Here's a list of major literary critical methods (like the Touchstone Method), explained in simple words — especially helpful for English literature - NET SET PHD JRF students.
An Overview of Major Literary Theories & Critical Methods
1. Touchstone Method
The Touchstone Method is a way to judge the quality of poetry by comparing it with the best examples from great poets.
🧠 Coined by:
Matthew Arnold, a 19th-century English poet and critic.
💡Just like a jeweler tests gold using a touchstone, a critic can test poetry by comparing it to a few lines (or passages) from great classic poets like Shakespeare, Homer, or Dante.
If a poem matches the emotional depth, style, and truth of those classic lines, then it's good. If not, it's not great poetry.
📘 Points:
-
"Touchstones" are small passages from great literature.
-
Arnold believed these lines have high standards of excellence.
-
Use them to compare and see if other poetry is true, beautiful, and powerful.
-
Helps avoid personal bias in judging poetry.
📝 Ex:
Arnold gives lines from Dante, Shakespeare, or Milton as touchstones.
Example touchstone line by Dante:
“In his will is our peace.”
(It shows deep meaning and perfect expression.)
Now, compare any modern poem to that line. If the modern poem feels less truthful, less beautiful, or weaker, it doesn’t pass the test.
🎯 Purpose:
To help readers and critics judge literary greatness objectively.
2. 📘 Objective Correlative
– T.S. Eliot
🧠 T.S. Eliot said that to express an emotion in literature, a writer should not tell the emotion directly, but should create a situation, image, or object that makes the reader feel that emotion naturally.
💡👉 Don’t say the feeling — show it through a picture, scene, or symbol.
Let the reader feel it, not just hear about it.
🎨 Why it’s called “Objective Correlative”?
-
Objective = an object or scene outside the writer's mind
-
Correlative = something that matches or reflects a feeling
So, it means using external things (objects, scenes, actions) to express inner feelings.
📖 Ex:
Bad way (telling emotion directly):
"She was very sad and heartbroken."
Better way (using objective correlative):
"She sat by the broken teacup, watching the rain hit the empty chair across the table. "
👉 Here, the broken teacup, rain, and empty chair show the sadness without saying it directly.
📌 In T.S. Eliot’s own words:
"The only way of expressing emotion in the form of art is by finding an ‘objective correlative’..."
🧪 Classic Example by Eliot:
He criticized Hamlet because he believed the play did not have a strong objective correlative — Hamlet’s emotion (his deep grief and confusion) was not clearly connected to actions or scenes that justified that feeling.
🎯 Why it matters:
✅ Makes writing more powerful and artistic
✅ Helps readers feel the emotion without being told
✅ Common in modern poetry and fiction
📚 3. Close Reading / New Criticism
👤 Main critics: I.A. Richards, Cleanth Brooks, John Crowe Ransom
🧠 Simple Definition:
Close Reading or New Criticism means reading a poem or literary text very carefully, focusing only on the words, language, structure, and style — not the author’s life, history, or emotions.
💡 In very simple words:
👉 Forget the author, forget the history — focus only on the text itself.
You read line by line, looking at how the words create meaning, emotion, and beauty through things like:
-
Imagery
-
Symbolism
-
Irony
-
Paradox
-
Rhythm
-
Structure
🎯 Key Ideas:
-
Text is self-sufficient – Everything you need to understand is inside the poem or story.
-
Meaning comes from the form – How the poem is written is as important as what it says.
-
Avoid author’s biography – Don’t bring in the poet’s life, politics, or psychology.
-
Objective analysis – Literature should be judged like a science: logically and carefully.
🔍 What do you "closely read"?
| Element | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Words/Diction | Why did the writer choose these words? |
| Imagery | What pictures or senses are used? |
| Irony/Paradox | Any contradictions or deeper meanings? |
| Tone | What is the mood? How is it created? |
| Structure | How is the poem or story built? |
📖 Example (from a poem):
If a poem says:
"April is the cruelest month..."
Don’t ask:
-
Why did the poet say this?
-
What happened in the poet’s life?
Instead, ask:
-
Why call April cruel?
-
What tone is created?
-
What does this contrast suggest?
✋ What to AVOID in New Criticism:
-
Author’s biography = ❌
-
Reader’s feelings (Affective Fallacy) = ❌
-
Author’s intended meaning (Intentional Fallacy) = ❌
📌 Goal:
To understand and appreciate the complex unity and internal meaning of the text itself.
