality. The roots of this approach can be found in classical Greek criticism, especially in Plato and Aristotle.
The main question is:
How successfully does the literary work represent reality?
Aristotle’s theory of mimesis is particularly important because he regarded imitation as a creative representation of human action.
2. Pragmatic Orientation
The pragmatic orientation focuses on the relationship between the work and the audience.
It asks what effect a literary work produces on readers.
Literature may:
- instruct,
- delight,
- persuade,
- educate,
- morally influence,
- or emotionally move the reader.
Horace’s principle of combining pleasure and instruction is an important example.
3. Expressive Orientation
The expressive orientation focuses on the relationship between the artist and the work.
Literature is considered an expression of the writer’s emotions, imagination, personality and experiences.
This approach became particularly important during the Romantic period. Romantic critics emphasized individual imagination and emotional experience.
Wordsworth’s conception of poetry as arising from powerful feelings represents this tendency.
4. Objective Orientation
The objective orientation concentrates on the literary work itself.
The work is studied as an independent artistic structure. The critic examines:
- diction,
- imagery,
- symbolism,
- irony,
- paradox,
- rhythm,
- structure,
- unity.
Formalism and New Criticism strongly emphasize this orientation.
Critical Evaluation
Abrams’s classification is useful because it demonstrates that literary criticism can approach a work from different directions.
However, the four orientations should not be considered completely isolated. A single work may simultaneously represent reality, express the author’s imagination, affect readers and possess an independent artistic structure.
Modern approaches such as feminism, Marxism, psychoanalysis, structuralism and post-structuralism also introduce perspectives that cannot always be placed neatly within the four categories.
Conclusion
Abrams’s model is valuable as a broad framework for understanding literary criticism. It helps students recognize the major questions critics ask about literature and explains how different critical traditions emphasize different relationships.
OR
Discuss comparatively pragmatic and expressive theories as discussed by M.H. Abrams.
Answer
M. H. Abrams distinguishes between different orientations of literary criticism according to the relationship between the literary work and the elements involved in literary communication.
Two important orientations are the pragmatic and expressive theories.
Pragmatic Theory
Pragmatic criticism concentrates on the relationship between the literary work and its audience.
The central question is:
What effect does the literary work produce upon the reader?
A literary work may be expected to:
- instruct,
- delight,
- persuade,
- educate,
- entertain,
- or produce emotional and moral effects.
The classical idea of “dulce et utile”, meaning pleasure and instruction, is associated with this orientation.
Aristotle’s theory of tragedy is also relevant because tragedy produces pity and fear and leads toward catharsis.
Expressive Theory
Expressive criticism concentrates on the relationship between the artist and the literary work.
According to this theory, literature is an expression of the author’s:
- emotions,
- imagination,
- experiences,
- personality,
- creative vision.
Romantic criticism strongly emphasized this approach.
Wordsworth, for instance, placed great importance on emotion and imagination in poetry.
Comparison
| Pragmatic Theory | Expressive Theory |
|---|---|
| Focuses on audience | Focuses on artist |
| Concerned with effect | Concerned with expression |
| Reader is important | Author is important |
| Literature may instruct or delight | Literature expresses emotion and imagination |
| Associated with rhetorical and didactic traditions | Strongly associated with Romanticism |
Critical Evaluation
The pragmatic approach recognizes literature as communication, while the expressive approach recognizes the creative individuality of the writer.
However, excessive dependence on either approach can be limiting. Pragmatic criticism may neglect artistic form, while expressive criticism may reduce literature to biography.
Conclusion
Pragmatic and expressive theories represent two different but complementary ways of understanding literature. One emphasizes the effect on the reader, while the other emphasizes the creative personality of the writer.
2. Analyze critically the characterizing features and limitations of moral and philosophical approaches.
Answer
The moral and philosophical approaches judge literature in relation to ethical values, ideas, beliefs and philosophical questions.
Literature is not treated merely as an artistic object; it is also examined as a source of knowledge about human conduct and values.
Moral Approach
The moral approach asks questions such as:
- What moral values does the work express?
- Does it encourage virtue?
- Does it criticize evil?
- What does it teach about human behaviour?
This tradition can be traced to classical criticism.
Plato was deeply concerned about the moral and social effects of poetry, while Aristotle considered the ethical and emotional dimensions of tragedy.
Characterizing Features
- Ethical judgment
Literary characters and actions may be evaluated according to moral principles. - Didactic function
Literature may be considered capable of teaching important values. - Social responsibility
Literature may be examined in relation to its influence on society. - Human conduct
Moral critics pay attention to questions of good, evil, justice, duty and responsibility.
Philosophical Approach
The philosophical approach focuses on the ideas contained in literature.
A literary work may raise questions about:
- existence,
- freedom,
- death,
- morality,
- religion,
- knowledge,
- human nature,
- society.
