This book, ‘Literary Criticism and Theory Unlocked’, is compiled from entire topics related to Literary Criticism and Theory. When we decided to write the book, the most basic problem we faced was arranging the criticism and theory topics and what to include. We have begun with classical criticism, where we have tried to compile some ancient Greek philosophers like Plato, Aristotle, Longinus and Horace. We also included Ancient Indian critical theories like Rasa and Dhwani. . The second section begins with Renaissance criticism starting with Lodovico Castelvetro’s translation of Aristotle to John Milton’s Areopagitica. We have added the most important topics discussed in poetry and theatre. As we know, English Literary Criticism starts majorly with Philip Sydney and Stephan Gosson. Gosson started the debate on poetry, and Sir Sidney gave a fitting reply with his Apology for Poetry. We have included the debate further in this period. Milton, who was well known for his poetry, also wrote a significant treatise on the Licencing act for books in his Areopagitica.
The third section is Neo-Classical Criticism, where some major writers and poets expressed their views on various subjects. We have included Hobbes’s Leviathan, where he expounds an influential formulation of social contract theory. This section includes all literary achievements of Dryden, Locke, Pope, Swift and Samuel Johnson. This Age, for certain, saw a drastic change in literary criticism.
Section VI includes the Romantic manifesto of Wordsworth and Coleridge’s Biographia Literaria. The romantic theory began in Germany with Schlegel and Schelling, where we find glimpses of romantic philosophical thought. We also have philosophical ideas of William Blake, Keats, Thomas Love Peacock and Shelley in this area.
In Victorian criticism, some drastic shifts occurred in criticism and literature where we saw the use of realism and naturalism. Authors started using different kinds of styles to explore literature. For example, the use of symbolism and magic realism. We must look at important critics and writers like Hegel, Pater, Oscar Wilde, Carlyle, Stuart Mill and Emerson. Mathew Arnold was a major critic and poet at the time.
Regarding critical theory, there are four major sections- Marxism, Postmodernism, Cultural Studies, and Psychoanalytic Theory. We have added major philosophers, critics and theorists who explored various thoughts and perspectives on the theory of Marxism. Cultural studies began with Richard Hoggart’s Birmingham School of Cultural Studies, which encompasses Cultural theorists like Stuart Hall, Pierre Bourdieu McRobbies and Paul Gilroy. Cultural Studies have major related theories like Globalisation, Glocalisation, and Homogenisation to be discussed, which is added in a separate section called Mass Media Theory. Postcolonial Theory is another important section which includes theorists like Franz Fanon, Edward Said, Homi Bhabha and Gayathri Spivak. Subaltern and Dalit/ Tribal Studies are equally important topics under Postcolonial Theory.
Postmodernism is a vast area, primarily a reaction against Modernism, which leads to later criticism and theoretical stances like Formalism, Structuralism, Post-Structuralism etc. Hence we have divided them into seven sections. We begin the section with Russian Formalism and its associated schools like Prague School and Moscow Linguistic Circle. In Structuralism and Post- Structuralism, we have discussed major critics and theorists like Ferdinand Saussure, Roland Barthes, Mikhail Bakhtin, Jacques Derrida and Michael Foucault. In New Criticism, all major and minor critics starting with J.C. Ransom and I. A. Richards, are dealt with. Stephen Greenblatt has been included in this section. Reader Response Criticism is another area where we discuss many major ideas and doctrines. The section consists of American Pragmatism with major critics like Wolfgang Iser, Stanley Fish and many others.
The last two sections comprise Psychoanalytic Criticism and Gender Studies. Sigmund Freud kickstarted this subject and introduced many concepts based on human behaviour. We have extensively discussed the Id, Ego and Superego and their counterpart theories from other thinkers like Carl Jung and Jacques Lacan. We conclude this book with the section Gender Studies, featuring the First Wave to Fourth Wave Feminism and associated thinkers. This segment also has Psychoanalytic Feminists and Queer theory added to it.
This book finally has become a reality after a lot of hard work and thorough research on Criticism and Theory, which is extremely useful in the context of NET/SET/GATE and many other national-level exams. When preparing for these exams, it is difficult to find a single book that covers the topics extensively. Our book is also appropriate for all users, as the language used is simple and easy to comprehend and remember. We plan to keep updating this book and publish it in several volumes and editions. Readers are invited to contribute to this book, and suggestions are welcome. You can write your reviews to us at nerdstable.club@gmail.com. Our next volume will appear with your valuable feedback added to it.
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