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Critical theory.
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Critical Theory
The term critical theory was used originally by members of the Institute for Social Research in Frankfurt, Germany, after they emigrated to the United States in the late 1930s, followi...
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Critical Theory
"Critical theory" is used to refer to the diverse body of work produced by members and associates of the Frankfurt Institute for Social Research after Max Horkheimer beca...
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In the following essay, Tar traces Horkheimer's work as director of the Frankfurt School and places his Critical Theory within the context of twentieth-century sociological, psychological, and ...
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In the following excerpt, Warren outlines the numerous and varied perspectives of early Victorian literary critics.
Criticism
The period of creative activity that dates roughly from the Lyrical Ballad...
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In the following excerpt, Wimsatt discusses the development of English aestheticism and its association with Walter Pater, James MacNeill Whistler, and Oscar Wilde.
Aestheticism in England, says a rec...
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In the following excerpt, Farmer considers Pater's critical method in the context of earlier nineteenth-century criticism.
I
The beginning of the nineteenth century marks the opening of a new c...
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In the following excerpt, Eliot discusses the critical theories of Algernon Charles Swinburne, George Wyndham, and Charles Whibley.
Swinburne as Critic
Three conclusions at least issue from the perusa...
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In the following essay, Hyder contends that Swinburne's critical perspective was informed by his work as a poet.
I
A critic of any century is likely to be remembered for his judgment, which sho...
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In the following excerpt, Wellek describes the 1830s and 1840s as transitional decades between earlier Romantic theories and those of the Victorian age.
Introductory
In England the thirties and fortie...
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In the following excerpt, Wellek provides an overview of contemporary literary criticism in the 1850s.
It would not be unfair to say that around 1850 English criticism had reached a nadir in its histo...
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In the following excerpt, originally published in 1977, Parrinder examines the writings of several major Victorian literary critics.
The Definition of Literary Culture
In Shelley's poem ‘...
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In the following excerpt, Eagleton explains the role of the nineteenth-century man of letters as commentator and interpreter of literature for the middle-class reading public.
The nineteenth century w...
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In the following excerpt, Eliot discusses Arnold's limitations as a critic, which he views as traceable to Arnold's belief that poetry could serve as a substitute for religion.
March 3rd...
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In the following excerpt, Trilling examines Arnold's widespread influence as a literary critic.
For to be possessed of a vigorous mind is not enough; the prime requisite is rightly to apply it....
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In the following essay, Perkins asserts that Arnold's value as a literary and cultural critic lies in his revitalization of essentially classical notions at a time when modern society was most ...
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In the following excerpt, Wimsatt provides the background for Arnold's emergence as the most important literary critic of his generation.
Feeling and Image came through the eighteenth century, ...
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Critical Theory
Critical Theory
Critical Essay by Zoltán Tar
