Post by Mlle Bienvenu on May 12, 2003 14:34:01 GMT -5
Over the past six weeks, we have become acquainted with several different modes of literary criticism. Some emphasize texts, while others focus upon the author or audience. Choose a text of cultural production - this may be a poem, a play, a film, a music lyric, an episode of a television show, or a representative of another form (by permission of the instructor).
Describe what various practical critiques of this work might look like, following the particular approaches we have studied thus far in the course (refer to the list below).
Certain texts may be better suited to some approaches rather than others; comment on why this might be so. You may consult your textbooks and notes in writing this exam.
Little Red Riding Hood
For my text, I chose Little Red Riding Hood (Perrault version). It is difficult to look at this text in a formalist manner because ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ is not a tale that leaped right out of the author’s head on to the page like Athena, it’s a tale which has evolved over time and passed down through an oral tradition, therefore, it does not begin it’s life sterilely on the page, but through word of mouth. There are dozen’s of different versions of this tale all around the world, such as “Little Red Cap” in Germany, and “Little Red Hat” in France. Given it’s oral tradition, it seems a very likely candidate for a reader-response type of critique. It’s oral tradition carries with it the audience-storyteller dynamic that reader-response critiques examine. The R/R critique does not alienate the reader from the process of literature. The reader is as much a part of the story as the characters themselves.
It is also possible to conduct a Marxist/Materialist critique. Little Red Riding Hood and most faerie tales usually house a ‘moral’ or a lesson in how society tells you to behave in a given situation. It would be possible to talk about Little Red Riding Hood (the character) as a lesson to children that they should not stray from the path society has set out for them. Red Riding hood is also a social commentary. Red Riding hood (the character) is the product of being spoiled rotten (In many incarnations of this tale, the Grandmother is one to give her the red riding hood.) This solves the mystery of why the grandmother is allowed to be eaten by the wolf (there is a high amount of deliberate action in a faerie tales; nothing is done without a meaning, this has come through years of refinement as the story changes hands through the generations) The grandmother (the doting grandma) and Little Red Riding Hood (the spoiled child) should be punished for their actions. There is also the dimension of societies views of sexuality intertwined within the tale.
The psychoanalytic approach would probably discuss the woods as a metaphor for the unconscious mind (as woods are wont to do in faerie tales) From a psychoanalytic perspective, Little Red Riding Hood is about a young girl’s budding sexuality and it’s unsuccessful integration of it into her everyday life. The wolf represents her carnal desires (Her Id; the wolf obsesses over food and enlightens her to the sensual (sensory) pleasures that were just beyond the well-worn path, the flowers) The woods represent her unconscious and unexplored mind, the path is her conscious or knowable mind. The wolf, as a symbol of her own carnal desires, eventually destroy the established views and morals of the society she grew up in (represented by her ailing grandma) and eventually herself.
The structuralist approach is similar to the psychoanalytic approach as in everything is symbolic but each thing does not necessarily represent an aspect of the person’s psyche. If I were doing this approach, I would address such issues as the hood and the significance of the color red (the color of passion applied to something you wear on your head, therefore a person who’s mind is consumed by desires) I would also like to discuss the woods as the wild, unknown world, the path as the known or knowable world, the flowers as a form of temptation (themselves a symbol of fertility), the wolf as a tempter (a symbol of base carnality), grandmother, again as established ideals. There is also the aspect of the items Little Red Riding hood was bringing to grandmother’s house (it is worth noting that in some versions, she brings bread and wine to her ailing grandma, possibly symbolic of body and blood of Christ which is this context might represent purity. This act of ingesting is in stark contrast to the wolf’s ingesting of the grandmother and LRRH.)
Clearly there is more to this simple faerie tale that cannot be seen just by reading the text, one must engage in careful critique (or many careful critiques from different approaches) to find the meaning behind the tales and perhaps find why they are timeless.
Little Red Riding Hood
Charles Perrault
Once upon a time there lived in a certain village a little country girl, the prettiest creature who was ever seen. Her mother was excessively fond of her; and her grandmother doted on her still more. This good woman had a little red riding hood made for her. It suited the girl so extremely well that everybody called her Little Red Riding Hood.
One day her mother, having made some cakes, said to her, "Go, my dear, and see how your grandmother is doing, for I hear she has been very ill. Take her a cake, and this little pot of butter."
Little Red Riding Hood set out immediately to go to her grandmother, who lived in another village.
As she was going through the wood, she met with a wolf, who had a very great mind to eat her up, but he dared not, because of some woodcutters working nearby in the forest. He asked her where she was going. The poor child, who did not know that it was dangerous to stay and talk to a wolf, said to him, "I am going to see my grandmother and carry her a cake and a little pot of butter from my mother."
"Does she live far off?" said the wolf
"Oh I say," answered Little Red Riding Hood; "it is beyond that mill you see there, at the first house in the village."
