The Definition of Literature and Other Essays PDF
Preview The Definition of Literature and Other Essays
The Definition of Literature TheD efinitioofn Literature and other essays W.W. Robson Ther ighotft he UniverosfiC taym bridge top rinatn ds ell almla nneorf b ooks wasg rantbey d HenryVI II in15 34. TheU niverhsaistp yr inted andp ublischoendt inuously sinc15e84 . Cambridge University Press Cambridge London New York New Rochelle Melbourne Sydney CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS CambridNgeew,Y orkM,e lbourMnaed,r iCda,p Teo wnS,i ngapore, SaoP aulDoe,l hDiu,b aTio,k yoM,e xicCoi ty Cambridge UniPvreersssi ty TheE dinburBguhi ldiCnagm,b ridCgBe2 8 RUU,K Publisihnet dhU en iteSdt atoefAs m eribcya CambridUgnei versPirteysN se,w York ww.w cambridge.org Informaotnit ohni tsi dwwe: .w cambridge.org/978052I3I847I © CambridUgnei versPirteyIs 9s8 2 Thipsu blicaitsii noc no pyriSguhbtj.e cstt attou teoxrcye ption andt ot hep rovisoifor nesla envtc ollecltiicveen saignrge ements, nor eproducotfai noynp armta y tapklea cwei thotuhtew rietnt permissoifCo anm bridUgnei versPirteys s. Firpsutb lisIh9e8d2 Firpsatp erbeadcikt iIo9n8 4 A catalogue recordfo r this publication is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data: 82-4196 ISBN 978-0-542915--2H44a rdback ISBN 978-o-521-P3aIp8e4r7b-aIc k CambridUgnei versPirteyhs ass n or esponsifboitrlh iept eyr sistoern ce accuraocyf URLfso erx teronrat lh ird-pianrttye rwneebts irteefse rtroie nd thipsu blicaatnidod no,en so tg uaranttheaeat n yc onteonnts ucwhe bsiitse,s orw ilrle maianc,c uroarta ep proprIinaftoer.m arteigoanr dpirnigc tersa,v el timetabalnedos t,h efra ctiunaflo rmagtiivoenin nt hiwso rki sc orreactt thet ime foifrp srti ntbiuntCg a mbridUgnei versPirteyds ose nso tg uarantee thea ccuroafcs yu cihn formatthieorne ra.f te To Anne and Hugh Contents Preface page viii Bibliographical note ix 1 The Definition of Literature 1 2 On Liberty of Interpreting 20 3 Evaluative Criticism, and Criticism without Evaluation 40 4 The Novel: a Critical Impasse? 57 5 The Sea Cook: a Study in the Art of Robert Louis Stevenson 79 6 On Kidnapped 97 7 On The Wind in the Willows 8 The Present Value of Tennyson 9 Robert Frost 10 Hopkins and Literary Criticism 11 T. S. Eliot: a Poet's Notebook 12 I. A. Richards 13 Yvor Winters: Counter-romantic vii Preface Recent attempts to make literary criticism more 'rigorous' have sometimes only succeeded in alienating it from many authors and readers. The discussions that follow are written in what I hope is plain and straightforward language. But I concede to the rigorists that plain and straightforward language can beg ques tions and gloss over problems, and I have tried to avoid this by being as fully explicit as possible about the standards, criteria, and methods which I favour. I believe that this is the only permissible way of arguing about literary questions at a time when there.is so much disagreement about matters of principle. The first four essays deal with general questions. In 'The Definition of Literature' I have attempted, not to fix on a specific formulation, but to decide what kind of definition is preferable. 'On Liberty of Interpreting' examines the much-canvassed ques tion of the relevance or otherwise of authorial intentions to criticism. Its purpose is to bring out what seems true in both 'intentionalism' and 'anti-intentionalism ', and to discard what in both seems false. 'Evaluative Criticism, and Criticism without Evaluation' argues that one widely favoured account of literary appraisal is in fact empty. 'The Novel: a Critical Impasse?' raises a general problem about prose fiction. It may serve as an intro duction to the three following essays, which discuss some famous novels in detail. A contrasting kind of approach is used in the essays on Tennyson and Frost, which survey a writer's work as a whole. The last four discussions adopt one more method of considering literary questions, through the study of what some distinguished poets have thought about them. My general aim has been to take conversation about prose and poetry out of the limited and specialised 'literary' or 'academic' world in which it so often takes place, and to turn it towards the broader world of thought which is shared by all reflective people, whoever and wherever they are. I am grateful to Mr Michael Black for his invaluable help in the selection and preparation of these essays. W.W.R. viii Bibliographical note 'The Definition of Literature', 'On Liberty of Interpreting', 'Evaluative Criticism, and Criticism without Evaluation', and 'The Novel: a Critical Impasse?' have not been published before. 'The Sea Cook: a Study in the Art of Robert Louis Stevenson' is n the Novel, revised from an essay that appeared in O ed. B. S. 1971. Benedikz, Dent, Kidnapped' Stevenson and Victorian Scotland, 'On appeared in 1981. ed. Jenni Calder, Edinburgh University Press, The Wind in the Willows' The Hebrew 'On appeared in University Studies in Literature, vol. 9, no. 1, Spring 1981. 'The Present Value of Tennyson' was the Sir Charles Tennyson centenary lecture, delivered 31 October 1978. It appeared in Studies in Tennyson, 1981. ed. Hallam Tennyson, Macmillan, The Southern Review, 1966. 'Robert Frost' appeared in Autumn 'Hopkins and Literary Criticism' was the Hopkins Annual 1974, 1974. Lecture for published by the Hopkins Society, The Litera.ry Criticism 'T. S. Eliot: a Poet's Notebook' appeared in T. S. Eliot, 1977. of ed. D. Newton de Molina, Athlone Press, The Times Literary Supplement, 'I. A. Richards' appeared in 26 1970. February 'Yvor Winters: Counter-romantic' is based on material that appeared in Essays in Criticism, vol. xxv, no. 1, January 1975. ix
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