Authors are normal people, that have worked hard in their field knowledge. Be them poets, novelists, or playwrights, they had a family before. They were kids like you and I. Writing a literary critique has many ways to go forward. Yet, almost all literary criticism use the biography of the author to place the work in a time-frame, and then they compare it to other works that are related or similar.
Literary theory appeared about a century ago, and it has exploded over time into philosophy. Essentially, to do a literary criticism you should employ literary theory. You should read several literary theorists to be a critic.
These literary theorists started in the 19th century. At that time, Romanticism critics, assessed the poetic qualities of the work using aesthetic theories of the 17th and 18th century. In the 1910s, Formalists started to say that the work should be studied by itself, without any outside influence or political bias. Saussure started his form of Structuralism. This led to dozens of reinterpretations of works, the literary theorists started to slant or unearth what they perceived as clues; their philosophical swaying produced a biased view in the work they were criticizing. Today the same method is used, placing the work in a political biased bubble that the literary philosopher engages.
In short, 20-21th century critics, are philosophers that insert the work (a play, novel, short story, or poem) in a setting, this setting is the world we live in. Barthes said in 1967, that all authors take up influences from their surroundings, their favorite authors, and their political stance. Other philosophers liked this idea of placing the work in its setting and time, and they started to slant what was explicitly said or implied in the work they criticized. There are literary theorists that identify with deconstruction, Marxism, postmodernism, post-structuralism, etc. These and many more -isms began in different decades of the 20th century, and continue in manifold forkings to the present day.
Reading about the author's life can help you guess clues about their works. Their lives influenced them to do what they did. If you want to know the "why," you have to read about the past of these artists.
Literary theory appeared about a century ago, and it has exploded over time into philosophy. Essentially, to do a literary criticism you should employ literary theory. You should read several literary theorists to be a critic.
These literary theorists started in the 19th century. At that time, Romanticism critics, assessed the poetic qualities of the work using aesthetic theories of the 17th and 18th century. In the 1910s, Formalists started to say that the work should be studied by itself, without any outside influence or political bias. Saussure started his form of Structuralism. This led to dozens of reinterpretations of works, the literary theorists started to slant or unearth what they perceived as clues; their philosophical swaying produced a biased view in the work they were criticizing. Today the same method is used, placing the work in a political biased bubble that the literary philosopher engages.
In short, 20-21th century critics, are philosophers that insert the work (a play, novel, short story, or poem) in a setting, this setting is the world we live in. Barthes said in 1967, that all authors take up influences from their surroundings, their favorite authors, and their political stance. Other philosophers liked this idea of placing the work in its setting and time, and they started to slant what was explicitly said or implied in the work they criticized. There are literary theorists that identify with deconstruction, Marxism, postmodernism, post-structuralism, etc. These and many more -isms began in different decades of the 20th century, and continue in manifold forkings to the present day.
Reading about the author's life can help you guess clues about their works. Their lives influenced them to do what they did. If you want to know the "why," you have to read about the past of these artists.