📚 4. Intentional Fallacy
– by W.K. Wimsatt & Monroe C. Beardsley
📖 Introduced in their 1946 essay “The Intentional Fallacy”
🧠 Simple Definition:
Intentional Fallacy means it’s a mistake (a fallacy) to judge a literary work based on what the author intended to say or mean.
📌 We should focus only on
what is written in the text, not what the writer meant to say.
💡 In very simple words:
👉 “What the author wanted to say” is not important.
What matters is: What does the text actually say?
🎯 Key Idea:
The author’s intention is:
-
Not available (we can never know it fully)
-
Not reliable (authors may change their mind)
-
Not necessary to understand the text
So, literature should be judged objectively, by analyzing the text itself.
❌ Example of Intentional Fallacy:
“The poet was heartbroken when he wrote this, so the poem must be about sadness.”
That’s a mistake. You are using the author’s personal life or intention — which the poem doesn’t directly say.
✅ Better way (New Criticism style):
“Let’s see what the poem itself says, what words it uses, and how the emotion is shown through language.”
🧪 Why It’s Important:
-
It helps readers focus on the actual work, not outside ideas.
-
It avoids guesswork about what the author was thinking.
-
It treats literature like an independent object, separate from its creator.
🤝 Related Concept:
Affective Fallacy = judging a work by how it makes the reader feel (also a mistake, according to New Critics)
📚 5. Affective Fallacy
– by W.K. Wimsatt & Monroe C. Beardsley
📖 Introduced in their 1949 essay “The Affective Fallacy”
🧠 Simple Definition:
Affective Fallacy means it's a mistake (fallacy) to judge a poem or literary work based only on how it makes the reader feel.
💡 In very simple words:
👉 Your emotions as a reader should not decide the value or meaning of a poem.
Just because a poem made you cry doesn’t mean it’s great literature.
🎯 Key Idea:
-
Literature should be studied objectively, not emotionally.
-
A good poem should be judged by its structure, language, and technique, not by the feelings it creates in readers.
-
Emotional response is personal and can distract from understanding the actual meaning.
❌ Example of Affective Fallacy:
“This poem is amazing because it made me feel so happy and excited!”
That’s subjective — it depends on your personal mood, not the literary quality of the poem.
✅ Better approach (New Criticism style):
“This poem uses strong imagery, irony, and structure to express its theme clearly and artistically.”
That’s an objective evaluation, based on the text itself.
🔁 Connection:
-
Intentional Fallacy = Don’t depend on author’s intention
-
Affective Fallacy = Don’t depend on reader’s emotions
👉 Both say: Focus only on what the text says and how it says it.
🎓 Why It Matters:
-
Keeps criticism neutral, precise, and academic
-
Promotes a close reading approach
-
Avoids confusion between personal taste and literary merit
📚 6. Mimesi
– from Plato and Aristotle
🧠 Simple Definition:
Mimesis means "imitation".
In literature, it refers to how art imitates life — people, actions, nature, emotions, or reality.
💡 In very simple words:
👉 Mimesis = Literature is a mirror of real life.
Writers copy or reflect real life in their works — even when it's fictional.
🧩 Two Different Views:
🏛️ 1. Plato’s View – Negative
-
Plato believed mimesis is dangerous.
-
He said art is a copy of a copy (illusion of truth) — far from reality.
-
He feared poetry misleads people emotionally and is not based on reason.
-
So, he banned poets from his ideal Republic.
📌 Summary:
Plato = Art is false and emotional. Imitation is harmful.
🏛️ 2. Aristotle’s View – Positive
-
Aristotle defended mimesis in his book Poetics.
-
He said imitation is natural to humans and helps us learn.
-
Literature imitates not just what is, but also what could be.
-
Especially in tragedy, imitation leads to catharsis (emotional cleansing).
📌 Summary:
Aristotle = Imitation is good. Art helps us understand life and emotions.
🎭 Examples of Mimesis in Literature:
-
Shakespeare’s Hamlet = imitates royal family conflict and inner emotional struggle.
-
Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice = imitates social class and marriage issues in 19th-century England.
-
Any novel, poem, or drama that shows real human behavior = example of mimesis.
🎯 Why Mimesis Matters:
-
It helps us see how literature reflects reality.
-
It started the Western tradition of literary criticism.
-
It's still used in modern analysis of realism, representation, and truth in art.
📚 7. Catharsis
– by Aristotle
📖 From his famous work Poetics
🧠 Simple Definition:
Catharsis means a feeling of emotional release or purification that the audience experiences after watching a tragic play.
💡 In very simple words:
👉 Catharsis = Emotional cleaning or relief.
When we watch a tragic story, we feel pity and fear, and by the end, those feelings are released or purified. It makes us feel lighter or wiser.
