Bla 3235: Advanced Literary Theory: Magdalene Nyambura

BLA 3235: ADVANCED LITERARY THEORY
MAGDALENE NYAMBURA
OBJECTIVES
The main objective of this course is to explain the ideas and movements that have influenced the
composition and criticism of literature since its earliest times.
By the end of this course you are expected to:
1. Define some of the basic terms used in literary theory and history
2. Explain the significance of studying literary Theory and History
3. Discuss the earliest debates about literature and art in general
4. Explain the ideological postulations of specific literary movements up to the 20th century
5. Highlight and explain the basic tenets of each literary theory or movement
6. Illustrate the applicability of theoretical tenets in textual analysis
7. Respond to the questions at the end of each lecture without experiencing serious
difficulty.
KEY REFERENCES
Blamires, Harry. A Historic of Literary Criticism. Macmillan Press. London. 1991.

Selden, Raman (ed). The Theory of Criticism; From Plato to the Present. Longman. UK, 1988.
---------------------- A readers’ Guide to Contemporary Literary theory. Harvester press.
Brighton. 1969.
Tyson, Louis. Critical Theory Today: A User Friendly Guide. Garland publishing. Newyork.
1999.
Finnegan Ruth. Oral Literature in Africa. Oxford University Press. 1970.
Nazareth, Peter. Literature and society in modern Africa. EALB. 1972.
Wellek & Warren. Theory of Literature. OUP. 1949.
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION......................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
LECTURE ONE.......................................................................................................................................... 2
INTRODUCTION TO LITERARY THEORY AND HISTORY .......................................................... 2
1.1 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................... 2
1.2 LECTURE OBJECTIVES............................................................................................................... 2
1.3 What is Literary History? ............................................................................................................. 2
1.4 What is Literary Theory? .............................................................................................................. 2
1.4.1 Nature (or characteristics) of Literature .............................................................................. 3
1.4.2 Functions of Literature ........................................................................................................ 4
1.4.3 Methods of Textual Analysis ............................................................................................... 5
1.5 Importance of Studying Literary Theory and History.................................................................. 6
1.6 SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................................... 7
1.7 ACTIVITIES ....................................................................................................................................... 7
1.8 FURTHER READING ................................................................................................................... 7
LECTURE TWO ........................................................................................................................................ 8
THEORY AND HISTORY OF AFRICAN LITERATURE ................................................................... 8
2.1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................ 8
2.2 LECTURE OBJECTIVES ................................................................................................................. 8
2.3 Earliest forms of African Literature: The Oral Literature......................................................... 8
2.4 Encounter of African Oral Literature with Colonization ......................................................... 11
2.5 The Theory of African Literature ............................................................................................... 12
2.6 SUMMARY ...................................................................................................................................... 13
2.7 ACTIVITIES .................................................................................................................................... 13

2.8 FURTHER READING ..................................................................................................................... 14
LECTURE THREE .................................................................................................................................. 15
CLASSICAL LITERARY THEORY ..................................................................................................... 15
3.1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 15
3.2 LECTURE OBJECTIVES............................................................................................................. 15
3.3 Plato‟s technique of inquiry ....................................................................................................... 15
3.4 Plato‟s Ideas about art ................................................................................................................ 16
3.5 Aristotle‟s Response to Plato ........................................................................................................... 18
3.5 SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................. 21
3.6 ACTIVITIES ............................................................................................................................... 21
3.7 FURTHER READING ................................................................................................................. 21
LECTURE FOUR ..................................................................................................................................... 22
A HISTORY OF LITERATURE IN EUROPE: THE MIDDLE AGES AND THE RENAISSANCE

.................................................................................................................................................................... 22
4.1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 22
4.3 THE MIDDLE AGES ................................................................................................................ 22
4.4 THE RENAISSANCE ............................................................................................................... 24
4.5 SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................................... 25
4.6 ACTIVITIES .................................................................................................................................... 25
4.7 FURTHER READING ................................................................................................................. 25
LECTURE FIVE....................................................................................................................................... 26
A HISTORY OF LITERATURE IN EUROPE: AGE OF REASON AND THE ROMANTIC

PERIOD ..................................................................................................................................................... 26
5.1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 26
5.3 Age of Enlightenment/ Reason/Rationalism ........................................................................... 26

5.4 Romantic Period........................................................................................................................ 27
5.5 SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................. 28
5.6 ACTIVITIES ............................................................................................................................... 28
5.7 FURTHER READING ................................................................................................................. 29
LECTURE SIX.......................................................................................................................................... 30
HISTORY OF LITERATURE IN EUROPE: REALISM AND NATURALISM .............................. 30
6.1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 30
6.3 Realism ....................................................................................................................................... 30
6.4 Naturalism ................................................................................................................................. 31
6.5 SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................. 32
6.6 ACTIVITIES ............................................................................................................................... 32
6.7 FURTHER READING ................................................................................................................. 32
LECTURE SEVEN ................................................................................................................................... 33
STRUCTURALISM ................................................................................................................................. 33
7.1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 33
7.3 Influence of Structural Linguistics .......................................................................................... 33
7.4 The Principles of Structuralism ............................................................................................... 34
7.5 Language as a Sign System (Semiotics).................................................................................. 35
7.6 The Influence of Semiotics ......................................................................................................... 36
7.7 The Influence of Structural Anthropology on Literature ............................................................ 37
7.8 Structuralist Approaches to Literature ........................................................................................ 37
7.9 Question Structural Narratologists Ask about literary texts........................................................ 39
7.10 Questions Structuralist Critics Ask About Texts ......................................................................... 39
7.11 SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................. 40

7.12 ACTIVITIES ........................................................................................................................... 40
7.13 FURTHER READING ............................................................................................................. 40
LECTURE EIGHT ................................................................................................................................... 41
DECONSTRUCTION (POST-STRUCTURALISM) ............................................................................ 41
8.1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 41
8.3 Structuralist Foundations of Deconstruction ......................................................................... 41
8.4 Deconstructing human Identity ............................................................................................... 44
8.5 Key Tenets of Deconstruction ................................................................................................. 44
8.6 De-Constructing Literature .................................................................................................... 45
8.7 Questions Deconstructive Critics Ask About Texts ............................................................... 46
8.8 SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................. 46
8.9 ACTIVITIES ............................................................................................................................... 46
8.10 FURTHER READING ............................................................................................................. 47
LECTURE NINE ...................................................................................................................................... 48
MARXIST THEORY ............................................................................................................................... 48
9.1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 48
9.3 Basics in Marxism ..................................................................................................................... 49
9.4 Role of Ideology in Promoting Social Classicism .................................................................... 50
9.5 Marxism and Literature .......................................................................................................... 52
9.6 Questions Marxist Critics ask about Literary Texts ........................................................................ 53
9.7 Tenets of Marxist Theory ................................................................................................................. 54
9.8 SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................. 54
9.9 ACTIVITIES ............................................................................................................................... 55
9.10 FURTHER READING ............................................................................................................. 55

LECTURE TEN ........................................................................................................................................ 56
FEMINIST THEORY .............................................................................................................................. 56
10.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... 56
10.2 LECTURE OBJECTIVES......................................................................................................... 56
10.3 The Problem with Traditional Gender Roles ......................................................................... 57
10.4 Feminism and Literature.......................................................................................................... 59
10.5 Tenets of Feminist Theory ............................................................................................................ 60
10.6 Questions Feminist Critics ask about a Literary Text ...................................................... 60
10.7 SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................. 61
10.8 ACTIVITIES ........................................................................................................................... 61
10.9 FURTHER READING ............................................................................................................. 61
LECTURE ELEVEN ................................................................................................................................ 62
NEW CRITICISM (FORMALISM) ....................................................................................................... 62
11.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... 62
11.3 New Critical Approaches to Textual analysis ......................................................................... 62
11.4 How Formal elements in a text achieve organic unity ........................................................... 64
11.5 The Question of a ‘Single Best Interpretation’....................................................................... 65
11.6 Questions New Critics Ask Literary Texts ................................................................................... 66
11.7 SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................. 66
11.8 ACTIVITIES ........................................................................................................................... 66
11.9 FURTHER READING ............................................................................................................. 67
LECTURE TWELVE ............................................................................................................................... 68
READER-RESPONSE THEORY ........................................................................................................... 68
12.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... 68

12.3 How Readers Respond to Literary Texts ............................................................................. 69
12.4 Who is a Reader? .................................................................................................................... 70
Types of Readers................................................................................................................................. 70
12.5 Types of Reader-Response Theories/Approaches ............................................................. 71
12.6 Questions Reader-Response critics ask about texts .................................................................... 77
12.7 SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................. 78
12.8 ACTIVITIES ........................................................................................................................... 78
12.9 FURTHER READING ............................................................................................................. 78
LECTURE THIRTEEN ........................................................................................................................... 79
T.S ELIOT’S THEORY OF ‘THE GREAT TRADITION’.................................................................... 79
13.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... 79
13.3 The influence of Past literary works on Modern Texts ................................................... 79
13.4 What is the Relevance of Eliot’s Ideas to an African Student of Literature? .................... 81
13.5 SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................. 82
13.6 ACTIVITIES ........................................................................................................................... 82
13.7 FURTHER READING ............................................................................................................. 82
LECTURE FOURTEEN .......................................................................................................................... 83
POST-COLONIAL LITERARY THEORY ........................................................................................... 83
14.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... 83
14.3 Foundations in Post- Colonial Criticism ................................................................................ 84
14.4 Post-Colonialism and cultural Identity ....................................................................................... 84
14.5 Colonialist Ideology ................................................................................................................. 85
14.6 The Focus of Post-Colonial Writings ................................................................................. 87
14.7 What constitutes „Post-Colonial‟ Writings?............................................................................... 88

14.8 Themes in Post-Colonial Literature ........................................................................................... 89
14.9 The Role of a Post-Colonial Critic ............................................................................................. 90
14.10 Questions Post Colonial Critics Ask About Texts .................................................................. 90
14.11 SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................. 91
14.12 ACTIVITIES ........................................................................................................................... 91
14.13 FURTHER READING ............................................................................................................. 91
LECTURE FIFTEEN ............................................................................................................................... 92
NEW HISTORICAL CRITICISM.......................................................................................................... 92
15.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... 92
15.3 Foundations in New Historicism .............................................................................................. 92
15.4 Tenets of New Historicism ........................................................................................................ 95
15.5 New Historicism and Literature ............................................................................................. 96
15.6 Questions New Historicists Ask About Literary Texts ............................................................... 97
15.7 SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................. 97
15.8 ACTIVITIES ........................................................................................................................... 97
15.9 FURTHER READING ............................................................................................................. 98
LECTURE SIXTEEN ............................................................................................................................... 99
PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY ............................................................................................................ 99
16.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... 99
16.3 Foundations of Psychoanalysis .............................................................................................. 100
16.4 Principles of Psychoanalysis ................................................................................................... 101
16.5 The Origins of the Unconscious ............................................................................................. 102
16.6 The Defenses ............................................................................................................................. 103
16.7 Interpreting Dream symbols...................................................................................................... 104

16.8 Sexual Symbols from the unconscious that can render to interpretation .................................. 105
16.9 Psychoanalysis and Literature ................................................................................................... 105
16.10 Questions Psychoanalytic Critics Ask About Literary Texts ............................................... 106
16.11 SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................... 106
16.12 ACTIVITIES ......................................................................................................................... 106
16.13 FURTHER READING ........................................................................................................... 106

LECTURE ONE
INTRODUCTION TO LITERARY THEORY AND HISTORY
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Welcome to our first Lecture where we are going to look at the meaning of literary theory, literary
history as well as the nature and function of literature in society.
1.2 LECTURE OBJECTIVES

By the end of this lecture you should be able to:
1. Define the terms „Literary History‟ and „Literary Theory‟
2. Explain the „nature‟ of literature.
3. Explain the importance of studying literature
1.3 What is Literary History?
Literary history involves a consideration of the historical development of creative writings
as well as the development of critical techniques used over time. Although the practice of
literary theory became a profession later in the 20th century, it has historical roots dating
back to ancient Greece and Rome.
1.4 What is Literary Theory?

Literary theory refers to the systematic study of the nature, function and methods of
analyzing literary texts. Let us consider each of these in turn.
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1.4.1 Nature (or characteristics) of Literature
By nature we ask ourselves what literature is and how it works. First we need to define literature
as ‘man’s creative activity’. By this we refer to all works of art, whether written or spoken. As a
discipline, literature has several characteristics that distinguish it from other disciplines. Let us
look at some of them.
Literature uses the medium of language. By this we find that it has a close link with linguistics.
However, literature differs from linguistics in the sense that it uses language creatively. This is to
say that words may not necessarily mean what they mean in the dictionary. For instance whereas
the word „peacock‟ may mean „a type of a bird‟ from dictionary definition, it may mean „pride‟
in literature. Similarly the word „baby‟ may mean „a new-born‟ in the dictionary; in literature it
may refer to „affection‟ or „endearment to a woman‟! I hope you can see how language works in
literature. When language is used this way we say that it is connotative as opposed to dictionary
(or denotative) meaning. What this implies is that the language of literature does not need to
conform to grammatical (or linguistic) requirements. It may actually involve breaking
grammatical rules to create the desired artistic effect. For instance, Ayi Kwei Armah gives one of
his most celebrated texts the title The Beautyful ones Are Not Yet Born (see how the second
word breaks the spelling rules) to keep the reader thinking of the reason for doing so.
There is also a way in which literature appeals to human sense of emotion than any other
discipline. Every writer knows that he has an obligation to engage the most innate element of the
human person – the soul. The writer therefore selects the language and depicts situations that will
move his audience. To achieve this, the writer seeks to describe the „un-explainable, un-
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scientific‟ facets of life such as love, death, pain, suffering, guilt, fear and other such cognitive
aspects of being.
Literature is also didactic in nature. This is to say that it teaches us something about human
nature and experience. When we read a text we should always pause to ask, ‘What do we learn
from the experiences of characters and situations presented in the work?’ We may also want to
establish how the text approximates our own experience about life.
Literature is also reflective on social happenings in the sense that it draws its raw material from
life itself. This is to say that literature is directly influenced by local politics, morality, religion
and any other day to day experiences of a people. When we read a text like Marjorie Oludhe
Macgoye‟s Coming to Birth we should pause to ask how it reflects on the experience of Kenyan
women as well as our national history since independence. When we do this on several other
texts, we realize that literature has a critical attitude towards life with a view to improving it. In
so doing we also discover that the historical and social background about a text is very crucial in
understanding the central theme of the text.
1.4.2 Functions of Literature
Literature serves several functions in society, the most obvious being entertainment. There is a
sense in which literature evokes pleasurable emotions of laughter through use of various
linguistic resources such as caricature, irony, personification and imagery among others.
Secondly, there is a way in which literature purges unpleasant feelings brought about by
painful experiences such as death, loss of property, betrayal etc, consequently reconciling the
person with nature. We say that literature brings Catharsis by this quality. For instance there is a
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way we feel that our hatred for corruption is reassured with the heroic magnificience and stature
of Dr Stockman in Henrik Isben‟s An Enemy of the people.
Literature is also an avenue for preservation and transmission of culture. African oral
literature has been used to transmit folk wisdom and a society‟s culture form one generation to
another through cultural dramatic rituals, songs, proverbs and folktales. The youth are taught
their roles in society as well as how to preserve it from extinction.
Literature also enlightens us on social, moral and political issues of our time. Through both
oral and written forms we are informed of what is happening and how we can deal with such
threats. For instance, by reading Mea Mwangi‟s The Last Plague e are enlightened on the threat
of Hiv/Aids and how we can deal with it by discarding retrogressive culture. In this sense,
literature guides our morality as it equips us to deal with the threat of Aids.
Literature is also provides opportunities for employment. There are endless opportunities for
literature experts in the fields of media, teaching, creative writing and performing arts. It is time
we started thinking of literature as one of the practical disciplines in that its product is tangible
things called books, television programmes etc
1.4.3 Methods of Textual Analysis
Finally, the study of literary theory involves a look at how the knowledge gained from the
various epochs can help us understand literary texts. For instance, how can the prevalent ideas of
the 18th century help us understand a text written during that period? That is, how can we use a
given theory to understand the ideology of a given text?
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1.5 Importance of Studying Literary Theory and History
There are various reasons why we need to study literary theory and history. First, a study of
literary history enables us to understand and appreciate the major literary movements that
have influenced literature in history. For instance, we are able to understand and appreciate the
contribution of Romanticism and Realism in the development of literature of the 18th century.
Secondly, it helps us to understand the dominant ideology of a certain historical period. We
are already aware of the intimate relationship between history and literature. For example, a
study of Honore De Balzac‟s Old Goriot enables us to understand the effects of rapid
urbanization in Europe on the family structure.
The study of theory also equips us with tools for criticizing literary texts. That is to say that
after reading a text we can decide to use a specific theory to analyze it. For instance, we can
decide to use the feminist theory to analyze Mariama Ba‟s So Long a Letter, or the Marxist
theory to criticize Ngugi wa Thiongo‟s Petals of Blood. In other words, we borrow from the
tenets of theory to analyze literary texts.
Acquaintance with literary theory also gives us deeper insight into our own creativity. When
we read and analyze works written by others we gain knowledge about their structure, language
and the history they refer to. This way we are better placed to write creative texts that
acknowledge language use, structure, creativity and the relationship between literature, history
and life.
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At another level, the study of theory and history helps us to build our own cognitive levels.
That is to say that we acquire a deeper understanding of literature as a subject. It is only through
such understanding that we can appreciate and love our discipline.
Finally, a study of theory and history helps us to comment professionally on the
appropriateness of critical methods used by other scholars when they comment about literary
texts. In other words, we don‟t merely accept critics‟ assessment of a text without pausing to
question the critical approach used in arriving at conclusions.
1.6 SUMMARY
In this lecture we have discussed the meaning of the terms „literary history‟ and „literary theory‟.
We have also discussed the nature and function of literature in society. We have also discussed
the reasons for studying literary history and theory.
1.7 ACTIVITIES
1. What do you understand by the terms „theory‟ and „history‟ of literature?
2. What do we mean by „nature‟ of literature?
3. Discuss some of the functions served by literature in society.
1.8 FURTHER READING

