un Nature and Function of Literary Criticism 4. Definition tymologically the word criticism fs derived from Greek word meaning ‘Judgement’. I fs an ‘exerci in judgement. Literary criticism fs the exercise of judgement on work of iterature. To ‘examine the merits and demerits and finally to evaluate the artistic worth, 1s the functen of criticism, Thus, literary criticism is the stud, discussion, evaluation, and interpretation of Uiterature. Literary criticism isthe evaluation of iterary works. This includes its classification by genre, structure, and judgement of value ( Beckson & Ganz, 1989). Literary criticism asks wat literature ‘is, what it does, and what it s worth. (Encyclopaedia Britannica). How would you interpret the definition of iterary criticism in your own words? Let's look atthe answer below Literary criticism helps readers ike you and me interpret the literature we read. Each iterary ‘theory provides us witha different way of leoking ata given literary work, which can ultimately reveal important aspects about ‘But what are these important facts? Literary criticism helps us to understand what is important about a literary text. For example: ‘+ its contest: social, economic, historical “+ how the text manipulates the reader Soin sort, literary criticism helps us to understand the relationship between authors, readers, and Uiterary texts. The act of literary criticism ultimately enhances the enjoyment of our reading ofthe Uiterary work. Figure 1 below illustrates this relationship Figuret: The Literary Criticism Map mene Map net Oat Source: http:/ image slidesharecdn com/literaryriticsm ‘What does this iterary work mean? The work itself is placed in the center because all approaches ‘must deal, to some extent or another, withthe text itself. Herc:‘Source: http: /Image-slidesharecdn.com/titeraryeriticism ‘What does this tterary work ean? The work itself is placed inthe center because all approaches, must deal, to some extent or another, with the test itself. Hence: Different approaches or lenses help us to discover rch and deeper meaning, Each lens has its strengths and weaknesses Each lens is valuable “Try to become a pluralist rather than an inflexible supporter of one Criticism i the exercise of judgement inthe area of art and literature. It isthe overall term for ‘studies concemed with defining, analysing, and evaluating works of literature. It refers to description, analysis, interpretation, and evaluation of literary works, Literary criticism deals with ‘ierent dimensions of tkerature. ‘According to Griffith (2002), prior to the 20th century, the investigation of the nature and value of literature had had a long and distinguished history, begining with Plato and Aristotle and continuing into modern times with such figures as Sir Philip Sidney, John Dryden, Samuel Johnson, ‘ilam Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Matthew Arnold. But thelr investigations focused Primarily on evaluation, not interpretation. They explored what literature sand praised or ‘condemned works that fled to meet whichever standards they deemed essential. In The Republic, tocite one extreme example, lato condemned all \iterature because i tes up the passions—lus, desire, pain, anger—rather than nurtures the intellect. The principles of criticism ‘We now consider what standard of judgement shoulda crc follow and what qualification and Instrumerts/equipment should s/he posses. Every literary work has three elements: ‘+ capacity to please (sesthetic pleasure), Earlier, cites devise rules by which technical excellence - plot construction, diction, st land language of literary work. These rules have always changed with time. Essential quality of literature is not how rigidly such rules are followed but appeal to the imagination. Human nature ‘and subsequently principles of literature are held universal and permanent. We observe three such Principles: “The first principle of erticism the pursuit of truth, as poetic truth the truth of ideas, and ‘experiences of a work of art. The truth of literature is different from the truth of science. Poetic truth s the ideas, and experiences of a work of art “The second principle is concerned with symmetry (onstruction) - which implies the right selection and arrangement of materia. “This principle implies right selection and arrangement of material, The writer should select certain aspects of reality and not all eality and then his material should be so arranged as to throw the selected aspects of realty into sharp relief. Arstotle stressed on this. In his view its essential for that artistic beauty on which the imaginative appeal of literature depends. The critic must examine If the various pars of the composition are originally related to each other or not, whether they are proportionate to eachother and tothe composition as whole or not. The test of the symmetry s Indirectly a means by which the presence ofthe demirant arstic quality canbe discovered and measured.Indirectly a means by which the presence of the dominant artistic quality carvbe éistoyBred ands; / measured ? The nl prince that of Heasatn wich pies he aesthetic eat) coco of he Taer. Th selection mace fr arte veaner shoul bea made tat ules pect 0 srercncoane tern ey ernie eh peur VA (Adapted from: http://w tv ed) |i, Funetions of Literary Criticism The function of literary enticism isto examine the merits and demerits or defects ofa work of ar and finaly to evaluate Its worth. The chief function of criticism f to enlighten and stimulate. The true critics the one whois equipped for his/her task by a sound knowledge of his subject. The tue critic can discover the qualities of power, beauty and depth of significance. S/he can give usa fresh point of view. Se is sometimes a pathfinder, breaking new ground, with a friendly passin, ‘As such the primary functions of terary criticism are interpretation and judgment ‘Another important factor to note is that the View of criticism is directly related tothe critic's own ‘intellectual philosophy oF outlook of life. It determined by the Ukes,distikes, and prejudices of the criti