INTRODUCTION TO THE SCOPE OF LITERARY CRITICISM

1. INTRODUCTION TO THE SCOPE OF LITERARY CRITICISM WEEK 1 Literary Criticism SandyaMaulana, S.S.

2. INTRODUCTION TO THE SCOPE OF LITERARY CRITICISM First of all, the main object of literary criticism is, of course, works of literature which include a variety of genres, such as the popular division of poetry, prose, and play (drama). Literary criticism may delve deeper into sub-genres and tendencies in literature, such as epic poems, science fiction, and Gothic novels. Literary criticism may also concern the history and establishment of a certain genre or tendency in literature. Literary criticism is generally written in prose form (and only a minuscule number of writers and critics chose to write criticism in the form of poems) and, as such, works of literary criticism may also be viewed as prose works, and therefore, literary works. This shows that the possibility of objects of literary criticism is expansive. Literary criticism covers a number of activities that may be defined as acts of criticism, namely critically translating, summarizing, reviewing, giving opinions to, agreeing/disagreeing with,

3. making suggestions to, supporting, attacking, specifying, and expanding upon an object mentioned in the first paragraph. Literary criticism is not only a criticism of literary works. It is also a criticism that is meant to be “literary”, in the sense that works of literary criticism are also works of literature and are subject to criticism. In turn, works of literary criticism influence the way people (and more specifically, critics) observe, analyze, and study works of literature. Literary criticism is an ever-developing science, since literary works and their significance in the world are always undergoing changes. Some works of literary criticism influence and inspire many critics and are debated throughout the course of history. At times, these works become guidance, methods, and approaches and are accepted as a variety of different theories as to how works of literature should be studied. The theories themselves are also open to debates, rebuttals, acceptance, and revisions. These theories give rise to the descriptive term of “critical theory,” a term of two different senses: (1) a developing theory of literary criticism as well as (2) a theory that is critical of its existence, in a sense that it keeps on changing as far as history goes and is critical to its previous iterations.

4. Literary criticism changes as history goes, people change, and literature develops. The development of literary criticism may be easily seen as a linear and chronological development, although this may not be the case since the literary criticism of an age does or does not directly influence the criticism of the next age. For example, Aristotle’s Poetics finds its major audience more than a thousand years later at the time of the Renaissance. Nevertheless, for the sake of simplicity and appreciation of history, this class will discuss the development of literary criticism more or less chronologically, through the “ages” and tendencies of literary criticism. The chronology will begin with the classical, Ancient Greek and Roman, literary criticism, and will end at the beginning of the twentieth century, where arguably modern and contemporary literary criticism begins. Each age will feature prominent critics of the era, their thoughts, and their significant works. It is also important to note that many of these writers’ works are very influential to the development of literary criticism. Thus, this class will also discuss the importance and influence of these critics and their works in the development and the present state of literary criticism.