MODULE 1: LITERARY CRITICISM AND LITERARY THEORY
INTRODUCTION
Literature is a body of oral and written works with a lasting artistic merit due mostly to their
universal appeal and relevance. Studying literature in depth, however, can become confusing
because of the different perspectives of people about the merit, meaning and artistic values of
literary pieces. What one might consider artistic may not be for another person and this is true for
the other qualities that may merit literature as ‘literature’. Literary criticism helps address this
issue through the application of theories in the interpretation and analysis of literary pieces.
In this module, you will gain an understanding of what constitutes literary criticism. Also, you will
be able to trace the beginnings of literary criticism and how it evolved as a scholarly and artistic
inquiry up to the present. Knowing the historical background of literary criticism will show you
how the understanding and forming of judgements of literature are affected by the societies in
which they emerge from.
OBJECTIVES
In this module, the students are expected to:
1. Define literary criticism and literary theory based on the explanations given by thinkers
and writers;
2. Explain how literary criticism and literary go together for interpretation and analysis;
3. Familiarize themselves with key figures and principles that contributed to the development
of literary criticism through the ages; and
4. Identify and characterize the contributions of each historical era to the development of
literary criticism.
DISCUSSION PROPER
What is Literary Criticism?
To define it simply, literary criticism is the analysis, study and evaluation of individual works of
literature (Thamarana, 2015).
Comprehensively however, it comprises of the following intellectual processes:
Comparison
Evaluation
Analysis
Interpretation
Essentially, it is an informed
opinion supported by evidence. Said
evidence are gleaned from the content and style of the literary pieces being examined and their
relationship to historical, cultural and political contexts (Waidner-Spahr Library, 2020).
What is Literary Theory?
Literary theory, on the other hand, refers to the body of ideas and methods that are used in reading
literature. It is made up of the underlying principles by which we try to understand literature
(Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2020).
A simpler way of defining literary theory is treating it as a ‘lens’ in talking about a literary piece.
By using this ‘lens’ we can consider literary pieces based on the assumptions within that certain
theory or focus on certain aspects of the piece that are considered important for that theory (Purdue
Writing Lab, 2018).
This signifies that one literary piece may be examined using different literary theories.
When a literary theory is used in studying or analyzing a literary piece, this now becomes literary
criticism.
History of Literary Criticism
To truly understand the concept of literary criticism, one must go back to the very beginning when
literary criticism started at about 2,500 years ago. The tradition of interpreting and ‘judging’
literary works have always been linked to philosophy, religion, politics and morality and getting
to know the development and evolution of literary criticism would mean understanding the
aforementioned societal aspects of humanity through the ages.
1. Classical Period
The Classical Period of literary criticism may be subdivided into three: (a) the beginnings
of Classical criticism, (b) the Age of Rhetoric and (c) Criticism during the Roman Empire
a. Beginnings of Classical Criticism
Western Literary Criticism began in Ancient Greece during the era of the great poets
Homer, Hesiod and Sappho. When the likes of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle laid the
foundations of philosophy so did were basic ideas and concepts that would shape what
came to be known as literary criticism defined. These included:
❖ Mimesis or imitation
❖ The concept of beauty and its connection to truth and goodness
❖ The unity of a work as an ideal
❖ The social, political and moral functions of literature
❖ The connections between literature, philosophy and rhetoric
❖ The impact of literary performance on its audience;
❖ Figures of speech
❖ The notion of ‘canon’ of the most important literary works
❖ The development of genres such as epic, tragedy, comedy, lyric poetry and song
The Frogs (405 BC)
This is a comedic drama by Aristophanes that is considered as
the first recorded example of literary criticism. In this play, two
great dramatists, Aeschylus and Euripides competed against
each other. Aeschylus represented the traditional generation of
theater in which themes including heroism and respect for social
hierarchy were embodied in a lofty and decorous style. On the
other hand, Euripides represented the more recent theatrical
style which is more democratic and satirical in its treatment of
lofty themes.
The Frogs is an important piece of literary criticism because of the following reasons:
❖ It depicts how important literature was to the Greeks and how influential poets
were in affecting society.
❖ Since Aeschylus, who represented traditional theater, emerged as the winner at
the end of the drama, this showed how the Greeks valued literature as a form
of ‘education’ for the masses in terms of promoting morality and civic
responsibility.
The Greek Philosophers and Literary Criticism
Plato
❖ Mimesis: this is the Greek word for imitation, although the more appropriate
translation would be ‘representation’. According to Plato, all artistic creation—
including literature—are forms of imitation for that something which already
exists in the divine ideal. It is God who created this ideal and everything else
that man perceives are just but mere representations of this ideal. This means
that literature is imitation twice removed from the ideal:
Ideal
•Freedom
Reality
Literature
•Filipinos
fighting
against the
Spaniards for
freedom
•Jose Rizal's
Noli Me
Tangere and
El
Filibusterismo
In the example given: the divine ideal is the concept of freedom. In reality,
people experience their belief of what freedom is—it is not the ultimate form
of freedom but it is what humans believe is freedom. In the case of the
Filipinos, this freedom was taken away from them due to colonization and so
Jose Rizal wrote about his idea about freedom and his people’s experience with
it through his two novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. With this, it
can be said that the idea of freedom embodied in the literary pieces is a
representation of reality which in turn is still a watered-down version of the
divine ideal of freedom.
