This book holds to several basic premises. First, it assumes that there is no such thing as an innocent reading of a literary work: Whether our responses are emotional and spontaneous or well-reasoned and highly structured, all such interactions are based on some underlying factors that cause us to respond to a text in a particular fashion. What elicits these responses or how a reader makes sense or meaning out of a text is what really matters. Literary theory questions our responses, our interpretations, and our assumptions, beliefs, and feelings. To understand why we respond to a text in a certain way, we must first understand literary theory and criticism.
Second, since our reactions to any literary work or indeed any printed material have theoretical bases, I have assumed that all readers have a literary theory. Consciously or unconsciously, we as readers have developed a mind-set concerning our expectations when reading any text, be it a novel, a short story, a poem, or any other type of literature. Somehow, as Jonathan Culler maintains, we make sense out of printed material. The methods and techniques we use to frame our personal interpretations of any text directly involve us in the process of literary criticism and theory, and automatically make us practicing literary critics.
My third assumption rests on the observation that each reader's literary theory is either conscious or unconscious, complete or incomplete, informed or ill-informed, eclectic or unified. Since an unconscious, incomplete, ill-informed and eclectic literary theory often leads to illogical, unsound, and haphazard interpretations, I believe that a well-defined, logical, and clearly articulated theory will enable readers to develop their own personal methods of interpretation, permitting them to order, clarify, and justify their personal appraisals of a text in a consistent and logical manner.
Author(s): Charles E. Bressler
Publisher: Prentice-Hall International
Year: 1994
Language: English
Commentary: 1st page is missing
Pages: 221
City: London
Tags: Literary criticism, Theory of literature
Cover......Page 1
LITERARY CRITICISM: An Introduction to Theory and Practice......Page 4
Contents......Page 8
To the Instructor......Page 12
Acknowledgments......Page 16
1. Criticism, Theory, and Literature......Page 17
What Is Literary Criticism?......Page 19
What Is Literary Theory?......Page 20
What Is Literature?......Page 23
Further Reading......Page 25
Plato (ca. 427-347 b.c.)......Page 27
Aristotle (384-322 b.c.)......Page 29
Horace (65-8 b.c.)......Page 32
Dante Alighieri (1265-1321)......Page 33
Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1586)......Page 34
John Dryden (1631-1700)......Page 35
Alexander Pope (1688-1744)......Page 36
William Wordsworth (1770-1850)......Page 37
Hippolyte Adolphe Taine (1828-1893)......Page 39
Matthew Arnold (1822-1888)......Page 41
Henry James (1843-1916)......Page 43
Modern Literary Criticism......Page 45
Further Reading......Page 46
Introduction......Page 47
Historical Development......Page 48
Assumptions......Page 50
Methodology......Page 53
Student Essay......Page 56
Introduction......Page 61
Historical Development......Page 63
Assumptions......Page 66
Methodology......Page 67
Student Essay......Page 70
Introduction......Page 74
Historical Development......Page 75
Assumptions......Page 78
Methodology......Page 80
Student Essay......Page 83
Introduction......Page 87
Historical Development......Page 88
Assumptions......Page 91
Methodology......Page 93
Further Reading......Page 98
Student Essay......Page 99
Introduction......Page 103
Historical Development......Page 105
Assumptions......Page 110
Methodology......Page 111
Further Reading......Page 112
Student Essay......Page 113
Introduction......Page 118
Historical Development......Page 120
Assumptions......Page 122
Methodology......Page 124
Student Essay......Page 126
Introduction......Page 130
Historical Development......Page 131
Assumptions......Page 134
Methodology......Page 137
Further Reading......Page 138
Student Essay......Page 139
Introduction......Page 143
Historical Development......Page 145
Assumptions......Page 146
Methodology......Page 149
Further Reading......Page 151
Student Essay......Page 152
Glossary......Page 182
Introductory and General Surveys of Literary Criticism......Page 201
Advanced Theoretical Texts......Page 202
CHAPTER 1......Page 204
CHAPTER 2......Page 205
CHAPTER 4......Page 207
CHAPTER 5......Page 208
CHAPTER 6......Page 209
CHAPTER 7......Page 211
CHAPTER 8......Page 212
CHAPTER 9......Page 214
CHAPTER 10......Page 215
Index......Page 217
