Note: choice of video is “Titanic”
The appendix of your book discusses a wide variety of literary critical theories and gives examples of each approach. The approaches discussed are: Formalism, New Criticism, Reader-Response, Feminist, Marxist, Psychoanalytical, Structuralism, Deconstruction, Cultural Studies, New Historicism, Queer Theory, Postcolonial, and American Multiculturalism. Two theories that your book does not discuss but is also important are Biographical and Historical. Biographical Criticism is when the life of the author is examined in relation to the works he or she writers. Historical Criticism (which is different than New Historicism) looks at either the time and place the work of literature was produced or the time and place that a work is set in.
We haven’t read any literature in the course yet, but most people have seen popular movies within the past 15 years. Choose a movie you think other people in the class would have either seen or heard about and apply three of the theories from above and explain how watching the film through the different theories would change the way the audience would understand the film.
For example, I will choose a film from summer 2017 called Dunkirk. Since I am using this film, you cannot use it for your post. If you’ve never heard of the film, you can watch the trailer here:
The three theories I will be using are Marxist, Postcolonial and Historical Criticisms.
Marxist: The people in charge of the British Army that was stranded in Dunkirk, fleeing the Germans, felt that it was important not to go and rescue their troops because if they used lots of airplanes and warships to rescue them, the army and navy could have sustained heavy losses and not been able to defend the British Isles. The people in charge of the government and the army were the ruling, elite class, almost all of the troops on Dunkirk beach were ordinary soldiers, mostly from lower and working classes. While the decision to abandon them was a strategic one, it left the upper and ruling classes relatively safe in England while the troops were practically doomed. Also, everyday fishermen were asked to surrender their boats for the rescue operation. It could be that their boats were sunk, which would mean they would lose their livelihoods (boats, even small ones, are not cheap, especially for subsistence fishermen). While the fishermen had little to no choice, most willingly surrendered their boat, and some even piloted the boats themselves, in order to rescue the troops. The fishermen and British troops would have been from the same socio-economic class, and would, therefore, be helping each other.
Postcolonial: There was controversy surrounding this movie, as the British Empire stretched all around the globe. A large contingent of Indian troops fought at Dunkirk, yet in the movie, not a single one is shown. For the filmmaker to leave out a group of people that made a massive contribution to the British war effort is to disrespect those troops and their families. But oftentimes, colonial nations downplay the importance and sacrifice of their colonies.
Historical: This film’s goal was to depict what it was like during the evacuation of Dunkirk and the week before, as British troops retreated as the Nazis closed in. While there are a few historical accuracies in the film, most of what is there is taken from real-life accounts and does an excellent job of recreating what it was really like to be on the beach, in the English Channel, and in the air above. Minor issues aside, if the audience wants an idea of what Dunkirk was like, seeing this movie would give a solid idea as to what the troops had to deal with and what they felt.
Please include a link to the trailer of the film you choose in your post.