🎭 According to Aristotle:
-
Tragedy is meant to arouse pity (for the character) and fear (that it could happen to us).
-
By the end of the tragedy, these emotions are washed out, giving us emotional clarity.
-
It’s like crying at a sad movie and feeling better afterwards.
📌 Example:
In Shakespeare’s "Macbeth":
-
We feel pity for Macbeth’s downfall.
-
We feel fear because his ambition and guilt could exist in anyone.
-
When he dies, we feel a kind of relief — that justice was done, and the tragedy is complete.
That feeling is Catharsis.
🎯 Why Catharsis is Important:
-
It shows that tragedy is not just sad, it’s emotionally and morally valuable.
-
It helps audiences connect deeply with the characters and reflect on life.
-
It explains why people enjoy sad stories — because they give a kind of emotional satisfaction.
🔁 Keywords for Catharsis:
-
Emotional cleansing
-
Tragic relief
-
Pity and fear
-
Moral balance
-
Audience transformation
📚 8. Deconstruction
– by Jacques Derrida
📖 Introduced in the 1960s
🧠 A post-structuralist theory
💡 Simple Definition:
Deconstruction means breaking down a text to show that its meaning is not fixed, but uncertain, unstable, and full of contradictions.
🧠 In very simple words:
👉 There is no one final meaning in a text.
👉 Every word, sentence, or idea can be understood in many different ways.
👉 A text may even go against its own meaning without realizing it.
📌 Key Ideas of Deconstruction:
-
Words are slippery – They don’t have one clear meaning.
-
Binary oppositions (like good/evil, male/female) are not natural — they are created by language, and often unfair.
-
No absolute truth in language — meanings change depending on the reader, context, or culture.
-
Texts "deconstruct themselves" – they contain contradictions or gaps that challenge their own message.
🧩 Example:
A sentence says:
"Language is a reliable tool to express truth."
🔍 A deconstructionist might say:
-
What do you mean by "truth"?
-
Isn’t language made up of unstable meanings?
-
If language is uncertain, how can it express truth reliably?
So, the sentence contradicts itself — and that’s what deconstruction shows.
🏛️ Famous Quote by Derrida:
"There is nothing outside the text."
👉 This means we can only understand things through language, and language is never neutral or perfect.
🎯 Why Deconstruction is Important:
-
It challenges traditional thinking about meaning and truth.
-
Encourages readers to be active thinkers, not passive.
-
Shows that literature is complex, layered, and open to multiple interpretations.
❗ Important Notes:
-
Deconstruction is NOT destruction – It’s not about breaking literature; it’s about exploring hidden meanings.
-
It does not reject reading; it just questions fixed interpretations.
✅ :
👉 Deconstruction shows that meaning is never fixed — it’s always shifting, uncertain, and open to questioning.
📚 9. Feminist Criticism
🧠 Simple Definition:
Feminist Criticism is a way of studying literature by focusing on how women are represented and how gender roles are created, challenged, or reinforced in a text.
💡 :
👉 Feminist Criticism asks:
-
How are women shown in this story or poem?
-
Are they strong, weak, silent, or powerful?
-
Is the text fair or unfair to women?
-
Does it support or question patriarchy (male-dominated society)?
🎯 Key Ideas in Feminist Criticism:
-
Representation – How are female characters described? Are they full humans or just supporting roles?
-
Voice – Do women in the story have a voice, or are they silenced?
-
Power & Control – Who has power in the story: men or women?
-
Stereotypes – Are women shown as only mothers, wives, or emotional figures?
-
The Male Gaze – Is the woman only there to be looked at or admired by men?
🧑🏫 Famous Feminist Critics:
-
Simone de Beauvoir – “One is not born, but becomes a woman.”
-
Elaine Showalter – Coined “Gynocriticism”: study of women’s writing.
-
Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar – The Madwoman in the Attic: Female writers were often repressed.
📖 Examples:
-
In Charlotte Brontë’s "Jane Eyre":
Jane wants love but also freedom and respect — a feminist character. -
In Shakespeare’s "Hamlet":
Ophelia is silent, controlled by men, and goes mad — a critique of how women were treated. -
In Margaret Atwood’s "The Handmaid’s Tale":
The story shows a dystopian society where women have no rights — a strong feminist warning.
✊ Goals of Feminist Criticism:
-
Expose sexism in literature
-
Recover lost voices of women writers
-
Promote equality in representation
-
Question traditional male-centered views in texts
📌 Summary in One Line:
👉 Feminist Criticism studies how literature treats women — and fights for equality and fair representation.