1 Selden, Raman (ed). The Theory of Criticism; From Plato to the Present. Longman. UK,
1988.
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LECTURE TWO
THEORY AND HISTORY OF AFRICAN LITERATURE
2.1 INTRODUCTION
1 In this lecture we trace the historical development of African literature. We shall discuss the
earliest forms as well as the influence of colonization on African literature. Finally we shall
discuss the „Theory of African Literature‟.

1. Explain the earliest forms of African literature
2. Discuss the effects of colonization on the development of African literature
3. Discuss how the pre-colonial literary forms inform on modern writing.
4. Discuss the theory of African Literature.
2.3 Earliest forms of African Literature: The Oral Literature
Since time immemorial literature existed in all African societies in form of oral literature.
Knowledge about the universe was passed down generations through the word of mouth.
Wisdom was relayed orally from older members of society to the youth through proverbs and
wise sayings. Because of their wisdom, they were not easy to forget.
Entertainment was an integral part of African rituals such as marriages, circumcisions and birth
rites. These often came in form of songs and heroic recitations. The rituals also provided an
8
opportunity for the transmission of culture. Young people were taught social mores and the skills
necessary for the defence and sustenance of the community.
In the performance of ritual ceremonies the African peoples used such things as animal skins,
ochre smeared on the face etc for purposes of impersonation. They also used horns of livestock
and wild animals, jingles, leopard skins, Columbus monkey headgears and sticks. All these are
generally referred to as artifacts.
Scholars have divided African oral literature forms into three broad categories, also known as -
Genres of oral literature. These are: narratives, oral poetry and the Short forms. Let us look at
each of these genres in turn.
Narratives are stories that contain a moral. The characters in these stories could be human
beings, animals, objects or a combination of both. Stories with animal characters are called
fables. We should be aware that the animal characters in the stories represent human attributes
such as greed, treachery, kindness, courage etc. Some of the most popular animals in African
narratives include the Hare, the Hyena, the Elephant, Monkey, Crocodile etc.
Narratives are further divided into smaller categories or sub genres. The sub genresof narratives
include:
a) Myths: These are stories about the origins of a community. For instance, the Kikuyu
believe that they are descendants of Gikuyu and Mumbi whom they refer to as the first
parents of the tribe. The Ameru came from a place called Mboa. The Maasai believe they
came from Heaven with all livestock. You should share with your friends to hear the
myth from their community.
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b) Legends: These are the stories about a community‟s hero. Among the Luo we have the
Lwanda Magere legend. The Ameru have the Koome Njwe Legend. The Akamba have
the Syokimau legend. Who are the legendary figures in your community.
c) Tricksters: These are stories contrasting wisdom and foolishness. They tell of the exploits
of a small but clever animal against a large but foolish animal. They also contrast cruelty
with virtue. The moral in these stories is that wisdom is greater than physical strength.
The most common contrasts in African tricksters are the hare and the hyena, the
Crocodile and the Monkey, The Elephant and the Hare etc. Can you share a popular
trickster from your community with your friends?
d) Ogre stories: These are stories with supernatural beings bent on destroying mankind.
They usually have a shocking appearance such as multiple eyes and extra ordinary
strength. In some African stories an ogre can feed on an entire community, leaving only a
small boy who later slays the monster. What is the monster story from your community?
e) Aetiological tales: These are stories explaining the origin of natural phenomena such as
death, or why things behave the way they do. They are also referred to as the „Why‟
stories. Some of the popular titles in African narratives include „Why Hen scratches
earth‟ „Why the Hyena Limbs‟ „Why people die‟ etc.
The second genre of African oral literature is Oral Poetry. In the traditional African sense
this term refers to traditional songs. The subgenres of oral poetry therefore include
circumcision songs, harvest songs naming songs, lullabies, panegyric songs (praise songs)
and dirges (mourning songs).
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The last genre, Short Forms, include those that take a short time to execute. However these
are loaded with wisdom and pleasure. The subgenres in this category include proverbs,
riddles, wise sayings and Tongue Twisters.
2.4 Encounter of African Oral Literature with Colonization
The early years of the 20th century saw a severe incursion of European colonizers into the
African continent. The British, the German, the French as well as the Dutch claimed specific
areas of the African continent. This invasion changed the way literature was being performed in
the region. First they began with a denial that Africa had any literary pretensions. They did not
see the oral forms as constituting literature. The colonialists thus brought western culture through
Christianity and book education which came to have great influence on later literature. They in
turn brought written literature in a region that was largely oral. The earliest African intellectuals
used the education they had acquired to write about their experiences using the language of the
colonizer. The first work of prose from eastern Africa was Ngugi wa Thiong‟os Weep Not, Child
(1964). In Uganda Okot P‟Bitek launched the sub continent into the poetry genre with his
satirical poem, Song of Lawino. Although these works used the medium of English they as well
drew strongly from the African oral traditions. They are filled with such forms as proverbs,
sayings and legends. Ngugi‟s Weep Not Child for instance draws strongly from the Gikuyu myth
of creation, the myth of Gikuyu and Mumbi. Other writers in the continent also draw from the
oral traditions of the various regions of Africa.
Some of the well known literary luminaries in Africa who borrow from the oral traditions in their
writings include Ngugi wa Thiong‟o and Francis Imbuga (Kenya), China Achebe and Wole
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Soyinka (Nigeria), Mariama Ba and Leopold Sedar Senghor (Senegal), Dennis Brutus and Alex
La Guma (South Africa) as well as Joe De Graft and Ayi Kwe Armah (Ghana) among others.
2.5 The Theory of African Literature

African literature is any creative work written in or about Africa, and which makes an honest
representation of African experience and sensibilities. This is to say that any work that carries
bias, propaganda and misrepresentation cannot be called African literature, even if it is written in
Africa. Works that demean and undermine the culture, history and African people‟s way of life
do not deserve our attention.
African literature has the following characteristics:
1. It is Contextual. The text, whether written or oral, cannot be understood in isolation from
its social context. One has to begin by understanding the cultures of the African people,
their way of reasoning and their attitudes towards different situations in life. Without this
understanding a critic is bound to make a biased and consequently unacceptable
interpretation of African literature. In other words, the critic must be „socially aware‟
before speaking about African literature.
2. It is Functional. All the formal elements in any African text or narrative must be
organically unified to relay a moral. It must preach virtue and condemn vice. It must
entertain, encourage and above all educate. The idea of „art for art‟s sake‟ in Africa is
simply unacceptable. It must reflect on what is going on in society, the reason it is often
called „The mirror of society‟.
3. It is Communal. African literature does not have individual authorship. The writer
himself is a product of his society, a socially trained animal. The raw material he uses is
obtained from his community, meaning that he does not bring anything new to his
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community. The ideas he tries to put across are for use by his community. He cannot
therefore claim any superiority in his community because the community is itself a
participant in his creative efforts, and he cannot purport to have discovered anything..
The writer is merely mandated by his community to be the eye, ear and mouthpiece that
articulates what the society considers appropriate for its survival. The artist is therefore
called upon to continue the long tradition of the traditional African carver, dancer,
sculptor and seer.
4. It is sensitive to African history. Modern writing from Africa borrows from the oral
traditions and moral values. It takes in myths, proverbs and other forms borrowed from
the oral traditions to enrich modern writing. It should also reflect on the African man‟s
experience in the process of living in the past. It should also carry modern relevance as it
envisions the future of African societies.
2.6 SUMMARY
In this lecture we have discussed the earliest forms of African literature, including the
various genres and sub-genres of African oral literature. We have also discussed the effects
of colonization on oral literature, especially the influence of formal education. Finally we
have seen that African writers continue to draw from the oral traditions in modern writing,
and the nature of African literature.
2.7 ACTIVITIES
2 “There was no literature in Africa before the coming of colonization”. Invalidate this
assertion showing how literature existed in Africa during the pre-colonial era.
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3 Read Okot P‟Bitek‟s Song of Lawino and show how the poet draws from the African oral
traditions in his work.
4 What role does Meja Mwangi serve in his community in his novel The Last Plague?
2.8 FURTHER READING

Finnegan, Ruth. Oral Literature in Africa. Oxford University press. 1970
Miruka Okumba. Oral Literature For Schools . Heinemann. 1980.
Nazareth, Peter. The Third World Writer: His social responsibility. Nairobi.KLB.1978.
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LECTURE THREE
CLASSICAL LITERARY THEORY
3.1 INTRODUCTION
Have you come across people who have a negative attitude towards literature and the arts? They
are not the first to comment negatively about literature. In this lecture we are going to discuss
one of the most interesting debates from Europe about the nature and role of art in general. We
shall discuss Plato‟s negative perception of art, and how his student Aristotle responds to these
perceptions.
1. Discuss Plato‟s perception of art and say whether you agree with him
2. Discuss Aristotle‟s response to Plato and say whether you agree with him.
3.3 Plato’s technique of inquiry
Plato was a Greek philosopher who lived between 427-348 BC. He was a disciple of Socrates,
one of the greatest thinkers of the antiquity. Socrates‟ method of teaching was by question and
answer, a method that came to be known as the Socratic Method. The Socratic Method involved
asking the person he wished to educate a variety of questions about a certain topic, and from the
responses given he would show him how ignorant about a topic he was.
15
Socrates was later to be persecuted on a charge of corrupting the minds of youth through his
teachings. Plato was deeply distressed when his mentor was sentenced to death. He too adopted
his method of teaching, the Socratic Method. He too lures his listener into giving a response
about a topic, from which he analyses the response and brings to light the contractions,
absurdities and shallowness inherent in the reasoning of his respondent.
3.4 Plato’s Ideas about art
Plato did not at any time assume the role of a literary critic although his statements about art
have come to inform on earlier thinking about all art forms, literature included.
As a philosopher, he did not consider imaginative art important enough to justify the attention of
a philosopher. He felt that poetry was subordinate to philosophy, and a philosopher need not
„dethrone‟ himself by studying a subordinate art. He argued that art is more emotional and
sensual than rational.
In his Republic, Plato argues that the practical sciences such as medicine, fishing and carpentry
are more important than the arts in that they make an objective representation of their work,
unlike an artist who „imagines‟ how things should look and work. To him, an artist, in creating
reality, begins from ideas, goes through ideas and ends in ideas. These ideas „begin from
hypotheses and do not ascend to a principle‟. To illustrate, he provides the example of two beds;
one made by a carpenter and another by a painter, to argue that the painter makes only some
semblance of a bed, and not a true bed.
16
Secondly, Plato argued that art is a mere imitation of nature, and thus leads to nothing new. By
imitating the artist does not bring any new knowledge to the world. He refers to all artists as the
„imitative tribe’ (Book 10). To him, imitation is ruinous to the understanding of the hearers, for
they tell them nothing that can contribute to their knowledge of the universe. He was Surprised
that artists behave like mirrors who reflect the sun, the heavens, flora and fauna, as well as the
gods! They behave like witches!
Plato further argues that artists are liars in the sense that after imitating, they pretend to have
created. He says,
„A painter will paint a cobbler, a carpenter or any other artist, though he knows nothing
of their arts, and, if he‟s a good artist, he may deceive children or simple persons when he
shows them his picture of a carpenter from a distance, and they will fancy that they are
looking at a real carpenter‟ (Book 10).
He felt that imitations are thrice removed from the truth; because they are masters of appearances
and impressions, and never the reality. His conclusion was that art is never realistic.
Plato further accused art on the count of immorality, saying that if unchecked, art can corrupt
the minds of youth. He felt that if artists are allowed to freely indoctrinate young minds, they
would spoil them. He asks, „Should we just carelessly allow children to hear any casual tales
which may be devised by casual persons, and to receive into their minds ideas for the most part
the very opposite of those which we should wish them to have when they are grown up?‟ (Book
2 and 3).
He therefore felt that censorship of fiction was necessary to check the content relayed to young
minds; So that only the moral can get into their minds.
17
Concerning the nature of artistic arguments, Plato argued that poetic discourse is dangerous in
the way it makes an erroneous representation of the nature of gods and heroes. He argues
that stories concerning these should be said with utmost care so that the artist does not appear to
blame the gods for the evils facing men. When an artist does this, he seems to glorify himself
above the heroes of the republic and the gods.
He also argued that by addressing human emotions artists can rouse the obedient citizens
against the state, leading to civil disobedience. He says that artists
„Should imitate from youth upward only those characters which are suitable for their
profession- the courageous, temperate, holy, free and the like; but they should not depict
or be skillful at imitating any kind of illiberality or baseness, lest from imitating they
should come to be what they imitate‟ (Book 2 and 3).
His fear is that imitations may become habits, and become a second nature.If the artists are to
exist, they must depict only the good deeds that the youth can copy to become good citizens.
The other important argument made by Plato concerning art is that it draws its material from
history, and by virtue of its imitative nature, it mimics history. This way, art derives from
history and therefore subordinate to it. There is therefore no need to study creative art if we are
endowed with history.
3.5 Aristotle’s Response to Plato
Aristotle, another Greek Philosopher, lived between 384-322 BC. He spent much of his time
studying under Plato in Athens. He loved both the Socratic Method as well as Plato‟s Ideas, but
he did not use the Socratic Method in his teachings. He also became one of the fiercest critics of
18
his teacher, Plato. He is reputed to have been hired by Philip of Macedon to tutor his son,
Alexander the Great. He was also the first thinker to produce a work of literary criticism, the
Poetics.
Aristotle concurs with Plato that art is imitative in nature. However, he seeks to correct the
argument that all art is similar. To him, there are differences in the manner of imitations.
There are those arts which employ language without rhythm, others, like flute-playing, employ
rhythm and harmony alone and no language. Therefore it is incorrect to group all art together as
if there were no distinctions. He for instance draws the distinction between Tragedy and Comedy
to argue for their representation of experience.
Aristotle‟s, unlike Plato, did not find the act of imitation undesirable. He argued that imitation is
natural from childhood, and that all humans learn through imitation. It is through this
process that knowledge is acquired.
Other than helping in acquiring knowledge, Aristotle argues that imitation is naturally
pleasant, and people delight in works of imitation. He argues that „If one has not seen the thing
before, one‟s pleasure will not be in the picture as an imitation of it‟ (5). The aesthetic quality of
imitation arises from the imitator‟s improvisations which in turn create an appeal to the
reader/hearer.
Aristotle also challenged Plato‟s focus on characters as at the centre of all imitations. You will
recall Plato‟s argument that people might imitate evil characters and become like them. To
Aristotle, character is not the most important aspect in a narrative. To him, a character is merely
an agent, not the actual. He isolated six parts of a Tragedy: Characters, Plot, Diction, Thought,
19
Spectacle and Melody. These combine to make up a story. This story is an imitation, not of
persons, but of action and life. In a story, the most important thing is the end. Evil characters
for instance, end tragically, so that the reader may learn something about life. To him therefore
plot is the most important quality in any narrative. Characters come second for they are mere
agents of the plot. The reader should thus be concerned with how the story ends, not the isolated
incidences of evil men.
Concerning the assertion that literature mimics history, Aristotle argued that there is a clear
distinction between the two. He observed that „Poetry is something more philosophical and of
graver import than history, since its statements are of the nature rather of universals, whereas
those of history are singulars‟ (9). In other words, history provides an account of particular
events that have happened while art speaks of universals. He actually made a popular statement
that ‘The poet’s function is to describe, not the thing that has happened, but a kind of thing that
might happen’ (9).
Aristotle did not think that art was too emotional as contrasted with reason. First, he thought that
human feeling is as important as the way they reason. Secondly, he observed that while
literature raises emotions, it has a way of managing those feelings so that the reader changes
from ignorance to knowledge and the emotions create a kind of emotional equilibrium through
what he called catharsis.
In defending art against sensual charge, he argued that human beings learn through senses, and
ones feelings are crucial in making judgement. He also observed that good emotions as found in
comedies make us happy and relaxed.
20
3.5 SUMMARY
In this lecture we have discussed the controversies surrounding art from the early periods in
Europe. We have discussed Plato‟s negative perception of art, and how Aristotle responds to
these charges.
3.6 ACTIVITIES
Discuss the controversy surrounding art according to Plato and Aristotle. On which side of the
controversy do you stand and why?
Respond to the assertion that „Literature is ruinous to the individual‟.
3.7 FURTHER READING

