Question

What might a given interpretation of a literary work suggest about the psychological motives of the reader?

Answer 1

A reader’s reaction to the text is needed to interpret the meaning of the text. readers do not
passively take the meanings of text that are presented to them ,but they make their meanings. The literary texts reveals secret unconscious desires & anxieties of the author. The characters are projected on the basis author's presentation. In the case of women--

  Literature reinforces social, economic, & political oppression of women as the relationship between men & women. It also explors the role of women in predominantly patriarchial societies & eposes the misgyny in works written by men.

Women are defined by their divergence from male norms & traditions .Biology determines sex & culture which distinguishes the gender ,Thus gender equality is the goal of all the feminist activities
Many critical approaches to the literature were put forward : they may be as under .

1) Formalist Cristisim 2) Biographical 3) Historical 4) Gender 5) Psychological 6) Sociological 7) Mythological 8) Reader -response 9) Deconstructive ,All these critical approaches can be briefly described.

1) Formlist Criticism :This approach regards literature as “a unique form of human knowledge that requires to be examined on its own terms.” All the elements necessary for understanding the work are contained within the work itself. A primary goal for formalist critics is to know how elements work together with the text’s content to shape its effects on readers.

2) Biographical Criticism :This approach “begins with the simple ,central insight that literature is written by ac tual persons & that the understanding of an writer& his works. The biographical critic “focuses on explicating the literary work by using the insight provided by knowledge of the author’s life. Biographical data should amplify the meaning of the text, not drown it out with irrelevant material.

3) Historical Critisism : This approach “seeks to understand a literary work by searching the social, cultural, and intellectual context details that produced it— A key goal for historical critics is to understand the effect of a literary work upon its original readers.

4) Gender Critisism : Ihave alresdy discussed in the above paragraphs.

5) Psychological Critisism :This approach shows - that modern psychology has both literature & literary criticism. Fundamental figures in psychological criticism add Sigmund Freud, whose “psychoanalytic theories changed the notions of human behavior by exploring new controversial areas like wish-fulfillment, sexuality, the unconscious, and repression” as well as expanding our understanding of how “language & symbols operate by demonstrating their ability to reflect unconscious fears or desires”; , In general, it suggest three approaches:

a )An investigation of “the creative process of the artist: what is the nature of literary genius and how does it relate to normal mental functions?”

b)The psychological study of a particular artist, usually noting how an author’s biographical circumstances affect or influence their motivations and/or behavior.

c)The analysis of fictional characters using the language and methods of psychology.

Sociological Citisism :This approach “examines literature in the cultural, economic & political context in which it is mentioned,” exploring the relationships between the artist and society.

sociological criticism is Marxist criticism, which focuses on the economic & political elements of art, Emphasizing the ideological content of literature; because Marxist criticism often argues that all art is political, either challenging or endorsing (by silence) the status quo, it evaluative & judgmental, a tendency that “can lead to reductive judgment,

Mythological Critisism :This approach emphasizes “the universal patterns underlying most literary works.” Combining the insights from anthropology, psychology, history, & comparative religion, mythological criticism “explores the artist’s common humanity by tracing how the individual imagination uses myths &symbols are common to different cultures . Mythological critics states to view literary works in the broader context of works sharing a similar pattern.

Readers- response Critisism :This approach states that “literature” exists not as an artifact on a printed page but as a transaction between the physical text and the mind of a reader. It attempts “to describe what happens in the reader’s mind while interpreting a text”

This approach rejects the notion that a single “correct” reading exists for a literary work, it does not consider all readings are permissible: “Each text creates limits to its possible interpretations.”

Deconstructionist Critisism :This approach “rejects the traditional assumption that language can accurately represent reality.. According to critic Paul de Man, deconstructionists insist on “the impossibility of making the actual expression coincide with the expressed one, of making the actual signs or words coincide with what is signified.”

Other goals of deconstructionists include

(1) challenging the notion of authors’ “ownership” of texts they create (and their ability to control the meaning of their texts)

(2) focusing on how language is used to achieve power, as to try to understand how a some interpretations of a literary work come to be regarded as “truth.”