❖ Censorship: Plato believed that literature is a powerful force in influencing
public opinion hence he expounds upon the importance of guardianship over
the performance of literature in public. This was important during that time
since theater was a foremost entertainment form for the Greeks. Plato
advocated the strict censorship of literature on the following grounds:
✓ False claims and representations of both gods and men;
✓ Literature’s corrupting effect on human character; and
✓ Its ‘disorderly’ complexity of individualism in terms of sensibility and
feeling.
Plato was particularly concerned with poetry and its ‘corrupting’ tendencies.
This is largely due to the fact that poetry was emotive in nature and emotions
are fleeting and unstable at times. They reflect the self-interest of humans:
irrational, in flux and devoid of unifying structure. Plato believes that this gets
in the way of the philosophy of order and unity in society hence he believed
that heavy censorship for poetry, which can affect people, is needed.
Aristotle
❖ Poetry: Although Aristotle was Plato’s student, he took a different view of
poetry. Aristotle regarded poetry positively characterizing it as something that
can promote what he called ‘the good life’. Aristotle believes that poetry can
accomplish this because it can teach virtues and practical wisdom.
✓ Mimesis: Aristotle also sees literature as a form of imitation but he
highlights its positive significance. According to Aristotle, literature is
imitative because it is a basic human instinct to do so and is a
pleasurable avenue for professing knowledge.
TRAGEDY
Imitation of men as
better than the norm
Action
✓ Action: According to Aristotle, art, including literature, imitates men in
action. The action portrayed in literature are either noble or base since
humans can also be either of the two. With this notion, he explained the
genres of drama as follows:
COMEDY
Imitation of men
worse than the norm
❖ Tragedy: Aristotle also conceived an analysis of tragedy which remains
influential until this day. Some of the most important concepts he expounded
include the following:
✓ Catharsis: According to Aristotle, the primary aim of a tragedy is to
bring about catharsis or purging of emotions: to arouse feelings of pity
and fear and clear them of these negative emotions so that they may
leave the theater performance with cleansed and uplifted spirits as well
as a heightened understanding of the ways of gods and men (Cliffs
Notes, 2020).
✓ Elements of a Tragedy
i. The Tragic Hero
The protagonist in a tragedy is a ‘great’ man: reputable, from a wellknown family and is basically good and decent.
He however possesses a ‘fatal flaw’ or hamartia in Greek. This flaw
is what will ultimately cause his downfall no matter how noble or
good or reputable he is.
ii. The Plot
Aristotle considers the plot as the most important element of a
tragedy. There is pathos or suffering but its most significant
components are reversal and recognition (Hartley, 2020).
The reversal is known in Greek as the peripeteia. This refers to a
certain situation that changes the situation of the hero that may
seem good at first but will actually be revealed as disastrous later
on.
Recognition on the other hand, or anagnorisis in Greek, pertains to a
change in the emotion or attitude of a character. In tragedies,
recognition usually takes place as a change from ignorance to
awareness of some horrible event or secret.
iii. Thought/Theme
This is expressed through the characters’ speeches and dialogues.
According to Aristotle, it is the ‘where something is proved to be
or not to be.’
iv. Diction
This pertains to the language or ‘the expression of meaning in words’
which are proper and appropriate to the other elements of the
drama.
v. Song
Greek dramas have musical elements in them, represented by a group
of singers known as the Chorus. Aristotle believes that the chorus
contributes to the unity of the plot.
vi. Spectacle
This pertains to the effects employed onstage. Aristotle considers it
the least important element, emphasizing that dramas should use it
carefully and that an excess ‘creates a sense, not of the terrible, but
only of the monstrous’—thus signifying that exaggerated special
effects is unacceptable.
b. Age of Rhetoric
The traditions of rhetoric originally pertained to the art of public speaking. In ancient
Greece and later on in the Roman Empire, public speaking was prominent for its power
of persuasion and therefore it had power to influence political, intellectual and civic
life.
Greek Rhetoric
Rhetoric was particularly indispensable in the political spheres especially in Athens
and Syracuse. Because it was so important in Athens, a group of teachers called
Sophists (etym. Sophos: wise) even taught this art for use in the courts, the legislature,
political forums and philosophical reflection and debate.
❖ Plato’s Critique:
Since rhetoric was so influential, it soon became subject to abuse. The sophists
taught their students to argue for both sides of a case and therefore they were
accused of sacrificing truth, morality and justice. Plato criticized rhetoric for
this reason, arguing that rhetoricians are not necessarily experts but they project
themselves so through the power of persuasion. When they do this, Plato sees
it as an act of imposing an opinion without basis or evidence.