Selden, Raman (ed). The Theory of Criticism; From Plato to the Present. Longman. UK, 1988.
Blamires, Harry. A Historic of Literary Criticism. Macmillan Press. London. 1991.
21
LECTURE FOUR
A HISTORY OF LITERATURE IN EUROPE: THE MIDDLE AGES

AND THE RENAISSANCE
4.1 INTRODUCTION
In this lecture we shall discuss the ideas that influenced literature in Europe in the period
following the classical antiquity. At least two periods shall be isolated: The Middle ages and The
Renaissance.

By the end of this lecture you should be able to discuss literary influences of the 5th to the 17th
century. Specifically we shall see the influence of Christianity on literature, and the subsequent
revolt of the Renaissance which sought to uncover the ways of the classical antiquity.
4.3 THE MIDDLE AGES

This is a period of European history from 5th- 15th Century.
After the death of Christ there was a rapid, widespread of Christianity all over Europe. The
middle ages refer to the period that followed the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 AD.
Historian Edward Gibbon attributes the fall to two things: Barbarianism and Christianity. There
was a gradual loss of civil virtue among the Roman citizens on one hand, and the fact that
Christianity preached against worldly possessions in favour of Heavenly rewards. Gibbon argues
that the role of defending the vast Roman empire was thus left to the Barbarian Mercenaries from
Germany.
In literature, Middle Ages reflect the view that it was a period of deviation from the path of
classical reasoning in favour of Christian oriented art. There were open crusades mounted to
22
capture the holy land envisioned in the Bible. Codes of Chivalry and Courtly Love set rules for
proper behaviour. Faith was thus a critical source for reason. It was also a period of sustained
urbanization in Northern and Western Europe.
Some of the distinguished writer of this epoch include Dante (1265-1321) and Chancer. Dante in
Divine Comedy makes it clear the kind of interpretive technique applicable to the scriptures is
applicable to his work. His work borrows heavily from the bible, and his work affected a
transference of theology into artistic equivalents. To him, just as the scriptures present the divine
truths of incarnation and redemption and visions, so classical poetry with its fictions of gods may
convey moral truths.
Geoffrey Chaucer on the other hand appears to be a critic of religion in his Canterbury Tales.
This is his most celebrated work. The prologue presents a party of pilgrims gathered at the
Tabard Inn in Southwark to make their way to the shrine of St. Thomas Becket at Canterbury
cathedral. These are stories are thus told by the individual pilgrims as part of a story-telling
contest as a way of passing time. Harry Bailly, the pilgrim‟s host at the inn promises supper to
the pilgrim who tells the best tale. Out of the twenty nine pilgrims only twenty one manage to
tell their stories.
Chaucer uses the tales and the description of characters to paint an ironic and critical portrait of
English Society at the time, and particularly of the church. He uses biting satire against the
corrupt ecclesiastics at the cathedral.
23
The design seems to be such that the groups of tales are concerned with specific human
problems. His tales are centered more on the experiences of ordinary folks rather than the nobles.
Most of these tales revolve around the theme of morality, marriage and fidelity.
4.4 THE RENAISSANCE
Renaissance is a French term for “re-birth”. Historically, it was a cultural movement that
spanned the 14-17th centuries in Europe. It encompassed a resurgence of learning based on
classical sources. In other words, it sought to uncover classical thinking that was getting subdued
by the Christian ideas of the middle ages. Thinkers of this era came to refer to the middle ages as
the ‘Dark ages’ owing to its rejection of classical intellectualism.
The renaissance saw resurgence in artistic developments. There was a renewed desire to depict
the beauty of nature, and to unravel the axioms of aesthetics. This period called for naturalism in
presentation of life. It is during this period that St. Peters Basilica in Italy was re-built.
England was ruled by Queen Elizabeth, and the period is popularly known as the Elizabethan
Era. The Printing press was introduced in England by William Caxton in 1476, and vernacular
literature flourished.
It is also during this period that the authority of the Pope as the head of the Christian church was
questioned in what has come to be known as „The Reformation‟. English reformation was a
series of events in the 16th Century England by which the Church of England first broke away
from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church.
24
Some of the best-known writers of this era include William Shakespeare, John Milton, Edmund
Spenser and Sir Thomas Moore.
4.5 SUMMARY
In this lecture we discussed the influences on the literature of the middle ages, especially
Christianity. We have also discussed the key concerns of renaissance literature, especially its
concern with retrieval of classical approaches in literary activity.
4.6 ACTIVITIES
Read Dante‟s Divine Comedy and show how the text borrows from the Biblical theory of Heaven
and Hell.
In what way is Chaucer critical of the early church in Canterbury Tales?
How does Shakespeare‟s The Taming of the Shrew address the ideology of the Renaissance?
4.7 FURTHER READING
Blamires, Harry. A History of Literary Criticism. Macmillan. London. 1991.
25
LECTURE FIVE
A HISTORY OF LITERATURE IN EUROPE: AGE OF REASON AND

THE ROMANTIC PERIOD
5.1 INTRODUCTION
In this lecture we are going to discuss the ideological lineages of the Age of Reason and the
Romantic period.

By the end of this lecture you should be able to discuss the ideas that dominated the age of reason and the
romantic era.
5.3 Age of Enlightenment/ Reason/Rationalism
This is the period in European history spanning the late 17th century and the early 18th century. It
is the period when „Reason‟ (as opposed to emotion) was advocated as the primary source of
legitimacy and authority. At its core was a critical questioning of traditional institutions, customs
and morals, and a strong belief in rationality and science. Rene Descartes, one of the highly
celebrated thinkers today lived around this time.
Due to the emergence of the industrial revolution in Europe, reading materials were produced in
large numbers and the rapid development in commerce led to increased demand for information.
The rapid industrialization also meant a change in all spheres of life, the social, economic and
cultural. It is therefore easy to understand that the ideals of capitalism rose around this time.
26
Writers of this period include John Milton, Jonathan Swift, Joseph Addison and Alexander Pope.
Milton‟s Paradise Lost rehearses the biblical fall of man at the Garden of Eden. We are first
taken to hell to see the plight of fallen angels and to hear them debating whether to renew active
warfare or to try to make the best of things in hell. The debate is rigged so that Satan is chosen to
set out and seek God‟s new world with the intention to alienate humankind from his creator and
damage him indirectly.
Book III takes the reader to heaven where his downfall is foreseen. God‟s son offers to provide
the ransom. Meanwhile Satan offers to destroy mankind by seduction. He finds his way to earth
to avenge his downfall. In book IX the drama comes to climax when Eve encounters Satan in the
body of a serpent. She is flattered and as is in the Bible, she brings destruction to humankind.
5.4 Romantic Period
This is a literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century
in Western Europe. It was a reaction against the effects of the industrial revolution. The
movement stressed the importance of „Nature‟ in art and life in contrast to the „Monstrous‟
machines and factories symbolized by „Dark Satanic Mills‟ in the poetry of the industrial
revolution.
Romanticism was thus a revolt against aristocratic social norms of the age of enlightenment, and
against a scientific rationalization of nature. This movement validated „Emotion‟ as an authentic
source of aesthetic experience. It legitimized the individual imagination as a crucial authority
which permitted freedom from classical notions of form in art.
27
Romantic writers evoked and criticized the past, and the so-called cult of „Sensibility‟ with a
heroic isolation of art and the artist, and recognition of human thoughts and feelings. The poetry
of Edgar Allan Poe is such a work that focuses on human psychology as an important ingredient
of understanding life. Samuel Taylor Coleridge‟s Lyrical Ballards (1798) sought to reject
Augustan Poetry in favour of more direct speech derived from folk traditions, while William
Blake‟s Poetry involved Utopian Social thought.
Other writers of the Romantic period include William Wordsworth. Percy Bessie Shelly, John
Keats and the Russian Poet, Alexander Pushkin. Later Romanticists include T.S. Eliot, James
Joyce, DH Lawrence and WB Yeats. Charles Dicken‟s Hard Times demonstrate the cruel reality
of the industrial revolution and the necessity of human feeling in human existence.
5.5 SUMMARY
In this lecture we have discussed the ideas prevalent in Europe during the „age of reason‟,
especially the privileging of reason over emotion in writing. We have also discussed the revolt
against the cruelty of the industrial revolution in Europe as expresses in the literature of the
Romantic period.
5.6 ACTIVITIES
Read Charles Dicken‟s Hard Times and show the contrasts between the ideas of the age of
reason and the ideas of romanticism.
28
5.7 FURTHER READING
29
LECTURE SIX
HISTORY OF LITERATURE IN EUROPE: REALISM AND

NATURALISM
6.1 INTRODUCTION
In this lecture we shall discuss the ideas that influenced literature in the late 19th century and the
early 20th century. Specifically, we shall interrogate the naturalists‟ view that art should reflect
life as it is seen in absolute objectivity.
By the end of this lecture you should be able to discuss the ideas of realism and naturalism in the
development of literature.
6.3 Realism
Realism refers to the artistic movement which began in France in the 1950s, and extended into
the early 20th Century. It was a reaction against Romanticism. It revolted against the exaggerated
emotionalism that characterized the romantic art.
Realist writers opted for depiction of life and society ‘as it is’. They attempted to depict
characters as they are considered to exist in objective reality, without embellishment or
interpretation. Their approach employed a belief that reality as we see and experience it is
30
ontologically independent of man‟s ideas, linguistic practices and beliefs. They believed in a
„faithful‟ representation of reality. As a movement, realism purported to be undistorted by
personal bias, and natural truth and accuracy became the goals of realists. In other words, realism
strived for a „Photographic‟ representation of reality.
George Eliot‟s Middlemarch is a primary example of the 19th century realism‟s role in the
naturalization of the burgeoning capitalist market place. Honore De Balzac in Old Goriot uses
characters that are complex, morally ambiguous and fully human. The city of Paris, which is a
backdrop for much of his works, takes on many real representations of the complexities of
urbanization.
Other writers associated with this era include Emile Zola, Charles Dickens and Fyordor
Dostoyersky.
6.4 Naturalism
This was a literary movement stretching from the 1880s to the 1940s. It was greatly influenced
by the evolution theory of Charles Darwin.
Just like the realists, naturalists were opposed to the highly symbolic, idealistic and sometimes
supernatural treatment of characters and reality of the romanticists. It is for this reason that
naturalism is sometimes considered an extension of Realism.
Naturalism was founded on the belief that social conditions, heredity and environment have a
strong effect in shaping human character. The works of naturalists portray the dark harshness of
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life such as poverty, racism, sex, prejudice, disease, prostitution, filth etc. their works is
characterized by pessimism and gloom, use of a detached, objective tone, surprise endings of
stories and a firm belief in determinism. Naturalists also believe that there exists a close
relationship between the writer and his society in the sense that an artist draws his raw material
for society, and should thus use the same material in the service of humanity.
6.5 SUMMARY
In this lecture we have discussed the attempts by the writers of the late 19th century to provide a
photographic representation of life in literature in the spirit of realism. We have also interrogated
the naturalists‟ view that a writer is consciously or unconsciously influenced by social conditions
and his environment.
6.6 ACTIVITIES
Read Honore De Balzac‟s Old Goriot and show how he attempts a realistic depiction of the
complexities of family relations in urban France.
6.7 FURTHER READING
Selden, Raman. A reader‟s Guide to Contemporary Literary Theory. Harvester Press. Brighton.
1969.
_______ (ed) The Theory of Criticism from Plato to the Present, A reader. Longman. London.
1988.
32
LECTURE SEVEN
STRUCTURALISM
7.1 INTRODUCTION
In this unit we shall discuss the ideas of structuralism, a literary movement that greatly
influenced literary interpretation in the 1920‟s. This ideological movement has its foundations in
linguistics, but has great influence in literary interpretation and criticism. We shall see how
language as we know it is a system of signs, and how understanding the sign system helps us to
interpret literary texts.
By the end of this lesson you should be able to:
1. Discuss the influence of structural linguistics in the study of literature
2. Show how structuralism can be used in the interpretation of literary texts.
7.3 Influence of Structural Linguistics
Structuralism may be defined as the study of text(s) to discover the underlying principles that
govern their composition (both mechanical and artistic forms). These are two purposes for
structuralist activity: To generate a framework for analyzing texts; and to demonstrate that a
given text belongs to a particular framework/class.

