William Empson and the philosophy of literary criticism / C.C. Norris ; with a postscript by William Empson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Norris, Christopher, 1947- author.

Series:

Bloomsbury Academic Collections: English Literary Criticism

Bloomsbury academic collections. English literary criticism, general theory and history, 2051-0012

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Empson, William, 1906-1984--Knowledge--Literature.

Empson, William.

Criticism--Great Britain.

Criticism.

English literature--History and criticism.

English literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (237 p.)

Place of Publication:

London : Bloomsbury, 2013.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

"Following the publication of Seven Types of Ambiguity in 1930 William Empson was quickly recognised as a critic of great originality and unique creative gifts and he has inspired a whole new method and style of approach in literary criticism. But this is the first full-length study of his work and it is an important part of Dr Norris's purpose to account for the gulf that has emerged between Empson's viewpoint and the development of his ideas by others, especially the American New Critics, and for the consequent failure of Empson's later books to generate the informed discussion they demand and deserve. Here particular attention is given to his critical summa, The Structure of Complex Words. To understand Empson's work as a consistent whole, Dr Norris argues, one must relate it to his philosophy of humanistic rationalism. This is to give a new perspective not only to his practical criticism but also to his differences with Eliot and Leavis and to his anti-Christian polemic."--Bloomsbury Publishing.

Contents:

Introduction

1 Empson and Present-Day Criticism: a Chapter of Misunderstandings ; Poet and critic: a change of heart? ; The rational motive: Empson and the literature of conflict

2 'Beyond Formalism': Pastoral and the 'Subjective Correlative' ; History and form in Pastoral: the 'timeless prison' of Symbolism

3 Complex Words and the Grammar of Motives ; Dramatic 'character' and the commonsense ethic

4 Semantics and Historical Method: the Phenomenology of Meaning ; Structures and meaning: the limits explanation ; Ordinary language and semantic history ; Complex Words and the 'renaissance' view of man

5 'Other Minds': the Morality of Knowledge ; Milton's God and the 'question of intention' ; Milton, Pastoral and the levels of consciousness ; Poetry and narrative: the 'plot' dimension ; The rational bias: some limiting cases in Empson's criticism

6 Literary 'Values' and Modern Humanism: Empson's Work in Perspective ; Alternative wisdoms: Empson between two cultures

Appendix: Complex Words and Recent Semantic Theory

Postscript by William Empson

Bibliographical Note

Notes

Index.

Notes:

First published in 1978.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781472554475

1472554477

9781472510518

1472510518

OCLC:

868923156