|
Frequently Bought Together
Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought
by John Lennard
|
by James Fenton
|
by Thomas Carper
|
Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) by Jonathan Culler |
by Laurence Sterne
|
Product details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Product Description
Product Description
Linguist, critic, poet, psychologist, I. A. Richards (1893-1979) was one of the great polymaths of the twentieth century. He is best known, however, as one of the founders of modern literary critical theory. Richards revolutionized criticism by turning away from biographical and historical readings as well as from the aesthetic impressionism. Seeking a more exacting approach, he analyzed literary texts as syntactical structures that could be broken down into smaller interacting verbal units of meaning. Practical Criticism, first published in 1929, is a landmark volume in demonstrating this method. Practical Critism was born of an experiment Richards undertook to discern the psychological foundations of reading and interpretation and a means for readers to discover how they think and feel about poetry. He submitted thirteen poems for analysis, without date or author given, to some four hundred of his Cambridge students. Poets of stature went in undifferentiated from obscure and forgotten figures. The results were mixed at best, with many of the interpretations shockingly bad. These readings were based, in large part, not on the texts themselves but on then-current opinions, presuppositions, theories, and beliefs. The results led Richards to define a set of interrelated mental obstacles to intelligent and accurate reading including "irrelevant associations," "stock responses," "sentimentality," and a general misunderstanding of the purpose of "doctrine" of poetry. Richards' concerns in Practical Criticism went well beyond the merely formal. In the humanist tradition, he believed that the ability to read critically and use language truthfully was culturally regenerative, a necessary skill in the modern world of mass-produced art and advertising. This classic volume will be of interest to teachers of literature, cultural studies specialists, and intellectual historians.
About the Author
I. A. Richards taught at Cambridge and Harvard universities. Among his many books are Foundations of Aesthetics, The Meaning of Meaning, Basic English and Its Uses, and Internal Colloquies: Poems and Plays. Richard Hoggart is professor of modern English literature at the Birmingham University where he founded the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies. Among his twenty-seven books are Between Two Worlds and The Uses of Literacy all available from Transaction.
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?
 |
74% buy the item featured on this page: Practical Criticism: A Study of Literary Judgment £25.60 |
 |
9% buy Practical Criticism (How to Study Literature) £9.78 |
 |
7% buy Seven Types of Ambiguity£8.99 |
 |
7% buy Principles of Literary Criticism (Routledge Classics)£10.99 |
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
 |
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Poetry, Drama & Criticism > History & Criticism > Key Critics > Richards, I.A.
- Books > Poetry, Drama & Criticism > History & Criticism > Literary Theory & Movements > Semiotics
- Books > Poetry, Drama & Criticism > Poetry
- Books > Study Books > Undergraduate & Postgraduate > Arts & Humanities > Literature & Drama > Drama > Criticism
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
Your Recent History
(What's this?)|
After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in. |
