Hello there, glad that you are doing your PHD in English. I am also planning to join PhD program after 3 months from now. Can you please some how help me out in reaching a topic as you have a good experience in that. Btw , I am visually impaired..
That magnifying glass metaphor with the 3 distinctions is such a great way to simplify this otherwise overly complicated subject as a whole. Thank you.
Our teacher do great job in teaching but since it's online class now, we are having a short time. I'm glad I found this video that explained a lot about literary theories. Thank you for the vid!
Brilliantly explained! I only wish someone explained me this in such manner during High School. I only encourage you to do more of these, perhaps reaching a greater audience here on RUclips ( I feel like ordinary people need someone to show them the beauty of literary criticism and literature as a whole, having been discouraged and demotivated by the garbage fed in schools)
Hang in there, buddy. I know it’s challenging when instruction is minimal and you don’t even know enough to know what questions to ask (believe me, I know - I took a graduate level Lit Theory class for my masters degree, boldly chose Deconstructionism, and by the time I’d completed my 10-page essay, felt like I’d melted my brain). I did it. So can you. Peter Barry’s Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory is the most helpful book I discovered in my mad dash to get a grip on Lit Theory. It’s easily accessible and infinitely helpful. The Yale Introduction course you can find here on RUclips is helpful, as well, but time consuming. The biggest challenge you’ll find with theory and philosophy classes is that the concepts and application of them requires a tremendous amount of time and effort. There is a reason academics refer to them as ‘disciplines.’
This is really helpful. I hope you could make more videos and tackle more about literary theories. But all in all, your channel is such a big help, thank you!
I really appreciate your efforts. It was painful to love literature studies and never been able to really understand the core of it. You made it clear. As simple and effective as it was. Thank you so much. Can I ever thank you enough? NO
You're welcome, Meriem. Not everyone loves literary theory, and you can certainly love poems, novels, and plays without getting into the theory. At the same time, it can add something to the appreciation of literature as well!
people attach more importance to social science, so there are few videos about Methodology in literature. Hope there will be more videos about literature. Thank you for your video
You are really amazing. You just make this concept so easy to understand. I'm so very glad to find this video. My gratitude knows no bound🌈🙋♀️. You deserve an award 🏆 for your efforts. 💥
Words are not enough to thank for this clear information, it's really crystal clear. Watching all the contents of your channel giving me a lot of knowledge. Thank you so much😊🙏
Not much of a reader but last night I did find this outdoor bookcase that had a few free books in it, actually a lot of books in fact. I chose this one because I really do like the English language and I feel like expanding your vocabulary helps your understanding of communication. Reading the first 16 pages I know I don’t understand it and I won’t pretend I will. I’m 17 and jus getting out of high school. I thank you for this video to broaden my experience to this book I’m reading
I'm in high school right now, about to go into university for writing, and I want to pursue a PhD in English. I'm wondering if this is the type of thing I'd be learning on that road. If so, then I'm very excited for it, because I love this kind of stuff!
It depends on what university program you take and where. Some include more literary theory then others. Either way, it's good to learn some theory even if you end up disagreeing with much of it. That's how you discover your own path.
Formalism, structuralism, and new criticism are all theories of literary criticism. Literary criticism is “the reasoned consideration of literary works and issues” This is what critics use to determine if a piece of fiction is a work of literary merit. However, literary criticism has changed and evolved throughout
Bit of a long one here so sorry about that. I've gotten a little ways into the university scene here in the US when it comes to literary studies and can't shake the feeling that it is very defined by the movements idealized by the American left. It doesn't seem like there is much representation from other ideological perspectives or from non-North American or European literary critics, such as from Africa, Asia, or South America. I haven't found anything I dislike from any individual piece of my studies, but from exploring around it seems like this is more of a widespread thing than just my university, so I was curious if you had any insight on why it is the way it is
That's a good observation, though it would take more than a YT comment to do justice to it. There's no doubt that a great deal of literary criticism is leftist. Much of it comes from North America, though I would say French critics have also played a leading part. But if you dig deeper you will find other perspectives too. Not everyone's a Marxist. :)
Great suggestion. I will do more literary theory videos. Covering a large topic like that is always tricky, as it takes a fair bit of research to cover the main points. It's easier to tackle one author or book at a time. But I'll add it to the list. :)
Structuralists are stupid they strip all the art and magic out of the text and just serve their own biases. Structural analysis of anything is basically just trying to feel smart hy claiming some kind of insight that doesn't actually exist. It's a narrative you bring to the text and it serves nothing good but to deconstruct society.
