New Criticism
From English 194 Wiki Site
New Criticism is a form of literary criticism that achieved prominance in the middle of the 20th century. The most central argument made by New Criticism is that any piece of literature should be examined as a completely seperate entity from biographical facts about the author. The work is viewed as completely independent of the author, and whatever he/she says about the work is less important than what the work says itself. Secondly, the work must demonstrate some level of mastery of the art form itself.
The result of studying literature in this fashion is that the reader becomes part of the creative cycle. Under the premise that a work of literature is a completely seperate entity from its writer, the reader is invited some amount of freedom in assigning meaning to the piece.
This process of placing the reader/viewer/audience in a possition of control is similar to what Marcel Duchamp has envisioned in visual art and John Cage has in music.
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Daley Tocher 12:19, 2 May 2006 (Pacific Daylight Time)
