Reconstructing Criticism: Pope's Essay on Criticism and the Logic of Definition

Contending that it has important current implications for criticism as a literary form, Smallwood (English, U. of Central England) examines Pope's eighteenth century poem, An Essay on Criticism . He discusses the strengths and defects of different approaches to defining criticism, relates theory to subordinate modes of criticism, and describes the theoretical problems involved in taking a historicist approach to the critical past. Portions of the text have been previously published in various journals. Distributed by Associated University Presses. Annotation (c) Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Philip Smallwood is Professor of English at the University of Central England.