I'd like to ask a question. Is structuralist literary theory only focused on the similarities between texts such as the helper character as in your example? Because honestly, I've read somewhere that it also has something to do with the linguistic features Thank you..
Good question. This video is just a quick intro, so it's hard to touch on everything in detail. However, the answer is that structuralists are very much interested in linguistics. In particular, it was the linguist Ferdinand de Saussure who argued that it's the structure of language (the system) that determines the meaning of a word or a sign. Since texts are made up of words and signs, one can analyze the structure of a text much like one might analyze the grammar of a sentence. So the answer is yes!
Thank you very much! So clear and insightful! May I ask is that common if a thesis or academic paper applies several theories with its own logic inside?
The Nature of Writing Thank you 🙏🏻. Formalism , New criticism and Liberal Humanism are quite similar. Couldn’t reach a clear cut between them . Hope you can make videos in the soon future about such negotiable issues.
Thank you for the excellent, informative and accessible video. I am wondering though, how exactly do theories such as feminist theory, post secular and postcolonial theory fit into the timeline/diagram that you drew above? Correct me if I am wrong, but these theories come from the field of sociology, so I am a bit confused as to how exactly they can be applied to a literary text.
Thanks for the question, Jacqueline. I focused less on those theories because they can apply any of the interpretive lenses discussed in the video. At some point I'd love to make some follow-up videos about specific theoretical approaches.
You can use any theory you like when comparing two novels. Each theory will provide a different emphasis and focus for your research. Intertextuality is a big topic by itself and might be helpful. Sorry to be kind of vague, but I'm afraid the best person to help you with these questions is your instructor.
Sorry you had an issue. Not sure what happened as this is the first time I've heard of this. Perhaps try a different browser or check your sound settings? The volume on these videos is perhaps a bit softer, but it should be audible!
I use Camtasia to record videos. You can apply some "noise reduction" to an audio clip, but the most important thing is to reduce ambient noises while recording. For more details, check the community page of my channel, where I've left a comment a while back on my recording process. I continually hope to get better at this myself!
this video was so interesting thanks so much for this. Are you planning to introduce other theories like you did the Marxist Theory? I'd love to hear more.
'Reader Response' very much sounds similar to 'the death of the author'. As, in 'the death of the author', the author has no power once the text is printed, and it's over the audience to interpret in whatsoever manner. Are they both same - death of author and reader' response? Thx
Good question. The two perspectives are definitely related. If you accept that the author is "dead" (inaccessible, unreliable, etc.), then you may be more drawn to reader response criticism. However, that's not an automatic conclusion. You might just as well focus on the text itself and argue that it's language (not the reader) who makes the meaning. In fact, some of the first to proclaim the "death of the author," were particularly drawn to structuralist approaches.
Feminism is a huge field, so that's a tricky question. I would start by reading selections from an anthology (either of literary theory or of feminism generally).
That would be another literary theory, which you can categorize as an approach that focuses primarily on the author. I don't mention every last theory in the video, but I hope you can use the video's framework to make sense of other perspectives.
@@thenatureofwriting9222 thank you for replying! Your video was pretty comprehensive with the plethora out there 👌 I am doing a thesis on 'identity' in the Romantics (roughly speaking) and was wondering whether to look at it from a expressive (MH Abram's classification) or phenomenological POV. I do want to arrive at sth. and not leave it totally open-ended a.k.a the Post Structuralists-Deconstr. methods.
Good question. Aristotle's literary criticism does contain elements of structuralism. As an example, Aristotle talks about common plot moments (e.g., recognition and reversal) and he classifies narratives based on the four causes (formal, efficient, material, and final). However, the latter classification also demonstrates that Aristotle is interested in other things than structure. In addition, Aristotle's famous definition of tragedy as a form of catharsis could be considered a form of reader response theory. Thus, Aristotle is often a structuralist, though not exclusively so.
Nearly every approach will have something to say about any given text. Still, each text is unique and I think the best strategy is to suit the methodology to the text (kind of like a mechanic picks the right tool for the job).
I am doing my PhD and THIS video was the best source I could find to help me understand all these confusing terms. THANK YOU SO MUCH
Hello there, glad that you are doing your PHD in English. I am also planning to join PhD program after 3 months from now. Can you please some how help me out in reaching a topic as you have a good experience in that. Btw , I am visually impaired..