33
For instance, you are engaged in structural activity if you examine the structure of a large
number of poems to discover the underlying principles that govern their composition, such as
sound patterns, standardization, themes etc. You are also engaged in structuralist activity if you
describe the structure of a single literary work to discover how its composition demonstrates the
underlying principles of a given structural system.
Structuralism is a method of systematizing human experience in literature, as well as in other
disciplines.
7.4 The Principles of Structuralism
According to structuralism, the world consists of two levels; the visible and the invisible. The
visible world consists of the „surface phenomena‟, all the objects, activities and behaviours we
observe or participate in. The invisible world consists of the structures that underlie and organize
all these phenomena so that they can make sense to us.
For example; the English language consists of countless words. However, millions of speakers of
this language use it with ease. How does this happen? The speakers follow a certain structure
underlying the language called grammar. The world is also full of innumerable objects.
However, we have a way of classifying them so that the world is not chaos.
The concept of structuralism was developed by a Swiss Linguist Ferdinand De Saussure between
1913 and 1915. However his ideas became popular in the 1950‟s.
34
Before De Saussure, language was studied diachronically (in terms of the history of changes in
individual words over time). It was also assumed that words referred to the object for which they
stood. These are the two notions De Saussure sought to correct.
First, De Saussure felt that words ought to be studied at a given point in time (synchronically)
rather than diachronically i.e. looking at the rules that underlie a language, or a language‟s
structure.
He came up with the term „Langue‟ to refer to the structure of a language, and „parole‟ to refer to
the utterances generated by the language structure. The interest of a structuralist is the „Langue‟,
or the structure of the language.
De Saussure observed that we recognize the components making up a structure only when we
perceive them to be different from one another. This is to say that the human mind perceives
things in terms of opposites, which structuralists call „binary oppositions’ for example, we
understand good as the opposite of evil, male as the opposite of female, day as the opposite of
night etc.
7.5 Language as a Sign System (Semiotics)
De Saussure further argued that a word is a linguistic „sign‟ with two parts: the signifier and the
signified. A signifier is the „sound image‟, while the signified is the „concept‟ to which the word
refers to. Example, the word „MAN‟ is the signifier. The concept „A MALE ADULT‟ is the
meaning, the signified.
35
De Saussure however noted that the relationship between the signifier and the signified is
arbitrary. The meaning attached to a signifier is a matter of social convention. That is to say
that it is a community that decides what a word should mean. Seen this way, the word MAN can
as well men „water‟ if all men agreed that it should mean so. In this sense, the meaning we attach
to a word is not a permanent truth. Let us take local examples. The word „Kiu‟ in Kiswahili
means „thirst‟ because the Swahili speakers have allowed it to mean so. In Kimeru the same
word means „stomach‟ because the Ameru have agreed that it should mean so in their
community.
7.6 The Influence of Semiotics
Semiotics is the studyof sign systems. A „sign system‟ is a non-linguistic object or behaviour
that can be analyzed as if it were a language. Semiotics examines how non-linguistic objects
„tell‟ us something. However, they also acknowledge language as the most fundamental sign
system. For them, a linguistic sign = signifier +signified.
Semiotics recognizes 3 types of signs: Index, Icon and Symbol.
An „Index‟ is a sign in which the signifier has a concrete relationship. For instance, smoke
signifies fire. An „Icon‟ is a sign in which the signifier physically resembles the signified. For
instance a painting of a chair resembles a chair. A „Symbol‟ is a sign in which the relationship
between the signifier and the signified is arbitrary. It is decided upon by conventions of a
community. The concern of structuralists is thus the „symbol‟
Since language is an arbitrary sign system, it is also a symbolic system. It is also apparent that
only the symbol is a matter of interpretation. Semioticians are therefore interested in things that
36
have a symbolic content. However, anything can be a sign. The whole world is a „text‟ waiting to
be „read‟ by use of the framework of structuralism.
7.7 The Influence of Structural Anthropology on Literature
In the 1950‟s, Claude Levi-Strauss sought to understand the structures/frameworks that link all
human beings regardless of their different cultures. He noted that all human cultures had some
similar underlying structure, despite their varying surface structures dictated by culture. After
examining myths from different cultures for instance, he noted that despite the obvious surface
differences, the myths had similar fundamental units which he called „mythemes‟. For instance,
all human beings suffer from fear. They all love and laugh regardless of culture.
7.8 Structuralist Approaches to Literature
Structuralism is interested in „how‟ a text means what it means rather than in „what‟ it means.
Structuralist approaches to literature focus on three specific areas: the classification of literary
genres, the description of narrative operations, and the analysis of literary interpretation.
1. The structure of Literary Genres
These are various genres of literary texts (Romance, irony/satire, tragedy and comedy) Each
genre identifies itself with a particular repertoire of themes, character types, kinds of action and
versions of the plot. Each of these genres its structural components: conflict, catastrophe,
disorder and confusion etc. e.g. conflict is the basis of romance, catastrophe is the basis of
37
tragedy, disorder and confusion are the basis of irony and satire, triumph is the basis of comedy
etc.
Taken this way, it becomes easier to understand the structure of that underlie the western literary
tradition. What we have is a „model‟ or archetype to explain the discipline.
2. The Structure of Narrative (Narratology)
Narrative structuralists analyze a narrative in order to find the „inner workings‟ of texts so as to
discover their fundamental structural units or functions that govern the narrative operations. E.g.
units of narrative progression or character functions.
A.J. Greimas analyzed narrative plot and discovered that human beings make meanings by
structuring the world in terms of opposites. e.g. conflict/resolution, struggle/reconciliation,
separation/union. These plot formulas are carried out by means of „actants‟, or character
functions. These functions are realized through actual characters in a given story. A single
character may perform the work of two or more separate actants. Analogously, two or more
characters may perform the function of a single actant (e.g. they are all corrupt).
In order to account for various possible narrative sequences, Greimas suggests the following
structures he derived from the study of folktales.
1. Contracted structures- this involves the making or breaking of engagement, violation of
prohibitions and the alienation or reconciliation that follows.
2. Performative structures- involve the performance of tasks, trials, struggles etc.
3. Disjunctive structures- involve travel, movement, arrivals and departures.
38
Gerard Genette differentiates three levels of narrative that have to be included under the umbrella
term „narrative‟; story, narrative and narration. Story refers to the succession of events being
narrated. It includes the content and the plot.
Narrative refers to the text itself, the actual words. It is produced by the narrator.
Narration refers to the act of telling the story to some audience. Genette observes that these three
work together for the realization of a narrative.
In summary, structural narratology involves identifying a formula that may be used to understand
a group of narratives, and use that formula to address larger questions about literary meaning and
its relationship to human life/consciousness.
7.9 Question Structural Narratologists Ask about literary texts
 What does a given narrative pattern contribute to our knowledge of the relatively small
number of stories human beings have been telling themselves for thousands of years in
order to help themselves cope with life?
 What is the structure that underlies the surface phenomena of our interpretations?
7.10 Questions Structuralist Critics Ask About Texts
 Using a specific structuralist framework (e.g. Frye‟s, Culler‟s etc) how should the text be
classified in terms of its genre?
 Using a specific structuralist framework (Greima‟s, Genette‟s etc) analyze the text‟s
narrative operations (Drawing from its units and the culture from which it emerged).
39
 What are the semiotics of a given cultural phenomena or „text‟?
7.11 SUMMARY
In this lecture we have discussed the structuralist view of reality as lying on a model upon which
all analyses is possible. We have seen how this theory borrows from structural linguistics and
semiotics to conclude that we can identify a formula that will enable us to address larger
questions about literary meaning.
7.12 ACTIVITIES
1. What is the basic argument of Structuralists?
2. How do linguistic structuralists help us in understanding the workings of literary texts?
3. What is Semiotics?
7.13 FURTHER READING

Tyson, Lois. Critical Theory Today: A User Friendly Guide. 1999. Garland publishing, New
York.
40
LECTURE EIGHT
DECONSTRUCTION (POST-STRUCTURALISM)
8.1 INTRODUCTION
In this lecture we shall discuss the theory of deconstruction which uses the ideas of structuralism
to argue that human experience is as unstable as language. We shall see that „what language calls
rose flower can as well be called by another name and smell as sweet‟. In other words, we shall
see that the names we assign to things is a matter of universal agreement, and we can as well
change the names we assign things. We shall also see how these ideas may be used in textual
analysis.

1. Show how deconstruction borrows from the ideas of structuralism in deconstructing reality.
2. State the basic tenets of deconstruction.
3. Use the theory of deconstruction to analyze a literary text.
8.3 Structuralist Foundations of Deconstruction
The theory of deconstruction was inaugurated by Frenchman Jacques Derrida in the late 1960s.
Whereas structuralists argue that language is „non-referential‟ (it doesn‟t refer to things in the
world but to concepts of things), deconstruction argues that language is non-referential (doesn‟t
refer to anything in particular) because it refers to neither objects nor concepts, but merely to a
play of signifiers, which keep changing.
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Deconstruction is thus a poststructuralist theory because it constitutes a reaction against
structuralism‟s orderly vision of language and human experience.
He argued that every signifier produces more signifiers in a never ending „deferral‟, or
postponement of meaning. He viewed language as fluid, never referring to a fixed signified.
According to Derrida, what we take to be „meaning‟ is only a mental trace left behind by the play
of signifiers. In short, Derrida argues that language has two important characteristics:
a. Its play of signifiers keeps changing, deferring/postponing meaning.
b. The meaning language seems to have is the result of the differences by which we
distinguish one signifier from another. To him, „difference‟ is the only meaning language
can have.
Once we are aware of the fluidity and instability of language, we can therefore stretch it,
improvise with it and adopt it to new modes of thinking. This could also imply that how we see
the world has to do with how we are „taught‟ to see it, with language mediating our experience of
ourselves and the world.
Another important observation by Derrida is that language is purely ideological. It consists of
numerous, conflicting ideologies (our systems of beliefs and values). These ideologies, just like
all ideologies, are governed by culture which makes us see our „fluid‟ world as „natural‟.
Derrida further borrowed the structuralist‟s idea of „binary oppositions‟ (Good/evil, black/white,
civilized/primitive etc) and transformed it. He noted that the binary oppositions were little
hierarchies. One term in the pair is always privileged, or considered superior to the other.
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Let us take this example
In western culture,
Column A Column B
Derrida noted, the words
Good Evil
in column A are more
Reason Emotion
privileged than those in
Male Female
column B.
This is to say that by finding the binary oppositions in a culture, and identifying which member
of the opposition is privileged, one can discover something about the ideology promoted by that
culture.
In order to discover the weaknesses of the ideology so established, one must examine ways in
which the two members in the binary opposition are not complete opposites. For instance we
may begin to ask: Is male the opposite of female? Is red the opposite of white? Is objective the
opposite of subjective? Is reason the opposite of emotion? And is there sufficient reason to
privilege reason over emotion?
This proves that language is constantly overflowing with associations and contradictions of the
ideologies of which it is formed. Therefore, there is no centre to our understanding of existence.
Instead, there are many centres from which to view the world. Each of these centres has its own
language, its own „discourse‟.
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8.4 Deconstructing human Identity
Deconstruction, as we have seen, argues that our experience of ourselves and the world is
produced by our language. However, language has also been shown to be fluid, unstable,
ideological and ambiguous. This means that we are, ourselves unstable, fluid, ideological and
ambiguous descriptions of our languages.
The identity we have is merely a comforting self-delusion bequeathed to us by our culture.
Culture too wants to see itself as stable and coherent, when in reality it is unstable and
fragmented. For instance, whereas culture/identity implies that we consist of one, singular self,
we are in reality multiple and fragmented according to beliefs, desires, fears, anxieties and
aspirations. According to deconstruction, we have merely „invented‟ our identity, and can as
well „re-invent‟ it.
8.5 Key Tenets of Deconstruction

1. Language is dynamic, ambiguous, unstable and continually disseminating possible
meanings.
2. Existence has no centre, no stable meaning, and no fixed ground.
3. Human beings are not homogenous; they are made of competing ideologies which arise
from their own inventions.
4. Human identity is man‟s invention which he can always re-invent i.e. existence can
always be re-defined.
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8.6 De-Constructing Literature
The meaning we get from a text is merely created by the reader in the act of reading. The
meaning so created is not a stable element capable of producing closure. That is to say that no
meaning has the „last word‟. Rather, literary texts consist of multiplicity of overlapping,
conflicting meanings in dynamic, fluid relation to one another and the world.
What we call „obvious‟ meanings are merely ideological readings, interpretations produced by
cultures, values and beliefs, which we almost consider „natural‟. Therefore, both literary and
critical texts can be deconstructed. To illustrate, there is a way we can begin to see Ngugi‟s hero
Waiyaki in The River Between as the villain of the text.
There are two main purposes in deconstructing a literary text;
a. To reveal the text‟s undecidability - In revealing a text‟s undecidability we seek to show
that the „meaning‟ of the text is indefinite, undecidable, plural, conflicting array of
possible meanings and that the text has no meaning in the traditional sense of the word.
This can be done by:
 Noting all the various interpretations that the text seems to offer (of characters, events,
images etc).
 Show how these interpretations conflict with one another.
 Show how these conflicts generate even more interpretations.
 Use the evidence gathered to argue for a texts undecidability- drawing from the
fluidity of language.
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b) The second purpose is to reveal the complex operations of the ideologies upon which the text
is constructed - we may want to see how ideologies operate in our own view of the world. We
look out for meaning in the text that conflict with its main theme, focusing on the self-
contradictions of which the text seems unaware.
8.7 Questions Deconstructive Critics Ask About Texts
1. How can we use the various conflicting interpretations to demonstrate the instability of
language and the undecidability of meaning?
2. What ideology does the text seem to promote?
3. How does the conflicting evidence in the text show the limitations of that ideology?
8.8 SUMMARY
In this lecture we have discussed Derrida‟s view that language refers to nothing in particular, and
that what it signifies is never permanent. We have also seen that linguistic referents are known
by their oppositions in which one in the pair is always privileged than the other, creating
hierarchies of privilege. We have discussed the deconstructionists‟ view that human identity can
as well be deconstructed and how we can use the ideas generated by deconstructionists to
analyze literary texts.
8.9 ACTIVITIES
1. What are some of the binary oppositions existing in your culture, and what elements enjoy
more privilege than others?

46
2. How does Margaret Ogolla deconstruct gender in the River and the Source?

