Modern Western Literary Theories汇总.docx

1、Modern Western Literary Theories汇总Modern Western Literary Theories & CriticismPart 1 IntroductionConcepts:Criticism:The reasoned discussion of literary works, an activity which may include some or all of the following procedures, in varying proportions: the defense of literature against moralists an

2、d censors, classification of a work according to its genre, interpretation of its meaning, analysis of its structure and style, judgment of its worth by comparison with other works, estimation of its likely effect on readers, and the establishment of general principles by which literary works can be

3、 evaluated and understood.(Oxford concise Dictionary of Literary Terms)Literary Theoryliterary theory is “speculative discourse on literature and on practice of literature.”It may include reflections on or analysis of general principles and categories of literature, such as its nature and function;

4、its relation to other aspects of culture; the purpose, procedures and validity of literary criticism; relation of literary text to their authors and historical contexts; or the production of literary meaning.(Zhu Gang )Modern:historical period from Renaissance to 20th century20th centuryWestern:Geog

5、raphical meaning: Europe and AmericaCultural meaning: Cultural community of develop capitalism countries, especially based on Christian tradition.Conclusion:Modern western literary theory and criticism are reasoned activities of discussion about literature in Western world in 20th century.Approaches

6、, schools and groupsScientism ApproachesRussian FormalismAnglo-American New CriticismCzech StructuralismFrench StructuralismPost StructuralismHumanism ApproachesExistentialismPsychoanalysis CriticismPhenomenological CriticismHermeneutics CriticismReader-Response CriticismFeminism CriticismHistorical

7、 ApproachesMarxist CriticismNew HistoricismCultural StudiesPost-Colonial CriticismCharacters:Theorized: almost all of the schools of criticism have their particular theory.Adapting theories or principles from their disciplines.Understanding literature in terms of its relations to history, politics g

8、ender, social class, race, mythology or psychology.Critical tendency: many schools of criticism seek to influence on the social reality within their historical context.References and Further reading:Handbook of critical Approaches to Literature(Third Edition),Wilfred.L.Guerin(ed).Literary Theory fro

9、m Plato to Barthes: An Introductory History ,Richard. Harland,外语教学与研究出版社。Twentieth Century Western Critical Theories, Zhu Gang,上海外语教育出版社。Selective Readings in 20th Century Western Critical Theory,张中载，王逢振、赵国新编，外语教学与研究出版社。Literary theory, Jonathan Culler, Oxford University Press,1997.A Readers Guide t

10、o Contemporary Literary Theory, Roman Selden, Harvester Wheatsheaf,1989.Part 2 The New CriticismTimes:There are four periods: the initiative(1910-1930),the formative(1930-1945), the dominant(1945-1957), and normalization(1960s to the present). If we take T.E. Hume, a British aesthetician, or America

11、n poet Ezra Pound as the initiator of the New Criticism, then this school started in the 1910s.But the New Criticism rose formally in the 1930s when some critics established their theory in America, and it became dominant criticism system in college and university English departments in the 1950s. M

12、embers:Founders: I.A.Richards(1883-1981)T.S.Eliot(1888-1965)W.Empson.(1906-1984)Masters:John Crowe Ransom(1888-1974)Allen Tate(1888-1979)Robert Penn Warren(1905-)Cleanth Brooks(1906-1994)W.K.Wimsatt(1907-1975)Rene Wellek(1903-1995)Works:I.A Richards:Principles of Literary Criticism(1924)Practical Cr

13、iticism:A sturdy of Literary Judgment.(1929)T.S.Eliot:Tradition and the Individual Talent.(1917)William Empson:Seven Types of Ambiguity (1930)John Crowe Ransom:Poetry:A Note in Ontology.(1934)The New Criticism(1941)Works:Allen Tate:Tension in Poetry(1938)Cleanth Brooks:The Language of Paradox(1942)T

14、he Well-wrought Urn.(1947)Understanding Poetry.(1938,with Robert Penn Warren)Understanding fiction.(1943,with Robert Penn Warren)Understanding Drama(1945,with Robert B.Heilman)Works:W.K.Wimsatt:The Verbal Icon(1954)The Intentional Fallacy(1946,with M.C. Beardsley)The Affective fallacy(1949,with M.C.

15、 Beardsley)R.Wellek:Theory of Literature(1949,with Austin Warren)History of Modern Criticism 1750-1950(1986)Ideas:The New Critics read the individual work of literary art as an organic form.They articulated the concept that in an organic form there is a consistency and an internal vitality that we should look for and appreciate.One of the most salient considerations of the New Critics was emphasis on form,on the work of art as an object.The New Critics sought precision and structural tightness in the literary work; they favored a style and tone that tende