History of Literary Criticism: 10 Phases

 

HISTORY/PHASES OF LITERARY CRITICISM

1. HELLENIC CRITICISM (5^th, 4^th Cen BC in Athens):

The term “Hellenic” comes from the word “Hellas” which means “Greek”. In ancient Greece, criticism is said to have begun with literary creations. Athens was the center of literary and critical activity during the 5^th and 4^th centuries BC. Plato and Aristotle were the most important critics in literature. Aristotle is the first scientific critic, theorist who published ‘Poetics’, a comprehensive critical document on poetry and drama. ‘Poetics’ has been the most influential critical document from which all other subsequent theories have been formed by the succeeding critics.

2. HELLENISTIC PHASE (3rd BC to 1st Cen AD in Egypt):

"Hellenistic" is distinguished from "Hellenic" in that the latter refers to Greece itself, while the former encompasses all ancient territories under Greek influence. By the end of the 3^rd century BC, there was a decline in Athenian culture and creative art. Now Athens is no longer the center of creative activity. Now the new center of art, literature and culture was developing vastly in Alexandria in Egypt. Though not much creative output was done in this period, there were scholars and thinkers who were devoted to preserve the old texts, and were busy classifying the ancient texts and were doing research on them. Whatever little literature was produced, was the mostly the imitation of the previous authors.

3. GRECO-ROMAN PHASE (1st to 5th Cen. AD, in Rome):

The decadent Hellenistic phase was soon followed by the brilliant Graeco-Roman period. Now, Rome was the capital of the Roman Empire. The scholars are inspired by ancient Greece and wanted to equal and excel. They aimed at originality in their age. Criticism largely consisted of elaboration, interpretation, and application of rules laid down by Aristotle. The purity of Aristotle was colored and clouded by Horace, Quintillion, Longinus, and more.

4. THE DARK MIDDLE AGES (6^th to 14^th Cen):

Roman Empire broke up in fifth century A.D. confusion and dislocation prevailed. The rich literary treasures was almost neglected and forgotten. Literature was frowned upon as sensuous and pagan and grammar, rhetoric and logic were given more importance. There was a spread of Christianity and now literature was studied and read from a theological point of view only. Aesthetic beauty and high literary merits of ancient literature were highly ignored. The only ray of hope was Dante in Italy who struggled hard to propagate his theory of ‘De Vulgari Eloquentia’ Illustrious Vernacular (1304-1305).

5. RENAISSANCE (15th to 17th Cen):

Constantinople fell to Turks in 1453 and there was a huge rise of literary and critical activity. It was the end of medievalism and we see a renewal of zest for life and the enjoyment of beauty. Greek and Roman works were now translated in almost all languages across Europe and literature gained a boost because of the invention of typewriting machine.

·      Sidney’s work, ‘Apology of Poetry’ defended art agansit the severe attack of Stephen Gosson (‘School of Abuse’). He advocated for the importance of art and literature.

·      Samuel Daniel published ‘Defence of Rhyme’ (1603) writes about the fitness of English language for rhymed verse. `

·      Ben Johnson wrote ‘Timber’ or ‘Discoveries’ (1641) advocated for rules and contributed by presenting a new form of comedy.

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6. NEO CLASSIC CRITICISM (18th Cen):

Classicism became rigid and stringent with passage of time. Strict adherence to the rules laid down by Aristotle was advised by the French critics. The English authors mostly imitated and followed the French art and literature. John Dryden (‘Essay of Dramatic Poetry’ in 1668), Alexander Pope, Joseph Addison, Richard Steele, and Dr. Samuel Johnson are some of the greatest critics during this period.

7. THE ROMANTIC PHASE (1798-1830):

French revolution (1789) and German idealism had an effect on England and a new phase of Romanticism began in the beginning of 19^th century. Hollow rules were discarded. The authors aspired for freedom of writing. Subjectivity, love for nature, individualism and freedom from rules were the chief tenets of Romanticism/ The major writers were Wordsworth’s ‘Preface to the Lyrical Ballads’ (1801) and Coleridge’s ‘Biographia Literaria’ (1817), P. B. Shelley’s ‘Defence of Poetry’ (1821) explored new theories on poetic diction and imagination.

8. VICTORIAN CRITICISM (1830-1900):

Too much freedom and individualism of romantics were now rejected by the Victorian critics. Once again order and discipline were established.

·      Mathew Arnold became a major critic who advocated for comparative criticism with his popular ‘touchstone method’.

·      John Ruskin popularized the relationship between art and morality.

·      Walter Pater became the leading figure of the movement of “Art for art’s sake”.  

9. THE MODERN AGE (1900-1945):

The Arnold and Pater traditions continued to be followed in the beginning of the 20th century. But we witness new developments in criticism in the hands of following authors and criticis.

·      T. S. Eliot, the Neo-classic tried to correct the faults of impressions by appealing to tradition and authority.

·      Dr. I. A. Richards developed the study of psychology.

·      Dr. F. R. Leavis is the most competent critics of the Textual school of criticism.

·      Virginia Woolf gave a new concept of ‘streams of consciousness’ in ‘Modern Fiction’.

·      Various literary movements like symbolism, imagism, formalism, structuralism, psychoanalytic criticism and so on presented a hotchpotch of approaches in criticism.

10. POST-MODERN AGE (1960 onwards):

Postmodern critics started reacting against structuralist and formalist approaches of the previous age.

·       Jacques Derrida published his essay ‘Structure, Sign and Play’ and propounded a new critical theory of Post-Structuralism.

·      Roland Barthes announced the death of the author and gave more importance to the reader in the interpretation of the work of art.

·      Michel Foucault attempted to show that what most people think of as the permanent truths of human nature and society actually change throughout the course of history. He challenged the ideas of Marx and Freud.

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