To Criticize the Critic and Other Writings
To Criticize the Critic and Other Writings

Author: Thomas Stearns Eliot

Publisher: U of Nebraska Press

Published: 1992-01-01

Total Pages: 196

ISBN-13: 9780803267213

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These influential essay and lectures by T. S. Eliot span nearly a half century--from 1917, when he published The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, to 1961, four years before his death. With the luminosity and clarity of a first-rate intellect, Eliot considers the uses of literary criticism, the writers who had the greatest influence on his own work, and the importance of being truly educated. Every thoughtful person who yearns to do more than simply get through the day will be reinforced by The Aims of Education. Other pieces include To Criticize the Critic, From Poe to Valäry, American Literature and the American Language, What Dante Means to Me, The Literature of Politics, The Classics and the Man of Letters, Ezra Pound: His Metric and Poetry, and Reflections on Vers Libre.

Better Living Through Criticism
Better Living Through Criticism

Author: A. O. Scott

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2017-02-07

Total Pages: 306

ISBN-13: 0143109979

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The New York Times film critic shows why we need criticism now more than ever Few could explain, let alone seek out, a career in criticism. Yet what A.O. Scott shows in Better Living Through Criticism is that we are, in fact, all critics: because critical thinking informs almost every aspect of artistic creation, of civil action, of interpersonal life. With penetrating insight and warm humor, Scott shows that while individual critics--himself included--can make mistakes and find flaws where they shouldn't, criticism as a discipline is one of the noblest, most creative, and urgent activities of modern existence. Using his own film criticism as a starting point--everything from his infamous dismissal of the international blockbuster The Avengers to his intense affection for Pixar's animated Ratatouille--Scott expands outward, easily guiding readers through the complexities of Rilke and Shelley, the origins of Chuck Berry and the Rolling Stones, the power of Marina Abramovich and 'Ode on a Grecian Urn.' Drawing on the long tradition of criticism from Aristotle to Susan Sontag, Scott shows that real criticism was and always will be the breath of fresh air that allows true creativity to thrive. "The time for criticism is always now," Scott explains, "because the imperative to think clearly, to insist on the necessary balance of reason and passion, never goes away."

On Criticism
On Criticism

Author: Noel Carroll

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2009-06-02

Total Pages: 239

ISBN-13: 1134221304

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In a recent poll of practicing art critics, 75 percent reported that rendering judgments on artworks was the least significant aspect of their job. This is a troubling statistic for philosopher and critic Noel Carroll, who argues that that the proper task of the critic is not simply to describe, or to uncover hidden meanings or agendas, but instead to determine what is of value in art. Carroll argues for a humanistic conception of criticism which focuses on what the artist has achieved by creating or performing the work. Whilst a good critic should not neglect to contextualize and offer interpretations of a work of art, he argues that too much recent criticism has ignored the fundamental role of the artist's intentions. Including examples from visual, performance and literary arts, and the work of contemporary critics, Carroll provides a charming, erudite and persuasive argument that evaluation of art is an indispensable part of the conversation of life.

Ecstasy and Terror
Ecstasy and Terror

Author: Daniel Mendelsohn

Publisher: New York Review of Books

Published: 2019-10-08

Total Pages: 385

ISBN-13: 1681374099

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“The role of the critic,” Daniel Mendelsohn writes, “is to mediate intelligently and stylishly between a work and its audience; to educate and edify in an engaging and, preferably, entertaining way.” His latest collection exemplifies the range, depth, and erudition that have made him “required reading for anyone interested in dissecting culture” (The Daily Beast). In Ecstasy and Terror, Mendelsohn once again casts an eye at literature, film, television, and the personal essay, filtering his insights through his training as a scholar of classical antiquity in illuminating and sometimes surprising ways. Many of these essays look with fresh eyes at our culture’s Greek and Roman models: some find an arresting modernity in canonical works (Bacchae, the Aeneid), while others detect a “Greek DNA” in our responses to national traumas such as the Boston Marathon bombings and the assassination of JFK. There are pieces on contemporary literature, from the “aesthetics of victimhood” in Hanya Yanagihara’s A Little Life to the uncomfortable mixture of art and autobiography in novels by Henry Roth, Ingmar Bergman, and Karl Ove Knausgård. Mendelsohn considers pop culture, too, in essays on the feminism of Game of Thrones and on recent films about artificial intelligence—a subject, he reminds us, that was already of interest to Homer. This collection also brings together for the first time a number of the award-winning memoirist’s personal essays, including his “critic’s manifesto” and a touching reminiscence of his boyhood correspondence with the historical novelist Mary Renault, who inspired him to study the Classics.

Interpretation and Social Criticism
Interpretation and Social Criticism

Author: Michael Walzer

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 1987

Total Pages: 114

ISBN-13: 9780674459717

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In succinct and engaging fashion Michael Walzer demystifies the activity of the social critic, providing a philosophical framework for understanding social criticism as social practice.

Logic and Criticism
Logic and Criticism

Author: William Righter

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2024-10-31

Total Pages: 185

ISBN-13: 1040185169

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First Published in 1963, Logic and Criticism makes one of the rare attempts since that of I.A. Richard’s Principles of Literary Criticism to examine the problems of criticism in the light of recent philosophical developments. The character of critical language and argument, the problem of judgement, the relevance or irrelevance of moral criteria, are considered in detail through examples drawn from the most important modern critics. Above all the work is concerned with the question of how logical or illogical an activity criticism is, and the conclusions drawn have great relevance to current critical discussion. This is a must read for scholars and researchers of philosophy and literature.

The Crisis of Criticism
The Crisis of Criticism

Author: Maurice Berger

Publisher:

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 172

ISBN-13: 9781565844179

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This collection of essays on the nature of art critics' authority and responsibilities addresses questions such as whether some art is beyond criticism, and how critics can bridge the gap between the art community and the general public.