The critic therefore studies the philosophical implications of a work.
Limitations
1. Moral Reductionism
A literary work may be reduced to its moral lesson, while its artistic qualities are ignored.
2. Subjectivity of Morality
Different cultures and historical periods may have different moral standards.
3. Neglect of Form
The approach may overlook language, structure, imagery, rhythm and other formal elements.
4. Literature Is Not a Philosophy Textbook
A literary work does not necessarily present a systematic philosophical argument. Ideas may be communicated through characters, symbols, irony and narrative.
5. Danger of Imposing Values
A critic may impose personal moral or philosophical beliefs upon a literary work.
Conclusion
Moral and philosophical criticism is useful because literature often explores ethical and philosophical questions. However, literary value cannot be reduced entirely to moral teaching or philosophical ideas. A balanced critic should consider both the ideas and the artistic form of the work.
OR
What are the three major determinants of a writer’s work according to Hippolyte Taine? Do you agree with him? Why/why not?
Answer
Hippolyte Taine developed a historical and sociological approach to literature. According to him, literary production is influenced by three major determinants:
Race – Moment – Milieu
These three factors attempt to explain the relationship between the writer and the surrounding world.
1. Race
“Race” refers to inherited national and cultural characteristics.
Taine believed that different peoples possess certain inherited tendencies that influence their intellectual and artistic expression.
However, this aspect of his theory is problematic from a modern perspective because it may encourage racial generalizations and deterministic thinking.
2. Moment
“Moment” means the historical period in which the writer lives.
Political events, wars, revolutions, intellectual movements and social changes can influence literature.
A writer’s work may therefore reflect the concerns and conflicts of a particular historical age.
3. Milieu
“Milieu” means the social and cultural environment surrounding the writer.
It includes:
- family,
- class,
- education,
- religion,
- institutions,
- social customs,
- cultural traditions.
These conditions influence the writer’s ideas and artistic expression.
Do I Agree with Taine?
I agree with Taine partially.
Race, moment and milieu can certainly influence a writer. Historical and social conditions provide the environment within which literature is produced.
However, they cannot completely determine literary creation.
Writers possess individual imagination and creativity. They may also reject, challenge or transform the values of their society.
Two writers living in the same period and social environment can produce very different works.
Conclusion
Taine’s theory is valuable for understanding the historical and social background of literature, but it becomes inadequate when it treats literature as a mechanical product of external forces. Individual imagination and artistic creativity must also be considered.
3. Define and discuss the formalist approach to study literature and thereby dwelling upon the process of formalist analysis.
Answer
The formalist approach studies literature primarily as an independent artistic object. It focuses on the internal features of a literary work rather than primarily on the author’s biography, historical background or social circumstances.
Formalism became particularly influential through Russian Formalism and later through related developments in Anglo-American New Criticism.
Meaning of Formalism
Formalists believe that literature should be studied through the specific features that make it literary.
These features include:
- language,
- imagery,
- rhythm,
- metaphor,
- symbolism,
- repetition,
- structure,
- irony,
- paradox,
- narrative technique.
The Russian Formalists used the concept of literariness to refer to the qualities that distinguish literary language from ordinary language.
Process of Formalist Analysis
1. Close Reading
The critic carefully examines the actual words and sentences of the text.
2. Study of Language
Attention is given to diction, syntax, unusual expressions and patterns of language.
3. Study of Imagery
Images and symbols are examined to determine their contribution to the work.
4. Study of Structure
The critic studies how different parts of the work are organized.
5. Study of Devices
Literary devices such as metaphor, irony, repetition and paradox are identified.
6. Relationship Between Parts
The critic examines how individual elements contribute to the total structure.
7. Unity
Finally, the critic considers how the different elements combine to create an artistic whole.
Advantages
Formalism encourages close and detailed reading. It prevents criticism from becoming merely biographical or historical.
It also highlights the importance of artistic technique.
Limitations
An excessive formalist approach may ignore:
- history,
- society,
- politics,
- biography,
- culture.
A literary work is produced within a particular historical and social context, and those contexts can sometimes be important.
Conclusion
Formalism provides a disciplined method of literary analysis by concentrating on the text itself. It is particularly valuable for close reading, although it becomes more effective when combined with appropriate historical and cultural perspectives.
OR
What does Cleanth Brooks think about paraphrase? Do you personally favour paraphrasing of poetry? Why/why not?
Answer
Cleanth Brooks strongly criticizes the practice of reducing poetry to paraphrase in his famous essay “The Heresy of Paraphrase.”
According to Brooks, a poem is not simply a container carrying a message. Its meaning is produced through the interaction of its form and content.
Brooks’s View
Brooks argues that poetry is an organic whole.