How did u get urself to write a phd thesis about something u could not understand...the power it takes 😅
SAME!!!!!
That magnifying glass metaphor with the 3 distinctions is such a great way to simplify this otherwise overly complicated subject as a whole. Thank you.
Thanks very much!
Our teacher do great job in teaching but since it's online class now, we are having a short time. I'm glad I found this video that explained a lot about literary theories. Thank you for the vid!
You're welcome. Education is a challenge during this pandemic. Glad to be of service.
Brilliantly explained! I only wish someone explained me this in such manner during High School. I only encourage you to do more of these, perhaps reaching a greater audience here on RUclips ( I feel like ordinary people need someone to show them the beauty of literary criticism and literature as a whole, having been discouraged and demotivated by the garbage fed in schools)
Thanks for the encouragement!
Hang in there, buddy. I know it’s challenging when instruction is minimal and you don’t even know enough to know what questions to ask (believe me, I know - I took a graduate level Lit Theory class for my masters degree, boldly chose Deconstructionism, and by the time I’d completed my 10-page essay, felt like I’d melted my brain). I did it. So can you. Peter Barry’s Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory is the most helpful book I discovered in my mad dash to get a grip on Lit Theory. It’s easily accessible and infinitely helpful.
The Yale Introduction course you can find here on RUclips is helpful, as well, but time consuming. The biggest challenge you’ll find with theory and philosophy classes is that the concepts and application of them requires a tremendous amount of time and effort. There is a reason academics refer to them as ‘disciplines.’
This is really helpful. I hope you could make more videos and tackle more about literary theories. But all in all, your channel is such a big help, thank you!
I really appreciate your efforts. It was painful to love literature studies and never been able to really understand the core of it. You made it clear. As simple and effective as it was. Thank you so much. Can I ever thank you enough? NO
You're welcome, Meriem. Not everyone loves literary theory, and you can certainly love poems, novels, and plays without getting into the theory. At the same time, it can add something to the appreciation of literature as well!
thank you so much, this video explained what i could not understand in 7 weeks of a Literary Theory course 😊
I'm a high school student (senior) and this was a great video to help me understand texts and how to analyze texts better
Great to hear. Best of luck with finishing high-school. You're ahead of the game if you're already tackling literary theory.
i feel so proud as i already know all of this while am just a bachelor student , amazing method as well thank you.
people attach more importance to social science, so there are few videos about Methodology in literature. Hope there will be more videos about literature. Thank you for your video
Super interesting. Thank you! It is incredible how this video has made such a complex topic so easy to understand.
You are really amazing. You just make this concept so easy to understand. I'm so very glad to find this video. My gratitude knows no bound🌈🙋♀️. You deserve an award 🏆 for your efforts. 💥
This information is very much appreciated.
Glad you think so!
Thank you. First time understand this
İts really great explaination. I expect that you can upload like this theory videos. Maybe specifically about new critisizm etc. Thanks
I do hope to create more literary theory videos. Thanks!
@@thenatureofwriting9222 Thanks from Istanbul.
Very illuminating.... Thank you very much
You're welcome!
Very nice video. Excellent explantion. Thank you
Its kinda sad but amazing at the same time how this free YT video is the same or even better than the same course I'm taking in a paid university
Was the best lecture I listened to! 👍👏😍
Glad you liked it!
Words are not enough to thank for this clear information, it's really crystal clear. Watching all the contents of your channel giving me a lot of knowledge. Thank you so much😊🙏
Great to hear!
Not much of a reader but last night I did find this outdoor bookcase that had a few free books in it, actually a lot of books in fact. I chose this one because I really do like the English language and I feel like expanding your vocabulary helps your understanding of communication. Reading the first 16 pages I know I don’t understand it and I won’t pretend I will. I’m 17 and jus getting out of high school. I thank you for this video to broaden my experience to this book I’m reading
Thanks. All the best with your reading!
I'm in high school right now, about to go into university for writing, and I want to pursue a PhD in English. I'm wondering if this is the type of thing I'd be learning on that road. If so, then I'm very excited for it, because I love this kind of stuff!
It depends on what university program you take and where. Some include more literary theory then others. Either way, it's good to learn some theory even if you end up disagreeing with much of it. That's how you discover your own path.
