“Extraordinarily interesting. . . . He is erudite and he is intelligent; he makes the courageous attempt to be at the same time scientific and psychological; and he has the great advantage of having at his disposal a knowledge of semantics. His terms are clear, useful, and conveniently few.”—The Nation.
“What he has done is to make thinking about art clearer, and about life, too. This is precisely the merit of Richards’ remarkable volume.”—Christian Science Monitor.
“The book is compact with stimulating criticism of the great critics of the ages, and with numberless original suggestions on all phases of the creation and appreciation of art.”—Springfield Republican.
“An important contribution to the rehabilitation of English criticism—perhaps, because of its sustained scientific nature, the most important yet made. . . . The principles enunciated are pursued in more particular aspects of literary criticism, always with a clear rest and consequent elucidation. Parallel applications to the arts of painting, sculpture, and music form the subjects of three chapters. Another important chapter deals with the availability of the poet’s experience.”—The Criterion, London.
“Mr. Richards is an entertaining writer, whose work avoids easily the tedium of a technical treatise.”—_The British Journal of Psychology_.
Transcriber’s Note:
New original cover art included with this eBook is granted to the public domain.
International Library of Psychology Philosophy and Scientific Method
PRINCIPLES OF LITERARY CRITICISM
BY I. A. RICHARDS FELLOW OF MAGDALENE COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE
NEW YORK HARCOURT, BRACE AND COMPANY LONDON: KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER & CO. LTD.
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY LUND HUMPHRIES LONDON · BRADFORD
CONTENTS
I. THE CHAOS OF CRITICAL THEORIES
II. THE PHANTOM ÆSTHETIC STATE
III. THE LANGUAGE OF CRITICISM
IV. COMMUNICATION AND THE ARTIST
V. THE CRITICS’ CONCERN WITH VALUE
VI. VALUE AS AN ULTIMATE IDEA
VII. A PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORY OF VALUE
VIII. ART AND MORALS
IX. ACTUAL AND POSSIBLE MISAPPREHENSIONS
X. POETRY FOR POETRY’S SAKE
XI. A SKETCH FOR A PSYCHOLOGY
XII. PLEASURE
XIII. EMOTION AND THE CŒNESTHESIA
XIV. MEMORY
XV. ATTITUDES
XVI. THE ANALYSIS OF A POEM
XVII. RHYTHM AND METRE
XVIII. ON LOOKING AT A PICTURE
XIX. SCULPTURE AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF FORM
XX. THE IMPASSE OF MUSICAL THEORY
XXI. A THEORY OF COMMUNICATION
XXII. THE AVAILABILITY OF THE POET’S EXPERIENCE
XXIII. TOLSTOY’S INFECTION THEORY
XXIV. THE NORMALITY OF THE ARTIST
XXV. BADNESS IN POETRY
XXVI. JUDGMENT AND DIVERGENT READINGS
XXVII. LEVELS OF RESPONSE AND THE WIDTH OF APPEAL
XXVIII. THE ALLUSIVENESS OF MODERN POETRY
XXIX. PERMANENCE AS A CRITERION
XXX. THE DEFINITION OF A POEM
XXXI. ART, PLAY, AND CIVILISATION
XXXII. THE IMAGINATION
XXXIII. TRUTH AND REVELATION THEORIES
XXXIV. THE TWO USES OF LANGUAGE
XXXV. POETRY AND BELIEFS