❖ Aristotle and the Development of Rhetoric
Aristotle believed that rhetoric is a useful skill because it can promote truth and
justice. He conceived the following ideas about rhetoric which remain
influential up to the present:
✓ Modes of persuasion/Artistic Proofs
ETHOS
This pertains to the character of the speaker, his credibility to speak
on a topic
• Ex. A doctor would be more credible to speak about COVID-19 than a lawyer due to his
educational background and training.
This is the means by which the speaker persuades the audience by
PATHOS
appealing to their emotions.
• Ex. When talking about the danger of COVID-19, the speaker may talk about the health
issues children may face for an audience full of parents.
Pertaining to logic or reason, this appeal employs hard evidence
LOGOS
such as statistics or authorities to persuade.
• Ex. A speaker may refer to the statistical data of COVID-19 casualties and transmission.
✓ Genres of rhetoric
DELIBERATIVE
• Politics
• It concerns of
public speaking
which has
something to do
with the future
actions to be done
for the state
FORENSIC
DISPLAY
• Law Courts
• It concerns actions
from the past and it
uses prosecution
and defense to bring
about justice.
• Praise
• It concerns itself
with the current and
it aims to display
nobility through
praise or
denigration.
Roman Rhetoric
Greek rhetoric entered Rome during the second century BC. Hermagoras was the
primary influence but the most extensive discussion and instruction of Rhetoric is
attributed to Cicero, who is known as the most famous of all classical rhetoricians.
❖ Cicero and his Rhetorical Theory
✓ There are five canons of rhetoric (University of Arkansas, 2020):
Invention
Brainstorming for material to be used
in the text
A politician comes up with several
points to be brought up in a debate
Arrangement
Deciding the order of materials in a
text
A politician decides to discuss civil
rights followed by economy
Style
Coming up with the actual wordings
for the text
A politician will use metaphors to
compare the congress to a zoo
Memory
Commiting the text to memory
A politician rehearses the speech and
practices proper gestures, etc.
Delivery
Presenting to audience
A politician shows energy while
speaking audibly
I would like to
make it clear, in
parenthesis, that
I do not blame
my parents for
their point of
view. There is an
expiry date on
blaming your
parents for
steering you in
the wrong
direction; the
moment you are
old enough to
take the wheel,
responsibility
lies with you
(Rowling, 2008).
Ex.
To clarify, I do
not blame my
parents for their
perspective.
You cannot
blame your
parents for
everything.
Once you are
old enough to
do something
for yourself,
what you
become is
already your
own
responsibliity.
Uses more
current
idioms of
speech
Ex.
Let us not
blame our way
of life to our
parents. Once
we become old
enough to know
better, our lives
are in our own
hands.
SIMPLE OR PLAIN
Ex:
Plainer
words
compared to
Grand style
MIDDLE STYLE
Ornate
arrangement
of words
GRAND OR HIGH
✓ There are also three levels of style
c. Criticism during the Roman Empire
Greek and Roman ideologies on literature continued to flourish through other writers
and thinkers as follows:
❖ Horace
Horace is a poet who specialized in odes, satires and epistles. His contributions
to literary criticism are found in his work Ars Poetica (Art of Poetry).
✓ Poetry as dulce et utile (sweet and useful) which means it should teach
and delight.
Poetry should be delightful in the sense that it entertains its
audience/reader.
Poetry should also be socially useful by offering moral examples and
advice.
✓ Writers should seek valid criticism from sincere and qualified people
to improve their works.
✓ Once literature is published, it is considered public property because
nescit vox missa reverti (the voice once sent out forth cannot return).
This highlights the importance of a writer’s work since it implies the
irreversible influence of literature to society once it has been published.
❖ Longinus
The most influential rhetorical treatise that emerged during the 1 st Century AD
was attributed to Longinus. It was entitled Peri Hupsous or On the Sublime.
✓ Sublime is the power of language to move people so much that they
‘transport out of themselves’. Longinus expounded that writers can
achieve this through the grandeur of their thoughts, the inspiration of
emotion, and the skillful use of language such as the employment of
metaphors and diction. He also mentioned that there should be a dignity
and elevation of organizing all of the aforementioned.
2. Medieval Period
The Middle Ages has been generally perceived as an era of darkness and superstition.
Nonetheless, literary criticism continued to grow in said era as Greek and Roman ideas
remained influential. It can be said that two intellectual factors drove the Middle Ages:
Classical thought and the development of Christian theology. Important figures who helped
define criticism include the following:
a. Plotinus
Although the Roman Plotinus lived before the Middle Ages, his philosophy which
became known as Neo-Platonism was an influential doctrine of criticism during the
Middle Ages.
❖ Plotinus negated Plato’s doctrine that art is twice removed from reality.
Instead, he believed that the artist enjoys a close connection to the Divine. This
can be perceived in the sensitivity of the artist to beauty in the natural world
and how he/she improves upon it by imitating.