"Well," said the wolf, "and I'll go and see her too. I'll go this way and go you that, and we shall see who will be there first."
The wolf ran as fast as he could, taking the shortest path, and the little girl took a roundabout way, entertaining herself by gathering nuts, running after butterflies, and gathering bouquets of little flowers. It was not long before the wolf arrived at the old woman's house. He knocked at the door: tap, tap.
"Who's there?"
"Your grandchild, Little Red Riding Hood," replied the wolf, counterfeiting her voice; "who has brought you a cake and a little pot of butter sent you by mother."
The good grandmother, who was in bed, because she was somewhat ill, cried out, "Pull the bobbin, and the latch will go up."
The wolf pulled the bobbin, and the door opened, and then he immediately fell upon the good woman and ate her up in a moment, for it been more than three days since he had eaten. He then shut the door and got into the grandmother's bed, expecting Little Red Riding Hood, who came some time afterwards and knocked at the door: tap, tap.
"Who's there?"
Little Red Riding Hood, hearing the big voice of the wolf, was at first afraid; but believing her grandmother had a cold and was hoarse, answered, "It is your grandchild Little Red Riding Hood, who has brought you a cake and a little pot of butter mother sends you."
The wolf cried out to her, softening his voice as much as he could, "Pull the bobbin, and the latch will go up."
Little Red Riding Hood pulled the bobbin, and the door opened.
The wolf, seeing her come in, said to her, hiding himself under the bedclothes, "Put the cake and the little pot of butter upon the stool, and come get into bed with me."
Little Red Riding Hood took off her clothes and got into bed. She was greatly amazed to see how her grandmother looked in her nightclothes, and said to her, "Grandmother, what big arms you have!"
"All the better to hug you with, my dear."
"Grandmother, what big legs you have!"
"All the better to run with, my child."
"Grandmother, what big ears you have!"
"All the better to hear with, my child."
"Grandmother, what big eyes you have!"
"All the better to see with, my child."
"Grandmother, what big teeth you have got!"
"All the better to eat you up with."
And, saying these words, this wicked wolf fell upon Little Red Riding Hood, and ate her all up.
Formalism
Aesthetic experience is unique, powerful and significant
Liturature has formal aspects that distinguish it from other types of expression
Can be subdivided into genres
Close reading is how one should find meaning in the text
Reader response
Meaning is not wholly intrinsic to the text
Reading experience may be private and subjective (differeing opinions must be accounted for)
Texts often suppose an ideal reader
Reader is an integral part of the literature process
Marxist Materialist approach
Social text is built on the oppresiion of workers
The production and consumption of text demontrat ideologiesu
Describe what various practical critiques of this work might look like, following the particular approaches we have studied thus far in the course (refer to the list below).
Certain texts may be better suited to some approaches rather than others; comment on why this might be so. You may consult your textbooks and notes in writing this exam.
Little Red Riding Hood
For my text, I chose Little Red Riding Hood (Perrault version). It is difficult to look at this text in a formalist manner because ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ is not a tale that leaped right out of the author’s head on to the page like Athena, it’s a tale which has evolved over time and passed down through an oral tradition, therefore, it does not begin it’s life sterilely on the page, but through word of mouth. There are dozen’s of different versions of this tale all around the world, such as “Little Red Cap” in Germany, and “Little Red Hat” in France. Given it’s oral tradition, it seems a very likely candidate for a reader-response type of critique. It’s oral tradition carries with it the audience-storyteller dynamic that reader-response critiques examine. The R/R critique does not alienate the reader from the process of literature. The reader is as much a part of the story as the characters themselves.
It is also possible to conduct a Marxist/Materialist critique. Little Red Riding Hood and most faerie tales usually house a ‘moral’ or a lesson in how society tells you to behave in a given situation. It would be possible to talk about Little Red Riding Hood (the character) as a lesson to children that they should not stray from the path society has set out for them. Red Riding hood is also a social commentary. Red Riding hood (the character) is the product of being spoiled rotten (In many incarnations of this tale, the Grandmother is one to give her the red riding hood.) This solves the mystery of why the grandmother is allowed to be eaten by the wolf (there is a high amount of deliberate action in a faerie tales; nothing is done without a meaning, this has come through years of refinement as the story changes hands through the generations) The grandmother (the doting grandma) and Little Red Riding Hood (the spoiled child) should be punished for their actions. There is also the dimension of societies views of sexuality intertwined within the tale.
The psychoanalytic approach would probably discuss the woods as a metaphor for the unconscious mind (as woods are wont to do in faerie tales) From a psychoanalytic perspective, Little Red Riding Hood is about a young girl’s budding sexuality and it’s unsuccessful integration of it into her everyday life. The wolf represents her carnal desires (Her Id; the wolf obsesses over food and enlightens her to the sensual (sensory) pleasures that were just beyond the well-worn path, the flowers) The woods represent her unconscious and unexplored mind, the path is her conscious or knowable mind. The wolf, as a symbol of her own carnal desires, eventually destroy the established views and morals of the society she grew up in (represented by her ailing grandma) and eventually herself.
