Principles of literary criticism

“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:

This eBook was created from a 1928 edition, scans of which are available from the Internet Archive. Tildes (~) indicate words that were set in Fraktur script in the original text.

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

APPENDIX A ON VALUE

APPENDIX B ON MR. ELIOT’S POETRY

PREFACE