ENGL 2P81 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: New Criticism, New Historicism

• School: Brock University
• Department: English
• Course: ENGL 2P81
• Professor: Elizabeth Campbell

Document Summary

The primary principals of literary criticism applied in this course (opposite but surprisingly complementary ) A mode of literary study which developed in the 1920s in america in reaction against a longstanding scholarly interest in the biographical, social, and historical context of literary works. New criticism, which was the prevailing literary theory applied in north. America until the late 1960s, rejected the idea that external circumstances were relevant to the understanding of literature, and claimed that works must be considered as independent, autonomous entities. New critics emphasise the importance of a language specific to poetics (as opposed to science and logic), and focus on analysis of figures of speech and symbols. The aim of this close reading is to draw conclusions concerning a particular theme or themes generated by the work. A mode of literary study which arose in the 1980s in reaction against new criticism.