Methodology of Literature 2015
The Queer Theory or Lesbian/Gay Criticism
The Queer Theory is a cultural
theory developed in the 1990s. which is related to gay(homosexual) sexuality
and gay readership. Lesbian/Gay criticism is meant to serve the interests of
sex and sexuality of a marginalized community. It has social and political
considerations also. Queer Theory helps the members of the community, who are
involved in homosexual (gay/lesbian) sexuality and remove their fear and
prejudices and bring them back to the mainstream of society. There are two branches of lesbian
theory. They are ‘Lesbian Feminism and
the ‘Queer Theory. Lesbian Feminism is originated from Feminism in 1980s. Feminism
cannot put up with Lesbian feminism because of the lesbian difference, such as
cultural, racial and sexual differences. The Queer Theory supports experimental
methods of sexuality such as sadism, masochism, and sadomasochism. They are
different from heterosexuality and homosexuality. The idea is heterosexuality
is natural and homosexuality is rejected as ‘the Other’. Lesbian/gay criticism
supports Virginia Woolf, Victoria Sackvelle West, Dorothy Richardson and other
writers who write about lesbian/gay instances in mainstream literature. It
brings to light homosexual instances of mainstream literature, as in war poetry
and the portrayal of soldiers bathing in public and the sight of naked dead
bodies are often homo-erotic.
Subaltern
The term ‘subaltern’ means ‘from
below’. Subaltern studies means ‘history from below- the downtrodden, the
tribals in the Indian context. These are the post colonial studies made by Homi
Bhabha and Edward Said. In his key essay titled ‘Signs taken for Wonders’ Homi
Bhabha speaks about the ‘English Book’, which is the Bible. The Bible functioned
as a sign of colonial power. The school of Subaltern studies was founded by
Ranajit Guha, a Marxist intellectual from Bengal
who was influenced by the Chinese Cultural Revolution. These post-colonial
writers and historians have produced provocative research on the history of
colonial India
which include low caste and tribal peasant insurgency, middle class (bourseosie
leadership and their ideologies of Indian nationalism, prison life, politics of
liquor and interpretations of ‘bondage’.
Dalit Literature in India
The word ‘Dalit’ means
‘oppressed’ or ‘broken’. ‘Dalit’ is a Marathi word means ‘depressed classes’.
In the 1970s ‘Dalit Panthers expanded to Scheduled tribes, poor peasants, women
and all the economically, politically
and religiously oppressed and exploited people. Dalit is not a caste but a
symbol of change and revolution.
The basic aim of Dalit literature
is the liberation of Dalits. Dalit’s struggle against casteist tradition
started in the 11th century when in Kannada state, Chennai, a
cobbler and a Vachana poet challenged the upper classes for eating the Sacred
cow. The Dalit youths started a movement called Little Magazine and drew
inspiration from the blacks in North America .
Poems, short stories and autobiographies were written in the Dalit Literature
and was dignified. The important writers were Maheswata Devi, Namdeo Deshal,
Daya Pwar and others. Dalit literature questioned the mainstream literary
theories and the
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upper caste ideologies. Dalit
literature is experience based. This “anubhava” is more convincing and better
than the “anumana” of the upper caste mainstream literature. The contribution
of Dalit literature was remarkable. Dalit writers often used the terms like
Shame, anger, sorrow and hope in their literature. Dalit literature grew in Maharashtra owing
to the legacy of Mahatma Phule and B. Ambedkar. It raised the literacy level of the Dalit and
caused great change in Indian society. It encouraged self confidence and pride
in Dalit people and helped them to write their biographies, explaining their
suffering and prepared them to demand their rights and helped their
mobilization. It stirred up thinking in Dalit intellectural. In Tamil Nadu the
literary movement developed in the 1990s.
Post Colonial Criticism
Post Colonial criticism developed
in the 1990s. The great writers of this criticism are Edward Said, Homi Bhabha,
Gayatri Spivak and Bill Ashcroft. Post colonial theory is a method of
interpreting, reading and critically evaluating the cultural practices of
colonialism. Post colonial critics question the authority of Western literature
because it is often silent about colonialism and imperialism. The Western
literature supports only White, Eurocentric ideas. There are two stages of Post
colonial criticism. In the first stage, post colonialism criticizes the Western
portrayal of colonial countries for its prejudices and limitations. In the
second stage, the post colonial writers speak of themselves and their society.
Much before the pot colonial
criticism of Edward Said and Homibhabha appeared, the ideas of resistance,
cultural nationalism and nativism arose in the context of anti-colonial
struggle in Asia, Africa and South America .
But the anti-colonial struggle in India
was much different from other colonized nations in Asia, Africa, South America and other places.Gandhi’s method of
struggle was “Satyagraha” which was based on the principle of non-violence.
Gandhi knew that the spirit of India
lies in the villages and therefore he took an anti-industrial stand. Gandhiji
wanted to save the interests of the peasant class and agricultural workers.
France Fanon calls this form of struggle as “cultural nationalism”. Gandhiji’s
major contribution to post-colonial struggle is the moral superiority of both
the individual and the culture against the colonial ruler – the British
government. Gandhiji believed in the assimilation of all cultures and
asserted Indian secularism.
