Book contents
- The Cambridge History of Literary Criticism
- Series page
- The Cambridge History of Literary Criticism
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Notes on contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- I Literary criticism as an institution
- II National developments in literary criticism
- III Critical movements and patterns of influence
- IV Later nineteenth-century developments: Realism, Naturalism, Symbolism and Decadence
- V Some major critics of the period
- VI Genre criticism
- VII Literature and other disciplines
- 30 Literary criticism and models of science
- 31 Literature and the arts
- 32 Biblical scholarship and literary criticism
- Select bibliography and further reading
- Index
30 - Literary criticism and models of science
from VII - Literature and other disciplines
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 February 2013
Edited by
Book contents
- The Cambridge History of Literary Criticism
- Series page
- The Cambridge History of Literary Criticism
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Notes on contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- I Literary criticism as an institution
- II National developments in literary criticism
- III Critical movements and patterns of influence
- IV Later nineteenth-century developments: Realism, Naturalism, Symbolism and Decadence
- V Some major critics of the period
- VI Genre criticism
- VII Literature and other disciplines
- 30 Literary criticism and models of science
- 31 Literature and the arts
- 32 Biblical scholarship and literary criticism
- Select bibliography and further reading
- Index
Summary
Reflecting on trends in literary theory, George Saintsbury spoke in 1890 with evident distaste of the notion that criticism must be of all things scientific. Literary studies had for Wilhelm Scherer a place within the framework of a wider social and cultural history that would encompass the historiography of economics, politics, warfare, language and so on. If criticism was to assume the mantle of science, it was inevitable that it would turn to the most powerful and culturally significant theory in the second half of the nineteenth century: Darwinism. By far the most systematic and sustained application of evolutionism to literary criticism was undertaken by Ferdinand Brunetière. Most of the critics considered thus far have tended to view literature as a natural product shaped by certain historical, psychological, evolutionary, sociological forces and to understand it in the light of external agencies.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge History of Literary Criticism , pp. 565 - 587Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2013
- 1
- Cited by