Literary criticism
A genre of arts criticism, Literary criticism or literary studies is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical analysis of literature’s goals and methods. Although the two activities are closely related, literary critics are not always, and have not always been, theorists.
Whether or not literary criticism should be considered a separate field of inquiry from literary theory is a matter of some controversy. For example, The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism draws no distinction between literary theory and literary criticism, and almost always uses the terms together to describe the same concept. Some critics consider literary criticism a practical application of literary theory, because criticism always deals directly with particular literary works, while theory may be more general or abstract.
Literary criticism is often published in essay or book form. Academic literary critics teach in literature departments and publish in academic journals, and more popular critics publish their reviews in broadly circulating periodicals such as The Times Literary Supplement, The New York Times Book Review, The New York Review of Books, the London Review of Books, the Dublin Review of Books, The Nation, Bookforum, and The New Yorker.
Literary criticism is a broad field encompassing the interpretation and evaluation of literary works, often through various theoretical lenses. History of criticism refers to the chronological evolution of these critical approaches and theories themselves, whereas historical criticism is a specific type of literary criticism that analyzes texts within their original historical and cultural contexts. Therefore, the history of criticism examines the “what and why” of literary analysis over time, while historical criticism is a “how” that uses the historical context to interpret a single work.
History of Criticism
What it is:
The study of how literary interpretation and evaluation have changed over time, exploring the various schools of thought and critical methods that have emerged.
Focus:
The historical development of literary theory and criticism, including the emergence of approaches like New Criticism, feminist criticism, and historical criticism itself.
Purpose:
To understand the intellectual and cultural shifts that have shaped the way literature is read and understood.
Literary Criticism
What it is:
The act of studying, interpreting, and evaluating a specific work or body of literature.
Focus:
The text itself, its structure, style, meaning, and its artistic merit, often using different theoretical frameworks.
Purpose:
To offer an interpretation of a text’s meaning and significance, analyze its artistic components, and judge its worth.
Historical Criticism
What it is:
A specific type of literary criticism that places a text within its historical and cultural context to understand its meaning and significance.
Focus:
The author’s life, the social and historical circumstances of the time the work was written, and the specific cultural and ideological forces at play.
Purpose:
To gain a more comprehensive understanding of a text by examining the world in which it was created and the influences on its creation.
In Summary
The history of criticism is a meta-study of literary criticism’s evolution.
Historical criticism is a particular critical method that uses history as a tool for interpretation.