The Critic in the Modern World

Download or read book The Critic in the Modern World written by James Ley and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2014-05-08 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Critic in the Modern World explores the work of six influential literary critics—Samuel Johnson, William Hazlitt, Matthew Arnold, T.S. Eliot, Lionel Trilling and James Wood—each of whom occupies a distinct historical moment. It considers how these representative critics have constructed their public personae, the kinds of arguments they have used, and their core principles and philosophies. Spanning three hundred years of cultural history, The Critic in the Modern World considers the various ways in which literary critics have positioned themselves in relation to the modern tradition of descriptive criticism. In providing a lucid account of each critic's central principles and philosophies, it considers the role of the literary critic as a public figure, interpreting him as someone who is compelled to address the wider issues of individualism and the social implications of the democratising, secularising, liberalising forces of modernity.