Criticism and Literary Theory 1890 to the Present

311 Pages·1996·15.234 MB·English

by  Chris Baldick

Criticism and Literary Theory 1890 to the Present
Longman Literature in English Series
General Editors: David Carroll and Michael Wheeler
Lancaster University
For a completel ist of titles see pagesx and Xl
Criticism and
Literary Theory
1890 to
the Present
Chris Baldick
~
Routledge
Taylor & Francis Group
LONDON AND NEW YORK
First published1 996 by PearsonE ducationL imited
Published2 013 by Routledge
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Contents
Editor's Preface ix
Longman Literature in English Series x
Acknowledgements xii
Author's Preface xiii
1 Introduction 1
2 Descentsf rom Decadence:1 890-1918 20
The Critical Agenda 20
Aesthetesa nd Academics 25
Modernism Nascent 38
Shakespeareth e Omniscient 43
The Novel and Realism 48
Canonsf or Everyman 54
Men of Letters and Great Loins 58
3 The Modernist Revolution: 1918-1945 64
T. S. Eliot and the Critical Agenda 64
'Classical'a nd 'Romantic' Positions 69
Close Readinga nd the Rise of New Criticism 78
Crisis and Criticism 86
Shakespearein Space 91
Theorieso f the Novel 97
Canonso f Modernist Revaluation 105
The DestructiveE lement 110
4 Beyond the New Criticism: 1945-1968 116
The Critical Agenda 116
High-Tide of New Criticism 121
Alternatives to New Criticism 128
More ShakespeareaTnh emes 139
The Rise of the Novel 144
Canonsf or Courses 151
The Babel of Interpretations 156
viii CONTENTS
5 Literary Theory and Textual Politics: Since 1968 161
'Theory' and the Critical Agenda 161
Textualities: Structuralisma nd Beyond 166
Contextualisms:N ew-Left and Feminist Critiques 177
ShakespeareaSnu bversions 188
The Novel Re-Opened 193
Canonicitiesi n Question 199
Limits to Postcriticism 204
Chronology 209
General Bibliographies 246
(i) ReferenceB ooks 246
(ii) GeneralH istories and Surveys 247
(iii) Studiesi n British and Irish Criticism 247
(iv) Studiesi n American Criticism 248
Individual Authors 250
Notes on biography, major works and criticism 250
Index 285
Editors' Preface
The multi-volume LongmanL iterature in English Seriesp rovidess tudents
of literature with a critical introduction to the major genres in their
historical and cultural context. Each volume gives a coherenta ccounto f
a clearly defined area, and the series,w hen complete,w ill offer a practical
and comprehensiveg uide to literature written in English from Anglo-
Saxon times to the present.T he aim of the series as a whole is to show
that the most valuable and stimulating approacht o the study of literature
is that based upon an awarenesso f the relations betweenl iterary forms
and their historical contexts. Thus the areas covered by most of the
separatev olumes are defined by period and genre. Each volume offers
new and informed ways of readingl iterary works, and provides guidance
for further reading in an extensiver eferences ection.
In recent years, the nat4re of English studies has been questionedi n a
number of increasingly radical ways. The very terms employedt o define
a series of this kind - period, genre, history, context, canon - have
become the focus of extensive critical debate, which has necessarily
influenced in varying degrees the successivev olumes published since
1985. But howeverf ierce the debate,i t rages around the traditional terms
and concepts.
As well as studies on all periods of English and American literature,
the series includes books on criticism and literary theory and on the
intellectual and cultural context. A comprehensives erieso f this kind must
of course include other literatures written in English, and therefore a
group of volumes deals with Irish and Scottish literature, and the litera-
tures of India, Africa, the Caribbean,A ustralia and Canada.T he forty-
seven volumes of the series cover the following areas: Pre-Renaissance
English Literature, English Poetry, English Drama, English Fiction, Eng-
lish Prose, Criticism and Literary Theory, Intellectual and Cultural Con-
text, American Literature, Other Literaturesi n English.
David Carroll
Michael Wheeler