The Emergence of Literary Criticism in 18th-Century Britain: Discourse between Attacks and Authority

Sebastian Domsch

Published by De Gruyter 2014

The Emergence of Literary Criticism in 18th-Century Britain

Discourse between Attacks and Authority

Sebastian Domsch

Volume 47 in the series Buchreihe der Anglia / Anglia Book Series

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110362060

Overview
Contents

About this book

This study tries, through a systematic and historical analysis of the concept of critical authority, to write a history of literary criticism from the end of the 17th to the end of the 18th century that not only takes the discursive construction of its (self)representation into account, but also the social and economic conditions of its practice. It tries to consider the whole of the critical discourse on literature and criticism in the time period covered. Thus, it is distinctive through its methodology (there is no systematic account of the historical development of critical authority and no discussion of the institutionalization of criticism of such a scope), its material of analysis (most of the many hundred texts self-reflexively commenting on criticism that are discussed here have been so far virtually ignored) and through its results, a complex history of criticism in the 18th century that is neither reductive nor the accumulation of isolated aspects or author figures, but that probes into the very nature of the activity of criticism. The aim of this study is both to provide a thorough historical understanding of the emergence of criticism and as a consequence an understanding of the inner workings and power relations that structure criticism to this day.

Author / Editor information

Sebastian Domsch, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt Universität Greifswald, Germany.

Reviews

"Dem Buch ist daher die angestrebte internationale Rezeption zu wünschen, denn nicht zuletzt bietet es allemal eine Vielzahl von möglichen Anknüpfungspunkten für weitere Arbeiten zu dieser spannenden und ertragreichen Thematik."
Jürgen Meyer in: www.literaturkritik.de

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
A Note on Texts Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	vii
A The Age of Criticism
1 Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	3
2 Contemporary Discussions of Criticism and the Critic Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	12
B The Authority of Criticism
1 Critical Authority Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	49
2 Aristocratic Authority Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	54
3 The Authority of Seniority: Ancient and Modern Criticism Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	94
4 The Authority of Poetic Genius Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	115
5 Learning: Knowledge between Authority and Pedantry Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	150
6 Rules and the Critic Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	177
7 Taste and the Critic Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	201
8 Name-Authority: The Critic as Institution Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	229
9 Authority and the Marketplace Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	269
10 Institutionalizing Authority: Academies and Reviews Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	301
C Conclusion – Distance and Democracy
Distance and Democracy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	359
Works Cited Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	373
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	405

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter
Audience: Academics (Literary and Cultural Studies), Libraries, Institutes
Pages
- Front matter: 8
- Main content: 410
Keywords: Literary Criticism; 18th-Century British Literature; Cultural History

eBook

Published: August 19, 2014
ISBN: 9783110362060

Hardcover

Published: August 19, 2014
ISBN: 9783110356168