What is Literary Analysis?
One of this blog’s main focus is literature and the analysis thereof. But what exactly is literary analysis? To put it very simply—literary analysis is the examination and evaluation of a literary work.
In this sense, evaluation means “a critical analysis” whereas literary means “a written work.”
This is to say that literary analysis can, in fact be applied to things like comic books, mangas, and other works that might not be traditionally seen as being “literary works.” You could absolutely analyze a classic work—in fact, please go do that! It’s very fun and rewarding. But you could also do something maybe a little more outside of the traditional style! Get creative with it.
One of the reasons why literary analysis is very appealing to some writers is because it gives you room to tell everyone why you, the writer, are correct in your thinking. You present the evidence in a coherent manner, making sure it lines up with what you’re trying to say—and then you say/write/post it.
With anything of this nature, there is definitely something to be said about having some form of a structure—a foundational idea that you build off of. So, here are five of the common arguments that I see and use when reading/writing a literary analysis!
Close reading, or the Formalist method: analyzes the technical aspects of the text. Could focus on dialogue if you’re reading a play; or it could even go as far as analyzing the art if you’re reading a comic/manga!
Applied reading: this is where you, the writer, take the work and apply it to your own personal experiences! This is a highly personal/subjective way to analyze any work.
Comparative/Synergistic: this is where you compare one work against multiple other works—they could all be by the same author, but it’s not mandatory to be so.
Contextual/Historical: focuses on the historical framework of the text.
Theoretical: this is where you have a theory of your own, that you really want to convince others that it could possibly be true. You’re looking for evidence that can support your theory.
But—it’s not enough to just have the type of argument that you want to make! How are you looking at the argument? This is where Critical Lenses come into play! These are essentially ways of focusing on plot devices, style choices, and character interactions; and how they show a certain theme.
I’m going to go over 4 different types of lenses, but please know that there are SO many more!!
Psychoanalytic: this is where you’re understanding the characters mental and emotional state(s).
Feminist: Where you’d examine the story through the lens of women’s experiences.
Marxist: this is about the socio-economic issues within the text, by thinking about the text as a product of the society it came from.
Queer: all about looking at the text through that of queer identities, and the ‘queering’ of characters, actions, and/or speech.
Thank you very much for reading this post!! If you’re interested at all in learning more about literary analysis, or want to read my own analysis of a manga series I’m reading currently—then I’d ask that you consider sticking around!!
Posts might be a little slow, but I hope to get to a consistent posting schedule soon!!
