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ENGL 300: Introduction to Theory of Literature

Lecture 6 - The New Criticism and Other Western Formalisms << previous session | next session >>

Overview:

In this second lecture on formalism, Professor Paul Fry begins by exploring the implications of Wimsatt and Beardsley's theory of literary interpretation by applying them to Yeats's "Lapis Lazuli." He then maps the development of Anglo-American formalism from Modernist literature to the American and British academies. Some time is spent examining the similarities and differences between the works of I. A. Richards and his protegé, William Empson. The lecture finally turns to a discussion of Cleanth Brooks's conception of unity.

Reading assignment:

Richards, Ivor A. and Monroe Beardsley. "Principles of Literary Criticism." In The Critical Tradition, pp. 764-73

Empson, William. Seven Types of Ambiguity. New York: New Directions Publishing Corporation, 1966, pp. 16-19

Brooks, Cleanth. "Irony as a Principle of Structure." In The Critical Tradition, pp. 799-806

Class lecture:

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