Formalism, structuralism, and new criticism are all theories of literary criticism. Literary criticism is “the reasoned consideration of literary works and issues” This is what critics use to determine if a piece of fiction is a work of literary merit. However, literary criticism has changed and evolved throughout
Clear and concise, thank you
Very good 👍
I really love your explanation about such huge theme. Thank you! It very, very helpful.
Glad it was helpful!
Bit of a long one here so sorry about that. I've gotten a little ways into the university scene here in the US when it comes to literary studies and can't shake the feeling that it is very defined by the movements idealized by the American left. It doesn't seem like there is much representation from other ideological perspectives or from non-North American or European literary critics, such as from Africa, Asia, or South America. I haven't found anything I dislike from any individual piece of my studies, but from exploring around it seems like this is more of a widespread thing than just my university, so I was curious if you had any insight on why it is the way it is
That's a good observation, though it would take more than a YT comment to do justice to it. There's no doubt that a great deal of literary criticism is leftist. Much of it comes from North America, though I would say French critics have also played a leading part. But if you dig deeper you will find other perspectives too. Not everyone's a Marxist. :)
Thank you sir🖤 It was very helpful and informative.
Just hear to say great voice and mic! Also, thanks for the fab content!
awesome landscape and big picture!
Thanks!
Perfectly elaborated,.
Thank you so much ❤
i want really to thank you .. it was great .. more videos plz
Thanks for the encouragement!
In author centred approaches there are the hermeneutics as well.
Could you explain that real quick?
really good lecture. thanks for sharing
You are welcome!
Thank you ! That was great!
Great to hear! Best wishes with your studies.
Thank you for sharing.
This is a great overview/refresher.
Thanks!
Thank you so much Sir its really helpful
Very informative, thank you
Thanks!
Excellent.
Can you do a video on structuralist literary theory and how it relates to structuralism in social sciences and also poststructuralism/destructuralism.
Great suggestion. I will do more literary theory videos. Covering a large topic like that is always tricky, as it takes a fair bit of research to cover the main points. It's easier to tackle one author or book at a time. But I'll add it to the list. :)
Structuralists are stupid they strip all the art and magic out of the text and just serve their own biases.
Structural analysis of anything is basically just trying to feel smart hy claiming some kind of insight that doesn't actually exist. It's a narrative you bring to the text and it serves nothing good but to deconstruct society.
Helpful video..thnk u
I'd like to ask a question. Is structuralist literary theory only focused on the similarities between texts such as the helper character as in your example? Because honestly, I've read somewhere that it also has something to do with the linguistic features
Thank you..
Good question. This video is just a quick intro, so it's hard to touch on everything in detail. However, the answer is that structuralists are very much interested in linguistics. In particular, it was the linguist Ferdinand de Saussure who argued that it's the structure of language (the system) that determines the meaning of a word or a sign. Since texts are made up of words and signs, one can analyze the structure of a text much like one might analyze the grammar of a sentence. So the answer is yes!
Great video.. thank you sm 💙
You're welcome!
thank you
Great video
What do you use to write and draw on the black page?
Sorry for the belated response. I use Camtasia. See the community section of the channel for a more detailed explanation.
Thank you very much! So clear and insightful! May I ask is that common if a thesis or academic paper applies several theories with its own logic inside?
New sub here thanks a lot sir for this gift.
Great job sir . What is the program you are using in the illustration ?
A combination of Camtasia and Sketchbook. If you go to my channel's community page and scroll down you'll see a longer description.
The Nature of Writing Thank you 🙏🏻.
Formalism , New criticism and Liberal Humanism are quite similar. Couldn’t reach a clear cut between them . Hope you can make videos in the soon future about such negotiable issues.
@@beacon3697 Thanks for the suggestion. I do hope to make more videos again, but right now I'm too busy teaching my courses online...
Thank you for the excellent, informative and accessible video. I am wondering though, how exactly do theories such as feminist theory, post secular and postcolonial theory fit into the timeline/diagram that you drew above? Correct me if I am wrong, but these theories come from the field of sociology, so I am a bit confused as to how exactly they can be applied to a literary text.
Also, what does one mean when they say "critical theory"?
Thanks for the question, Jacqueline. I focused less on those theories because they can apply any of the interpretive lenses discussed in the video. At some point I'd love to make some follow-up videos about specific theoretical approaches.
@@thenatureofwriting9222 we will be waiting for it❤
Loved it
Thanks!
Hello. Let's say I want to talk about a common theme in two different novels, what kind of theory I can use? And is intertextuality can be used here?
