Criticism category: 58377 books

The Subject and Other Subjects theorizes the differences among ethical, aesthetic, and political conceptions of identity. When a person is called beautiful, why does it strike us as an objectification? Is a person whom we consider to be an exemplary person still a person, and not an example? Can one...

The author traces the course of literary criticism from its foundations in classical and medieval precepts to the theorising of the present day. He explores the texts which have been milestones in the history of critical thought, placing them firmly in the context of their time.

Spinoza and Biblical Philology in the Dutch Republic, 1660-1710 investigates the biblical criticism of Spinoza from the perspective of the Dutch Reformed society in which the philosopher lived and worked. It focuses on philological investigation of the Bible: its words, language, and the historical...

Thinking through Poetry: Field Reports on Romantic Lyric pursues two goals. The title signals the contribution to debates about reading. Do we think 'through' - 'by means of', 'with'- poems, sympathetically elaborating their surfaces? Is this compatible with a second meaning: 'thinking through' poems...

This collection of essays attempts to analyse common assumptions about art, literature and criticism at the time of publication in 1895. Taking the position of ‘a Philistine’ , Spender argues against the ‘new’ art and fiction and encourages the average member of the public to state their opinion...

Beyond the Blurb is a selection of essays that identifies the most important principles of literary criticism and considers the relevance of those principles in the work of specific literary critics, including James Wood, Harold Bloom, and Susan Sontag. Intended for academic and general readers alike,...

An anthology of exemplary readings by some of the twentieth century’s foremost literary critics, Close Reading presents a wide range of responses to the question at the heart of literary criticism: how best to read a text to understand its meaning. The lively introduction and the selected essays...

This incredibly useful volume offers an introduction to the history of literary criticism and theory from ancient Greece to the present. Grounded in the close reading of landmark theoretical texts, while seeking to encourage the reader's critical response, Pelagia Goulimari examines: major thinkers...

Building a National Literature boldly takes issue with traditional literary criticism for its failure to explain how literature as a body is created and shaped by institutional forces. Peter Uwe Hohendahl approaches literary history by focusing on the material and ideological structures that determine...

An eminent literary critic argues for the restoration of poetry to the place of honor it once held in ancient times in this 1905 collection on the Greek poets, Milton, Byron, William Watson, Gerald Massey, the poetry of America, and “The True Functions of Poetry.”

British Marxist Criticism provides selective but extensive annotated bibliographies, introductory essays, and important pieces of work from each of eight British critics who sought to explain literary production according to the principles of Marxism.

The Text of the New Testament is a brief introduction for the lay person into the process whereby the New Testament came to be. It describes the basics of ancient writing tools, manuscripts, the work of scribes, and how to think about differences in what the various manuscripts say. This is a revised...

Textual Criticism of Luke 3:22: A Response to Bart Ehrman, An Argument Supporting the Traditional Reading, by Robert Alan King is a book with over 8,800 words. This book first presents the argument of Ehrman regarding the textual variant in Luke 3:22, then discusses and defines the meaning of Psalms...

Lively, original and highly readable, An Introduction to Literature, Criticism and Theory is the essential guide to literary studies. Starting at ‘The Beginning’ and concluding with ‘The End’, chapters range from the familiar, such as ‘Character’, ‘Narrative’ and ‘The Author’,...