twitter
51
edits
Literary criticism: Difference between revisions
no edit summary
No edit summary |
No edit summary |
||
| Line 5: | Line 5: | ||
==History of literary criticism== | ==History of literary criticism== | ||
'''Early or Classical critics'''<br /> Before Plato, with the exception of a few occurrences there was no real literary criticism in the sense of theory of literature. He essentially attacked all poetry. However, Aristotle continued on his teacher’s ways, and further expanded upon Plato’s Ideas thus expanding and creating more literary criticism, and in the 4th century BC wrote the Poetics which gives specific example of critiques of contemporary works of art. These two men primarily gave birth to literary criticism. <ref>Hall, V. (1963). A Short History of Literay Criticism . London: The Merlin Press.</ref> | |||
*'''Early Critics and Texts''' | |||
**Plato: ''Ion, Republic, Cratylus'' | |||
**Aristotle: ''Poetics; Rhetoric'' | |||
**Horace: ''Art of Poetry'' | |||
**Longinus: ''On the Sublime'' | |||
**Plotinus: ''On the Intellectual Beauties'' | |||
**St. Augustine: ''On Christian Doctrine'' | |||
**Boethius: ''The Consolation of Philosophy'' | |||
**Aquinas: ''The Nature and Domain of Sacred Doctrine'' | |||
**Dante: ''The Banquet, Letter to Can Grande Della Scala'' | |||
**Boccaccio: ''Life of Dante, Genealogy of the Gentile Gods'' | |||
**Anandavardhana: ''Light on Suggestion'' | |||
**Cao Pi: ''A Discourse on Literature'' | |||
**Lu Ji: ''Rhymeprose on Literature'' | |||
**Liu Xie: ''The Literary Mind'' | |||
**Wang Changling: ''A Discussion of Literature and Meaning'' | |||
**Sikong Tu: ''The Twenty-Four Classes of Poetry'' | |||
'''Renaissance Criticism''' <br/ >The beginning of the Renaissance critics started in 1498 with the translation of the classic texts. The most important of these translations was of Aristotle’s Poetics, translated by Giorgio Valla. Throughout the Renaissance many authors critiqued classic works, as well as criticizing modern works.<ref>Hall, V. (1963). A Short History of Literay Criticism . London: The Merlin Press.</ref> | |||
*'''Main Critics and Texts''' | |||
**Lodovico Castelvetro: ''The Poetics of Aristotle Translated and Explained'' | |||
**Philip Sidney: ''An Apology for Poetry'' | |||
**Jacopo Mazzoni: ''On the Defense of the Comedy of Dante'' | |||
**Torquato Tasso: ''Discourses on the Heroic Poem'' | |||
**Francis Bacon: ''The Advancement of Learning'' | |||
**Henry Reynolds: ''Mythomystes'' | |||
'''Enlightment Critics''' <br />From Milton in England to Henry David Thoreau and even later with Ralph Waldo Emerson and Walt Whitman, these authors frequently questioned and criticized literature, Arts , Social Norms essentially expanding their predecessors platforms.<ref>van Gelder, G. J. H. (1982), Beyond the Line: Classical Arabic Literary Critics on the Coherence and Unity of the Poem, Brill Publishers, pp. 1–2, ISBN 90-04-06854-6</ref><br /> | |||
*'''''Add in Enlightenment examples''''' | |||
'''Other Key Texts and Critics''' | |||
*Thomas Hobbes: ''Answer to Davenant's preface to Gondibert'' | |||
*Pierre Corneille: ''''Of the Three Unities of Action, Time, and Place'' | |||
*John Dryden: ''An Essay of Dramatic Poesy'' | |||
*Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux: ''''The Art of Poetry'' | |||
*John Locke: ''An Essay Concerning Human Understanding'' | |||
*Samuel Johnson: ''On Fiction, Rasselas, Preface to Shakespeare'' | |||
*Edward Young: ''Conjectures on Original Composition'' | |||
*Gotthold Ephraim Lessing: ''Laocoön'' | |||
*Joshua Reynolds: ''Discourses on Art'' | |||
*Richard "Conversation" Sharp: ''Letters & Essays in Prose & Verse'' | |||
*Immanuel Kant: ''Critique of Judgment'' | |||
*Mary Wollstonecraft: ''A Vindication of the Rights of Woman'' | |||
*William Blake: ''The Marriage of Heaven or Hell; Letter to Thomas Butts; Annotations to Reynolds' Discourses; A Descriptive Catalogue; A Vision of the Last Judgment; On Homer's Poetry'' | |||
==Types of literary criticism== | ==Types of literary criticism== | ||
| Line 10: | Line 53: | ||
====Examples of literary criticism==== | ====Examples of literary criticism==== | ||
'''Moral Criticism, Dramatic Construction (~360 BC-present)''' | |||
An example of Moral Criticism can be found in the works of Plato and Aristotle. Plato’s book "The Republic" was an example of some of the earliest literary criticism. [[Aristotle's Poetics]] was another early writing that gave Moral Criticism a start and has continued since. | <br />An example of Moral Criticism can be found in the works of Plato and Aristotle. Plato’s book "The Republic" was an example of some of the earliest literary criticism. [[Aristotle's Poetics]] was another early writing that gave Moral Criticism a start and has continued since <ref>Brizee, Allen;Tompkins, J.Case [https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/722/ “Literary Theory and Schools of Criticism”]Accessed July 7, 2014</ref>. | ||
