INTRODUCTION TO THE SCOPE OF LITERARY CRITICISM

1
INTRODUCTION TO THE SCOPE OF LITERARY CRITICISM

• WEEK 1
• Literary Criticism
• Sandya Maulana, S.S.

2
INTRODUCTION TO THE SCOPE OF LITERARY CRITICISM

• First of all, the main object of literary
  criticism is, of course, works of literature
  which include a variety of genres, such as the
  popular division of poetry, prose, and play
  (drama). Literary criticism may delve deeper into
  sub-genres and tendencies in literature, such as
  epic poems, science fiction, and Gothic novels.
  Literary criticism may also concern the history
  and establishment of a certain genre or tendency
  in literature. Literary criticism is generally
  written in prose form (and only a minuscule
  number of writers and critics chose to write
  criticism in the form of poems) and, as such,
  works of literary criticism may also be viewed as
  prose works, and therefore, literary works. This
  shows that the possibility of objects of literary
  criticism is expansive.
• Literary criticism covers a number of activities
  that may be defined as acts of criticism, namely
  critically translating, summarizing, reviewing,
  giving opinions to, agreeing/disagreeing with,

3

• making suggestions to, supporting, attacking,
  specifying, and expanding upon an object
  mentioned in the first paragraph. Literary
  criticism is not only a criticism of literary
  works. It is also a criticism that is meant to be
  literary, in the sense that works of literary
  criticism are also works of literature and are
  subject to criticism. In turn, works of literary
  criticism influence the way people (and more
  specifically, critics) observe, analyze, and
  study works of literature. Literary criticism is
  an ever-developing science, since literary works
  and their significance in the world are always
  undergoing changes. Some works of literary
  criticism influence and inspire many critics and
  are debated throughout the course of history. At
  times, these works become guidance, methods, and
  approaches and are accepted as a variety of
  different theories as to how works of literature
  should be studied. The theories themselves are
  also open to debates, rebuttals, acceptance, and
  revisions. These theories give rise to the
  descriptive term of critical theory, a term of
  two different senses (1) a developing theory of
  literary criticism as well as (2) a theory that
  is critical of its existence, in a sense that it
  keeps on changing as far as history goes and is
  critical to its previous iterations.

4

• Literary criticism changes as history goes,
  people change, and literature develops. The
  development of literary criticism may be easily
  seen as a linear and chronological development,
  although this may not be the case since the
  literary criticism of an age does or does not
  directly influence the criticism of the next age.
  For example, Aristotles Poetics finds its major
  audience more than a thousand years later at the
  time of the Renaissance. Nevertheless, for the
  sake of simplicity and appreciation of history,
  this class will discuss the development of
  literary criticism more or less chronologically,
  through the ages and tendencies of literary
  criticism. The chronology will begin with the
  classical, Ancient Greek and Roman, literary
  criticism, and will end at the beginning of the
  twentieth century, where arguably modern and
  contemporary literary criticism begins. Each age
  will feature prominent critics of the era, their
  thoughts, and their significant works. It is also
  important to note that many of these writers
  works are very influential to the development of
  literary criticism. Thus, this class will also
  discuss the importance and influence of these
  critics and their works in the development and
  the present state of literary criticism.

5
No. Materi Bacaan
1. Introduction to the Scope of Literary Criticism
2. The Classics of Critical Theory Ion (Plato), Poetics (Aristotle)
3. The Classics of Critical Theory, Once Again Art of Poetry and the Uses of Literature (Horace), On the Sublime (Longinus)
4. 1st Presentation Session Christian Doctrine and Literary Criticism St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas
5. 2nd Presentation Session Islamic Doctrine and Literary Criticism Ibnu Khaldun,
6. 3rd Presentation Session Renaissance Literary Criticism Continental Europe Dante Alighieri, Giovanni Boccaccio
7. 4th Presentation Session Renaissance Literary Criticism England Sir Philip Sidney, Sir Francis Bacon
8. 5th Presentation Session 17th Century and the Restoration John Locke, Alexander Pope, John Dryden, Samuel Johnson
9. 6th Presentation Session The Age of Enlightenment Immanuel Kant, Mary Wollstonecraft
10. 7th Presentation Session Romantic Literary Criticism William Wordsworth, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
11. 8th Presentation Session Victorian Literary Criticism Matthew Arnold, Oscar Wilde, Henry James
12. 9th Presentation Session The Advent of Marxism Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels
13. 10th Presentation Session Towards the 20th Century Friedrich Nietzsche, Ferdinand Mongin de Saussure, T.S. Eliot,
14. Review and Afterword