him/herself and this fs equally shaped by the socio-political sensibilities of the eitic’s environment. As such, critical theories are shaped bythe sprit ofthe age. v. —Literary erticism vs Literary theory ven though modem literary theorising and criticism emerged during the 19th century, both attained greater heights n the 20th century. Infact, the 20th century could be appropriately termed the age of criticism. The richness and the complesity of Uterary theory can be seen inthe ‘mary critical movements that sprang up and in the enthusiasm with which many crits practised the art. The impact ofthe new psychologes was deeply felt in citcism. In the preface to A History of Literary Criticism (1991), A.M. Jeffares gives no room for any doubt about the kinship of iteratue, literary criticism and literary theories. He says: The stuty of literature requires knowledge of contexts as wel as of texts. What kind of person wrote the poem, the play, the novel, the essay? What forces acted upon them as they wrote. What was the historical, the political, the pilsophica, the economic, the cultural background, etc? ‘The argument of Jeffare is that for Uterature to be on coure, it becomes expedient that a structure ts putin place to reveal its meaning beyond the literal level. Broadly, texts of literature would possess two levels of meaning the literal and the super literal. The super iteral meaning of texts of literature isthe ideological implication of the same, which criticism attempts to resclve. ‘The task of resolving the crisis engendered in literary texts i possible through the formulation of some principles, parameters and paradigms which are technically termed theeries. Theories are meant to interpret and evaluate works of iterature with the mind of revealing the in-depth Implications of such works. Thus, literary theory and criticism isan unavoidable part of studying Uterature. Literary theory and critcizm aim to explain, entertain, stimulate and challenge the stent of literature, Literary theory and criticism make literature refreshing, informative and stimulating in many ways. Some of the ways include Literary theory and criticism help us to achieve a better understanding of literature. A better Understanding ofthe world in which we lve, automatically, comes along when we study literature, and the study of critical theory makes that enterprise even more productive. Literary theory and erticism can, not only show us our world and ourselves through new and valuable lenses, but also strengthen our ability to think logically, creatively, and with a god deat Tonedelcdl cdbaeh ide bee!TERS, TRSTesY CASOrY GAS CTEICIE GA CREVOISNING PET © Stucyug Merete. DRerery Ceory One Ceticism aim to explain, entertain, stimulate and challenge the student of literature. Literary ‘theory and criticism make literature refreshing, informative and stimulating in many ways. Some of the ways include: Literary theory and criticism help us to achieve a better understanding of iterature. A better understanding ofthe world in which we live, automaticaly, comes along when we study literature, and the study of critical theory makes that enterprise even more productive Literary theory and criticism can, not only show us our world and ourselves through new and valuable lenses, but also strengthen our ability to think logically, creatively, and with a good deat of insight in analysing works ofiterature. So what then is the difference between literary theory and literary criticism? {A theory as a body of rules or principles used to appraise works of literature Literary theories were: {developed asa means to understand the various ways people read literary texts. Al literary ‘theories are lenses through which we can see texts. You cannt say that one is better than another lor that you should read according to any of them, but it s sometimes fun to “decide” toread a text ith one in mind because you often end up witha whole new perspective on your reading. As you ‘ead the diferent texts in your iterature courses, you wil realise tht to study tterary theory isto ‘ook to understand exactly how readers (ris) interpret (erticie) texts, especialy literary ones. Most scholars today would agree that there is ro single meaning waiting to be simply found in any text. ts our role as readers to produce meaning. In other words, it sa function ofthe diferent, Interpretative strateses which we as readers apply toa text. This, a cardinal rule of modern iterary enitcism could be summed up as follows: the ‘answers’ yau get from a text depend entirely upon the kind of “questions” you put to it. Strictly speaking, when we interpreta literary text, we are doing literary criticism, but when we examine the criteria upon which our interpretation rests, we are applying literary theory. In other words, Hiterary criticism s the application of critical theory to a literary text, whether or nota given critic is aware of the ‘theoretical assumptions informing his or her interpretation. Infact, the widespread recognition ‘that tterary criticism cannot be separated from the theoretical assumptions on which ts based is ‘one reason why the word criticism is often used as if it includes the word theory. (Adapted from: http://www. nou.edu.ng/) Let's proceed to examine the qualities ofa critic ‘The qualities (characteristics) ofa critic {ts also important for you to know the qualities ofa criti, namely: He/she must be someone of rare sensibility - have a rare and unique sense of judgment, He must be someone widely reed +e must have proper tranirg and technical sil in different branches of literature. He must rise above all prejudices, personal, religous, national, politcal or iterary so a5 to be objective, 5, He must have imaginative sympathy - be sensitive and humane. 6. He must possess a sound knowledge of human psychology and human nature, 7. He must have knowledge in all branches of iterature. 8, The critic must get at the mind of the author 19, The critic must have a pilosophical mind. 10. Must be of varied experience - thoroughly acquainted with the great authors in several languages.