Some of works that are considered to be good examples of Formalism, New Criticism, and Neo –Aristotelian Criticism are written by authors many authors. Formalist critics, Roman Jakobson and Viktor Shklovsky are two of the most well-known for this type. Jakobson’s Closing Statement: Linguistics and Poetics, and Sholovsky’s Theory of Prose are examples of Formalist Criticism. , [[Cleanth Brooks]], [[David Daiches]], John Crowe Ransome, and [[T. S. Eliot]] are all authors where examples of New Criticism can be found. Ransome’s book ''The New Criticism'', or Eliot’s essay ''Tradition and the Individual Talent'' provide some of the best examples of New Criticism. R.S. ''Crane’s Critics and Criticism: Ancient and Modern'', and Wayne C. Booth’s ''The Rhetoric of Fiction'' are works that can be read to get a better understanding on the subject of Neo-Aristotelian Criticism. | '''Formalism, New Criticism, Neo-Aristotelian Criticism (1930s-present)''' <br /> | ||
Formalism, New Criticism and Neo-Aristotelian Criticism include the concerns of the parts of a text and how each of the parts fit together to make a whole. Formalist criticism excludes any information outside the actual text; biographies, historical or literary allusions, mythological patterns, or psychological traits of characters. Formalist critics examines each part of the text, each chapter, characters, settings, tone, point of views, diction, and the fictional world created in the text; after which the critic analyzes and describes how each part work together to create the story <ref>Smith, Nicole [http://www.articlemyriad.com/overview-formalism-literature-theory/ "An Overview and Extended Definition of Formalism in Literature and Theory"] Accessed July 8, 2014</ref>. | |||
Some examples of Psychoanalytic and Jungian Criticism can be found in the works of [[Sigmund Freud]] and [[C.G. Jung]]. Psychoanalytic Criticism builds on Freudian theories of psychology <ref>Brizee, Allen;Tompkins, J.Case [https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/722/ “Literary Theory and Schools of Criticism”]Accessed July 7, 2014</ref>. His work, ''Creative Writers and Daydreamers'', or ''The Interpretation of Dreams'' are good starting points to understanding this form of criticism. Jung, who was a student of Freud, wrote ''On the Relation of Analytical Psychology to Poetry'', a good source for understanding Jungian Criticism. | <br /> Some of works that are considered to be good examples of Formalism, New Criticism, and Neo –Aristotelian Criticism are written by authors many authors. Formalist critics, Roman Jakobson and Viktor Shklovsky are two of the most well-known for this type. Jakobson’s Closing Statement: Linguistics and Poetics, and Sholovsky’s Theory of Prose are examples of Formalist Criticism. , [[Cleanth Brooks]], [[David Daiches]], John Crowe Ransome, and [[T. S. Eliot]] are all authors where examples of New Criticism can be found. Ransome’s book ''The New Criticism'', or Eliot’s essay ''Tradition and the Individual Talent'' provide some of the best examples of New Criticism. R.S. ''Crane’s Critics and Criticism: Ancient and Modern'', and Wayne C. Booth’s ''The Rhetoric of Fiction'' are works that can be read to get a better understanding on the subject of Neo-Aristotelian Criticism<ref>Brizee, Allen;Tompkins, J.Case [https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/722/ “Literary Theory and Schools of Criticism”]Accessed July 7, 2014</ref>. | ||
<br /> | |||
Marxist Criticisms are based on the theories of [[Karl Marx]]. The writings of [[Leon Trotsky]]’s ''Literature and Revolution'', and [[Georg Lukács]]’ ''The Ideology of Modernism'', are available to assist with the understanding of Marxist Criticism in literature. | '''Psychoanalytic Criticism, Jungian Criticism (1930s-present)''' <br /> | ||
Psycholoanalytic Criticism and Jungian Criticism interpret writings, authors, and readers through a psychological lens. The main focus for Psychological Criticism is on the expression of the unconscious mind in the work, looking at psychology in the narrative itself as well as in the author. Psychological critics consider the symbols in the work and what they might mean; they evaluate the psychological state of characters and examine their motivations and actions with an understanding of psychology in mind. This type of criticism also explores matricide as a literary theme and can explore the author’s own history to determine why they chose to tell that particular story.<ref>wiseGEEK [http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-psychological-criticism.htm "What Is Psychological Criticism?"] Accessed July 2, 2014</ref> | |||