York.
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LECTURE NINE
MARXIST THEORY
9.1 INTRODUCTION
You are aware that our society is made up of classes, namely the rich and the poor, and that the
rich continue getting richer as the poor continue getting poorer. Marxism addresses this scenario
with a view to see how we can attain a classless society.. In this lecture we interrogate the
Marxist ideology and see how they can be used in the analysis of literary texts. In this lecture we
shall discuss the basics of the Marxist theory and the technique of ideology used by the rich to
remain in their privileged position at the detriment of the poor.
1. Discuss the basic tenets of Marxism.
2. Discuss the role of ideology in creating social classes
3. Show how Marxist ideas may be used in analyzing a literary text.
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9.3 Basics in Marxism
This is a theory based on the supposition that all human activity is directed at gaining economic
power. It is focused on the view of human liberation derived from the work of Karl Marx and
Friedrich Engels.
The key block in Marxism is the proposition that getting and keeping economic power is the
motive behind all social and political activities, including government, education, religion, the
media, the arts etc. This in turn means that, „economic power‟ is the base upon which the entire
superstructure of social, political and ideological realities is built. And since Marxists consider
„economic power‟ to include social and political power, they use the term „socioeconomic class‟,
rather than „economic class‟ to refer to the class structure of modern society.
Marxists argue that due to differences in people‟s economic power our society is automatically
divided into classes of the haves and the have-nots. Marxists refer to those who control the
world‟s wealth as the „aristocrats‟ or the „bourgeoisie‟ while the worlds workers who constitute
the poor are referred to as the „proletariat‟. These divisions of the have and the have- nots can be
equated to other categories existing in the universe such as those of gender, race, ethnicity and
religion. (Gender=Male/Female; Race=Blacks/Whites; Ethnicity=Luos/Kikuyus; Religion=
Christians/Muslims; Economic= Haves/haves-nots.)
Between these two categorizations the poor are the majority, meaning that if they wanted they
can overthrow the rich few to create economic equality. Marxists find it ironical that these are
the same people who create the wealth enjoyed by the rich, while they themselves continue to
live in poverty. The most devastating reality is that the proletariats do not seem to recognize the
fact that they are disadvantaged at the expense of the rich. They permit their own minor
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differences such as tribe, religion, gender etc to divide them into factions that are not helpful to
them. The question that arises here is, how are the rich able to comfortably maintain their
superior position despite being the minorities?
The bourgeoisie use every resources at their disposal to keep the poor at the bottom of the
economic ladder. One of the greatest assets at the disposal of the rich is what Marxists refer to as
ideology. Let us discuss what ideology is and how it works to suppress the poor.
9.4 Role of Ideology in Promoting Social Classicism
Ideology is a belief system which is a product of cultural conditioning, and which presents itself
as a „natural‟ way of seeing the world. By posing as natural ways of seeing the world, bad or
repressive ideologies may prevent us from understanding the material and historical conditions.
According to Marxists, ideology has to do with the way in which we see the world, and has no
bearing on „naturalness‟.
According to Marxism, bad ideologies promote repressive political agendas and, in order to
ensure their acceptance among the citizenry, they pass themselves off as „natural ways‟ of seeing
the world. For instance, an argument such as „it is natural for men to hold leadership positions
because of their biological superiority‟ is a sexist ideology. Another example: „Every man who
would like to have a house on his own land‟ is a capitalist ideology which poses as „natural‟.
Some examples of repressive ideologies include religion, patriotism, peace, gender, ethnicity and
culture. Let us take the example of Christianity as a religion. It teaches us to forget earthly riches
for the glory of heaven which we shall enjoy after death. Do you see how the rich can use such
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an idea to dispossess the poor and keep them eternally poor? Let us take the example of
„patriotism‟. Patriotism teaches us to love our country and defend it with our blood. But how
many of the rich would want to do that? From a Marxist perspective, patriotism is intended to
protect the rich by the blood of the poor. Let us take culture, which pretends to be a „natural‟ way
of life. Culture has rules of obedience, and clearly defines the roles to be played by men and
women. Some of the African cultures are patriarchal, meaning they promote men at the suffering
of women. Culture thus becomes a repressive tool to enhance oppression of women.At this point
one may pose to ask, is religion an ideology or an ideal? When the bible teaches us that human
life is sacred, is this ideology? For Marxism, when an ideal functions to mask its own failure, it
is a false ideal, or „false consciousness‟, whose real purpose is to promote the interests of those
in power. The question for a Marxist would be, „How does the biblical teaching enlist the support
of the poor majority in promoting the interests of those in power?
Marxism considers itself a non-repressive ideology, by acknowledging that it is an ideology. It
also works to make us aware of the ways in which we are products of material/historical
circumstances and of the repressive ideologies that serve to blind us. For instance, it serves to
enlighten us not to believe the repressive ideology that if some people are poor, it is because they
are lazy.
Marxism considers itself a non-repressive ideology, by acknowledging that it is an ideology. It
also works to make us aware of the ways in which we are products of material/historical
circumstances and of the repressive ideologies that serve to blind us. For instance, it serves to
enlighten us not to believe the repressive ideology that if some people are poor, it is because they
are lazy.
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Marx believed that the proletariat will one day develop the class consciousness needed to rise up
in violent revolution against their oppressors and create a classless society. This way, they would
be able to alter the current power structure to their benefit.
9.5 Marxism and Literature
The goal of Marxist critics is to identify the ideology at work in literature, and to analyze how
that ideology supports or undermines the power structure. Marxists also believe that all social
phenomena, including literature, are cultural productions. Culture is thus the primary bearer of
ideology because it reaches to so many people in what seems to be an innocent form:
Entertainment.
A Marxist reading of a literary text focuses on the ways in which the situations of characters is
influenced by the material/historical realities. For Marxists, literature is a product of the socio-
economic and hence ideological conditions of the time place in which it was written, whether or
not the author intended it so. It is assumed that authors, being products of their environments,
cannot help but create works that embody ideology in some form.
A literary work will in effect create two possibilities of interest to Marxist critics.
a. The text might tend to reinforce in the reader the ideologies it embodies or
b. It might invite the reader to criticize the ideologies it represents.
The ideology may be carried by the content, as well as the form (symbolism, realism, satire,
comedy, surrealism etc.)
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9.6 Questions Marxist Critics ask about Literary Texts
1. Does the work reinforce repressive ideological values or other classist values?
- If so, the work may be said to have a capitalist, imperialist or classist agenda. The
work of the critic is to expose and condemn these aspects of work.
2. Does the work attempt to reveal ad condemn repressive ideology? If it does, then it is a
Marxist text.
- The work of the critic is to celebrate these values in the work.
3. Is the work ideologically conflicted? I.e. Does the work in some ways support a Marxist
agenda, but in other ways promote repressive ideology?
- The role of the critic is to expose how the text is ideologically conflicted, either
consciously or unconsciously.
4. How does the text reflect the socio-economic conditions of the time it was written/set?
What do these conditions reveal about the history of class struggle?
5. How might the work be seen as a critique of a specific „ideology‟ (e.g. religion,
patriotism, classism, consumerism etc), and how does this ideology keep characters from
realizing and resisting economic oppression?
6. How does the text fail to effectively attack repressive ideology, thus becoming the
unwitting prey of the capitalist ideology it attacks?
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9.7 Tenets of Marxist Theory
1. Society is structured into classes of the rich (The bourgeoisie) and the poor (proletariat).
2. All human activities are controlled by the economic needs.
3. The rich will always strive to become richer, even if it means impoverishing the already
poor.
4. Society will always use ideology to keep the poor at the bottom of the structure without
them realizing it.
5. The poor are divided by parochial issues, which only prevent them from creating a
classless society despite their enormous capability to do so. Their conflicts help them to
remain at the base of the economic structure.
6. The poor will one day become conscious of the ills that keep them at the bottom, rise
against them and give rise to a classless society in a violent revolution.
7. Literary critics should seek to highlight and condemn repressive ideology.
9.8 SUMMARY
In this lecture we have seen that Marxist theory is a critique of the rigid class structure in modern
society which seeks to highlight the problems of classes in society. We have also said that the
role of Marxism is to dissolve social classes.
We have seen that marxism exposes how repressive ideology has been taken to be „natural‟ in
order to reinforce the privileged position of the haves against haves-nots in modern society.
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9.9 ACTIVITIES
1. Read Ngugi wa thiongo‟s Petals of Blood and show how it renders to a Marxist
interpretation.
2. What is ideology? How do we distinguish good ideology from repressive ideology?
3. Provide examples of repressive ideology in modern society.

York.
Eagleton, Terry. Marxism and Literary Criticism, 1976. Berkely, University of California.
Williams, Raymond, 1977. Marxism and Literature, OUP.
Marx, Karl. Capital: A Critique of Political Economy. 1867, International Publishers, New York.
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LECTURE TEN
FEMINIST THEORY
10.1 INTRODUCTION
In the previous lecture we saw the Marxists argument that society is class-structured, and that
some classes are placed to enjoy privilege over others. We also saw that the work of a Marxist
critic is to strive for a classless society by condemning classicism in literary texts. These ideas
from Marxists had a significant influence on another movement, the Feminist movement.
Women began to see themselves as the proletariat, the oppressed of the patriarchal gender
structure. Feminist criticism of a text therefore examines the ways in which literature (and other
cultural productions) reinforce or undermine the economic, political, social and psychological
oppression of women. In this lecture we shall interrogate the role of tradition in the oppression of
women, the sexist nature of patriarchy and the work of a feminist critic.
1. Discuss the basic tenets of the feminist movement.
2. Discuss how the tenets of feminism are applicable in the analysis of literary texts.
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10.3 The Problem with Traditional Gender Roles
Let us begin by examining the source of discomfort among the women. This discomfort lies in
traditional culture which defines what a good woman should do or behave in society. We
therefore see that feminism is a revolt against gender roles assigned to men and women in
society.
There is an extent to which we have been programmed by culture to see men as rational, strong,
protective and decisive. This in turn means that they are best suited for jobs such as engineers,
doctors and pilots. On the other hand, women are seen as emotional, nurturing and submissive.
You must have heard someone say that they cannot accept to be operated by a woman surgeon,
or they can‟t take a plane where the pilot is a woman because a woman can panic in the process
causing disaster. Do you agree with this thinking? What happens is that women end up in
specific jobs in the home such as cooking, cleaning children, hewing firewood among others. In
addition, they are expected to be good-looking and sexy.
According to feminists, these gender roles have been used to justify exclusion of women from
equal access to leadership and decision making positions. It has been used to convince women
that they are not fit for careers in such well-paying careers as mathematics and engineering. Any
culture that privileges men by promoting these traditional gender roles is called ‘Patriarchy’.
Patriarchy therefore promotes the belief that women are innately inferior to men. By this
definition, patriarchy is thus „sexist‟. Its belief that women are inferior due to biological
differences is called „biological essentialism‟.
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Feminists do not deny the biological differences between men and women. In fact, they celebrate
such differences as physical body size, shape and body chemistry. However, they don‟t agree
that these physiological differences make men naturally superior in terms of intellect, logic,
courage or decision making. They thus distinguish between the terms „sex‟ and „gender‟.
„Sex‟ refers to our biological make up as either male or female. „Gender‟ on other hand refers to
the roles assigned to men and women by culture, such that there are masculine and feminine
roles, and which have nothing to do with nature.
Feminists argue that the belief that men are superior to women has been used to maintain male
monopoly of positions of economic, political and social power. That is to say that the inferior
position occupied by women has been culturally, not biologically produced.
In patriarchy, women are viewed in terms of how they relate to the patriarchal order. This means
that a woman can only have two identities: If she accepts the traditional gender roles and obeys
the patriarchal rules, she‟s a „good girl‟, if she doesn‟t she‟s a „bad girl‟. In the same way,
patriarchy deems certain kinds of work „improper‟ for „good girls‟. This ideology forced many
women writers in Victorian England to publish their works under male pseudonyms. For
instance, Kate Chopin‟s work was buried due to its feminist content, until it was rediscovered by
feminists in the late 1960s.
The „good girl‟ is often rewarded for her „good‟ behaviour. To her are attributed all the virtues
associated with patriarchal femininity and domesticity. She‟s modest, kind, morally upright,
unassuming, self-sacrificing and nurturing. She makes the home a safe haven for her husband,
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takes care of the children etc. If she has a career, she ought to juggle it with family if she has to
maintain the tag of goodness.
They argue that the traits associated with women are not in-born. They are learned from culture,
and can thus be un-learned.
As a movement, feminism seeks to promote gender equality for the benefit of both gender. It is
thus a form of „activism‟ against patriarchal thinking. This in turn means that a text that
promotes women over men promotes a sexist ideology!
10.4 Feminism and Literature
A critic of a text on feminist theory examines the ways in which the text reinforces patriarchy
with a view to seeing how it can be resisted. This is to say that a feminist critic reads „against the
grain‟ of the text‟s apparent intention. Feminists believe that patriarchal literature is usually
unconscious of the sexist ideology it promotes, and therefore sees nothing wrong with its own
sexism.
A literary critic of a text seeks to see how a text reinforces patriarchal thinking, or how the writer
tries to deconstruct patriarchy to create a just society. The critic may also want to celebrate the
various ways in which women beat the traditional gender roles to assert their position in society.
One may also examine the ways in which a text is conflicted in response to patriarchal ideology
i.e. how do the characters resist patriarchy, and how on the other hand are they subject to it.
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10.5 Tenets of Feminist Theory
1. Women are oppressed economically, politically, socially and psychologically, and this
happens through patriarchal ideology.
2. In a patriarchy society, the woman is marginalized, she is the „other‟, and she‟s only
defined in her difference from male norms and values.
3. Society is deeply rooted in patriarchal ideology, such that the Bible, the myths and fairly
tales are all influenced by patriarchal thinking. They portray women as the origin of sin
and death (in the Bible) and helpless (in Monster tales).
4. While biology determines our sex (male or female) culture determines our gender
(masculine of feminine). All the traits we associate with feminine behaviour are learned,
not inborn.
5. Feminists‟ theory aims at changing the world by promoting gender equality. All feminist
activity is therefore a form of „activism‟ against patriarchy for the benefit of both gender.
10.6 Questions Feminist Critics ask about a Literary Text

1. Does the work reinforce or undermine patriarchal ideology?
2. Is the text ideologically conflicted? i.e. Does the text have both feminist and patriarchal
agenda.
3. Does the work suggest ways in which women‟s situation in the world might be
improved?
4. Does the work explore the ways in which cultural factors intersect with race or class to
produce women‟s experience?
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5. What might an examination of the author‟s style contribute to delineating a specifically
feminine form of writing?
10.7 SUMMARY
In this lecture we have discussed the ideological postulations of the feminist movement, and how
the thinking of the movement can be used in the analysis of literary texts. Specifically, we have
seen that feminism is a kind of „protest‟ against tradition. We have also seen that the role of a
feminist critic is to isolate patriarchal ideology in a text so as to oppose it.
10.8 ACTIVITIES
Read Mariama Ba‟s So Long a Letter or Majorie Oludhe Macgoye‟s Coming to Birth and
discuss the feminist ideology they promote. Are there instances of sexist ideology?

Mohanty, Chandra et al (eds), Third World Women and the Politics of Feminism, Bloomington,
Indiana UP. 1991.
Moi, Toril, Sexual/Textual Politics: Feminist Literary Theory, New York. Methuen. 1985.
Todd, Janet, Feminist Literary History, New York. Routledge, 1988.
Woolf, Virginia, A room of One‟s Own, London, Hugarth, 1929.
Tyson, Louis, Critical Theory Today: A User Friendly Guide. Garland, US.
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LECTURE ELEVEN
NEW CRITICISM (FORMALISM)
11.1 INTRODUCTION
In this unit we shall discuss New Criticism, another critical theory in literature. We shall see how
the various elements in a text acquire unity, as well as the necessity of textual evidence in
validating textual interpretation. We shall also discuss the challenges of the critical approach
proposed by New Critics before we look at some questions we ask when reading a text from the
New Critical perspective.

