DEVELOPING CRITICAL THINKING IN LITERATURE LESSONS: THROUGH A PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH TO LITERARY INTERPRETATION

Abstract

Abstract. The article substantiates the psychological approach to the interpretation of literary texts as an effective means of developing students’ critical thinking in literature classes. The relevance of the study is determined by the need to implement the competency-based approach established by the State Standard of Basic Secondary Education of Ukraine and the New Ukrainian School Concept, according to which the development of critical thinking, reflection, emotional intelligence, reading competence, and evidence-based reasoning constitutes an essential learning outcome. The theoretical foundations of the psychological approach are outlined. This approach involves interpreting literary texts through the lens of personality psychology by examining characters’ behavioural motives, needs, values, life experiences, internal conflicts, interpersonal relationships, family upbringing, and the influence of the social environment on personality development. It is demonstrated that such an approach enables students to identify cause-and-effect relationships between life circumstances and characters’ actions, fosters empathy, reflection, psychological literacy, and the ability to analyse alternative interpretations of literary characters, justify their own viewpoints, and avoid stereotypical judgments. The article proposes an original system of questions for the psychological interpretation of the characters in Lesya Ukrainka’s drama-fantasy «The Forest Song». The proposed framework encompasses the analysis of the characters’ personal development, value orientations, emotional responses, expectations, behaviour in crisis situations, interpersonal relationships, and life strategies. It is argued that this methodology contributes to constructing comprehensive psychological profiles of literary characters while promoting critical analysis, multidimensional interpretation of literary texts, forecasting the possible consequences of different behavioural models, and transferring the acquired analytical experience to real-life situations. The practical value of the study lies in the proposed instructional techniques, including psychological profiling, psychological reconstruction, psychological reflection, character interviews, the “hot seat” strategy, classroom discussions, writing essays and reflective diaries from the characters’ perspectives, creating quotation-based character maps, analysing alternative plot developments, and using digital technologies and artificial intelligence tools to visualize literary characters and model psychological situations. The study concludes that the psychological approach integrates literary analysis with the psychological understanding of human behaviour, transforming literature classes into a space for personal meaning-making, the development of reading competence, media literacy, and students’ resilience to manipulative influences. Furthermore, it promotes learners’ ability to make informed decisions, exercise moral judgment, and critically evaluate information in the contemporary information environment.