Symbolism, Literary Criticism, and Reading too Far Into Things

Basically the field of literary criticism is like they're all archaeologists, and they're all searching for a new interpretation of a text that is cool, unique, and can be supported by the text.
Also Happy Canada Day to my fellow Canucks!
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[@Mement0o]

Detecting symbolism and connections is the natuaral process of learning from situations. Like you do in real life. Its not just a new interesting way to interact with media. Its a way of thinking that reads deeper into situations to be able to learn from them. Its all important for your growth as a human being. Teachers fail at explaining this not because they dont have enough money, but because they dont understand it themselves.

[@Mister_Sosotris]

Many of them do, for sure. Or if they understand it themselves, sometimes they struggle to put it into words. I didn’t want to rag on teachers because they are doing great work and are often really overworked and underpaid, but yes, I did encounter a number of teachers who didn’t quite have the words to explain the concept (especially since so many students DO use that skill in other ways)

[@literarylayer]

Great video. Any resource recommendations on literary criticism or book recommendations related to what you learned in college?

[@Mister_Sosotris]

Oh absolutely! If you want a general intro, start with Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction by Jonathan Culler. Oxford also published A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature. Once you find the kind of approaches you’re interested in, say postcolonialism or psychological, you can zero in more specific texts. Orientalism by Edward Said is a great postcolonial text, and once you read that, you can look at novels that deal with colonialism (like say Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe) and have a better sense of what the story has to say about colonialism. If you’re interested in psychological criticism, then you can read up on the ideas of Freud or Jung and see how you could paychoanalyze characters in novels. Another thing you can do is find a novel you love and see if there is a specific symbol or character or theme that jumps out at you. Then it’s just a matter of seeing how the book deals with that element and seeing how that element allows the readers to find new layers in the story. It’s fun!

[@literarylayer]

@@Mister_Sosotris wow, so much info. Thank you and I’ll definitely check these out! I love looking for hidden meaning in the text.