moral criticism:
“A type of literary criticism that evaluates a work on the basis of the moral elements it contains and their correspondence to the accepted moral standards of the time or to those ethical principles that the critic feels should govern human life. Ideally, the moral critic, in judging a literary work, applies only those moral standards presented in the work itself or, failing that, makes his or her own beliefs clear to the reader.” – The NTC’s Dictionary of Literary Terms
I’m currently writing an psychoanalysis on the horror/thriller film The Platform directed by Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia currently on Netflix. It’s almost impossible to avoid doing a kind of moral criticism not only trying to interpret the morals addressed in the work itself, but also express your own feelings about the events throughout the story (especially that ending!). Doing my best to stay within the realm of psychoanalysis, I inevitably ran into psychological terms that framed my view of the many facets of morality portrayed in this film. I have no desire to push my views on the audience, but the subjectivity that comes with psychoanalysis and the unreachable idealism of a moral critique makes it difficult to not address my views, which hasn’t been as optimistic as most analyses and reviews.
I’ll definitely share my analysis of The Platform on my Vocal profile when it’s finished.
Do you think being the ideal moral critic, where you’re focusing on the moral standards or ethics of the work itself, is possible?
Writing Advice
Are You A Planner or a Pantser? I’m a Plantser
Genre Study: On Horror and Magical Realism
To The Writer Ashamed of Resting
Kill Your Darlings (Or Torture Them)
Three Essential Writing Techniques from Stoker’s Dracula and The Epistolary Narrative
Hello 2021 – [Just Me]
I enjoyed my Yule then jumped right back into work. The couple of weeks off was really needed and one week to just focus on work helped as well. Blog posts and updates are coming back. And more is coming… I hope you all are well. – Kris Leliel
What is metonymy? – Literary Terms 101
metonymy metonymy: “A figure of speech that substitutes the name of a related object, person, or idea for the subject at hand. Crown is often substituted for monarchy…should not be confused with synecdoche, a substitution of a part of something for the whole or the whole for a part.” – NTC’s Dictionary of Literary Terms … Continue reading What is metonymy? – Literary Terms 101
Website Changes – [News]
Just a heads up, some visual changes are being made to the website to prepare for a new project. Apologies if some aspects of the site are difficult to see/read. I hope you all are doing well and enjoying Yule/Xmas/Whatever. Please celebrate safely. – K.L.
Pingback: What is metonymy? – Literary Terms 101 | Authentikei