Ex. When a sculptor creates something from a block of stone, the form is not
in the material (stone), it is in the designer’s mind and imagination and is
translated to the material before him, turning it into art.
b. St. Augustine
As a monk, Augustine championed the ideology that everything is a moral or a
theological issue. There is no luxury for examination of aesthetics. For an instance
while Augustine admits the moving qualities of poetry such as in Aeneid when Virgil
described the dead Dido, he maintains that such poetically strong emotions are
misplaced and should be focused on God.
c. St. Thomas Aquinas
While St. Augustine put everything under the lens of Christian theology, Aquinas on
the other hand supported the idea that there should be no collision between reason and
faith. He believed that these two are not supposed to oppose but are to interplay.
❖ The beautiful was an object of contemplation hence it is recognized and
appreciated. The good, meanwhile, is what we desire.
Literary Criticism during the period were classified under the primary divisions of
knowledge: Grammatica (Grammar), Rhetorica (Rhetorics) and Dialectica (Discourse)
known as the Trivium.
a. Grammatica
It was in the Middle Ages when the components of grammar—syntax and etymology—
as well as the explanations about allusions and textual observations entered literary
criticism.
b. Rhetorica
Rhetoric concerned of questions regarding structure and style as well as methods of
presentation and devices used for literary embellishment. It never considered the
human aspect of literature but focused on objective artistry and eloquence.
c. Dialectica
This focused on argumentation: making a point and proving or disproving a case. The
basis was logic.
The Late Middle Ages and the Rise of Humanism
Humanism became popular during the Renaissance but two figures are considered the
forerunners of this movement during the transition period from the Middle Ages to the
Renaissance.
Giovanni Boccaccio and his defense of poetry
Bocacccio is most known for his work Decameron, a collection of 100 stories similar in
structure to Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. His other works however such as
Genealogia Deorum Gentilium (Genealogy of the Gentiles Gods) contributed to literary
criticism, mainly with regards to poetry. This is summed up below:
Criticism
Poetry is an
unprofitable
activity.
Poets are
talemongers or
liars.
Defense
Poetry is an exercise in higher rather than worldly thinking. It is an
inspired art important for its power to move.
As taught in the Classics, poetry aims to delight and instruct. To do
so, there is a cloaking of meaning similar to how theology cloaks
divine mysteries.
Christine de Pisan and the Germ of Feminism
de Pisan is considered as the most articulate female voice of the Middle Ages. Her family’s
connections enabled her to obtain education and gain a place in the royal court. Her works
are considered as early forms of Feminist criticism since she shed light onto the
misogynistic portrayal of women in literature during that time.
3. Renaissance
The Renaissance saw a shift from theology to humanism and this also translated to the field
of literary criticism. For one thing, focus on stile and aesthetic became more prominent
than theology or logic. Literary accomplishments also began to flourish from the laymen
and was no longer limited to the clergy.
a. Revisiting the Classical Heritage
Aristotle’s Poetics was made available in 1508 and this spurred the reemergence of the
classical influence. Horace’s Ars Poetica also became popular. Many writers absorbed
the ideas and doctrines from the classics and applied these in their works as they saw
fit.
❖ Giambattista Giraldi
This Italian poet, dramatist and literary critic advocated for a new literary
genre, the romance: a lengthy narrative poem which combined elements from
the epic and medieval romances. His beliefs regarding this genre are as follows:
✓ The romance comes not from the Greeks nor the Romans, instead it
comes from the Italians; hence writers of this genre should not limit
themselves to the rules set by the Greeks and Romans. This point of
view reflected his sense of nationalism.
✓ Giraldi, however, agreed with the doctrine of the classics regarding the
civil duty of poetry: “it must praise virtuous actions and censure the
vicious.”
❖ Lodovico Castalvetro
He is most recognized for his reformulation of Aristotle’s concepts on drama.
He also reverted from Horace’s idea about poetry, insisting that the primary
purpose of poetry is to provide pleasure, especially to the masses.
❖ Torquato Tasso
Tasso championed the vernacular epics which impacted later literary theories
in Europe. He believed in the supremacy of the epic among poetic genres which
countered Aristotle’s claim that the tragedy is superior.
b. The Defense of Poetry
The defense of poetry against religious biases was continued during the Renaissance.
Integral to their arguments were ideas from Horace’s Ars Poetica.
❖ Sir Phillip Sydney
Sydney is often regarded as the embodiment of the well-rounded ‘Renaissance
Man’ since he excelled not only in poetry but also in statesmanship and military
service. His contribution to literary criticism is his text Apologie for Poetry
which raised the issues of the value and function of poetry, the nature of
imitation and the concept of nature. It was a rebuttal against the attack on poetry
written by a Puritan minister Stephen Gosson on his work The School of Abuse.
✓ Sydney defends poetry, characterizing it as the first form in which
knowledge was expressed. He explained that it was through poetry that
varieties of knowledge were made accessible in ‘pleasurable forms’.
✓ Poetry, according to Sydney, was a tradition. He cites how the English
word ‘poet’ can trace its roots to the Greek poiein which means ‘to
make’—therefore attributing it to the tradition of creating: something
which humans derived from the Heavenly Maker.