The meaning of a poem emerges through:
- imagery,
- metaphor,
- symbolism,
- irony,
- paradox,
- rhythm,
- diction,
- structure.
If a poem is paraphrased into ordinary prose, many of these relationships disappear.
Why Paraphrase Is a Problem
A paraphrase may communicate the general subject of a poem, but it cannot reproduce its exact artistic experience.
For example, irony may disappear when a complex poetic statement is converted into a straightforward prose sentence.
Similarly, a metaphor may contain several meanings that cannot be fully reproduced in a simple paraphrase.
Do I Favour Paraphrasing?
I would not favour paraphrasing as a substitute for literary analysis.
However, a limited paraphrase can be useful for initial comprehension, particularly when the language of a poem is difficult.
The problem begins when paraphrase is treated as the complete meaning of the poem.
Conclusion
Brooks’s criticism is convincing because poetry derives its meaning from the relationship between language and form. Paraphrase can assist understanding, but it cannot replace close reading or appreciation of the poem’s artistic structure.
4. Describe and critically discuss major Freudian concepts that are employed in psychological approach to study literature.
Answer
Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory has had a major influence on literary criticism. Freudian criticism attempts to uncover the psychological forces operating beneath the surface of literary works.
Several major Freudian concepts are particularly important.
1. The Unconscious
Freud argued that a large part of human mental life exists outside conscious awareness.
Unconscious desires, fears and memories may influence behaviour.
Literary works can therefore be interpreted as expressions of unconscious psychological forces.
2. Id, Ego and Superego
Freud divided personality into three major components.
Id
The id represents instinctive desires and impulses. It operates according to the pleasure principle.
Ego
The ego deals with reality and attempts to balance instinctive desires with external conditions.
Superego
The superego represents internalized moral and social rules.
Conflicts among these three components may appear in literary characters.
3. Repression
Repression occurs when unacceptable thoughts, memories or desires are pushed out of conscious awareness.
These may return indirectly through dreams, symbols, fantasies or behaviour.
4. Dream Symbolism
Freud considered dreams expressions of unconscious wishes.
Dreams contain manifest content—the remembered dream—and latent content—the hidden meaning behind it.
Literary dreams can therefore be examined for symbolic psychological meanings.
5. Oedipus Complex
Freud’s Oedipus complex concerns unconscious family desires and rivalry during childhood.
It has been applied extensively to literary works involving family relationships.
6. Sublimation
Sublimation refers to the redirection of instinctive energy toward socially acceptable activities such as art, literature and intellectual work.
This concept is particularly important in explaining artistic creativity.
Literary Application
Freudian criticism can help explain:
- hidden motives,
- dreams,
- psychological conflict,
- sexuality,
- guilt,
- repression,
- family relationships,
- symbolic imagery.
Limitations
Freudian criticism can become reductionist if every literary symbol is interpreted according to a fixed psychological formula.
Freud’s theories have also been challenged by later psychological approaches.
Conclusion
Freudian concepts provide powerful tools for examining the unconscious dimensions of literature. However, psychological interpretation should be combined with attention to language, form, history and culture.
OR
What is Lionel Trilling’s take on literature? Discuss in the light of Trilling’s admiration of Freud.
Answer
Lionel Trilling was an important American literary critic who approached literature as a complex form of intellectual and cultural activity. He was deeply interested in the relationship between literature, psychology, society and the human personality.
Trilling’s admiration for Freud is important because he regarded psychoanalysis as a powerful way of understanding the complexity and contradictions of human nature.
Literature and Human Nature
For Trilling, literature cannot be reduced to simple moral lessons or political ideas.
Literature explores the complicated inner life of human beings.
It reveals:
- desires,
- fears,
- conflicts,
- contradictions,
- ambitions,
- guilt,
- repression.
This makes literature an important means of understanding human experience.
Trilling and Freud
Trilling valued Freud because Freud challenged simplistic ideas about rational human behaviour.
Freudian psychology demonstrated that human beings are not completely transparent to themselves.
People may act according to motives they do not consciously understand.
This insight is particularly valuable to literature because literary characters frequently possess hidden motives and internal conflicts.
Civilization and the Individual
Freud’s analysis of civilization also interested Trilling.
Civilization requires individuals to control and repress certain desires. This creates tensions between personal instincts and social rules.
Literature can dramatize these tensions.
Literature and Psychological Complexity
Trilling did not simply accept that literature could be reduced to psychoanalysis.
Rather, psychoanalysis provides a way of understanding the complexity of literary characters and human behaviour.
Literature itself remains an imaginative and artistic form.
Critical Evaluation
Trilling’s approach is valuable because it combines psychological insight with literary and cultural analysis.
However, psychological interpretation should not replace attention to literary form.
Conclusion
Trilling’s admiration for Freud arises from Freud’s profound account of human complexity. Literature, in Trilling’s view, is valuable partly because it reveals contradictions and psychological depths that simpler explanations of human behaviour cannot adequately capture.