You can use any theory you like when comparing two novels. Each theory will provide a different emphasis and focus for your research. Intertextuality is a big topic by itself and might be helpful. Sorry to be kind of vague, but I'm afraid the best person to help you with these questions is your instructor.
Very good video!
does anyone have problem with sound on this site? mine seems muted
Sorry you had an issue. Not sure what happened as this is the first time I've heard of this. Perhaps try a different browser or check your sound settings? The volume on these videos is perhaps a bit softer, but it should be audible!
Thank you!
You're welcome!
GOD BLESS YOU that was very helpful (“:
@Merrill Matzen looks fun but pls stop watching ur girlfriends account. Respect her privacy
Hello. I'm going to write a thesis about The Fault in our Stars by John Green. Can you suggest a theory for me?
Haven't read that one yet, but I imagine your thesis supervisor can help you. :)
How u remove noise after recording?
I use Camtasia to record videos. You can apply some "noise reduction" to an audio clip, but the most important thing is to reduce ambient noises while recording. For more details, check the community page of my channel, where I've left a comment a while back on my recording process. I continually hope to get better at this myself!
👍👍👍
this video was so interesting thanks so much for this. Are you planning to introduce other theories like you did the Marxist Theory? I'd love to hear more.
Sorry for the belated response. Yes, in the future I hope to do more literary theory. When I have time of course ... :)
'Reader Response' very much sounds similar to 'the death of the author'. As, in 'the death of the author', the author has no power once the text is printed, and it's over the audience to interpret in whatsoever manner. Are they both same - death of author and reader' response? Thx
Good question. The two perspectives are definitely related. If you accept that the author is "dead" (inaccessible, unreliable, etc.), then you may be more drawn to reader response criticism. However, that's not an automatic conclusion. You might just as well focus on the text itself and argue that it's language (not the reader) who makes the meaning. In fact, some of the first to proclaim the "death of the author," were particularly drawn to structuralist approaches.
شكرا
if I want to researching about feminism perspective, what theory I should use?
Feminism is a huge field, so that's a tricky question. I would start by reading selections from an anthology (either of literary theory or of feminism generally).
Expressive theories from the author's point-of-view ??
That would be another literary theory, which you can categorize as an approach that focuses primarily on the author. I don't mention every last theory in the video, but I hope you can use the video's framework to make sense of other perspectives.
@@thenatureofwriting9222 thank you for replying! Your video was pretty comprehensive with the plethora out there 👌
I am doing a thesis on 'identity' in the Romantics (roughly speaking) and was wondering whether to look at it from a expressive (MH Abram's classification) or phenomenological POV.
I do want to arrive at sth. and not leave it totally open-ended a.k.a the Post Structuralists-Deconstr. methods.
@@Lakshyam9 Best wishes with your thesis. Sounds interesting!
@@thenatureofwriting9222 thank you so much !!
Adding Vedanta philosophy too into the mix 😁
Superb
Thanks. So is your music!
good explanation
Could we say that Aristotle is structuralism?
Good question. Aristotle's literary criticism does contain elements of structuralism. As an example, Aristotle talks about common plot moments (e.g., recognition and reversal) and he classifies narratives based on the four causes (formal, efficient, material, and final). However, the latter classification also demonstrates that Aristotle is interested in other things than structure. In addition, Aristotle's famous definition of tragedy as a form of catharsis could be considered a form of reader response theory. Thus, Aristotle is often a structuralist, though not exclusively so.
The Nature of Writing Can every piece of literature be analysed by every approach? Or some approaches suit better certain literary texts?
Nearly every approach will have something to say about any given text. Still, each text is unique and I think the best strategy is to suit the methodology to the text (kind of like a mechanic picks the right tool for the job).
Kevin spacey does good videos
Your voice reminds me of the guy who says "Running on empty: Foooood reviews!"
what's your insight about this video?
What the explanation of this video?
I'm not sure what additional explanation you are looking for. Can you be more specific?
What is the difference between Feminist Literary Theory vs Feminist Literary Criticism?
I'm not sure there is a difference. I haven't heard of the distinction, but maybe someone has come up with it.
It is messy! Which is distracting for visual learners.
Yeah, it got a bit busy on the screen. Sorry about that.
Postmodern literary analysis is cancer.
Well, that's certainly a strong statement, though I agree that postmodern skepticism often goes too far. :)
Hot mess
Thank you