✓ As for poetry being charged as the ‘mother of lies’, Sydney reasoned
out ‘the poet…nothing affirms, and therefore never lieth’. He goes on
to explain that the poet does not claim to tell the truth; instead, he only
writes allegorically and figuratively.
4. Neoclassicism and Enlightenment
Neoclassicism
The first part of the period was known as Neoclassicism, which was characterized by a
return to the classical models, literary styles and values of the Greek and Roman authors.
In this sense, neoclassicists are considered as the heirs of the humanists during the
Renaissance. Although this is the case, neoclassicists disapproved of the style and linguistic
ornamentation of some Renaissance writers who thought of it as individualism,
neoclassicists considered these as excess and over-sophistication.
There are two interrelated concepts that are important to this period: imitation and nature.
Neoclassicism
Imitation
This notion of imitation of the external
world and of human action was
deemed as the reaffirmation of the
ideals of objectivity and impersonality.
Nature
This was the harmonious and
hierarchical order of the universe,
including the social and political
hierarchies.
It laso referred to the imitation of
classic models like those of Homer and
Virgil.
Nature therefore meant that everything
had its own proper and appointed place
in the world.
a. French Neoclassicism
Neoclassicist literary criticism started in France particularly through the French
Academy. The important theorists are the following:
❖ Pierre Corneille
His most important ideas are embodied in his work Trois Discours sur le
Poeme Dramatique (Three Discourses on Dramatic Poetry). This was written
in response to the criticism of his play Le Cid which violated the Aristotelian
unities of action, time and place. His ideas are as follows:
✓ Corneille agrees with Aristotle’s idea that there should only be one
complete action in a drama. However, he believes that this main action
can only be completed through several others which keeps the audience
in suspense.
✓ Corneille also says that although Horace specified that a play has five
acts, there has never been a guarantee of how many acts Greek plays
have.
✓ He also stated that critics find it easy to censure drama. But if they were
to write and produce these works, they would realize that their
censuring and strict precision actually eliminates so many ‘beautiful
things and experiences’ in the stage.
✓ Therefore, Corneille stipulates that ancient rules from the classical
models must be made to ‘agree with modern pleasures.’ This meant
reformulating classical rules and models according to the needs of the
modern audience.
❖ Nicolas Boileau
Boileau was a poet and critique whose work had a pervasive impact not only
in France but also in England and Germany. This work L’Art Poetique (The
Art of Poetry) affirmed the principles of reason and observation. His important
ideas are as follows:
✓ Reason enables poetic control and moderation. According to Boileau,
the application of reason to writing poetry would also prevent it from
being subjected to the biases of religious criticism.
✓ Boileau also emphasized the importance of knowing human nature
which he termed ‘the secrets of the heart’. He stated that observing
people enables writers to depicting them in all stages of life. However,
he said that reason should still be observed: “let young men speak like
young, old men like old.”
b. English Neoclassicism
As mentioned earlier, neoclassicism started in France; hence England was very much
inspired by the French example of the movement. English neoclassicism however was
not as systematic. Still, its ideas became influential especially in terms of bringing
stability and order in the political state of the times. The thinkers who contributed to
this movement are the following:
❖ John Dryden
Known as the father of English criticism, Dryden is famous for his extensive
works on the treatment of different literary genres such as the epic, tragedy,
comedy, satire and dramatic theory. Just like his French counterparts, Dryden
championed for a compromise between the classical authority and the needs of
the modern writer. His important ideas are as follows:
✓ Just like Boileau, Dryden combines the concept of aesthetics and reason
in poetry writing. He regards poetry as a rational activity with an ethical
and epistemological responsibility but at the same time, he also states
that there should be equal emphasis on the writer’s wit and imagination.
❖ Alexander Pope
Pope’s contribution to literary criticism is found in his work An Essay on
Criticism. Here, he discussed the scope and nature of good literary criticism
and redefines the classical virtues in accordance to the neoclassical ideas of
nature and wit. His ideas on criticism are as follows:
✓ Pope believes that the best poets make the best critics for poetry; also,
the best poetry, just like the best criticism are divinely inspired. With
this, Pope regards literary criticism as a noble work.
✓ He advises critics to familiarize themselves with the author and the
author’s intention: “In ev’ry Work regard the Writer’s End, since none
can compass what they Intend.”
✓ Pope also advises the critic to recognize the overall unity of a work so
as to avoid partial and incomplete assessments that are based on a few
aspects only. He also reminds the critic to practice moral sensibility and
a sense of balance in doing his work.
The Enlightenment
The Enlightenment encompassed many aspects of life including philosophy, literature,
language, art, religion and political theory. With reason and logic as the priority,
Enlightenment thinkers aimed to remove irrational prejudices and superstition from all
human institutions. They also promoted the idea of a society could actualize their potentials
by making moral and political choices that are based on rationality and freedom. Important
theorists who contributed to literary criticism during the Enlightenment are composed of
the following:
❖ John Locke
Known as the proponent of British empiricism, Locke is also recognized for
his philosophy on language which contributed to literary criticism. His most
influential concepts in the field are as follows:
✓ Locke revived the age-old antagonism between philosophy and poetry.
