Paper Name: literary theory and criticism Assignment Topic : nature and function of criticism

Name: solanki pintu vSem : 1Roll No : 35Enrollment No: PG15101037Email: solankipintu1991@gmail.comSubmitted to : M.K. BHAVNAGAR UNIVERSITY Department Of English  

The Origin and Meaning of the term ‘CRITICISM’The term criticism originates from the

Greek term kritikos, which was used in the 4th century B.C. It means “a judge of literature”.

In the 2nd century A.D. its place was taken by the term criticus, aimed at the interpretation of texts and words and improvement of the works of writers in Greek or Latin.

In English, Dryden used it in the modern sense in his preface to The State of Innocence (1677). He writes : “Criticism, as it was first instituted by Aristotle, was meant a standard of judging well.”

Today, the term literary criticism aims at the study of works of literature with stress on their evaluation.

The Function of CRITICISMJudgment :

In its strict sense, criticism means judgment. The literary critic, therefore, is primarily an expert who uses his special faculty and training to examine the merits and defects of a piece of literary art or the work of a given author and pronounce a verdict upon it.

The chief function of a literary critic is to arrive at and pronounce a meaningful judgment of value.

I. A. Richards says : “To set up as a critic is to set up as a judge of values.”

Literary criticism, says Rene Wellek, “is judgment of books, reviewing and finally the definition of taste, of the tradition, of what is a classic.”

Assessment : When a critic attempts to judge the value

of a work of art or literature, he can be said to have assessed the work.

“Evaluative, judicial, or normative criticism attempts to judge the merits of the literature in relation to a literary, social, moral, or other, value system.” (Lee T. Lemon : A Glossary for the Study of English, p. 99)

T. G. Williams says : “The function of a literary critic is the evaluation of what has been written, in terms of aesthetic principles appropriate to literature.” (English Literature, a Critical Survey)

Clarification :If judgment be the real end of criticism, interpretation may be employed as a means to that end.

“To feel the virtue of the poet or the painter, to disengage it, to set it forth – these are the three stages of the critic’s duty.” (Walter Pater)

Poetry is a ‘criticism (interpretation) of life’. Criticism is an interpretation of that interpretation.

The chief function of criticism is to enlighten and stimulate by the proper interpretation of the works of literature.

If a great poet makes us partakers of his larger sense of the meaning of life, a great critic may make us partakers of his larger sense of the meaning of literature.

Walter Pater rightly says: “Criticism is the art of interpreting art.”

Carlyle’s regard for criticism:“Criticism stands like an interpreter between the inspired and the uninspired; between the prophet and those who hear the melody of his words, and catch the glimpse of their material meaning, but understand not their deeper import.”

Matthew Arnold defines criticism as “a disinterested endeavour to learn and propagate the best that is known and thought in the world.”

The Nature of criticismCriticism and CreationTo some people criticism seems to be

secondary, sponging and inferior to creation.

It is stated that the creative artist is personal and subjective, whereas a critic is impersonal, dispassionate, and detached.

Though the creative and critical faculties are logically distinct, psychologically they are interfused with each other.

There is a kind of criticism which exists before art itself just as there is a kind of criticism which follows art, taking art as its subject-matter. “There is no work of art”, says Scott James, “which is not preceded by criticism.”

Therefore, there is no opposition but close empathy between the critic and the creative artist. “Both poet and critic draw their light from the sun of beauty and truth, and we may be glad of both.” (Grierson)

According to Scott James, “The true critic is an ally of the artist.”

A good critic has the same interest at heart as the artist keeps. His never failing sympathy and insight qualify him to speak on behalf of the artist.

Alexander Pope strikingly says,“Both must alike from Heaven derive

their light,These born to judge, as well as those

to write.”