By Kevin Kaumans
How do we decide if a story is good or not? Everyone has their own opinion on what makes a plot interesting, what makes a character well-written and what makes the writing stand out from all the other tales. Who gets the final say in if a book, movie, or television show is the greatest piece of media ever created or the worst garbage known to man?
Does this authority lie with the academics and their PhDs? Does it go to the people of that region the story is based in? There are too many variables that go into deciding how trustworthy a person needs for their critics to hold weight. In the old days, only the well-read could publish essays on the works of literature. Nowadays, however, anyone on the internet with basic editing skills can make a 3-hour long video essay on any subject of media they want.
There’s New Criticism, which is where the reader looks at a work of fiction without any outside sources or knowing anything about who the author is. Simply put, they look at the story for what it is and decide whether it holds up as a good story all by itself. While it is a very popular method of criticism, there are not really any academic articles or any sources at all to back up the critic’s argument.
Deconstructuralism is a lot more difficult and is usually only used by more experienced critics. It is a very meticulous way of looking at a work, allowing the reader to basically come to any conclusion they want. But like I said, if you are just getting into literary criticism, this is probably not the school of thought for you.
New Historicism is one I’m actually going over now in one of my classes. The opposite of New Criticism, it involves actually researching the time period a story is written or takes place in. Think of historical fiction; critics are always fact-checking how accurate the story is to the time it takes place in. For example: When watching a movie about the Wild West, something tells me the audience would have a hard time feeling immersed if the characters are driving Toyotas or Fords.
There are many more ways to look at a story, such as Gender and Feminist Criticism, though I did not talk about those two today since they’re not schools of thought I have much experience with unless I’m reading something where those two topics are the central theme. At the end of the day, there is no “best” way to criticize something. Sure, you can argue that some types of critical theories are better than others, but it is really up to you to decide which works best for you.