Linara Bartkuvienė

Critical Thinking Through Literary Criticism or Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird

Critical Thinking Through Literary Criticism or Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird

Linara BARTKUVIENĖ

Vilnius University, Lithuania

Abstract

This talk is about the role of critical thinking as both an intellectual and ethical tool in teaching literary criticism in a university English literature class. Critical thinking must consider diverse viewpoints and their ethical implications in critical reception; otherwise, it falls short of being truly critical. The first section sets the stage for the university classroom as an ideal interpretative community, where diverse epistemological assumptions shape textual meanings. This reflection draws on Stanley Fish’s theory of interpretative communities, David Bleich’s theory of epistemological assumptions, and Wolfgang Iser’s phenomenology of reading to understand how these theories inform literary analysis and define our comprehension and reception of literature as an academic discipline and its pedagogy. In contrast, the second section transitions from theory to practice, outlining academic pedagogical strategies for teaching literary criticism, such as research-based discussions, writing assignments, and small-scale research projects. This part focuses on the practical challenges and realities of helping students analyse, interpret, and evaluate literature to cultivate their critical mindset. Practical examples and authentic case studies will be provided, illustrating how a text can be read from multiple perspectives using diverse theories. Reflections on challenges, such as balancing group validation (group-centered thought) with individual (self-centered) thought, will also be included. This suggests that critical thinking does not exist in a vacuum but interacts with our underlying assumptions about knowledge and reality. A university English literature class is an environment where students can develop critical thinking, intellectual, and hence ethical character. By integrating theoretical insights with practical strategies, we can prepare students for both academic and real-world challenges.

Keywords: critical thinking, literary criticism, literary analysis, interpretation, epistemological assumptions.

References

Bleich, D. (1980). Epistemological Assumptions in the Study of Response. In J. P. Tompkins (Ed.), Reader-Response Criticism. From Formalism to Post-Structuralism (pp. 134-164). Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

Elder, L. (2019). Liberating the Mind. Overcoming Sociocentric Thought and Egocentric Tendencies. Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield.

Fish, E.S. (1980). Interpreting the Variorum. In J. P. Tompkins (Ed.), Reader-Response Criticism. From Formalism to Post-Structuralism (pp. 164-185). Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

Frye, N. (2000). Anatomy of Criticism. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press.

Iser, W. (1980). The Reading Process: A Phenomenological Approach. In J. P. Tompkins (Ed.), Reader-Response Criticism. From Formalism to Post-Structuralism (pp. 50-70). Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

Biodata

Linara Bartkuvienė. Assist. Prof. Dr. Department of English Philology, Faculty of Philology, Vilnius University, Lithuania. She teaches a range of courses to BA and MA students, including 18th- and 19th-century English Literature, 20th-century English Literature, and research paper writing courses. Her research spans 20th-century English literature, with her current focus being on reception studies.