The structuralist approach is similar to the psychoanalytic approach as in everything is symbolic but each thing does not necessarily represent an aspect of the person’s psyche. If I were doing this approach, I would address such issues as the hood and the significance of the color red (the color of passion applied to something you wear on your head, therefore a person who’s mind is consumed by desires) I would also like to discuss the woods as the wild, unknown world, the path as the known or knowable world, the flowers as a form of temptation (themselves a symbol of fertility), the wolf as a tempter (a symbol of base carnality), grandmother, again as established ideals. There is also the aspect of the items Little Red Riding hood was bringing to grandmother’s house (it is worth noting that in some versions, she brings bread and wine to her ailing grandma, possibly symbolic of body and blood of Christ which is this context might represent purity. This act of ingesting is in stark contrast to the wolf’s ingesting of the grandmother and LRRH.)
Clearly there is more to this simple faerie tale that cannot be seen just by reading the text, one must engage in careful critique (or many careful critiques from different approaches) to find the meaning behind the tales and perhaps find why they are timeless.
Little Red Riding Hood
Charles Perrault
Once upon a time there lived in a certain village a little country girl, the prettiest creature who was ever seen. Her mother was excessively fond of her; and her grandmother doted on her still more. This good woman had a little red riding hood made for her. It suited the girl so extremely well that everybody called her Little Red Riding Hood.
One day her mother, having made some cakes, said to her, "Go, my dear, and see how your grandmother is doing, for I hear she has been very ill. Take her a cake, and this little pot of butter."
Little Red Riding Hood set out immediately to go to her grandmother, who lived in another village.
As she was going through the wood, she met with a wolf, who had a very great mind to eat her up, but he dared not, because of some woodcutters working nearby in the forest. He asked her where she was going. The poor child, who did not know that it was dangerous to stay and talk to a wolf, said to him, "I am going to see my grandmother and carry her a cake and a little pot of butter from my mother."
"Does she live far off?" said the wolf
"Oh I say," answered Little Red Riding Hood; "it is beyond that mill you see there, at the first house in the village."
"Well," said the wolf, "and I'll go and see her too. I'll go this way and go you that, and we shall see who will be there first."
The wolf ran as fast as he could, taking the shortest path, and the little girl took a roundabout way, entertaining herself by gathering nuts, running after butterflies, and gathering bouquets of little flowers. It was not long before the wolf arrived at the old woman's house. He knocked at the door: tap, tap.
"Who's there?"
"Your grandchild, Little Red Riding Hood," replied the wolf, counterfeiting her voice; "who has brought you a cake and a little pot of butter sent you by mother."
The good grandmother, who was in bed, because she was somewhat ill, cried out, "Pull the bobbin, and the latch will go up."
The wolf pulled the bobbin, and the door opened, and then he immediately fell upon the good woman and ate her up in a moment, for it been more than three days since he had eaten. He then shut the door and got into the grandmother's bed, expecting Little Red Riding Hood, who came some time afterwards and knocked at the door: tap, tap.
"Who's there?"
Little Red Riding Hood, hearing the big voice of the wolf, was at first afraid; but believing her grandmother had a cold and was hoarse, answered, "It is your grandchild Little Red Riding Hood, who has brought you a cake and a little pot of butter mother sends you."
The wolf cried out to her, softening his voice as much as he could, "Pull the bobbin, and the latch will go up."
Little Red Riding Hood pulled the bobbin, and the door opened.
The wolf, seeing her come in, said to her, hiding himself under the bedclothes, "Put the cake and the little pot of butter upon the stool, and come get into bed with me."
Little Red Riding Hood took off her clothes and got into bed. She was greatly amazed to see how her grandmother looked in her nightclothes, and said to her, "Grandmother, what big arms you have!"
"All the better to hug you with, my dear."
"Grandmother, what big legs you have!"
"All the better to run with, my child."
"Grandmother, what big ears you have!"
"All the better to hear with, my child."
"Grandmother, what big eyes you have!"
"All the better to see with, my child."
"Grandmother, what big teeth you have got!"
"All the better to eat you up with."
And, saying these words, this wicked wolf fell upon Little Red Riding Hood, and ate her all up.
Formalism
Aesthetic experience is unique, powerful and significant
Liturature has formal aspects that distinguish it from other types of expression
Can be subdivided into genres
Close reading is how one should find meaning in the text
Reader response
Meaning is not wholly intrinsic to the text
Reading experience may be private and subjective (differeing opinions must be accounted for)
Texts often suppose an ideal reader
Reader is an integral part of the literature process
Marxist Materialist approach
Social text is built on the oppresiion of workers
The production and consumption of text demontrat ideologiesu