ISMs in Literary Theory
Psychoanalytical Approach
- Freudian slips: when the character unconsciously reveals something about themselves that they don’t want others to know.
- Childhood experiences: how is the character’s behavior affected by their childhood experiences? For example in the play ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’, the main character, Blanche, may seem like a very irrational person and is always lying. However, when you read on and analyse the text, you will find that Blanche’s behavior is due to her teenage experiences. She was married at a young age and she later found out that her husband was a homosexual. When she found him, she immediately blurted out, “Disgusting!” this caused her husband to shoot himself. Since then she never said the truth because the first time she voiced her opinion and said the truth, someone committed suicide.
- Traumatic past
Marxist Approach
- Responding to capitalism (money and possessions)
- Why do we see a story in terms of capital?
- Why is there more choice the higher you go in the social ladder?
- Why don’t we have stories of the common man who finally finds contentment in his social class?
- Why are the members of the upper class always portrayed as virtuous people?
- Why is the language of the poor always referred to as “vulgar” with a lot of sexual connotations and swearing? Is it that the richer people are so educated that they don’t need language to communicate?
Feminist Approach
- Why does biology have to determine what I will like, what my favorite color will be, how I will behave, what my lifestyle will be?
- What does language connote when it comes to women? For example, a fox and a vixen. A fox is a male, well, fox and a vixen is a female fox. However a vixen is used to describe someone who is cunning and malicious. Another example is the word ‘governor’. A governor is a male in authority and a governess is a teacher. Do they hold the same kind of power? No. Why is the female given a weaker role?
Queer Approach
- Heteronormature behavior
- LGBTQIAH+
- Seeing the story from the perspective of a member of the LGBTQIAH+ community
Post Colonialism
- Questions white supremacy
- Orient versus occident
- How are races represented?
- Casting
- Social Darwinism- white as closest to the best of evolution
- Why are the oriental exoticised?
Ecocriticism
- Why do humans treat nature in a gendered way?
- Is it ok to see development as only the construction of buildings and bridges?
Reader Response Theory
- Role of interpretation and subjective in any analysis
- How can opinions be considered right or wrong if they are well founded in their arguments?