New Criticism

Some people study poems in a new way. They look only at the words on the page. They do not look at the writer. They do not look at the reader's feelings. This helps them see how the poem works. It is like a fun puzzle. They look at things like rhyme and plot. They want to find the main idea. This way of thinking was very popular in schools. It is still a tool used today.

New Criticism was a way to study books and poems. It was very popular in American schools during the mid-1900s. These thinkers wanted to look at the text itself. They did not want to focus on the writer. They also did not care about the reader's feelings. They called this "close reading."

New Critics believed a poem is like a self-contained object. They looked at how the parts worked together. They studied things like rhyme, meter, and plot. They also looked for irony and tension. This helped them find the main theme of the work.

Two thinkers, W. K. Wimsatt and Monroe Beardsley, had big ideas. They spoke about the "intentional fallacy." This means they thought the writer's goal did not matter. They also spoke of the "affective fallacy." This means a reader's emotions should not guide the study. They wanted a more systematic way to judge art. John Crowe Ransom helped start this movement. His book was called "The New Criticism." Even though it is not the main way to study now, close reading is still a vital tool for many.

New Criticism was a famous way to study literature in America. It became very popular during the middle years of the 20th century. This movement changed how people looked at poems and stories. Instead of looking at the world outside, thinkers focused on the words on the page. They viewed a piece of writing as a self-contained object. This means the art stands on its own. It does not need outside help to be understood. This way of thinking helped students focus on the craft of writing.

To use this method, scholars practiced something called "close reading." This means looking at a passage with very careful eyes. They studied how different parts of a poem worked together. For example, they looked at rhyme and the rhythm of the words. They also checked the plot and the characters in a story. They searched for things like irony or tension in the lines. By doing this, they hoped to find the single best meaning. They wanted to see how the structure and the meaning were connected.

This movement grew from a reaction to older ways of learning. Before this, scholars often studied the history of words or the lives of authors. New Critics felt those old methods were a distraction. They did not want to focus on a writer's life or history. They also wanted to avoid being too emotional about a book. The movement got its name from a 1941 book by John Crowe Ransom. He was a teacher at Kenyon College. His students helped build these new ideas together.

Many important people helped shape these ideas over time. John Crowe Ransom wrote a famous essay called "Criticism, Inc." He wanted criticism to be more systematic and precise. Two other thinkers, W. K. Wimsatt and Monroe Beardsley, had very big ideas. They spoke about the "intentional fallacy." This is the idea that an author's goal does not matter for the analysis. They also named the "affective fallacy." This means a reader's personal feelings should not guide the study. T. S. Eliot was another major influence on their work.

Even though New Criticism is not the main way to study books today, it left a mark. In the 1950s and 1970s, it was used in almost every high school and college. New ideas like feminist theory or reader-response theory came after it. These newer groups often disagree with the New Critics. For instance, some think the reader's feelings are very important. Others think the social history of a book matters a lot. However, the tool of close reading is still used by many people today. It remains a fundamental way to explore the magic of words.

New Criticism was a major formalist movement in literary theory. It dominated American literary criticism during the middle decades of the 20th century. This movement focused on the idea of a self-contained aesthetic object. This means a poem or story is viewed as a complete unit. It does not need outside information to be understood. The movement emphasized close reading to find how a work functions. Scholars used this method to study the internal structure of texts. They believed the meaning and the form were intimately connected. This approach changed how literature was taught in universities.

To perform a New Critical analysis, scholars used a technique called close reading. This process involves the careful, exacting scrutiny of a specific passage. A critic examines formal elements like rhyme and meter. They also look at setting, characterization, and plot. The goal is to find how these parts create a unified theme. Critics specifically search for paradox, ambiguity, irony, and tension. These elements help establish the single best interpretation of the text. By focusing on these details, the critic treats the text as an autonomous object.

New Criticism introduced several specific concepts to separate art from external factors. W. K. Wimsatt and Monroe Beardsley introduced the "intentional fallacy." This concept argues that an author's intended meaning is irrelevant to analysis. The words on the page are the only important evidence. They also introduced the "affective fallacy." This idea suggests that a reader's personal emotional response is not a valid way to analyze a text. These ideas aimed to make literary study more objective. They wanted to move away from subjective or emotional appreciation. By doing so, they hoped to create a more systematic method of criticism.

The movement grew as a reaction to older academic traditions. Previously, philological and literary history schools were the standard. These older schools focused on the history of individual words. They studied how words related to ancient or foreign languages. They also looked at the biographical circumstances of authors. New Critics felt these external factors distracted from the poem itself. They also disliked the literary appreciation school of thought. That school focused on the moral or beautiful qualities of a text. New Critics viewed that approach as too much like Romanticism.

Several key figures shaped the history of this movement. The movement took its name from John Crowe Ransom's 1941 book, *The New Criticism*. Ransom taught at Kenyon College and influenced many students. Other major contributors included Cleanth Brooks, Allen Tate, and Robert Penn Warren. T. S. Eliot was also a very influential figure. His essays helped develop the "theory of impersonality." He also wrote about the "objective correlative." These ideas helped form the New Critical canon. The movement reached its peak during the Cold War decades. It was widely used in American high schools and colleges between 1950 and the mid-1970s.

The impact of New Criticism can be seen in its lasting tools. While it is no longer the dominant model, close reading remains fundamental. It provides a foundation for many subsequent theories. These include structuralism, post-structuralism, and deconstruction theory. It also relates to New Testament narrative criticism. However, the movement faced many criticisms from other scholars. Some argued that New Critics ignored the social function of literature. Others said the movement treated texts as if they were divorced from history. Feminist theory and post-colonial theory also disagree with New Critical methods. These newer theories focus on identity, politics, and personal experience.

Despite these disagreements, the debate between schools continues to grow our understanding. For example, the reader-response school focuses on the reader's role. Stanley Fish criticized the New Critics in his 1970 essay, "Literature in the Reader." He argued that the reader helps create the work. Cleanth Brooks responded to these critiques in 1979. He argued that New Criticism and reader-response theory could actually complement each other. He believed the reader is essential for "realizing" a poem or novel. However, he warned that relying only on individual taste could reduce literature to mere psychology.