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Literature vocabulary · Criticism and Analysis

Affective fallacy

Meaning in literature, with examples

nounAdvanced term

In literature, affective fallacy means: Judging a work's meaning or value solely by its emotional effects on readers.

In Turkish: duygusal etki yanılgısı

How it is used

Use for a critical objection associated with New Criticism; it is not a ban on discussing emotion.

Example sentences

  1. Calling the poem great only because it made us cry risks the affective fallacy.

    The judgment substitutes a personal reaction for analysis of the work.

  2. The seminar debated the affective fallacy after readers reported opposite feelings about one stanza.

    Different responses raise questions about using emotion as the sole standard.

Common collocations

  • avoid the affective fallacy
  • debate the affective fallacy
  • literary criticismThe study, interpretation and evaluation of literary works, including discussion of their meaning, form, context and value.
  • interpretationAn explanation of what a text or a part of it means, supported by evidence from the text; also the act of explaining it.

More terms: Criticism and Analysis

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