ABSTRACT
New Criticism occupies an unusual position, both in this textbook and in the eld of literary studies today. On the one hand, it’s the only theory covered in this book that is no longer practiced by literary critics, so it can’t really be called a contemporary theory. On the other hand, New Criticism, which dominated literary studies from the 1940s through the 1960s, has left a lasting imprint on the way we read and write about literature. Some of its most important concepts concerning the nature and importance of textual evidence-the use of concrete, specic examples from the text itself to validate our interpretationshave been incorporated into the way most literary critics today, regardless of their theoretical persuasion, support their readings of literature. In fact, if you’re an English major, you probably take for granted the need for thorough textual support for your literary interpretations because this practice, which the New Critics introduced to America and called “close reading,” has been a standard method of high school and college instruction in literary studies for the past several decades. So in this sense, New Criticism is still a real presence among us and probably will remain so for some time to come.
