[ 3 / biz / cgl / ck / diy / fa / ic / jp / lit / sci / vr / vt ] [ index / top / reports ] [ become a patron ] [ status ]
2023-11: Warosu is now out of extended maintenance.

/lit/ - Literature

View post   
File: 138 KB, 1000x646, harold-bloom.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
12755058 No.12755058 [Reply] [Original]

Is literary criticism worth getting into, or are literary critics just turgid, pontificating hacks of no discernible talent? Pic related strikes me as a hack.

>> No.12755091

>>12755058
Why bother asking when it’s clear you’ve already set yourself up to dislike or discredit the field? You’ve already exhibited bad critical practise by approaching the study with a predetermined opinion in mind, literary criticism is definitely not for you

>> No.12755099

>>12755091
Fucking literary critics (You).

>> No.12755121

>>12755099
I’m glad you’ve decided against it, some people simply don’t have the mental elasticity to navigate through the many conflicting interpretations of the material at hand. You’re better off just reading books for the plot

>> No.12755136

>>12755091
>approaching the study with a predetermined opinion in mind
On the contrary, literary criticism would be perfect for OP

>> No.12755137

>>12755058
>Is literary criticism worth getting into
no
>or are literary critics just turgid, pontificating hacks of no discernible talent?
yes

>> No.12755140

>>12755058
i've got something turgid

>> No.12755146

>>12755058
The real problem is, where the FUCK do you find literary criticism if you're not into college or whatever? I have no idea where to find desu

>> No.12755147

>>12755140
Is it artistic influenza?

>> No.12755463

>>12755146
Most of the valuable material is on jstor and other academic sites, but its a pretty expensive subscription if you're not studying. Many publishers will release critical anthologies for a particular writer, or you can buy Norton critical editions which contain essays or commentaries on the work.

That said, if you're not studying it begs the question why you'd even want to read it. It's helpful in opening the text up to new discursive practises, but its not something you really need if you're just reading for pleasure.

>> No.12756340

>>12755058
You are not missing anything. Literary criticism and cultural studies are the bureaucracy of culture. Full of indolent people who couldn't figure out what else to do with themselves.
>>12755091
>You’ve already exhibited bad critical practise by approaching the study with a predetermined opinion in mind
This is called eisegesis (reading into the text) and most literary criticism taught under the banner of critical theory does exactly this.
>>12755146
It isn't in college either. Literary study is no longer about literature.

>> No.12756360

I find John Gardner and William Gass to both be very insightful, even though they have very different opinions (I'm more on Gardner's side).

But fuck Bloom.

>> No.12756636

Start with Edmund Wilson

>> No.12756749

>>12756340
>most literary criticism taught under the banner of critical theory does exactly this
One approaches the text with an interpretative methodology that is unique to the reader, its not good practise to make a pre-judgement before even reading the text. That anon had already decided that literary criticism is a pontificating study before he'd even read any criticism. That's not what eisegesis is

>> No.12758124

>>12755463
>It's helpful in opening the text up to new discursive practises, but its not something you really need if you're just reading for pleasure.
I want to use it so i can get a better picture of how novels work, to help improve my writing. Do you have any anthology/critic/essay that you would particularly recommend? I'm reading a few articles on some books i like and literary criticism seems pretty comfy.

>> No.12759703

>>12755058
Reading lit crit will take you to the next level

Some of what Plato wrote in his dialogues can apply to literary criticism. Aristotle's Poetics is kind of the founding work of literary criticism in the western canon. Look for a textbook that takes you through the ages from Plato, to Aristotle, Longinus, Horace, Dante, Sir Philip Sidney, Samuel Johnson, Alexander Pope, Henry James, Oscar Wilde, T.S. Eliot, on and on into the present age (i'm sure I missed some but those are good ones). The line between literary critic and artist did not use to be so clearly drawn, a lot of the great artists also wrote criticism and theory about their work or the work of others.

>> No.12759735

>>12759703
>>12755058
it's basically this and also not this.

lit crit with a good supervisor and the enthusiasm to actually give a fuck about what you're studying is like the fucking rabbit hole into existential dread.

You don't understand OP it's not about books. after a while it won't be about books at all, and a little while after that you'll realise it was never about books.

You'll wake up every morning in a greyish fog questioning your will to live every single day because of the deep uncertainty you now feel because you got too deep into criticism. You'll notice all of the faculties that made you a good "critic" are part of the cancer which is eating at your very soul. Criticism, you'll realize, is just one step away from paranoia and deconstruction and your life will become this. Nothing will exist without meaning and yet everything will be meaningless.

But I mean if you don't really care that much you can always go to post grad and get a comfy job reading books.

>> No.12759767

>>12755058
Just read The Rhetoric of Fiction