1. Discuss the approaches adopted by New Critics in textual analysis
2. Demonstrate how a texts many elements achieve organic unity.
3. Demonstrate how the tenets of New Criticism can be applied in textual analysis.
11.3 New Critical Approaches to Textual analysis
New criticism is a field of literary inquiry that dominated literary studies from the 1920s through
the 1960s; and which has become a favourite method of high school and university instruction in
literary studies. As a theory therefore, new criticism occupies a very unusual position in the field
of literary study especially with regard to writing university papers and examinations.
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New criticism emphasizes on „close reading‟ of a literary text. It argues for the necessity of
textual evidence in validating textual interpretations. For instance if you are analyzing a poem
and your argument is that the poem contains a metaphor, you must point at that metaphor in the
poem. Otherwise you would be doing guesswork! New criticism calls for the use of concrete,
specific examples from the text itself to support one‟s interpretation.
Before the rise of new criticism, interpreting a literary text had to rely on studying the author‟s
life and the epoch in which he wrote so as to determine his intentions, or what new critics call
„authorial intention’. This approach, then known as biographical-historical criticism examined
the text‟s „content‟ rather than examining the text itself. During this time, scholars viewed the
text merely as an adjunct of history, as an illustration of the „spirit of the times‟, not as an art
object worthy of study for its own sake.
With the rise of new criticism, the „text itself‟ became the battle-cry. They argued that although
the life history and the period were important, they did not help in analyzing the text. For
instance, they observed that it was not possible to establish the author‟s intended meaning. And
sometimes the texts meaning is usually different from the author‟s intended meaning. New critics
William Wimsatt and Monroe Beardsley coined the term „intentional fallacy’ to refer to the
mistaken belief that the author‟s intention could help in uncovering a text‟s meaning.
Similarly, the new critics argued that we cannot rely on the reader‟s personal response to uncover
the meaning of a text. They argued that a reader‟s interpretation of a text may be influenced by
his/her past experiences or other personal biases rather than by the text. They coined the term
„Affective fallacy’ to refer to the mistaken belief that a reader‟s „personal‟ response could help
interpret a text. The affective fallacy, they noted, often leads to emotional, impressionistic
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responses, and also accounts for relativism (the text means whatever any reader thinks it means).
This would lead to chaos in that there would be no standards of evaluating texts. This way, even
mad people would project their own meanings.
For the new critics, the only way to know the author‟s intentions or the readers proper
interpretation is to „closely read‟ the text itself for evidence of a text‟s formal elements (Images,
symbols, metaphors, rhyme, meter, setting, point of view, characterization, plot etc.). They reject
an interpretation based on extra-textual evidence such as the author‟s biography, historical or
cultural contexts.
According to the new critics, a literary text is an autonomous, timeless object. Whereas readers
may change, the text remains the same. Indeed they asserted that the meaning of a poem could
not be explained by paraphrasing it, or translating it, change one line or image, for this would
result to a different, new poem. This is what they called „heresy of paraphrase‟.
11.4 How Formal elements in a text achieve organic unity
The new critics argued that all the formal elements (style, plot, characters etc) of a text must
work together to produce an inseparable whole. A text is said to have organic unity if all its
elements work together to establish its „theme‟; or the overall meaning of the work. If any of
these elements obstructs meaning it should be removed. They explained that a text‟s organic
unity is an indicator of a text‟s claim to greatness. Therefore, all the multiple and conflicting
meanings produced by a texts formal elements (paradoxes, ironies, ambiguities and tensions)
must be harmonized by their contribution to the theme. In other words, all the formal aspects
must have a bearing on the theme of the text. The theme serves as a commentary on human
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values, nature or condition, and is the pillar upon which a text is constructed. It is thus the goal of
any text.
New critics therefore believed that a text could be understood by understanding its form, the
reason they are also called ‘formalists’. Other formal aspects include figurative language,
images, symbols, metaphors and similes.
For new critics, those interpretations for which the evidence could not be obtained from the text
itself were invalid. Where a word/statement seemed to be ambiguous, (having more than one
possible interpretation) the formalists relied on the theme to identify the most suitable
alternative. Theme is that message in the text that carries overall human significance, and which
can be supported at any stage of the text. On the other hand, the psychological state of authors or
characters was not necessary. Their interpretation stayed within the context created by the text
itself. Therefore they referred to their critical practice as „intrinsic criticism‟ as opposed to the
„extrinsic criticism‟ used by their predecessors, and which often went outside the text.
11.5 The Question of a ‘Single Best Interpretation’
New critics believed that by studying formal aspects, it was possible to discover a single,
accurate interpretation of a text by examining its organic unity.
However in the 1930s IA Richards questioned the claim of a single, objective interpretation of a
literary text. Because of the new critic‟s focus on textual detail, their method best worked on
short texts such as poems and short stories. In the analysis of larger texts such as novels, plays
and long poems, they realized that the method would not work. They therefore usually picked on
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some aspect of the work for analysis. For example they would isolate imagery, role of the
specific character, the meaning of time in the work, the setting etc. for analysis. The aspect
identified for analysis had to be linked with the major theme of the work, and consequently to the
unity of the work as a whole.
The greatest challenge to new critical approach is the assumption that a text is independent of the
history and culture that produced it. It is also criticized for its claim of a „single, objective
meaning‟.
11.6 Questions New Critics Ask Literary Texts
 How do the text‟s formal elements, all work together to support the overall meaning of
the work (Theme)?
 How does a specific element work to support the theme/overall meaning of the work?
11.7 SUMMARY
In this lecture we have discussed the argument by New Critics that the text should guide the
interpretive process and that evidence should emanate from the text itself. We have also seen
how „theme‟ is the centre pillar in textual unity and interpretation. We have also discussed the
criticism leveled against New Critics for their claim of „objective interpretation‟. We have also
asked ourselves question to guide us in responding to a literary text.
11.8 ACTIVITIES
Referring to Jonathan Kariara‟s poem ‘Building the Nation’ in Poems From East Africa discuss
how the various formal components work together to bring about the main theme of the poem.
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Tyson, Lois. Critical Theory Today: A User Friendly Guide. Garland .New York. 1999.
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LECTURE TWELVE
READER-RESPONSE THEORY
12.1 INTRODUCTION
Let us now discuss another theory- the reader-response theory- which is a response to New
Criticism, and which continues to influence how literary texts are interpreted. In this theory we
interrogate the argument that the reader gives meaning to a text he‟s reading. We shall therefore
see the role played by the reader in constructing textual meaning; discuss the various types of
readers and the various branches of this theory. We shall also try to use the ideas generated by
our understanding of this theory to analyze literary texts.
By the end of this lecture you should be able to;
1. Discuss the role of the reader in generating textual meaning
2. Define a reader and the various types of readers
3. Discuss the basic tenets of the Reader-Reader-Response theory.
4. Use the reader-response theory in the analysis of a literary text.
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12.3 How Readers Respond to Literary Texts
This critical approach focuses on how a reader like you responds to a literary text in the process
of reading and after reading. Attention to the reading process emerged during the 1930s as a
reaction against a growing tendency to reject the reader‟s role in creating meaning of a text. This
tendency was perpetuated by the New Critics who believed that a text‟s meaning is contained in
the text alone. The New Critics believed that textual meaning is not a product of the author‟s
intention, and does not depend on the reader‟s response.
The Reader-Response theory argues that what a text is cannot be separated from what it does.
Basically, Reader-Response theorists share two beliefs:
1. The role of the reader cannot be ignored in our understanding of literary texts.
2. Readers do not passively consume the meaning presented to them by a text. They
participate actively in enriching its meaning by bringing in their experiences and
knowledge of the world. This means that different readers of the same text will make
varied interpretations of the same. Even the same reader of the same text on two different
occasions might produce different meanings due to changes in mood, purpose,
experiences, thinking etc. For example a statement like, „There is no one at home on
Sundays‟ will be interpreted differently by a friend (meaning there‟s no need of him
checking on you on Sunday) and a thief (meaning that‟s an opportune moment to break
into it).
From a Reader- Response perspective, it is possible to argue that the text doesn‟t exist at all,
except as it is created by readers.
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12.4 Who is a Reader?
Reader-Response theorists analyze the reading experience as a reader encountering a specific
text. A reader is thus a critic analyzing his/her own reading experience of a specific text
according to specific Reader-Response principles. Let us examine some of these principles.
Types of Readers
1. The informed Reader- This is the reader who has attained the literary competence
necessary to analyze the text. He understands a text‟s linguistic and literary complexity,
and tries as much as possible to suppress his personal dimension in his response. In short,
an informed reader is a professional in the literary discipline. He may also be called the
„educated reader‟.
2. The implied Reader- This term was popularized by Wolfgang Iser to refer to that reader
that the text seems to be addressing. The implied reader is established by studying the
style and the apparent „attitude‟ of the narrative towards the reader. This is to say that the
implied reader of Mariama Ba‟s So Long a Letter is not the implied reader of V.S
Naipaul‟s Miguel Street. The implied reader can also be referred to as the „intended
reader‟ or the „narratee‟.
A Reader –Response analysis of a literary text is often an analysis not of the text itself, but of the
responses of the actual readers towards the text. Textual interpretation is thus an on-going
process that evolves as readers use different strategies to interpret a text. Depending on the
strategy adopted by a reader, the Reader-Response theory may be divided into 5 types.
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12.5 Types of Reader-Response Theories/Approaches
1. Transactional Reader-Response Theory
The premises of this approach were formulated by Louise Rosenblatt. The Transactional Reader-
Response Theory analyses the transaction between the text and the reader. Rosenblatt claims that
both the text and the reader have to enter into a form of „transaction‟ that is necessary in the
production of meaning.
Rosenblatt argues that as we read a text, it acts as a „stimulus‟ to our mind so that we respond in
our own personal way, drawing from our imagination and experience of the world. We have
certain feelings, associations and memories as we read through a text.
As we read however, the text acts as a „blue print‟ that we can use to compare with our own
experiences, and to correct our understanding of the universe. Thus, the text guides our self-
corrective process as we read and „after‟ reading.
In order for this transaction to occur, our approach to the text must be aesthetic rather than
efferent. (i.e. we must experience a personal relationship with the text rather than focusing on the
„facts‟ contained in the text). It is the aesthetic mode that encourages us to make judgments
relying on our pre-reading experiences and the post-reading experience.
Every text therefore offers two types of meanings; determinate and indeterminate meaning.
„Determinate meaning‟ refers to the „facts‟ of the text. i.e. the certain events or descriptions
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clearly stated on the pages of the text. „Indeterminate meaning‟ refers to the „gaps‟ which allow
or invite readers to make their own interpretations.
The interplay between the determinate and indeterminate meanings results in several things.
Anticipation of what will come next, thinking back to what we‟ve read earlier in the text,
fulfillment or disappointment of our anticipation, revision of our understanding of the characters
and events etc. Due to these shifts, it is apparent that the text itself guides us through the reading
process, as well as in projecting meaning onto it.
2. Affective Stylistics
In this approach, the text is examined closely, often line-by-line or word-by word in order to
understand how (stylistics) affects (affective) the reader in the process of reading.
The text is assumed to consist of two components. The text itself; and the results it produces
within the reader. Affective stylistics is thus a cognitive analysis of the mental processes
produced by „specific‟ elements in the text. It is the phrase-by-phrase analysis of how the text
structures the reader‟s response. This approach recognizes that how phrases are structured may
swing a readers‟ responses, let‟s say by shifting moods and perceptions at various points. Let us
examine the following example given by Fish.
„That Judas perished by hanging himself, there is no certainty in scripture; though in one place it
seems to affirm it…‟ (71).
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The question we need to ask about the above statement is not what the sentence means, but rather
what it „does‟ to the reader. It only moves the reader from certainty to uncertainty about its truth.
One can accurately say that it says nothing about the death of Judas.
Such are the analyses done by Reader-Response critics of the affective stylistics strand in order
to establish how a text structures the reader‟s response while reading. Thus, the meaning of a text
is not in what it says but in „our experience‟ of what the text does to us as we read it. Fish‟s
example is therefore not about Judas or scripture, but about the experience of reading.
A critic using this approach will seek to prove that the particular text is about the experience of
reading. The critic will try to show that the difficulties involved in reading and interpreting the
work are a kind of a reading experience. For instance, I may claim that Ngugi wa Thiong‟o‟s
A Grain of Wheat, provides a reading experience that keeps the reader off-balance, unsure of
how to interpret the characters and events unfolded by the plot. I would begin by analyzing
specific areas that produce the uncertainty. Then I would show that my reading uncertainty is
mirrored in Njoroge‟s uncertainty- In his inability to interpret Mwihaki.
In summary, practitioners of affective stylistics view the text as an „experience that occurs within
the reader‟, rather than an independent object.
3. Subjective Reader-Response
The premises of this approach were proposed by David Bleich. The theory argues that „the
reader‟s is the text‟. He holds that there is no literary text beyond the meanings created by
readers‟ interpretations. He also argues that what we call a „text‟ is merely a written response of
readers.
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How does Bleich define a text?
Bleich differentiates between „real objects‟ and „symbolic objects‟. Real objects are physical
things such as tables, chairs, books etc. the printed pages of a text are real objects. Symbolic
objects are the experiences created when one reads the printed pages. The symbolic objects do
not occur in the physical world, but rather in the conceptual world (in the mind of the reader).
Bleich therefore refers to reading as „symbolization‟. When we interpret a text, we are
interpreting our own symbolization (the concepts we‟ve created in our minds). He thus calls the
act of interpretation „resymbolization‟, so that our evaluation of the ideas in a text is an act of
resymbolization. He concludes therefore that the „text‟ is not what is found on the page, but what
is found in our minds.
The text in the mind is the one analyzed by subjective Reader-Response critics. For purposes of
clarity, this text refers to the written responses of readers.
Bleich argues for experience-oriented responses in which the critic brings together specific
textual elements, specific personal responses and the meaning conveyed by the text as a result of
his/her personal encounter with it. He believed that even when we think we are making an
„objective‟ response to a text, the sources of our responses i.e. in the personal, subjective
responses evoked by the text.
4. Psychological Reader-Response Theory
The premises of this approach were proposed by Norman Holland, a psychoanalyst critic.
Holland focuses on what readers‟ interpretations reveal about themselves, not about the text. He
believes that readers‟ motives strongly influence how they read.
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He believes that we react to literary texts with the same psychological responses as in our daily
lives. For instance, the situations that cause my defenses to emerge in real life will cause my
defenses to emerge when I read. If am quick to dislike drunkards in real life, I will be quick to
dislike the fictional drunk in the text. My defense in these situations might be to dislike the text,
misunderstand it, or misinterpret it.
However, since all texts will be some way arouse my defenses by tapping some fears or
forbidden desires, I have to develop a way of coping if am to read at all. That coping process is
what Holland calls „interpretation‟.
The immediate goal of interpretation will be to fulfill my psychological needs and desires. If a
text seems to threaten my physiological equilibrium, I must interpret it in a way that will restore
that equilibrium. If I have at one point in life been oppressed, I am likely to identify with the
oppressed character in the text.
The intricate pattern of our psychological conflicts and coping strategies are what Holland calls
„Identity theme‟. He argues that we project that pattern into every situation we encounter, and
thus perceive the world through the lens of our psychological experience.
While reading, we unconsciously re-create in the text the world that exists in our minds. Our
interpretations are therefore products of the fears, defenses, needs and desires we project into the
text. A literary interpretation, being a psychological process rather than an intellectual one, may
not reveal the meaning of the text, but the psychology of the reader.
Holland‟s definition of interpretation can be summarized as a process consisting of three stages
or modes that occur as we read:
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a. The defense mode: Our psychological defenses are raised by the text.
b. The fantasy mode: We find a way to interpret the text that will tranquilize those defenses.
We seek to protect our psychological equilibrium.
c. The transformation mode: we transform the defense and fantasy modes into an abstract
interpretation so as to get a psychological satisfaction we suppress the anxiety producing
defenses and guilt producing fantasies that underlie our assessment of the text.
5. Social Reader –Response Theory
This approach is associated with the later works of Stanley Fish. This theory holds that what we
take to be our individual subjective responses to a text are actually products of the „interpretive
community‟. To which we belong. By „interpretive community‟ Fish refers to those critics who
share the interpretive strategies we bring to texts when we read.
These interpretive strategies result from social interactions in schools, churches and cultures. The
reader is thus seen as a socially indoctrinated being that relies on this indoctrination in making
textual responses.
Readers belonging to a certain interpretive community come to the text already predisposed to
interpret it in a certain way. In other words, readers do not really interpret a text, they create it.
The social Reader-Response theory indicates that no interpretation and therefore no form of
criticism can claim to reveal what‟s in a text. Each interpretation depends on the interpretive
strategies employed.
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12.6 Questions Reader-Response critics ask about texts
1. Transactional Reader-Response Theory.
 How does a text‟s indeterminacy function as a stimulus to its interpretation. (i.e.
what events/descriptions are omitted or unexplained, or what images might have
multiple associations, and how do these evoke a response from the reader?
 How does the text lead us to correct our knowledge, experience or feelings as we
read?
2. Affective stylists Reader Response Theory
 How does a phrase-by-phrase analysis of what a text does to the reader differ
from what it „says‟ or means?
 How is the text about the reader?
3. Psychological Reader –Response Theory
 Drawing from the writers biographical information, what is his/her identity
theme?
 How does the author‟s identity theme express itself in his works(s)?
4. Social Reader-Response Theory
 What does the critical material about a specific text suggest about how readers re-
created the text by use of their interpretive strategies?
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 How does the ideological projections of critical material suggest their interpretive
strategies or epoch when they wrote?
5. Subjective Reader-response theory
 In what way are a reader‟s personal responses to a text the source of their formal
interpretations?
12.7 SUMMARY
In this lecture we have argued for the importance of the reader in uncovering the meaning of a
text. We have also defined a reader and the types of readers. We have also discussed the various
strands of this theory as well as the questions we should ask ourselves in analyzing a literary text
using this theory.
12.8 ACTIVITIES
In note form, highlight the basic tenets of the reader response theory.

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LECTURE THIRTEEN
T.S ELIOT’S THEORY OF ‘THE GREAT TRADITION’
13.1 INTRODUCTION
In this lecture we shall interrogate the ideas of T.S.Eliot and see how they aid us in interpreting a
literary text. Specifically, we shall interrogate the place of literary history in textual composition
and criticism. We shall see how the works of early writers informs current writing. We shall also
see how the history of literature in Africa can help us in understanding modern texts.