Fratz Omar Fanon an Afro-Caribbean psychiatrist, philosopher,
revolutionary and writer whose books are influential in the fields of Post
colonial studies, critical theory and Marxism. His works titled “The Wretched
of the Earth” and “Black Skins, White Masks” deeply influenced the ani-colonial
struggle. Fanon was deeply interested in the psychological effects of
colonialism both on the colonizer and the colonized. He argued that the
colonization destroyed the soul of the depressed and the suffering natives
because the white people treated these natives as mere animalized things. So the
natives think of themselves as very dirty, pagan and primitive and evil human
beings and began to hate their own culture and religion. This is what happened
even in India .
Thus the natives are forced to accept western religion, values, culture and
language and puts on white masks. He cannot become fully ‘white’ and at the
same time he cannot expel the whites from his country.
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Cultural Materialism
Cultural materialism is
politicized form of historiography. It treats all literary texts part of
historical material. The term cultural materialism was given importance by
Jonathan Dollimore and Alan Sinfield. They define cultural materialism as a
critical method. Cultural materialism takes its principles from Structuralism,
Post Structuralism, Marxist and Feminist ideas and other modern methods of
critical study.
The difference between Marxist
criticism and Cultural materialism is that cultural materialism considers the
present as well as the past in the study of literary text, but Marxism
considers only the past. Cultural materialism stands for political optimism
whereas New Historicism represents political pessimism. Cultural materialism is
the British while New Historicism is American.
New Historicism
New Historicism is American
counterpart of Cultural materialism which is British. New Historicism was
coined by Steven Greenblatt. New Historicism deals with the historical, social,
economic contexts of a literary text. New historicism differs from old
historicism. Old historicism treated the literary text as the object of value
and the historical background was only of a subsidiary interest. There was no
equality between the literary text and the historical background. On the other
hand New historicism gives equal importance to both the literary text and the
historical background. New historicism accepts Derrida’s view that there is
nothing outside the text. New Historicism stands for political pessimism and
says that history is not background to texts; but it is the foreground.
Marxist criticism
Marxism is a school of thought
that has political, economic, social, literary and other bearings. It stands
for a classless society and common ownership of property. It is based on
materialist philosophy.
The Marxist view of society has
two bases, an economic base and a cultural superstructure. The first is the
means of production, distribution and exchange. The second is the world of
philosophy, art, religion, law and others. But the second base is formed and
determined through the first base. Marx and Engels did not develop any theory
of literature. Marxist criticism is that a writer’s class is reflected in
his work. It is not inspiration, or genius, that creates great art, but one’s
social context. This is mirrored from the content and style of one’s work.
Post modernism Postmodernism is a theory and practice,
which has become popular in literature and the arts since 1980s. Postmodernism accepts most of the features of
modernism such as fragmented forms of writing, random use of non-literary
things and use of parody and so on. Postmodernism developed after the Second
World War. There are certain differences between modernism and post modernism.
The modernist is sad and desperate at the state of affairs and has a tone of
lament and pessimism. On the other hand, the post modernist is glad about it,
as the fragmented state of things means joy and liberation. Post modernism does
not differentiate between ‘high class’ and ‘low class’art. But modernists did
this difference.
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The present sense of postmodernism
came to be received from Jean-Francois Lyotard’s “The postmodern condition: A
report on Knowledge’ and also Lyotard’s essay “Answering the Question: What is
Post modernism”. Lyotard defines postmodernism as a refusal to believe
metanarratives or Grand narratives (or supernarratives). He says that mini
narratives or small stories explain post modernism.
Samuel Becket’s “Waiting For
Godot” is a typical example for a postmodernist work.
Ecocriticism
Ecocriticism is the study of
literature and environment from an interdisciplinary point of view where all
sciences come together to analyze the environment and make possible solution
for the correction of the environmental situation.
Ecocritics consider other
disciplines, such as history, philosophy, ethics and psychology can be
contributors to ecocriticism.
Joseph Meeker’s “The Comody of
Survival” published in 1974 says that environmental crisis is caused mainly by
a cultural tradition in the West. They separated human culture from nature. He
says “making love not war” is superior ecological value. We must love and
protect our nature because human being is an integral part of Nature. If Nature
is destroyed, human race is also be perished.
Camilo Gomides has offered an
operational definition of ecocriticism. He defines ecocriticism as the field of
enquiry that analyzes and promotes works
of art which raise moral questions about human interactions with Nature, while
also motivating audiences to live within a limit that will be binding over
generations.
Ecofeminism
Ecofeminism says that the values
and beliefs of patriarchal society have resulted in the exploitation of women
and nature. The patriarchal society ignores women’s work, knowledge and the
immediate location in nature, where the women’s relationship with the
environment is more intimate than that of a man’s relationship with Nature.
The spiritualist part of
ecofeminism turned to native American religions, goddess worship in Hinduism
and other native cultures.
The materialist ecofeminists
think that the spiritualist group are spoiling the ecofeminist dealing with
social conditions and political decisions that encourage environment
exploitation, encourage lavish consumerism, and fail to check military
spending.
Vandana Shiva’s book titled
“Staying Alive” has become a text for ecologists and ecofeminists. Vandana
Shiva the great ecofeminist says that India has always encouraged an
environment friendly culture.
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