D. Discussion of Critical Approaches: Formalist

The New Criticism began in the 1930s and 1940s and has since been a dominant force in twentieth-century literary studies. To the degree that New Criticism focuses upon literary texts as formal works of art, it departs from the tropical approach. The objection raised by the New Critics is that as topical/historical critics consider literary history, they avoid close contact with actual texts.
The inspiration for the formalist or New Critical approach was the French practice of explication de texte, a method that emphasizes detailed examination and explanation. The New Criticism is therefore at its most brilliant in the analysis of smaller units such as entire poems and short passages. The New Criticism also utilizes a number of techniques for the analysis of larger structures, many of which form the basis for the chapters in this book. Discussions of "point of view," "tone," "plot," "character," and "structure," for example, are ways of looking at literature derived from the New Criticism.
The aim of the formalist study of literature is to provide readers not only with the means of explaining the content of works ("What, specifically, does this say?"), but also with the critical tools needed for evaluating the artistic quality of individual works and writers ("How well is it said?"). A major aspect of New Critical thought is the content and form including all ideas, ambiguities, subtleties, and even apparent contradictions were originally within the conscious or subconscious control of the author. There is no accident. It does not necessarily follow, however, that today's critic is able to define the author's intentions exactly, for such intentions require knowledge of biographical details that are irretrievably lost. Each literary work therefore takes on its own existence and identity, and the critic's work is to discover a reading or readings that explain the facts of the text. Note that the New Critic does not claim infallible interpretations and does not exclude the validity of multiple readings of identical works.
Dissenters from the New Criticism have noted a tendency by New Critics to ignore relevant knowledge that history and biography may bring to literary studies. In addition, the approach has been subject to the charge that stressing the examination of texts alone fails to deal with the value and appreciation of literature.

Categories: Discussion of Critical Approaches