Objective Approach to Literature

Maria Bless C. Ciudadano

Med-LT

Introduction
Literature evolves from generation to generation. A form of art that is also a depiction of
human life from different perspectives. For centuries, literature has been widely acknowledged
and sought after, not only in European countries, but anywhere in the world.
In the Philippine setting, literature became a great influence. During the Spanish era, the
two notable literary works written by Dr. Jose Rizal namely, Noli Me Tangere and El
Filibusterismo caused the whole country to strive and to fight against the Spaniards. The
influence of literature is truly remarkable. An influential tool that is used even during pre-historic
time and has lived up until this generation.
Philippine literature is the literature associated with the Philippines and includes the
legends of prehistory, and the colonial legacy of the Philippines. Pre-Hispanic Philippine
literature were epics passed on from generation to generation originally through oral tradition.
(Nery 2011)
In order to avoid misunderstanding, let me begin with the source of the definition of terms
used in this paper. We will go with these definitions throughout.
The term "literature" may be viewed from its generic or specific sense. From its generic
sense, it is a branch of fine art which depicts beauty by means of both the spoken and the
written word. From this sense only those written and spoken beautifully, and especially those
only of lasting and universal appeal, may be considered as literature (Reyes 2014).
Literary criticism or literary interpretation is a creative process. It consists of defining,
classifying, expounding and evaluating works of literature. In recent years, due to the
increasing exposure, availability of books and greater freedom enjoyed by readers, the reading
process has become more critical, adventurous, and exploratory (www.shaggon.com). Given
this, we can say that it is normal to see literary interpretations in varied ways depending on the
approach of the readers.
Though it is seemingly that students tend to interpret in their own way, teachers must
teach them that there are several ways in unravelling the meaning behind the literary piece.
Normally, we tend to engage in a literary piece the way we understand it, which led to different
assumptions and perceptions. That’s why, linguists developed various approaches that help
readers view literature in diverse lenses.
This paper will focus on the Objective approach in evaluating literary pieces.
Objective Approach
Objective study of literature appreciates “the work of art in isolation from all external points
of reference, analyzes it as a self-sufficient entity constituted by its parts in their internal
relations, and sets out to judge it solely by criteria intrinsic to its own mode of being” (Abrams,
1979). This theories assay to hinder from ‘the personal heresy’, ‘the intentional fallacy’, and ‘the
affective fallacy’. Its doctrine in criticizing is ‘art for art’s sake’ (Abrams, 1979) in Pintu (2015)
 The above statement is supported by Culler (1975), stating that the objective approach  to
literary work begins with a full description of it, if it is in the ground of poetry, it concerns the
physical elements or technical properties. The reader should try to elucidate the author's
methods and meaning in an entirely objective way. It begins with the presentation of the
physical elements of its literary work, about the length, the form, and etc. which become the
basic information of it and proceeds to more complex information, in this case, the elements of
content of the literary work, such as theme, setting, plot, characters,  point of view, and etc.
Using Rizal’s works as an example; we tend to interpret it solely focusing on the text itself
without giving regards to the author’s thought or the social dilemmas that time. The metric
pattern, the structure of the sentences, the language used, the rhythmic pattern from the text
itself, not going beyond what is unsaid on the text.
A study from Wijaya (n.d), stated otherwise emphasizing that the objective approach to
literary work begins with a full description of it, if it is in the ground of poetry, it concerns the
physical elements or technical properties. The reader should try to elucidate the author's
methods and meaning in an entirely objective way . It begins with the presentation of the
physical elements of its literary work, about the length, the form, and etc. which become the
basic information of it and proceeds to more complex information, in this case, the elements of
content of the literary work, such as theme, setting, plot, characters,  point of view, and etc. It
gives us the materials’ content and how it is played throughout the literary text.
When we teach about Rizal’s work “The Indolence of the Filipino” in an objective way, we
must look at first on how Rizal address it in the literary piece. Let’s take this line as an example:
“III A fatal combination of circumstances, some independent of the will in spite of men's
efforts, others the offspring of stupidity and ignorance, others the inevitable corollaries of false
principles, and still others the result of more or less base passions has induced the decline of
labor…”
This means that the ignorance of the Filipino and their stupidity led to our sufferings. The
interpretation is based solely on the text, without regards to the current disposition of the
Filipinos, or the backgrounding history of it. The language used, the structure of the sentences
and the choice of words are just some of the angles we need to study in using this kind of
approach.
However taking an "objective approach" may not always be relevant, particularly in cases
where it is impossible to be objective, either because the relevant facts and viewpoints
necessary are lacking, or because it is the subjective opinion or response that happens to be
important. (Thus, it is possible to take an "objective approach" inappropriately in situations
which call for an expression of subjective thought or feeling. (Uzelac, A., & Meester, J.
2018)The limitation of the objective approach is when the text cannot anymore give the
substantial information that we need to satiate the questions or when the literary text requires
human emotions that are linked to their personal thoughts or experiences. We need to be
careful in using an approach for it may not be appropriate to use in a certain literary piece. The
tendency of it is that we may perceived the meaning of the next far from it wants us to
understand it.
The approach presented is just one of the numerous approaches to appeal with the
literary piece. In The Mirror and The Lamp, M. H. Abrams proposes that we can divide any
work up into four areas of study: The relationship between the universe as a whole and the
work itself, between the audience and the work, between the author and the work, or
relationships within the work itself. This means that approaches vary depending on the
implications it wants to perceive or the way the readers understand the text. Its meaning is
universal, hence human mind can be subjective. Objective approach, on the other hand, deals
with the relationship of the meaning within the text itself, this more common on serious novels
that depict social dilemmas and other societal issue.
Conclusion
The plethora of literature is evident. In this advent of technology, we have the access to
these literary whether local or international. The styles of the authors have varied and changed
overtime as new ideas are brought forth. It is only natural to feel ferment in processing
literature, because of the things that we take into consideration. The beauty of literature lies in
what is unsaid, though sometimes we can easily say what the author meant by critiquing the
text itself, however the impact of it to the reader itself is different. The readers might intend to
self-assess what they wanted to believe the text ought to mean. It’s normal, since human
beings go through different windows of ideas and perceived things uniquely. That is why,
literature has become rich, fruitful and different, not in the negative way. This only shows how
creative human minds can be, the above stated approach, is only our guide that not all literary
pieces have hidden meanings that we must immediately assume that it has. Same with dealing
people, we judge them subjectively because that’s what we believe is the truth, but if we look
closely, in an objective way, observing their behavior, our assumptions change, and we start to
understand each other more.
References
Abrams, H.M (1979). The Mirror in the Lamp. Theory and Critical Tradition. Retrieved from:
https://bit.ly/2wfuzfh. Retrieved on: March 17, 2020.

Nery, J. (2011). "Revolutionary Spirit: Jose Rizal in Southeast Asia", p. 240. Institute of

Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore. ISBN 978-981-4345-06-4.

Wijaya, A. (n.d). Objective Approach to Analyze Literature. Awinblogspot. https://bit.ly/2TSopLd

Reyes, M. (2014). Modernity/Modernism in Philippine Literature . Journal of Language and
Literature, p. 20 – 33. Retrieved from: https://bit.ly/2TURhCh. Retrieved on: March 17, 2020
Uzelac, A., & Meester, J. (2018). Bringing the Colours: The effects of Syrian Armenian
economic integration in Armenia (pp. 3-6, Rep.). Clingendael Institute. Retrieved March 18,
2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/resrep17326.4

Pintu, S. (2015). Mimetic criticism, Pragmatic criticism, Expressive criticism, Objective criticism.
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