5. Archetypes being ‘universal symbols’ discuss various archetypes along with their symbolic implications and significance in literary studies.
Answer
The concept of archetype is central to archetypal literary criticism. An archetype is a recurring image, character, symbol or narrative pattern that appears across different literary and cultural traditions.
The idea is strongly associated with Carl Jung and later literary critics such as Northrop Frye.
1. The Hero
The hero is a central figure who faces obstacles and undergoes transformation.
Symbolic Meaning
The hero may symbolize:
- courage,
- growth,
- self-discovery,
- struggle,
- victory over obstacles.
The hero’s journey is one of the most recurring literary patterns.
2. The Mother
The mother archetype represents nurturing, fertility, protection and creation.
Symbolic Meaning
It may symbolize:
- birth,
- nourishment,
- security,
- nature,
- fertility.
However, it may also possess destructive aspects.
3. The Wise Old Man
This archetype represents wisdom, guidance and knowledge.
The character often appears as a guide who helps the hero understand a difficult situation.
4. The Shadow
The shadow represents the hidden or rejected side of the personality.
It may symbolize:
- fear,
- evil,
- suppressed desire,
- psychological conflict.
5. The Journey
The journey is a recurring narrative archetype.
It often represents:
- physical movement,
- psychological growth,
- self-discovery,
- transformation.
6. Death and Rebirth
This archetype appears frequently in myth, religion and literature.
It symbolizes:
- transformation,
- renewal,
- regeneration,
- beginning of a new phase.
7. The Garden
The garden may represent innocence, harmony, fertility and paradise.
Its destruction can symbolize the loss of innocence.
8. Water
Water frequently symbolizes:
- life,
- purification,
- renewal,
- unconsciousness,
- transformation.
Significance in Literary Studies
Archetypes help critics compare works from different periods and cultures.
They reveal recurring patterns in:
- myths,
- poems,
- novels,
- dramas,
- religious narratives.
They also help explain why certain images and narrative patterns repeatedly appear in literature.
Limitations
The concept of universal archetypes can sometimes become too general.
Symbols do not always have the same meaning in every culture. Historical and cultural contexts can transform their significance.
Conclusion
Archetypes provide a useful framework for identifying recurring symbols and structures in literature. They help connect individual works with larger traditions of human imagination, although they should be applied with sensitivity to cultural and historical differences.
OR
Critically discuss Northrop Frye’s understanding of various archetypes of literature.
Answer
Northrop Frye is one of the most influential figures in archetypal literary criticism. He attempted to develop a systematic theory of literature based on recurring myths, symbols, narrative patterns and genres.
For Frye, literature is not a collection of completely isolated works. Individual works participate in larger patterns that recur throughout literary history.
Archetypes and Myth
Frye considers myth an important organizing principle of literature.
Recurring archetypal patterns appear in:
- characters,
- imagery,
- plots,
- genres,
- symbols,
- narrative structures.
The Hero
The hero is one of the central archetypal figures.
The hero may undergo a journey, face obstacles and return transformed.
The heroic pattern appears in myths, romances and modern narratives.
Quest
The quest is a recurring narrative structure in which a central character searches for an object, person, truth or goal.
The quest often represents psychological or spiritual development.
Death and Rebirth
Frye identifies recurring patterns of death and renewal.
The movement from darkness to light or winter to spring can symbolize regeneration.
Seasonal Archetypes
Frye associates literary genres with seasonal patterns.
Spring
Associated with:
- comedy,
- birth,
- renewal,
- victory over difficulties.
Summer
Associated with:
- romance,
- fulfilment,
- adventure,
- achievement.
Autumn
Associated with:
- tragedy,
- decline,
- isolation,
- falling.
Winter
Associated with:
- irony,
- death,
- darkness,
- alienation.
Comic and Tragic Patterns
Frye distinguishes between comic and tragic visions.
The comic vision tends toward reconciliation, community and renewal.
The tragic vision tends toward isolation, suffering, separation and death.
Importance of Frye
Frye’s theory is significant because it provides a comparative framework for studying literature across periods and cultures.
It also connects individual literary works with broader mythological and symbolic structures.
Critical Limitations
Frye’s theory may sometimes appear too systematic.
Not every literary work follows a clear archetypal pattern.
Historical, political and cultural differences may also be overlooked if literature is interpreted only through universal myths.
Furthermore, individual writers can transform traditional archetypes according to their own experiences and purposes.
Conclusion
Northrop Frye’s archetypal theory is valuable because it identifies recurring patterns that connect different literary works. His approach demonstrates how literature continually transforms older myths and symbols. However, archetypes should be treated as interpretative frameworks rather than rigid formulas, and they should be studied alongside historical, cultural and individual contexts.