1. Discuss T.S Eliot‟s Theory of Great Tradition.
2. Illustrate how the theory of Great Tradition may be used in analyzing literary texts.
3. Illustrate the significance of Africa‟s literary traditions in textual analysis.
13.3 The influence of Past literary works on Modern Texts

The ideas of Eliot are contained in his essay, ‘Tradition and the Individual Talent’ (1919)
Eliot argues that an artist draws much of his material from other artists who have written before
him. Although we read a text to identify what „new‟ the artist has to say, we soon realize that he
draws heavily from his predecessors. He argues that if we read a text with this understanding,
„We shall often find that not only the best, but the most individual parts of his work may be those
in which the dead poets, his ancestors, assert their immortality most vigorously‟ (14).
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He however argues that this borrowing from the established tradition does not imply blindly
handing down from one generation to another. He feels that such tradition ought to be
discouraged because it would imply „repetition‟ of what was said before. To him, tradition
cannot be inherited, but has to be obtained through great labour.
The artist needs to feel the presence of history, which in turn ought to compel him to write
bearing in mind the literature written in the past. He says that the „Historical sense compels a
man to write not merely with his own generation in his bones, but with a feeling that the whole
of the literature of Europe from Homer and within it the whole of literature of his own
country‟has a simultaneous existence and composes a simultaneous order (14).
This means that to him, tradition is timeless and placeless. In other words, a writer who is
conscious of the literature before his time is also conscious of his own contemporariness
and relevance.
Eliot further argues that no poet/artist can bring about the meaning of existence alone; he has to
be compared and contrasted with others before him, and others of his time. Therefore no artist
can be considered „unique‟ in his own, individual sense. His uniqueness must be informed by the
conformity or difference from the works that have come before him and those done by others
during his time.
Therefore, any new work of art will be „judged‟ by the standards established before its creation.
To judge is not to say the work is „good‟ or „bad‟, but to establish the extent to which it bears the
history of literature of his society in mind. In the criticism of African literature where writing
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came recently with the British colonizers, one is right to draw from the oral traditions of his
community.
Finally, Eliot argues that an artist cannot merely take history as a lump, a bolus, a whole and
blindly borrow from it. He needs to be conscious that society is always changing, and so does the
mind. He must be aware of the changes in his society, and bear in mind the main current at the
time he writes. In other words, the writer ought to be a keen observer of his time, seeing how it
denotes from the past of the society itself.
13.4 What is the Relevance of Eliot’s Ideas to an African Student of

Literature?
Every student, critic and writer in the continent requires an awareness of African history, as well
as African literary traditions. We need to be aware of the existence of literature in Africa before
the colonial invasion in form of oral literature. We also need an awareness of colonization and its
impact on cultures and literatures of Africa. This history moves on to the post-colonial Africa
and the emergence of neo-colonialism.
The influence of external ideology and other literary movements also form part of African
experience and history. These ideological movements include Marxism, feminism and the like.
Finally, Eliot calls upon us to be aware of the various literatures that have emerged in Africa as a
result of our historical and literary experience. This is possible through wide reading. We should
then ask ourselves how these factors inform on the specifics works we are reading. For instance,
how is Okot P‟Bitek‟s Song of Lawino informed by the African oral traditions?
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13.5 SUMMARY
In this lecture we have discussed T.S Eliot‟s argument that in interpreting a text we need to bear
the history of that literature in mind, especially the great works of those who wrote before us so
as to continue in that tradition of greatness. We have also discussed how an African student may
use Eliot‟s ideas in criticism if African literature.
13.6 ACTIVITIES
Read Francis Imbugas Shrine of Tears and demonstrate how it is moulded on T.S Eliot‟s theory
of „The Great Tradition‟.

Selden, Raman. (ed). The Theory of Criticism: From Plato to the Present. Longman. London.
1988.
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LECTURE FOURTEEN
POST-COLONIAL LITERARY THEORY
14.1 INTRODUCTION
After the colonial plunder of Africa there emerged a new crop of African rulers who behaved
more or less the same as the colonizer, leading to massive human suffering in a once peaceful
continent. These rulers continued with the legacy bequeathed them by the colonizer. In this unit
we discuss the experience of the colonized peoples of the world and how the colonial experience
re-defines human identity. We shall also discuss colonial ideology to understand the process of
colonial subjugation. We shall then look at what constitutes post-colonial writings, themes in
post-colonial literature and the debates about what constitutes „post-coloniality. We shall then
see how as a critic you can use the knowledge of post-colonial theory to analyze literary texts.

By the end of this lecture you should be able to;
1. Discuss the underlying principles of post-colonialism.
2. Discuss the relationship between colonial ideology and identity.
3. Analyze literary texts using post-colonial literary criticism.
4. Define the concerns of post-colonial literature
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14.3 Foundations in Post- Colonial Criticism
Post-colonial criticism emerged as a powerful force in literary studies in the early 1990‟s.
The history of post-colonial studies dates back in the 15th century when Europe began the
struggle to control the so called New World. Spain, France, England, Portugal and the
Netherlands were the main contenders for the plunder of both natural and human resources.
During the 19th century Britain emerged as the largest imperial power. By the turn of the 20 th
century Britain ruled ¼ of the earth. Some of her colonies included India, Australia, New
Zealand, Canada, Ireland, West Indies, Kenya and several other African countries. Her former
colonies have come to be known as the „Commonwealth‟. Britain‟s influence started to wane
around 1947, when India gained independence. Other colonies followed suit, and by 1980,
Britain had lost all but a few of her colonial holdings.
Post-colonial criticism analyses literature produced by cultures that developed in response to
colonial domination. It includes literature written by colonizers, as well as the colonized and
formerly colonized peoples.
As a framework upon which we might analyze a text, post-colonial criticism seeks to understand
the operations of colonialist and anti-colonialist ideologies.
14.4 Post-Colonialism and cultural Identity
Post- colonial critics focus mainly on the „cultural colonization‟ that took place when the
imperial culture invaded local cultures. There was a kind of imposition of British culture into the
native cultures, such that post-colonial cultures include a merger of and antagonism between the
culture of the colonizer and that of the colonized. British intrusion into the cultures of her
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colonies was so intense that it intruded into government, education, cultural values as well as the
daily lives of her colonial subjects.
That is to say that although the colonizers left their colonies, there has been a serious precipitate
of cultural colonization, an inculcation of British education, culture and values that degrade the
culture, morals and education systems of formerly colonized peoples.
The natives were left with a „psychological inheritance‟ of a negative self –image and hatred of
their own cultures. This has in turn led to loss of a substantial material of their original, pre-
colonial culture. Therefore, a good deal of post-colonial criticism addresses the problem of
cultural identity as represented in post-colonial literature.
14.5 Colonialist Ideology

Also known as colonialist discourse, colonialist ideology is based on the colonizers
assumption of their own superiority, over the original inhabitants of the lands they
invaded.
They believed that only their culture was civilized, sophisticated and „metropolitan‟. On the
contrary, the natives were defined as savage, barbaric, backward and undeveloped. The
colonizers therefore ignored the customs, religions and morals of their subjects. They saw
themselves as the centre from which the rest of the universe should be defined. The colonized
were seen as the „other‟. Though the process of „othering’, they divided the world into „us‟ and
„others‟. In this divide, the native was seen as the „demonic other‟. The attitude of viewing the
European culture as the standard for all mankind against which all other cultures are negatively
contrasted has come to be known as „Eurocentricism‟.
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An example of Eurocentric language is today found in the way the world has been divided into
„First world‟ (Britain, Europe and USA), „Second world‟ (Canada, Australia, New Zealand and
South Africa), „Third World‟ (India, Africa, Central and South America, South East Asia) and
„Fourth world‟ (Non-white population minorities in the 1st world, aboriginal Australians).
Another example of Eurocentricism is the so-called „orientalism‟, analyzed by Edward Said. Its
purpose is to produce a positive national self-definition for western nations, as contrasted with
the Eastern nations upon which the west projects the negative characteristics. It could be
compared to Africa‟s Negritudism. The west sees itself as kind, honest, upright and moral, as
opposed to the East that is projected as cruel, sneaky, cunning, dishonest, sexually promiscuous
and pervasive etc. When we read Native Son we see how Bigger Thomas, the protagonist and his
community are seen as „evil‟ by the oppressive white regime in the racist United States.
The colonized people did not resist colonial subjugation because they were taught to believe in
British superiority, and their own inferiority. They thus resulted in imitating the colonizers in
dress, speech, behaviour and lifestyle. This phenomenon has come to be referred to as
„mimicry’. Have you seen how our women adorn in „artificial hair‟ so as to look like the whites?
The colonized persons were left with a confused, unstable sense of oneself. Their way of
perceiving the world was divided between two antagonistic cultures; that of the colonizer and
that of the one‟s community. This phenomenon is referred to as „double consciousness’ or
‘double vision’. This led many people to be culturally alienated from their communities. A good
example of this phenomenon is captured through the characters Kabonyi and Joshua in Ngugi wa
Thiongo‟s The River between.
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14.6 The Focus of Post-Colonial Writings
Chief among the tasks of a post-colonial writer is the rejection of colonialist ideology which
defined them as inferior. This in turn implies reclaiming their pre-colonial past. One way some
writers do this is by writing in their local languages, as does Ngugi wa Thiong‟o. By doing this,
they believe that they will speak to their communities and secondly, they will be able to alienate
their colonizers from their social commitment.
Opponents of this approach feel that English should be the best language to write in for various
reasons. First, they feel that denying English language is tantamount to denying the colonial
experience, a rather hypocritical move. Secondly, they feel that English is the best language to
„write back‟, to make the colonizer know how it feels to be colonized. They also argue that
English unites the various cultures of Africa, in addition to propelling African nations into global
politics and economics.
Post-colonial theorists are also concerned with how culture changes. They argue that even if
there was no colonization, the traditional culture would have somehow changed by now. They
believe that every culture is a hybrid resulting from both pleasant and unpleasant encounters with
other cultures. This is called „hybridity’ or „syncretism’. To them colonization is an indelible
fact of history.
Some formerly colonized peoples felt the need to re-discover and affirm their pre-colonial
civilization. This emphasis on indigenous culture, contrasted with the threatening western
influences is known as „nationalism‟ or „nativism‟. According to nativists, there is a difference
between a culture changing over time and a people being „cut off‟ from their culture. A good
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example of a nativist approach to literature can be found in Okot P‟Bitek‟s, Song of Lawino
(1966).
Another area of concern for post-colonial critics is what has come to be known as „double
colonization’ by feminist critics. They argue that women in colonized nations were colonized
twice, first by their patriarchal males in the homes, and secondly, by the imperial forces. That is,
women are victims of both patriarchal ideology and colonialist ideology.
14.7 What constitutes ‘Post-Colonial’ Writings?
There has been a real problem of defining „post-Coloniality‟. First, there is a general consensus
that USA and Ireland should not be considered post-colonial nations because USA has been
independent for a very long time and secondly, because Ireland has for a long time been an
integral part of British culture. Another observations that white settler cultures have substantial
literature on anti-colonial resistance.
Thirdly, some critics observe that the term „post-colonial‟ implies that colonialization is a thing
of the past. However, through various means, the same kind of political, economic and cultural
subjugation of poor, vulnerable nations continue in the hands of international corporations from
the world‟s wealthiest nations.
Another concept of post-colonial politics is the so-called neo-colonialism, which focuses on
„internal colonization‟. The enterprise, founded on exploitation of cheap labour and corruption is
supported, when need arises, by puppet regimes; as well as by military intervention. For instance,
the latter works of John Ruganda, (A Ugandan Playwright) reflect on the rule of Idi Amin,
Uganda‟s most unpopular despot.
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Another modern form of post-colonialism is the alienating nature of education in previously
colonized nations; most post-colonial critics, especially those born in formerly colonized nations
were educated in European universities, and live abroad. They thus belong to the academic ruling
classes who have little in common with the poor, exploited, ex-colonial peoples who ironically
are the object of their concern.
Finally, there are those who feel that since post-colonial theory is being used to interpret
literature in the west, it will not help to bring into focus the works of third and fourth world
writers. There is apprehension that post-colonial literature will end up being „colonized‟ by
European norms and standards.
14.8 Themes in Post-Colonial Literature
Post colonial literature is interpreted in terms of the following themes:
1. The initial encounter with the colonizer and disruption of indigenous culture (as in
Chinua Achebe‟s Things Fall Apart).
2. The journey of the European through an unfamiliar wilderness, sometimes with a native
guide. (as in Elspeth Huxley‟s The Flame trees of Thika)
3. Othering and colonial oppression.
4. Mimicry (Imitating the colonizer‟s culture, and lifestyle and language).
5. Exile (feeling an „outsider‟ in one‟s culture, or feeding a foreigner in Britain).
6. Post independence exuberance followed by disillusionment.
7. Struggle for individual/cultural identity.
8. Themes of alienation, unhomeliness, double consciousness, syncretism and hybridity.
9. The need for continuity with a pre-colonial past (Nostalgia).

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10. Self-definition of the political future.
14.9 The Role of a Post-Colonial Critic
The major role of the post-colonial literary critic is to analyze the ways in which a literary text is
colonialist or anti-colonialist. That is, he/she interrogates the ways in which the text reinforces or
resists colonial ideology.
A text can reinforce colonialist ideology through positive portrayals of the colonizers, negative
portrayals of the colonized, or through positive representations of the benefits of colonialism for
the colonized.
A text can resist colonialist ideology by depicting the misdeeds of the colonizers, the suffering of
the colonized or the negative effects of colonialism on the colonized.
14.10 Questions Post Colonial Critics Ask About Texts
1. What does the text reveal about the problematics of post-colonial identity?
2. How does the text represent the various aspects of colonial ideology?
3. What does the text reveal about the politics/psychology of anti-colonialist resistance?
4. How do differences in culture, race, religion and sexual orientation influence a people‟s
identity?
5. What similarities exist among the literatures of different post-colonial peoples?
6. Does the text reinforce, or does it undermine colonialist ideology through its
representation of colonization and/or its inappropriate silence about the colonized people?
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14.11 SUMMARY
In this lecture we have discussed the meaning of post-colonial literature and the attitudes of the
colonizer towards the colonized. We have also seen that colonized peoples of the world are
usually made to develop a negative image of their culture by the experience of colonization. We
have also identified the specific roles of a post colonial literary critic.
14.12 ACTIVITIES
Read Ngugi wa Thiongo‟s Petals of Blood and show how the writer presents the post colonial
experience in Kenya.

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LECTURE FIFTEEN
NEW HISTORICAL CRITICISM
15.1 INTRODUCTION
In this lecture we shall discuss the New Historical critical approach. This theory challenges the
perception of „history‟ as we know it as an objective source of truth. We shall see how New
Historicists see historical events as texts that can render to interpretation, just as we do with
literary texts. We shall also see how literary texts may be analyzed using this approach.

1. Discuss the New Historical conception of history.
2. Demonstrate how literary texts may be analyzed using New Historicism.
15.3 Foundations in New Historicism
Traditionally, history was seen as an account of things that happened in the past. Historians
would normally ask, „what happened?‟ or „what does a particular event tell us about history?‟
Traditionally therefore, history is a series of events that have a linear, causal relationship, such
that one event happens after the other, or one event causes the other. The purpose of history is
thus to uncover „facts‟ in history through „objective‟ analysis, with a hope that the „facts‟ will
enable us to capture the „spirit of the times‟, the world view held by the culture that time.
92
This approach has been used in the study of literature, such that past events have been studied in
terms of the „spirit of the age‟, such as the age of reason, age of enlightenment etc. we also have
works that have been classified according to their historical periods such as the romantic,
neoclassical, modernist, postmodernist etc. For historians, history is progressive, advancing in its
moral, cultural and technological accomplishments.
For New historicists, what history presents to us is not ‘fact’, but material that is subject to
interpretation. So, when new Historicists encounter an historical event they ask, „How has the
event been interpreted?‟ „What does the interpretations tell us about the interpreters?‟ For new
historicists, reliable interpretations are difficult to produce.
Those who purport to make an ‘objective analysis’ of an event are humans, who are themselves
influenced by their „personal‟ experiences, likes and dislikes and viewpoints. They are also
influenced, consciously or unconsciously, by their own experience within their own culture. Seen
this way, even history cannot be an objective analysis of past happenings because the persons
who record history do so selectively, focusing on the key highlights, often ignoring the smaller
details. This approach ends up assuming that „power‟ should move from the top, and that the
bottom is not quite significant.
New historicists also believe that while events have causes, those causes are usually multiple,
complex and difficult to analyze. Every event is influenced by culture, and in turn it too
influences culture. This is to say that „power‟ does not emanate only from the top of the social,
economic or political structure. According to Frenchman Michel Foucault who strongly
influenced the development of this theory, power circulates in all directions, at all levels, at all
times. That is, the events that shape history are in no way linear, and in no way do they exist
93
in a causal relationship. There is always a never-ending proliferation of goods, people and ideas
through the various discourses a culture produces.
Therefore, from a new historical perspective, no discourse can singly adequately explain the
complex cultural dynamics of social power that influence history. They believe that there is no
monolithic (single, unified, universal) spirit of an age, and there is no absolute explanation of
history. Instead, there is a dynamic, unstable interplay among discourses which keep overlapping
and competing with one another. The discourses are always „negotiating‟ exchanges of power at
a given time.
It is for this reason that New historicists believe that the relationship between an individual and
society is mutual. Society influences the individual, and individuals too can find ways of
opposing authority in their personal and public lives. Therefore, no one has „absolute‟ power.
Even the toughest dictator has to rely on other powers, such as the power of religious ideology,
the legal ideology that criminalizes treason etc to survive.
In short, New historicism views historical accounts as narratives that are inevitably biased
according to the point of view, conscious or unconscious, of those who write them. And the
more „objective‟ the writer thinks he is, the more their biases are able to control their narratives.
The new historicists have successfully argued that historical analyses
a. Cannot be objective.
b. Cannot demonstrate that a particular „spirit of the times‟ accounts for the complexities of
culture.
94
c. Cannot adequately demonstrate that history is linear, causal or progressive i.e. we can‟t
understand a historical event in isolation from the multiple meanings it carried at that
time.
It is also clear that for New historicists, history is a ‘text’ that can be interpreted the same
way a literary text is interpreted. Secondly, they consider literary texts „cultural artifacts‟ that
can reveal the web of social meanings operating in the time and place the text was written. As we
said earlier, both history and literary texts are ‘narratives’ to be analyzed.
As a critical approach, new historicism focuses on marginalized historical narratives through
what they call „thick description‟. This is where they attempt to discover the meanings of a
particular cultural production (e.g. ritual ceremony, work of art etc) to the people in whose
community it occurred, and to reveal the social conventions, cultural codes and ways of seeing
the world that gave the production those meanings. Thick description focuses on the „personal‟
side of history- the history of family dynamics, leisure activities, sexual practices, child bearing
customs etc- as much or more than the traditional historical topics. This is because traditional
historicists tended to ignore or marginalize private life as subjective or irrelevant. New
historicists try to compensate for this omission by bringing to the fore issues of private life in
historical inquiry.
15.4 Tenets of New Historicism

