New Criticism: A Methodical Approach to Literary Interpretation
New Criticism
Close Reading and Evidence from the Text
New Criticism emphasizes close reading, relying on evidence from the text itself. This method of interpretation has significantly influenced English classes over the years. By understanding these methods, students can better evaluate them.
Critical Theory: Thinking About Thinking
Critical theory encourages us to think about thinking. Before the emergence of New Criticism, literature often focused on historical context. New Critics challenged this approach, deeming it “impressionistic.”
Historical Criticism
Historically, literary analysis concentrated on the writer’s biography or “milieu” (their circle of friends and fellow artists). Historical critics paid special attention to a writer’s influences and sources.
New Critics’ Perspective on Biography
New Critics believed that focusing on biography often strayed from the point, which is the literature itself.
Philology and Its Limitations
Philology, the study of language history, highlights how languages evolve. However, New Critics felt it wasn’t enough for criticism and interpretation.
Impressionism vs. Methodical Interpretation
Impressionism: New Critics advocated for a rigorous and systematic approach to literature, looking down on more casual approaches they termed “mere impressionism.” They believed criticism should be about methodical interpretation, not vague impressions or feelings.
Moralizing in Literature
Moralizing: New Critics argued that moralizing has no place in criticism. The goal is to analyze the artistic form, not extract moral lessons.
Reading Aloud: A Starting Point
Reading Aloud: While not opposed to reading aloud, New Critics saw it as a starting point rather than the ultimate goal.
Key Concepts of New Criticism
Close Reading and Intrinsic Criticism
Close Reading: This involves detailed attention to the text itself, focusing on the words on the page.
Intrinsic Criticism: This approach concentrates on the text itself, with the belief that good literature is unified.
Organic Unity
Organic Unity: This concept suggests that a good literary work forms a cohesive whole. New Critics believed in focusing solely on the work itself.
Assumptions and Key Concepts
Assumptions: New Critics assumed that unity signifies quality in a work of art.
4 Key Concepts: Paradox, ambiguity, tension, and irony are central to New Criticism, along with attention to patterns and symbols.
Paradox, Ambiguity, Tension, and Irony
Paradox: An expression combining opposite ideas (e.g., Shakespeare’s “fair is foul and foul is fair”).
Ambiguity: Suggestive of multiple and unsettled meanings.
Tension: Connected ideas that pull away from each other without resolution.
Irony: An expression or event with a connotative meaning different from its denotative meaning.
Patterns and Symbols
Patterns & Symbols: Repetition creates patterns, and repeated symbols contribute to these patterns. New Critics focused on interpreting these patterns.
Symbols: A recurring symbol can create a pattern. However, assuming a one-to-one relationship between a symbol and its meaning can be problematic.
Theorists and Their Works
- I. A. Richards – Principles of Literary Criticism & Practical Criticism
- William Empson – Seven Types of Ambiguity
- F.R. Leavis – (?)
- R.P. Blackmur, John Crowe Ransom, Allan Tate, Rene Wellek & Austin Warren – Theory of Literature
- Cleanth Brooks & Robert Penn Warren – Understanding Poetry, Understanding Fiction, Understanding Drama
- Cleanth Brooks – Modern Poetry & the Tradition, The Well Wrought Urn, Donne’s “The Canonization”
The term “New Criticism” comes from John Crowe Ransom’s 1941 book.
Formalism, Fallacies, and Intent
Formalism
Formalism: This approach focuses on the form of literary works, such as structure and language.
Fallacy and Affect
Fallacy: A mistaken idea or error in reasoning.
Affect: Refers to emotions.
Affective Fallacy
Affective Fallacy: New Critics considered it a logical error to believe meaning resides in our response to a text rather than within the text itself.
Intentional Fallacy
Intentional Fallacy: New Critics argued against basing interpretation solely on the author’s intent. While considering the author’s intent as an aid, they emphasized that the text’s form and meaning should be the primary focus.
This approach allows for a deeper understanding of how the form of a literary work contributes to its meaning and expresses the author’s attitude.