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I.A. Richards as a CriticA Presentation by

Zenab Jehangir KhanTo

Ms. Sameena Saeed

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Contents• Literary Background• Theory of Literary Criticism• Iconoclast• New Criticism• Close Reading• Views Regarding a Critic• Imaginative Literature• His Conception of Poetry• Definition of a Poem• Conclusion

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Literary Background

• A psychologist• No formal education in literature• His keen interest in literary criticism lead him

to formulate new concepts

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Theory of Literary Criticism

• His work mainly deals with poetry• Dismisses all visual imageries from poetic

criticism• Meaning of the words is important• Judgment should be made on the basis of

experience• Richards has tried to use science to remove

the scientist's objections to poetry

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Iconoclast

• Staunch advocate of close textual and verbal analysis

• Unhistorical method of criticism• Made criticism factual, scientific and

complete• Criticism is not mere application of set rules

or intuition

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New Criticism• Richards is pioneer of New Criticism.• Claims that the text is adequate for

interpretation• Examines the formal elements, i.e.

characterization, plot, images, setting etc• Linguistic elements, i.e. ambiguity, paradox etc• Unique and universal theme in a work of art• Objective criticism

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Close Reading

• Text works as a unified whole• Main theme is established through formal or

stylistic elements• First step is to read text carefully• Second is to look for patterns• Third is to ask the questions of “why” and

“how”• Authorial intentions are avoided

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Views Regarding a Critic

• “Adept at experiencing”• “must be able to distinguish experiences

from one another”• “he must be a sound judge of values”

- “The Analysis of a Poem”• Adequate knowledge of psychology is

important for a critic.

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Imaginative Literature

• A kind of psychological adjustment in the author which is valuable for personality

• The reader can have this adjustment communicated to him by reading the work

• “scientific imagination”• “Reconciliation” of “discordant impulses”

- “The Imagination”

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His Conception of Poetry• Meaning as the starting point of poetry• Words determine the meaning• Technical features like rhyme and rhythm adds to the

aesthetic of a poem• “…experience is valuable” in poetry• Experience is composed of two parts, i.e. “technical part”

and “critical part”- “The Language of Criticism”

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Definition of a Poem

• He has defined poem as:…as a class of experience which do not differ in any character more then a certain amount varying for each character, from a standard experience. We may take as this standard experience the relevant experience of the poet when contemplating the completed composition.- “The Definition of a Poem”

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Conclusion

• Richards’ criticism is scientific• His emphasis on experience seems abstract.• Psychological approach to literary criticism

makes it too technical and dull a subject • Can psychological criticism ever explain the

mystic nature of poetic experience?

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