COMICS JOURNAL 14: Literary Theories
Some of the literary theories are listed in below.
- Structuralism (1920s-present)
- Psychoanalytic Criticism (1930s-present)
- Marxism (1930s-present)
- Feminism (1960s-present)
- Post-Structuralism (Deconstruction/Postmodernism) (1966-present)
- New Historicism (Cultural Poetics) (1980s-present)
Structuralists believe that language has patterns. Therefore, if we view literature with structuralist lens, we will check the structure and underlying principles of a writing based on a given structural system. People in the early 1900s were conservative, so, literature has to follow some writing rules and patterns in order to be classified as a good writing.
In 1930s, Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), the father of psychoanalysis, raised many people's awareness of how our thinking and behavior were unconsciously affected by childhood experience and we repress ourselves to reduce the painful experiences emotions. If we view literature with psychoanalytic lens, we will focus on the writer's psyche and his/her creative process.
During the 1930s, many people were influenced by the sociological approach by Karl Marx (1818-1883), which stated that the society and the superstructure (e.g. cultural and art) are all generated by the material base and conditions. And there are classes in the society that the repressed lower (working) class will eventually overthrown the upper and middle class's capitalist regime and form a socialist country. If we view the literature with this Marxist lens, we will consider the historical factors and material conditions that contributed to the formation of the writing.
The cultural and literature were dominated by male beliefs for centuries. However, since the 1960s, many women's writings were rediscovered, re-evaluated and collected. If we view the literature from a feminist lens, we should evaluate the writings from a less patriarchal point of view and avoid interpreting the literature based on culturally and socially constructed female traits. Gender differences should not be considered to ensure fairness.
During the late 1960s, many people started to aware that language should not be viewed as a stable, closed system that is proposed by the structuralists. The post-structuralism (also called deconstruction) viewed literature as an endless play that can never be nail down to a single meaning. When evaluating the literature using this lens, we should avoid focusing on the "origin" built into structuralism and accept new concepts that "anything goes".
New Criticism (also called Formalism) starting from the 1930s proposed to define each literary art by its own literary quality in the text, and should be free from its environment, background, and even the author who created it. History was viewed as stable. However, since the 1970s, New Historicism (also called Cultural Poetics) emphasis the opposite that literature is in fact a reflection of the historical-biographical world in which it was created. They view history skeptically. So, in the lens of New Historicism, the discourses at a given time reflects the author and his/her text which are part of the social construct.
The Understanding Comics by McCloud tells us how comics changed from era to era. For example, the earliest comics are found in cave painting and ancient Egyptian scribe. Then, artists used woodcuts to create wordless graphic novels. After printing was invented, artists use panels that consists of words and images to create sequential art for storytelling. In recent decades, comics are different between different cultures. For instance, western comics always uses action-to-action progressions and never use the aspect-to-aspect transitions to tell a story while Japanese comics uses the aspect-to-aspect a lot. Therefore, McCloud proved that history affects the comics and make it different from era to era.
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Are your writing style and content changes as you grow up?
In 1930s, Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), the father of psychoanalysis, raised many people's awareness of how our thinking and behavior were unconsciously affected by childhood experience and we repress ourselves to reduce the painful experiences emotions. If we view literature with psychoanalytic lens, we will focus on the writer's psyche and his/her creative process.
During the 1930s, many people were influenced by the sociological approach by Karl Marx (1818-1883), which stated that the society and the superstructure (e.g. cultural and art) are all generated by the material base and conditions. And there are classes in the society that the repressed lower (working) class will eventually overthrown the upper and middle class's capitalist regime and form a socialist country. If we view the literature with this Marxist lens, we will consider the historical factors and material conditions that contributed to the formation of the writing.
The cultural and literature were dominated by male beliefs for centuries. However, since the 1960s, many women's writings were rediscovered, re-evaluated and collected. If we view the literature from a feminist lens, we should evaluate the writings from a less patriarchal point of view and avoid interpreting the literature based on culturally and socially constructed female traits. Gender differences should not be considered to ensure fairness.
During the late 1960s, many people started to aware that language should not be viewed as a stable, closed system that is proposed by the structuralists. The post-structuralism (also called deconstruction) viewed literature as an endless play that can never be nail down to a single meaning. When evaluating the literature using this lens, we should avoid focusing on the "origin" built into structuralism and accept new concepts that "anything goes".
New Criticism (also called Formalism) starting from the 1930s proposed to define each literary art by its own literary quality in the text, and should be free from its environment, background, and even the author who created it. History was viewed as stable. However, since the 1970s, New Historicism (also called Cultural Poetics) emphasis the opposite that literature is in fact a reflection of the historical-biographical world in which it was created. They view history skeptically. So, in the lens of New Historicism, the discourses at a given time reflects the author and his/her text which are part of the social construct.
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Personally the New Historicism makes most sense to me because every era has its remarkable cultural norms, people in different eras have different expectations and interests, so as literature. Literature from different eras such as 1920s focusing on structuralism and 1960s promoting feminism proved that history are not stable and linear. Cultural changes will affect the literature as a result. |
| Page 18, Understanding Comics |
The Understanding Comics by McCloud tells us how comics changed from era to era. For example, the earliest comics are found in cave painting and ancient Egyptian scribe. Then, artists used woodcuts to create wordless graphic novels. After printing was invented, artists use panels that consists of words and images to create sequential art for storytelling. In recent decades, comics are different between different cultures. For instance, western comics always uses action-to-action progressions and never use the aspect-to-aspect transitions to tell a story while Japanese comics uses the aspect-to-aspect a lot. Therefore, McCloud proved that history affects the comics and make it different from era to era.
*** *** ***
Are your writing style and content changes as you grow up?
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