Criticism and Objectivity (Routledge Revivals) - Softcover

Selden, Raman

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1032527471 ISBN 13: 9781032527475

Publisher: Routledge, 2025

Synopsis

First published in 1984 Criticism and Objectivity argues that literary critics should not abandon the concept of knowledge. English literary criticism has long considered ‘theory’ to be alien to the felt experience of readers and writers; the Romantic attitude towards reason and feeling has continued to inhibit the conceptual development of criticism. The similarities between the role of theory in science and in literary criticism imply the need for ‘objectivity’ to be redefined rather than abandoned.

While accepting that tests are relatively open structures defying final interpretations, Dr Selden argues that their plurality is as much the effect of historical conditions as of the nature of language or subjectivity. He calls for an historical criticism capable of ‘conducting’ the voices of the text without resorting to formalism or reducing the text to its ‘background’. This book will be of interest to students of literary theory.

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1032527471
• ISBN 13: 9781032527475
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 176