He demarcated the two fields by stating that philosophy is presided over
by logical judgment and clarity whereas poetry is the realm of fancy
and figurative language.
✓ He also argued that figurative language is an ‘abuse’ of language and
that rhetoric can be a ‘powerful instrument of error and deceit’. This
harsh view is attributed to his leaning towards empiricism which
anticipated the idea of Saussure later on that the connection between
words and ideas is nothing but a ‘perfectly arbitrary imposition’
invented by humans in attempting to understand their world.
❖ David Hume
Hume is a Scottish empiricist and philosopher who is one of the central figures
of the Enlightenment. His work raised questions about the standards of literary
taste and the conflicts surrounding it. His important ideas are as follows:
✓ True taste is a rational process. Hence we rely on good sense to examine
to check prejudices and on reason to acquire good taste in numerous
ways.
✓ Hume urges critics to be aware of the structure of a work, of how
various parts relate to the consistency and uniformity of the whole. He
also mentioned the importance of knowing the end or the intent of the
literary work.
✓ While Hume admits to the subjective nature of taste, he also established
the idea that canons exist. A canon is an established and accepted
criterion by which something is judged. According to Hume, the canon
can be the basis of good taste since it has been established and decided
upon by a number of experts with cultivated and unbiased perspectives.
❖ Mary Wollstonecraft
She is one of the first feminist writers of the modern times. A radical thinker,
she added to the conventional Enlightenment elements the idea of women’s
economic and educational rights. This was expressed in her work, A
Vindication of the Rights of Women. The prominent ideas of the text are as
follows:
✓ Wollstonecraft pointed out that woman, as the designated companion
to man, should be educated in an equal footing.
✓ She also championed the idea that women, just like men, also have the
gift of reason; and that they cannot be simply coerced to fulfill a set of
duties blindly and obediently.
✓ Wollstonecraft advocated for the Enlightenment ideals of knowledge,
morality and reason to also apply to women.
5. 19th Century Romanticism
The 19th Century was pervaded with the ideals of Romanticism which was heralded by the
French Revolutionary ideals and the bourgeoisie world view.
Defining ideals of the Romantic movement included: an exaltation of nature and childhood
spontaneity; a high regard for human subjectivity, for human passion and emotion, of the
sublime and of the imagination. The Romantics insisted on artistic autonomy as an attempt
of freeing art from the constraints of morals and utilitarianism that have bound them in the
past eras.
a. German Romanticism
It was in Germany where Romantic philosophy and literary criticism can trace its
foundation primarily through Romanticism’s main philosopher Friedrich Schelling.
Other important thinkers who contributed to the body of knowledge on Romanticism
are as follows:
❖ Friedrich von Schiller
As a poet, dramatist and literary theorist, von Schiller regarded arts and letters
as an answer to the world corrupted by the principles of mechanism and utility.
His ideas include the following:
✓ Utility has become the idol of the times and this can be attributed to the
negative impact of progress in the sciences and in various schools of
thoughts. It has caused division and has designated ranks among
humankind in which some develop but others are left behind.
✓ With this, von Schiller urges the artist to turn away from reality and
seek inspiration instead from an ideal world or from the glorious golden
ages of the past.
❖ Friedrich Schleirmacher
This philosopher and theologian laid the foundations for modern hermeneutics,
the art of systemic textual interpretation. His significant beliefs are as follows:
✓ The task of hermeneutics is to understand the text or utterance the same
way the author does. However, this can be difficult since the reader’s
knowledge about the author may be limited and mediated.
✓ One way this can be remedied is by gaining knowledge about the
language the author uses in the discourse. This is because language is
historically determined and thus contains the cultural and psychological
identity of anyone who uses it, such as the author.
✓ This means that in interpretation, the elements of the text should be
situated not only in the context of the work but also in its historical
situation as a whole.
b. French Romanticism
The founder and the recognized father of romanticism in France is the thinker JeanJacques Rousseau who advocated for a return to nature as a means of responding to the
increasing corruption, artificiality and mechanization that accompanies the progress of
civilization. Other prominent French writers such as Victor Hugo also promoted the
romantic notion of freedom in their works. AnotherFrench personality who shared
insights about romanticism and literary criticism is:
❖ Germaine de Stael
This writer was so progressivist in her views that she offended Napoleon who
had her exiled from Paris. She was a staunch advocate for freedom and
historical progress. Her important contributions to literary criticism are found
in her Essay on Fiction and on a longer work entitled On Literature Considered
in its Relationship to Social Institutions.
✓ de Stael examined the social challenges to female writers. She believed
that women should be taught just like men since their intellectual
development will bring about ‘enlightenment and the happiness of
society in general’.