The works of authors Peter Rabinowitz’s ''Before Reading'', or Norman Holland’s ''The Dynamics of Literary Response'', are well known sources for expanding your understanding of Reader-Response Criticism. Hans Robert Jauss’ ''Horizons for Reading'' is also another source for information on this type of literary criticism | Some examples of Psychoanalytic and Jungian Criticism can be found in the works of [[Sigmund Freud]] and [[C.G. Jung]]. Psychoanalytic Criticism builds on Freudian theories of psychology <ref>Brizee, Allen;Tompkins, J.Case [https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/722/ “Literary Theory and Schools of Criticism”]Accessed July 7, 2014</ref>. His work, ''Creative Writers and Daydreamers'', or ''The Interpretation of Dreams'' are good starting points to understanding this form of criticism. Jung, who was a student of Freud, wrote ''On the Relation of Analytical Psychology to Poetry'', a good source for understanding Jungian Criticism.<br /> | ||
'''Marxist Criticism (1930s-present)'''<br /> | |||
Two important theorists form the framework of structuralism are Charles Sanders Peirce and Ferdinand de Saussure. ''Syntactic Structures'', written by Noam Chomsky, ''Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays'' by Northrop Frye, and ''The Elementary Structure of Kinship'' by [[Claude Lévi-Strauss]] are good sources for better understanding on Structuralism. | Marxist Criticisms are based on the theories of [[Karl Marx]]. The writings of [[Leon Trotsky]]’s ''Literature and Revolution'', and [[Georg Lukács]]’ ''The Ideology of Modernism'', are available to assist with the understanding of Marxist Criticism in literature<ref>Brizee, Allen;Tompkins, J.Case [https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/722/ “Literary Theory and Schools of Criticism”]Accessed July 7, 2014</ref>. <br /> | ||
'''Reader-Response Criticism (1960s-present)''' <br />The works of authors Peter Rabinowitz’s ''Before Reading'', or Norman Holland’s ''The Dynamics of Literary Response'', are well known sources for expanding your understanding of Reader-Response Criticism. Hans Robert Jauss’ ''Horizons for Reading'' is also another source for information on this type of literary criticism<ref>Brizee, Allen;Tompkins, J.Case [https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/722/ “Literary Theory and Schools of Criticism”]Accessed July 7, 2014</ref>. | |||
New Historicism has been studied and explored extensively in many works. Clifford Geertz’s ''The Interpretation of Cultures'' or Pierre Bourdieu’s ''Outline of a Theory of Practice'' are good places to start when researching important examples of New Historicism literature. Stephen Greenblatt, who coined the phrase “New Historicism”, wrote ''The Power of Forms in the English Renaissance'', another good source for information on this form of literary criticism. | '''Structuralism/Semiotics (1920s-present)''' <br />Two important theorists form the framework of structuralism are Charles Sanders Peirce and Ferdinand de Saussure. ''Syntactic Structures'', written by Noam Chomsky, ''Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays'' by Northrop Frye, and ''The Elementary Structure of Kinship'' by [[Claude Lévi-Strauss]] are good sources for better understanding on Structuralism<ref>Brizee, Allen;Tompkins, J.Case [https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/722/ “Literary Theory and Schools of Criticism”]Accessed July 7, 2014</ref>. <br /> | ||
'''New Historicism/Cultural Studies (1980s-present)''' <br />New Historicism has been studied and explored extensively in many works. Clifford Geertz’s ''The Interpretation of Cultures'' or Pierre Bourdieu’s ''Outline of a Theory of Practice'' are good places to start when researching important examples of New Historicism literature. Stephen Greenblatt, who coined the phrase “New Historicism”, wrote ''The Power of Forms in the English Renaissance'', another good source for information on this form of literary criticism<ref>Brizee, Allen;Tompkins, J.Case [https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/722/ “Literary Theory and Schools of Criticism”]Accessed July 7, 2014</ref>.<br /> | |||
'''Post-Structuralism/Deconstruction (1966-present)'''<br /> | |||
'''Post-Colonial Criticism (1990s-present)'''<br /> | |||
'''Feminist Criticism (1960s-present)'''<br /> | |||
'''Gender/Queer Studies (1970s-present)'''<br /> | |||