A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature

I looked for the 5th edition of this book and found it on Amazon. I ordered the product and received the 3rd edition. My professor specifically wanted the 5th edition for its content. Now I must share with another student. Amazon sucks!

I used an earlier edition of this book in an undergraduate class specifically about the criticism of literature. The class was structured such that, at each chapter, we would read it in addition to one poem, one short story, and one play. In class we discussed the given chapter and applied it to the example literature in the book. Then, we were on our own to apply the technique in an essay to one of the assigned readings.

That was in 1986. I decided to read the latest edition of the book since it had been so helpful before and I wanted to see what had changed. My edition from years ago had feminism as one of several "alternative" techniques discussed in the last chapter. Now, it is a chapter in and of itself entitled, "Feminisms." There is now also a chapter on cultural studies. Further, a number of other techniques have been added. Now, the last chapter of "alternative" techniques includes dialogics, deconstruction, reader-response, and other techniques.

I was quite surprised by the information on gender studies offered. This is a mainstream book with no hidden agenda, yet it covers the basics of even queer theory. What most impressed me was that the descriptive summaries were so thorough, yet anyone could study or teach this material no matter their political views. I suppose some people could become offended by even discussing such material, but even a conservative instructor or student could use the text, find it useful, and become informed on issues without a feeling anyone is trying to adjust their worldview in some kind of sneaky fashion.

Personally, I find the writing in the book concise and witty. As a textbook, it continues to educate without overburdening one with lengthy text. Yet it covers all of the basics and then some. As a book one might read on one's own to develop a more intimate relationship with literature, it does that too, although outside of a class, you may need to run to the dictionary here and there. Many titles of literary works are provided throughout the text that can be read as one wishes either to understand the theories mentioned better or to have the experience of reading the material with a critical eye. The book definitely deepens ones relationship to literature.

Dr. Guerin walked into the graduate classroom and placed his things on the table. Short and a bit blocky in stature, he also had hair the color of sea spray, white with darkened strands. After a few initial comments, he made this rather unusual statement:

"There's something to this idea of making contact with a book." He picked up the text, a huge tome of plays from around the world to demonstrate his point. "When you hold a book in your hands, you become intimate with it. Almost by osmosis you become aware of what is inside." Those words are not exact, but close enough.

Bibliophiles, word lovers, serious readers will understand Dr. Guerin's meaning. Open this particular book, "A Handbook," to find five approaches to evaluating literature: traditional, formalistic, psychological, mythical/archetypal, and exponential. Each approach is defined, branches are explained, and two or three works from literature are used for application and direct explanation. These works are "Young Goodman Brown," "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," and "Hamlet."

Additional approaches are explained in a last chapter: Aristotelian, feminist, genre, linguistic, rhetorical, and others.

Other blurbs and reviews indicate the five-star recommendation for use by graduate students. I found that to be true, surely. However, when I became an English teacher, I found this book to be even more valuable. This was especially true when I taught archetypes and assigned an essay relating the use of archetypes in one of the Star Wars films, then whatever work of literature we were reading at the time (perhaps "Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe).

Dr. Wilfred L. Guerin is one of the collaborators/writers of "A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature" and one of the finest professors it was my privilege to know. Although he is now retired, he teaches Catholic history and theology for the Greco Institute, associated with our local cathedral, St. John Berchmans.

Dedicated to Dr. Wilfred L. Guerin

The book is surprisingly dull, devoid of color, and largely barren of graphics, tables, concrete examples, glossary of terms, etc. There is page after page after page ad nauseum of black and white ...mostly it is words, words, words. Its approach is completely unimaginative. It is like being served white rice on a white plate on a white table in a white room with a bare light bulb hanging overhead.

Although in its 5th edition, and published in 2005, it is colorless in every way, especially in comparison to what else is available. With so many attractive texts out there that would pull a student in and keep his/her attention, this one will undoubtedly create a cacophony of snores. It is even boring to me as teacher. I cannot imagine being able to stay focused and move forward when every page seems like the one before and every chapter like the next one. how on earth will it motivate the student? The worst part of this book, in my opinion as teacher and WRITER, is that the authors seem to want to tell the readers what to think rather than setting up situations where they can use literature to think originally.

I have not seen such a boring book in a long time. I'd rather be faced with colums of numbers that go on forever than to try to teach using this snoozer. I wish there was a rating of 0 stars. I picked 1 because that was as low as the site allows.

There are easy books that discuss critical literary theory and there are dense ones. A HANDBOOK OF CRITICAL APPROACHES TO LITERATURE falls under the 'easy' category. A barometer for distinguishing the two can often be found in how often the author uses the terms 'dialectic' and 'mythopoetic' within the same sentence. Fortunately for the novice, authors Guerin, Labor, Morgan, Reesman and Willingham have written a text clearly designed for those who will be taking their first undergraduate course in literary theory. This text was originally written in 1966, when twentieth century critical theory was more or less limited to what the authors call the 'traditional' approaches, which then encompassed the New Criticism (only the text itself counted--no biographical or autobiographical material was deemed relevant), the Freudian/Psychoanalytic (the dim recesses of the author's psyche and personality were indelibly rooted in the work), the Mythical/Archetypal (enduring images or 'archetypes' transcended all cultures to emerge in all works), and Feminist (gender emasculation and castration were unconsciously infused into any work written by a male).

The explanations given to these discrete variations are well explained and bedrock. For the literary novice who wishes to know a feminist interpretation of say, Marvel's "To His Coy Mistress," this novice could do worse than to study the two pages given to this poem. The problem with this text is that it gives scant attention to recent approaches. The authors lump together in one chapter called "Additional Approaches" the following: Aristotelian Criticism, Genre Criticism, Marxist Criticism, Structuralism, Postructuralism, Deconstruction, Phenomenological Criticism, and Reader-Response Criticism. What I got from this chapter was a sort of Monarch Notes version, which, considering the level of difficulty involved in each, is not necessarily a bad thing. On the whole, Guerin et al have written and updated a valuable first text on critical theory that invites the reader to pursue the sort of inquiry that is required on the graduate level. Recommended.