✓ She points out that women should also be allowed to enter the realm of
politics since they can act as the voice of conscience in this sphere
where they have no direct vested interest.
c. English Romanticism
The Romantic Movement in England was largely influenced by the French Revolution
and its ideology on freedom. The earliest English romantic writer was William Blake
who depicted the mystical and mythical view of history and religion in his works. Many
other writers and thinkers also contributed to the movement and some of the most
important are as follows:
❖ William Wordsworth
The most mature expression of the movement was achieved through
Wordsworth through his perspective that nature was the embodiment of a
universal spirit. His influential ideas include the following:
✓ Poetry is not artificial nor merely about the artificial diction and style.
It is about a man (poet) speaking to men and thus it should use the
language actually used in ‘common life’, especially those spoken by
people living a ‘rustic life’. Wordsworth elevated these kind of people
because he believed that they speak a purer language than those who
have been jaded by the corruption of city life.
✓ Wordsworth also believed that the poet is distinguished from ordinary
men because of the power of his imagination: the ability to transform
the real world as a raw material into something beautiful, ideal and even
divine.
❖ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
While Coleridge is most recognized for his poetry, his literary criticism also
stands out as he wrote detailed studies on the works of Shakespeare and Milton
as well as an eclectic text entitled Biographia Literaria which combined
intellectual autobiography, philosophy and literary theory. His primary ideas
deal with his beliefs about imagination:
✓ Coleridge views imagination as a faculty that unites everything
received through the senses with the concept of understanding. Through
imagination, this understanding becomes more comprehensive and
intuitive.
✓ While he emphasizes the importance of imagination, Coleridge still
maintains that reason is the supreme faculty and it contains the sense,
understanding and imagination.
✓ He considers poetry as something that gives pleasure through its
organic unity. While poetry is not to be regarded as truth per se, it is a
linguistic and material construct that enables the reader to process truth.
d. American Romanticism
Compared to the movement in other countries, Romanticism in America flowered at a
later date since it was still a fairly new nation then. Its struggle for self-definition and
independence from British rule is what spurred America to develop its identity in the
light of romanticism.
❖ Ralph Waldo Emerson
As the most articulate proponent of American romanticism, Emerson was also
the most influential. His thoughts about romanticism are as follows:
✓ The universe is composed of Nature and Soul. Since Nature is a part of
God, a gift of Nature is the love of beauty which is achieved through
the senses.
✓ With this, Emerson posits that Nature is an ‘interpreter’ since every
appearance in nature corresponds to a state of mind. For an instance,
we relate darkness to concepts of ignorance or the unknown while light
is often related to awakening or hope. Therefore the world is
emblematic: things in the world are ‘signs’ and are allegorical
enactments of higher truths.
❖ Edgar Allan Poe
Aside from being a writer, Poe also wrote essays on his views about literature
and writing. Poe’s foremost contribution to literary criticism was his idea that
poetry should be independent from moral, educational or intellectual
imperatives. Specifically:
✓ The poem is not always meant to inculcate morals or to profess a truth.
Instead, the most noble purpose of a poem is the poem itself: ‘this poem
which is a poem and nothing more—this poem written solely for the
poem’s sake’.
✓ Poe believes there should be a division between the truthful and poetic
modes in thinking. This is because the mind has three offices:
Taste
apprehends the
beautiful
Pure intellect
concerned with
truth
Moral sense
disposes us
towards our duty
MIND
Taste is in the middle because although there are distinctions among
the three, it has intimate relations with the other two.
Therefore when one reads poetry, the precepts of duty and lessons of
truth may be introduced but they are still secondary since the primary
aim is still to see the beauty in the poem as ‘beauty is the atmosphere
and the real essence of the poem’.
6. 20th Century
Historically, the 20th Century was marked by such disturbing events that profoundly
affected and shaped literary criticism. These included World War I, World War II, the Cold
War and numerous political unrest from the 1960s onwards.
The critical movements of the early 20th Century moved in different directions:
❖ The separation of the aesthetic from moral and religious concerns;
❖ The exaltation of the aesthetic as the last line of defense against a
commercialized and dehumanized world’; and
❖ The attempt to establish literary criticism as a ‘serious’ and scientific activity
a. Modernism
Modernism is an umbrella term that covers a series of movements in Europe and
America from 1910 to 1930. The preexisting beliefs established before the 20 th Century
underwent such an assault due to the extreme social disruptions of the times that
rationalism and ideologies underwent various assaults.
Certain determining features that define literature under modernism are as follows:
❖ The affirmation that there is a continuity between the self and the world and
they shape each other;
❖ A perception that there is a complexity in the concepts of time, memory and
history as factors that affect the construction of the self and the world;
❖ There is a breakdown in the narrative structure; hence, literary pieces tend to
be fragmented;
❖ A new self-consciousness about the process of literary process in which the
writer has an awareness of how his/her work relates to literary traditions; and
❖ The awareness of the problematic nature of language: that there are different
levels of meaning to words.
Formalism
The formalist school viewed literature as an object in its own right, apart from the moral
and intellectual functions it was designated with in the past.
Literature is
autonomous
It has its own laws
Literature is autotelic
It has its own aims
internal to itself
Hence literature does
not convey only one
message
❖ Roman Jakobson
Essentially a linguist, Jakobson wrote a paper entitled Linguistic and Poetics in
which he argued the following point:
✓ While most of language is concerned with the transmission of ideas, the
poetic function of language is primarily concerned with the message for
its own sake.
