The Function of Criticism: From the Spectator to Post-Structuralism

Eagleton, Terry

ISBN 10: 0860917991 / ISBN 13: 9780860917991

Published by Verso, 1984

About this Item

Softcover, 134 pages, good condition; pen marks in margin of a couple pages. As is; reading copy.

Seller Inventory # ThEaVe7

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Function of Criticism: From the Spectator to Post-Structuralism
• Publisher: Verso
• Publication Date: 1984
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0860917991
• ISBN 13: 9780860917991
• Binding: Soft cover
• Seller catalogs:
  • Theory

About this title

Synopsis

This wide-ranging book argues that criticism emerged in early bourgeois society as a central feature of a “public sphere” in which political, ethical, and literary judgements could mingle under the benign rule of reason. The disintegration of this fragile culture brought on a crisis in criticism, whose history since the 18th century has been fraught with ambivalence and anxiety.

Eagleton’s account embraces Addison and Steele, Johnson and the 19-century reviewers, such critics as Arnold and Stephen, the heyday of Scrutiny and New Criticism, and finally the proliferation of avant-garde literary theories such as deconstructionism.

The Function of Criticism is nothing less than a history and critique of the “critical institution” itself. Eagleton’s judgements on individual critics are sharp and illuminating, which his general argument raises crucial questions about the relations between language, literature and politics.

About the Author

Terry Eagleton is Professor of Cultural Theory and John Rylands Fellow, University of Manchester. His other books include Ideology; The Function of Criticism; Heathcliff and the Great Hunger; Against the Grain; Walter Benjamin; and Criticism and Ideology, all from Verso.