ACTIVITY
What Is Cultural Criticism?
1.14
SUGGESTED LEARNING STRATEGIES: Discussion Groups, Rereading, Questioning the Text, Oral Interpretation, Quickwrite
Cultural Criticism
ACADEMIC VOCABULARY
Cultural Criticism is another critical lens through which any text can be viewed. This form of criticism examines how different religions, ethnicities, class identifications, political beliefs, and views affect the ways in which texts are created and interpreted. Cultural Criticism suggests that being a part of—or excluded from—a specific group or culture contributes to and affects our understanding of texts.
Cultural Criticism focuses on the elements of culture and how they affect one’s perceptions and understanding of texts.
The following statements reflect four common assumptions in the use of Cultural Criticism as a lens for understanding literature. 1. Ethnicity, religious beliefs, social class, and so on are crucial components in formulating plausible interpretations of text. 2. While the emphasis is on diversity of approach and subject matter, Cultural Criticism is not the only means of understanding ourselves and our art. 3. An examination or exploration of the relationship between dominant cultures and the dominated is essential. 4. When looking at a text through the perspective of marginalized peoples, new understandings emerge.
To ma marginalize is relegate or confine to a lower or outer limit (as in social standing).
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Since Cultural Criticism examines texts from the position of those individuals who are in some way marginalized or not part of the dominant culture, studying the following poem by Luis Rodriguez will provide insights on this perspective.
WORD CONNECTIONS CO
Unit 1 • Perception Is Everything 45