Understanding New Criticism: A Literary Revolution
New Criticism: A 20th-Century Literary Revolution
New Criticism stands as the most significant critical movement of the 20th century. Virtually everyone in the field of literature was connected to the ideas of New Criticism. It is a method of criticism that opposes what came before. It has two main branches: Practical Criticism and New Criticism, often collectively referred to as American New Criticism.
The Influence of T.S. Eliot
New Critics were intellectual inheritors of T.S. Eliot, developing and expanding upon his ideas. American New Critics, and New Critics in general, were fascinated by European culture and tradition. They felt there was no native tradition, considering it to be the culture of “savage people,” so they looked to Europe to obtain tradition.
The Emergence and Development of New Criticism
The first manifestations of this type of criticism occurred in England in the 1920s. There was a growing sentiment that the method of studying literature had to change, and these necessities were felt in North America, Russia, and many other parts of Europe. This phenomenon is known as polygenesis: the same thing emerging in different places. The main ideology of New Criticism was fully formed and matured in the late 1940s and 1950s, after which it began to decline, eventually being swept away by new movements. Nevertheless, it was a significant period with a lasting influence on literary conceptions.
A Pedagogical Theory of Literature
New Criticism was so influential because it was not only a literary theory but also a theory of how literature is taught—a pedagogical theory of literature. It had the capacity to be universal, to teach literature at all levels. It was not only a theory of criticism but also a theory of how literature should be transmitted. The only thing needed is a page with the poem to study.
Key Principles of New Criticism
Despite their differences, New Critics shared three core principles:
- Opposition to Old Methods: They were bitterly opposed to the old ways of studying literature, considering previous methods ineffectual and in need of improvement.
- Rejection of Romanticism: They were opposed to romantic, sentimental, and personal literature.
- Emphasis on Textual Analysis: They promoted a text-centered approach to literature, believing that external factors should be left out to focus on the text itself.
Important Figures in New Criticism
Some notable authors associated with New Criticism include:
- I.A. Richards
- René Wellek
- John Crowe Ransom
- Allen Tate
- Robert Penn Warren
- Austin Warren
The Fugitives and The Agrarians
In the Deep South, New Critics were often ultraconservative. New Criticism in America emerged out of two movements: The Fugitives and The Agrarians.
The Fugitives
The Fugitives were an intellectual literary society fascinated by European modernist literature. They had a journal where they published poems and literary works, including those of T.S. Eliot, and other literature in the wake of European modernism.
The Agrarians
The Agrarians were intellectuals who, apart from their cultural ideas, had a political agenda. They wanted to modify political issues and renovate society. They were ultraconservative and recommended a return to the old Southern culture, which was based on rural life and plantations. They considered industrialism to be evil and held a very sour, pessimistic view of their contemporary world. Their view of life was romantic in the sense that they wanted to go back to the past, to a kind of feudal paternalism. In the North, they wanted the contrary, to return to the positions they had lost after the Civil War. They were also anti-communist. The Agrarians triumphed in the artistic perspective but failed in the political one.