1. The writing of history is in no way facts, but a matter of interpretations. All historical
analyses are subjective. Culture influences us.
95
2. All historical accounts are „narratives‟ that can be analyzed just as literary critics do with
all other narratives.
3. History is neither linear nor progressive
4. „Power‟ is not confirmed to a single level of society. Rather it circulates within a culture.
5. There is no monolithic/universal spirit of an age, and there is no total, absolute
explanation of history. Historical discourses are unstable and dynamic.
6. The relationship between individual identity and culture is mutual. One is shaped by
culture, and one too shapes and changes it.
15.5 New Historicism and Literature
New historicism, which emerged in the late 1970s, challenges the relationship that existed
between traditional history and literature in which a literary text could not be interpreted to mean
anything that history didn‟t authorize it to mean. History confined a critic to studying the
author‟s life in order to discover his intentions in writing the work. It also confined critics to
study the historical period in which the work was written in order to reveal the spirit of the age,
which the text was supposed to embody.
For New historicists, a text doesn‟t embody the Author‟s intentions or the spirit of the times
when it was produced. Rather, it is a cultural artifact that can tell us something about the
interplay of discourses, the web of social meanings operating in the time and place in which the
text was written, or the time it refers.
96
15.6 Questions New Historicists Ask About Literary Texts
1. How does the text function as a continuum with other historical/cultural texts (e.g. rituals,
laws, popular art forms, attitudes towards sexuality, treatment of children etc) from the
same period?
2. How does individual identity shape, and is shaped by cultural institutions?
3. How does the text promote ideologies that support/undermine the prevailing power
structures of the time it was written/interpreted? (i.e. how can the work be seen as a
framework of discourses circulating in its culture?)
4. What does the text reveal about the experiences of the persons ignored, under-represented
or misrepresented by traditional history?
5. What does the text add to our understanding of the overlap between literary and non-
literary discourses (such as political, scientific, economic, educational etc.) in specific
historical moments?
15.7 SUMMARY
In this lecture we have discussed the new-historical approach to literary texts. We have seen that
history cannot be relied upon to give us objective truths about past events. We have also seen
that history is itself a subject of literary analysis.
15.8 ACTIVITIES
Read Joe De Graft‟s Muntu and show how it can render to New Historical interpretation.
97
98
LECTURE SIXTEEN
PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY
16.1 INTRODUCTION
Psychoanalysis is a theory that analyses how the human mind works to see how it influences how
we respond to our environment. It also looks at how literature is a product of these mental
processes. The theory is attributed to Sigmund Freud (1956-1939), an Austrian doctor. This
theory was a product of the intellectual climate in which he lived, on one hand, and the social
climate in which he grew up on the other.
In this lecture we shall look at the social influences of Freud‟s theory, the basic principles of his
theory, the various levels of consciousness and how his ideas may be used in interpreting
„unconscious products of the mind‟, literature included.
1. Discuss the development of psychoanalysis
2. Analyze the key tenets of psychoanalysis.
3. Suggest ways in which psychoanalysis can be used in analyzing literary texts.
99
16.3 Foundations of Psychoanalysis
During Freud‟s time, Austria was a highly paternalistic society typical of the Jewish culture.
The society was also highly autocratic and intensely Catholic. This meant that the moral fabric of
the Victorian era was extremely rigid, and people suffered from some form of sexual difficulty
since sex was one of the major areas of social taboo. Because of this, many people developed
mental problems. Freud set about trying to understand the behaviour of his patients.
At first he used various hypnotic techniques (soothing and consoling the patient) in the treatment
of mental illness. He discovered that under hypnosis, it was often possible for the patient to recall
incidents and feelings which were instrumental in producing a symptom. He discovered that the
recovery of such painful memories and the emotional experiences were somehow therapeutic.
Later he realized that by letting patients talk out their problems they experienced some relief. He
therefore encouraged „transference’, a method which involved getting the patients transfer their
problems to him. He discovered that when patients told him their problems they experienced
emotional relief.
He later realized that by letting the patient recline on a couch, relax and allow his mind free
range, it was possible to produce a running account of the patient‟s mental processes. He soon
found out that an analysis of the patients‟ dreams was a useful tool of understanding the
problem. He therefore allowed reliving of emotions through a method he called „free
association’.
100
Freud began to realize that many of his patients‟ problems involved a strong sexual conflict of
some sort. At first he thought that these problems arose out of childhood trauma. Later he
concluded that they resulted from infantile wishes and desires which were not allowed to develop
by the strictly moralist society.
Freud felt that early life experiences were most influential in making up adult personality. He
also observed that these childhood experiences could be re-aroused by later experiences in adult
life.
16.4 Principles of Psychoanalysis
Freud thus divided the human mind into two: the conscious and the unconscious. He called the
unconscious the id. He noted that the overall objective of any act was geared towards hedonism
(maximum pleasure). The id, he observed, was the seat of all pleasure. There are no restrictions
of what one may think in the realm of the id.He also noted that the unconscious material always
sought expression and often came out in some indirect fashion, such as in dreams.
As the child grows, he learns to govern his behaviour in line with the social realities he faces.
This process of control, planning and conforming to the reality of the world was named the
„ego’, or the reality principle. As an adult, one‟s activities are modified by moral values as stated
in culture. Freud called this the „superego’.
Therefore, Freud recognized three regions within the personality. The id was composed of the
various biological urges and drives, all in their primitive, unsocialized state. This is the „animal
part‟ of man. Ego was that part of personality which sought to find realistic outlets to the id
101
impulses, but keeping the person safe from his environment and painful experiences. It was
source of self control, the decision maker and judge. The superego included the person‟s moral
values, and ethics, the conscience.
16.5 The Origins of the Unconscious
The goal of psychoanalysis is to help us resolve our psychological problems. It is founded on a
belief that every adult human being has a psychological history that begins in childhood
experiences, and that these early experiences influence our behaviour. However, were are
somewhat unconscious of the influence of these childhood experiences.
The „unconscious‟ is thus the storehouse of the painful experiences fears, guilt desires and
unresolved conflicts which we would not wish to remember. These experiences are hidden from
our consciousness through the process of „repression’. This is the process through which we
„hide‟ from consciousness all painful experiences which we would not love to remember. For
instance we would like to forget the day our beloved one died. However, by repressing them, we
do not eliminate them. Instead they become powerful organizers of our current experience. They
continue to influence our thinking at all times.
The family, being our earliest source of experience, is very important in the way we perceive the
universe. In his theory Freud suggested that at an early age we all suffer from „oedipal conflict’,
(competition with the parent of the same gender for the attention and affection of the parent of
the opposite gender) and sibling rivalry. He also noted that when young girls discover that their
male counterparts have a penis, they develop „penis envy‟. This is because during patriarchal
102
Victorian age the male gender was associated with privilege and freedom. He also argued that
young boys suffer from „castration anxiety‟ (the fear that the father would castrate them).
16.6 The Defenses
Defenses are the processes by which the contents of our unconscious (usually painful
experiences) are kept in the unconscious. It ensures that the unpleasant experiences are repressed
as long as possible.
Defenses include selective perception (hearing and seeing what we want to hear and see),
selective memory (modifying our memory so that the painful experiences are kept away), denial
(believing that the problem doesn‟t exist, or the sad event never occurred) avoidance (staying
away from people/situations that might recall the repressed), displacement („taking it
out‟/blaming others who are not as threatening as the painful experience), projection
(condemning others for our problem in order to deny that we have it ourselves) and regression
(temporary return to a former psychological state).
When our defense mechanisms break down, we become helpless, and consequently develop
„anxiety‟. It manifest itself through fear, low esteem, unstable sense of self etc. anxiety therefore
involves the return of the repressed.
Freud concluded that both dreams and creative activity (where literature belongs) draw directly
on the unconscious. This means that both are subject to interpretation.
103
16.7 Interpreting Dream symbols
During sleep the unconscious is free to express itself through dream. However, even in dreams
there is some censorship so that we are protected from frightening insights of our experience.
This censorship takes the form of a „dream distortion’.
The message of the dream, the „latent content’, is altered through the process of „dream
displacement‟. Dream displacement occurs when we use a safe person, event or object to stand
in for a threatening person, event or object. The message of the dream can also be altered
through „dream condensation‟. Dream condensation occurs when one dream represents more
than one unconscious wound/conflict. For instance, my dream that am fighting a beast may
represent my battles with a difficult examination that a afraid of failing.
What we dream, the „hidden‟ facts which are symbolized by the beast for instance, is what
psychoanalysts call „manifest content’. The manifest content therefore represents something
real about our experience, or what we called latent content. A dream‟s manifest content is a kind
of dream symbolism that is subject to our interpretation.
Freud observed that since sexuality is an important reflection of our psychological being that is
often repressed by societal rules of morality our dreams about gender roles can also reveal the
meaning of dreams. To understand what the meaning of gender roles we need to understand the
imagery for sexuality in dreams.
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16.8 Sexual Symbols from the unconscious that can render to
interpretation
Male imagery or phallic symbols include those objects that physically approximate the shape of
the phallus such as towers, rockets, arrows, guns, trees, swords etc. For instance if I dream that
am being held at gun point, I might be expressing a feeling that my sexuality as a male is being
threatened. I thus develop this feeling that no man should hold me at un point.
Female imagery include enclosures and containers of any kind, such as cups, rooms, caves etc.
For instance if I dream that am trapped in a room, am expressing a fear that am being sexually
controlled by other persons as a woman. I thus develop this feeling that no woman (like myself)
should lock me in a room. Other female imagery includes all kinds of foods (anything that can
stand in for breast, or any form of emotional nurturing). For instance if I dream that am hungry
and looking for food, it could mean am in need of emotional nurturing. Water is also considered
a female imagery.
If a dream is too threatening, we often wake up as a nightmare. But if nightmares begin to occur
when we are awake, if the anxiety cannot be abated, one develops „trauma‟.
16.9 Psychoanalysis and Literature
The work of a psychoanalyst is to establish which psychoanalytic concepts are operating in the
text, and how such concepts enrich our understanding of the work.
We focus on the work‟s representation of oedipal dynamics or family dynamics in general, or the
ways in which the narrator‟s unconscious problems keep asserting themselves in the narrative.
105
16.10 Questions Psychoanalytic Critics Ask About Literary Texts
1. What unconscious (repressed) motives are operating in the character(s)?
2. What oedipal dynamics are at work? i.e. can we relate a character‟s behaviour to early
experiences in the family?
3. How can we explain character‟s behaviour, events or images in terms of specific
psychoanalytic concepts, (e.g. regression, trauma, projection, fear, death, sexuality etc).
4. In what ways is a literary text analogous to a dream? i.e. how does a character‟s dreams
reveal a projection of the unconscious/repressed?
5. What might a given interpretation of a text reveal about the psychological motives of the
readers?
6. What does the text suggest about the psychological being of the author?
16.11 SUMMARY
In this lecture we have discussed the fundamental foundations of psychoanalysis. We have also
discussed how the repressed experiences replay in dreams and literary activity, and how they can
be interpreted.
16.12 ACTIVITIES
Read Mary Karooro Okurut‟s The invisible Weevil and show how it can render to psychoanalytic
interpretation.

Tyson, Louis, Critical Theory Today, Garland, 1999.
Wright, Elizabeth, Psychoanalytic Criticism; Theory in Practice, New York. Methuen, 1984.
106
Freud, Sigmund, The Complete Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis, Trans James Strachey,
New York. W. Norton 1966.
Neel, Ann, Theories of Psychology, University of London Press. 1969.
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Bla 3235: Advanced Literary Theory: Magdalene Nyambura

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BLA 3235: ADVANCED LITERARY THEORY

composition and criticism of literature since its earliest times.

By the end of this course you are expected to:

2. Explain the significance of studying literary Theory and History

3. Discuss the earliest debates about literature and art in general

6. Illustrate the applicability of theoretical tenets in textual analysis

Blamires, Harry. A Historic of Literary Criticism. Macmillan Press. London. 1991.

INTRODUCTION......................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

INTRODUCTION TO LITERARY THEORY AND HISTORY .......................................................... 2

1.1 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................... 2

1.2 LECTURE OBJECTIVES............................................................................................................... 2

1.3 What is Literary History? ............................................................................................................. 2

1.4 What is Literary Theory? .............................................................................................................. 2

1.4.1 Nature (or characteristics) of Literature .............................................................................. 3

1.4.2 Functions of Literature ........................................................................................................ 4

1.4.3 Methods of Textual Analysis ............................................................................................... 5

1.5 Importance of Studying Literary Theory and History.................................................................. 6

1.6 SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................................... 7

1.7 ACTIVITIES ....................................................................................................................................... 7

1.8 FURTHER READING ................................................................................................................... 7

LECTURE TWO ........................................................................................................................................ 8

THEORY AND HISTORY OF AFRICAN LITERATURE ................................................................... 8

2.1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................ 8

2.2 LECTURE OBJECTIVES ................................................................................................................. 8

2.3 Earliest forms of African Literature: The Oral Literature......................................................... 8

2.4 Encounter of African Oral Literature with Colonization ......................................................... 11

2.5 The Theory of African Literature ............................................................................................... 12

2.6 SUMMARY ...................................................................................................................................... 13

2.7 ACTIVITIES .................................................................................................................................... 13

LECTURE THREE .................................................................................................................................. 15

CLASSICAL LITERARY THEORY ..................................................................................................... 15

3.1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 15

3.2 LECTURE OBJECTIVES............................................................................................................. 15

3.3 Plato‟s technique of inquiry ....................................................................................................... 15

3.4 Plato‟s Ideas about art ................................................................................................................ 16

3.5 Aristotle‟s Response to Plato ........................................................................................................... 18

3.5 SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................. 21

3.6 ACTIVITIES ............................................................................................................................... 21

3.7 FURTHER READING ................................................................................................................. 21

LECTURE FOUR ..................................................................................................................................... 22

A HISTORY OF LITERATURE IN EUROPE: THE MIDDLE AGES AND THE RENAISSANCE

4.1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 22

4.2 LECTURE OBJECTIVES............................................................................................................. 22

4.3 THE MIDDLE AGES ................................................................................................................ 22

4.4 THE RENAISSANCE ............................................................................................................... 24

4.5 SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................................... 25

4.6 ACTIVITIES .................................................................................................................................... 25

4.7 FURTHER READING ................................................................................................................. 25

A HISTORY OF LITERATURE IN EUROPE: AGE OF REASON AND THE ROMANTIC

5.1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 26

5.2 LECTURE OBJECTIVES............................................................................................................. 26

5.3 Age of Enlightenment/ Reason/Rationalism ........................................................................... 26

5.5 SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................. 28

5.6 ACTIVITIES ............................................................................................................................... 28

5.7 FURTHER READING ................................................................................................................. 29

HISTORY OF LITERATURE IN EUROPE: REALISM AND NATURALISM .............................. 30

6.1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 30

6.2 LECTURE OBJECTIVES............................................................................................................. 30