THE EXAM: LITERARY PERSPECTIVES

“CUSTOMER (to her friend): What's this literary criticism section? Is it for books that complain about other books?” --- Jen Campbell, Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops

Literary Perspectives was introduced into the VCE 3/4 Literature curriculum only in 2016, so at the start we were all pretty clueless about what to expect, or how to really ace this section (Sec A) of the exam. To put it simply, Literary Perspectives is reading and analysing a text through a specific ‘lens’, where words in the text meaning something different depending on what perspective is applied. You “identify issues, ideas and contexts writers choose to explore, the way these are represented in the text/s and the cultural, social, historical and ideological contexts in which they were created”.

Texts can be read through many different critical literary theories, so I’ve done a quick summary of some of the most common perspectives in this post.

Postcolonial lens

Explores the lasting impact of the era of colonialism (mostly 1700s-1900s) on the people, land, culture and other aspects of the colonised. It examines the dichotomy of ‘Self’ and ‘Other’, ‘civilised’ and ‘uncivilised’, the assumptions that the colonists make of the colonised, and then how these beliefs allow them to subjugate the natives.

• Renowned theorists: Edward Said, Franz Canon, Homi Bhabha

Questions you may ask of the text through this lens

• Who is the ‘Other’ in the text, and how is this conveyed?

  • How does the text represent colonial oppression?

Psychoanalytic lens

The most well-known psychoanalytic theory is the Freudian theory that can be represented by the iceberg. It divides the individual’s mind (AKA the psyche) into 3 levels: conscious (what you are aware of), preconscious (what you are aware of when retrieved) and unconscious (what you do not know).

Through this lens, texts are extensions of their authors’ psyche - of their repressed desires, their unconscious. The feelings, thoughts and drives that are associated with the psychoanalytic theory can be made tangible through images and language.

• Renowned theorists: Sigmund Freud. Jacques Lacan, Carl Jung

• Questions you may ask of the text through this lens

  • What do different images in the text symbolise about the mind?

  • How are a character’s suppressed desires revealed through the text?

Feminist lens

Scrutinises the role of women especially in patriarchal societies through male characters’ assertion of political, economic and social power. It comments on the inequality and discrimination that females are faced with.

• Renowned authors whose texts can be read through feminist lens: Virginia Woolf (A Room of One’s Own), Simone de Beauvoir, Mary Wollstonecraft

Questions you may ask of the text through this lens

• How are female characters oppressed by male characters in the text?

• What can male characters do that female characters cannot?

Marxist lens (named after Karl Marx, a key socialist)

Explores the class struggle that human societies develop based on economics, where the upper class (bourgeoisie) are able to use their power to oppress the lower class (proletariat). It also looks at how the human experience is shaped by the economic class that they are in.

Questions you may ask of the text through this lens:

• What does the author say about class relations?

• Are any characters particularly oppressed due to their class/economic situation?

The main thing about Literary Perspectives is not so much about the background of the theories, but how you apply them to the text. Ask yourself: Does the author reinforce a certain viewpoint or do they undermine it? How do they do this - through the narrator, characters, plot points, dialogue? Why does it matter that they do this - what is the point they are trying to make about society?

You can include quotes from the theorists themselves, but this is not essential, as long as you channel the perspective in some way through your essay. You should definitely mention the name of the critical theory at least once in your essay - it’ll work to your advantage if you name drop the theory in the introduction as you immediately notify the reader/examiner which helps to bring them in the right direction. You still need textual evidence to back up your arguments, so remember to incorporate literal words from the text. However, remember that this is not Close Analysis (Section B) so you want to be looking at how words contribute to meaning, but you don’t necessarily have to comment on a bazillion of literary devices.

In 2017, Literary Perspectives as a SAC and the exam were slightly different. In the Literary Perspectives SAC, you write with TWO critical theories, while on Section A of the VCAA exam you write with only ONE critical theory. This means that for the SAC, you should try to make a smooth transition between discussion of theories to achieve clarity and cohesion. Also in the exam, only one prompt is given on each text, while in the SAC your teacher may set it up a different way.

Hope this provides you with a basic understanding of Literary Perspectives that can set you up better for the year ahead!