The New Criticism
The concepts of Formalism were absorbed in America through a movement called New
Criticism. Specifically, the movement was fostered in Cambridge University wherein
I.A. Richards and William Empson attempted to establish a systematic study of
literature after analyzing the erratic efforts of students in poetry analysis. This led to
the academic institutionalization of New Criticism in the academe.
❖ John Crowe Ransom
Ransom published a series of essays The New Criticism which expressed the
core principles of the movement. He proclaimed that he was motivated to write
these to make literary criticism ‘more scientific or precise’.
✓ He urged critics to move away from historical scholarship and focus
instead on aesthetic appreciation and understanding. He said that critics
should study literature, not about literature.
✓ Ransom specified that the following should be excluded in criticism:
Donts
Personal impressions because the critical activity should cite the
nature of the piece rather than its effect on the reader
Synopsis and paraphrasing because the plot or story is an
abstraction from the real content of the text
Linguistic studies including the identification of allusions and
meaning of words
Historical studies which might include literary background,
biography and literary sources
Moral content because this is not the whole content of a text
Any other special studies dealing with some abstract or prose
content taken from the work
Marxist Criticism
Since the 1930s saw the rise of Marxism as a political force, it was no surprise that this
also translated to the literary circles of the times. It provided an insight that would later
on help create other branches of modern criticism. Marxism posited the idea of a
‘materialist conception of history’ driven by class struggle.
Early Feminist Criticism
Feminist antecedents can be traced way back to Ancient Greece but it rose to
prominence in the 20th Century as a political movement.
Psychoanalysis
The application of psychoanalytic principles was a modern phenomenon due to the
initiatives of Sigmund Freud, Alfred Adler and Carl Jung. This movement rests in the
principle that literature is written by the author whose unconscious governs his
behavior and motivations in doing so.
ACTIVITIES
I. Literary Criticism Infographic
Given here is an example of an
infographic. Study it carefully then
create your own about what literary
criticism and literary theory mean
based on what you have learned from
this module. Also, give a short
discussion of how literary criticism and
literary theory work together in the
analysis of literature.
➢ You may use either digital or
manual means in creating your
infographic.
➢ Make sure that the graphics you
use are relevant to your content
and that the text is readable.
➢ Be guided by the following
criteria:
• Content
Clarity of ideas
(15)
Organization of ideas (15)
Conventions
(5)
• Overall presentation
Layout organization (5)
Text and Graphics (15)
II. Person of the Era
Choose one particular era from the history of literary criticism and pick out a thinker
who contributed to the field in that specified time. Research more about this person
and his work in literature and literary criticism. Write a three-paragraph feature
article about him/her.
➢ You may refer to the following website for information on writing feature
articles: Rules for Writing Feature Articles | LoveToKnow
➢ Be guided by the following criteria:
• Focus of content
(15)
• Human interest angle
(15)
• Style
(10)
• Conventions
(10)
SELF ASSESSMENT
Given here is an example of a historical timeline:
Review your history of literary criticism
and create a timeline (digital or manual)
that summarizes the progress of literary
criticism through the ages from the
ancient times to the 20th Century. Be sure
to cite important figures and concepts that
were relevant in the development of
criticism as we know it today.
REFERENCES
Cliffs Notes. (2020). Aristotle on tragedy. CliffsNotes Study Guides | Book Summaries, Test Preparation &
Homework Help | Written by Teachers. https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/a/agamemnon-thechoephori-and-the-eumenides/critical-essay/aristotle-on-tragedy
Habib, M. A. (2008). A history of literary criticism: From Plato to the present. John Wiley & Sons.
Hartley, G. (2020). Aristotle and the elements of tragedy. Northside Independent School District | San Antonio,
TX. https://nisd.net/sites/default/files/pdf/summer_readin
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (2021). Literary theory. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy | An
encyclopedia of philosophy articles written by professional
philosophers. https://iep.utm.edu/literary/#H1
Purdue Writing Lab. (2018). Introduction to literary
theory. https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/writing_in_literature/literary_theory_and
_schools_of_criticism/index.html
Sreekumar, S. (2016, December 11). Literary criticism--middle ages. Dr. Sreekumar's English Literature & Career
Advancement. https://sreekumarenglishliterature.blogspot.com/2016/12/literary-criticism-middleages.html
Thamarana, S. (2015). A critical overview of literary criticism and its relevance to literature. International Journal
of English Language, Literature and Humanities, 3(9), 381-393.
University of Arkansas. (2020). The five canons of rhetoric. Sam M. Walton College of Business | University of
Arkansas. https://walton.uark.edu/business-communicationlab/Resources/downloads/The_Five_Canons_of_Rhetoric.pdf
Waidner-Spahr Library. (2020, August 25). Research guides: Criticism: Literature, film & drama: Literature
criticism. Research Guides at Dickinson College. https://libguides.dickinson.edu/criticism