Concepts Of Criticism

Provocative and penetrating, these essays attest to Mr. Wellek’s intense concern during the past two decades with the problems besetting the disciplines of literary theory, criticism, and history. Each essay accordingly sets as its goal the development of a concept that will contribute to better understanding of the literary work. Trenchant investigation of such significant critical concepts as baroque, romanticism, and realism are complemented by illuminating surveys of the current state of literary criticism and related commentaries on contemporary literary theory and scholarship. Concepts of Criticism constitutes a valuable statement of Mr. Wellek’s theoretical position. A number of the essays are published for the first time and a bibliography of Mr. Wellek’s publications is included. René Wellek, author of A History of Modern Criticism, 1750-1950, is Sterling Professor of Comparative Literature at Yale.

Provocative and penetrating, these essays attest to Mr. Wellek's intense concern during the past two decades with the problems besetting the disciplines of literary theory, criticism, and history. Each essay accordingly sets as its goal the development of a concept that will contribute to better understanding of the literary work. Trenchant investigation of such significant critical concepts as baroque, romanticism, and realism are complemented by illuminating surveys of the current state of literary criticism and related commentaries on contemporary literary theory and scholarship. "Concepts of Criticism "constitutes a valuable statement of Mr. Wellek's theoretical position. A number of the essays are published for the first time and a bibliography of Mr. Wellek's publications is included. Rene Wellek, author of "A History of Modern Criticism, 1750-1950," is Sterling Professor of Comparative Literature at Yale.

Arthur Asa Berger's unique ability to translate difficult theories into accessible language makes this book an ideal introduction to cultural criticism. Berger covers the key theorists, concepts, and subject areas, from literary, sociological and psychoanalytical theories to semiotics and Marxism. Cultural Criticism breathes new life into the discipline by making these theories relevant to students' lives. The author illustrates his explanations with excerpts from classic works giving readers a sense of the important thinkers' styles and helping place them in their context. Berger also provides a comprehensive bibliography on cultural criticism for those who wish to explore the topics at greater length. Cultural Criticism is the perfect undergraduate supplemental text for such courses as media studies, literary criticism, and popular culture.

Not a general dictionary of literary terms, the Dictionary of Concepts in Literary Criticism and Theory treats seventy fundamental and overarching concepts from allegory and allusion to tragedy and unity. By concepts is meant broad terms that designate modes of thought about, approaches to, or major classifications of literature that are of central importance to the history or present pursuit of literary criticism and commentary. Particular attention has been given to distinguishing the different senses in which a term has been used or is presently used, to noting major questions that have been debated in relation to the concept, and to documenting points of view and specific aspects with full references. Additional sources of information are appended in each case. Useful especially to students and faculty in literature and to literary critics, the concepts are lucidly presented in essays that can enlighten any reader interested in more than superficial definitions.

From Plato to Freud to ecocriticism, the book illustrates dozens of stimulating-and sometimes notoriously complex-perspectives for approaching literature and film. The book offers authoritative, clear, and easy-to-follow explanations of theories that range from established classics to the controversies of current theory. Each chapter offers a conversational, step-by-step explanation of a single theory, critic, or issue, accompanied by concrete examples for applying the concepts and engaging suggestions for related literary readings. Following a section on the foundations of literary theory, the book is organized thematically, with an eye to the best way to develop a real, working understanding of the various theories. Cross-references are particularly important, since it's through the interaction of examples that readers most effectively advance from basic topics and arguments to some of the more specialized and complicated issues. Each chapter is designed to tell a complete story, yet also to reach out to other chapters for development and debate. Literary theorists are hardly unified in their views, and this book reflects the various traditions, agreements, influences, and squabbles that are a part of the field. Special features include hundreds of references to and quotations from novels, stories, plays, poems, movies, and other media. Online resources could also include video and music clips, as well as high-quality examples of visual art mentioned in the book. The book also includes periodic "running" references to selected key titles (such as Frankenstein) in order to illustrate the effect of different theories on a single work.

Using Key Passages to Understand Literature, Theory and Criticism is a completely fresh and innovative approach to teaching and learning literary theory: using short passages of theory to make sense of literary and cultural texts. It focuses on the key concepts that help readers understand literature and cultural events in new and provocative ways. Covering a wide variety of iconic and contemporary theorists, the book offers a broad chronological and global overview, including thirty passages from theorists such as Viktor Shklovsky, Roland Barthes, Judith Butler, Diana Fuss, Jean Baudrillard, Kwame Anthony Appiah, Michel Foucault, Monique Wittig, and Eve Sedgwick. Built on the premise that scholars use theory pragmatically, Using Key Passages to Understand Literature, Theory and Criticism identifies problems, puzzles, and questions readers may encounter when they read a story, watch a film, or look at artwork. It explains, in detail, thirty concepts that help readers make sense of these works and invites students to apply the concepts to a range of writing and research projects. The textbook concludes by helping students read theory with an eye on finding productive passages and writing their own “theory chapter,” signaling a shift from student as critic to student as theorist. Used as a main text in introductory theory courses or as a supplement to any literature, film, theater, or art course, this book helps students read closely and think critically.

Literary Theory and Criticism: An Introduction provides an accessible overview of major figures and movements in literary theory and criticism from antiquity to the twenty-first century. It is designed for students at the undergraduate level or for others needing a broad synthesis of the long history of literary theory. An introductory chapter provides an overview of some of the major issues within literary theory and criticism; further chapters survey theory and criticism in antiquity, the Middle Ages and Renaissance, the Enlightenment, and the nineteenth century. For twentieth- and twenty-first-century theory, the discussion is subdivided into separate chapters on formalist, historicist, political, and psychoanalytic approaches. The final chapter applies a variety of theoretical concepts and approaches to two famous works of literature: William Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

Literary Criticism from Plato to the Present provides a concise and authoritative overview of the development of Western literary criticism and theory from the Classical period to the present day An indispensable and intellectually stimulating introduction to the history of literary criticism and theory Introduces the major movements, figures, and texts of literary criticism Provides historical context and shows the interconnections between various theories An ideal text for all students of literature and criticism

Tbis inquiry may be thought of as a sequel to The Concepts of Value and as an extension of the brief core-vocabulary of aesthetic concepts found in one of the appendices to it. In terms of sheer numbers, most of the value concepts of our language are to be found in the area of human relations and of the aesthetic. There are also other value vocabularies, shorter but equally important, for example, the cognitive and logical. These and other objects of pbilosopbical study (for example, the question of "other minds") deserve the kind of empirical survey that has been made of moral and aesthetic notions, if only to test a priori approaches to them. In the present studyan even more determined empirical approach than that adopted for the first has been found necessary. Once the moral or human value vocabulary has been identified, sentential contexts for the use of the terms readily come to mind. In a study of the language of criticism, however, the vocabulary has first to be sought in the utterances of critics themselves and quoted in sufficient context to make their critical intentions clear. The outcome is that the present study is of great length, about half of it being quotations from critics. The rule adopted for arriving at tbis length go on collecting quotations as long as new types of appraisal came was to to light.