A History of Literary Criticism A History of Literary Criticism

The twelfth episode of A History of Literary Criticism, a podcast about the history of literary criticism. For today’s episode we’re going back to the fifth century BC to discuss Confucius’ work. We’ll start with Confucius’ biography, social and literary context, then focus on two main themes from Confucius’ Analects—the first is Confucius’ own literary criticism, that is, parts of Analects when he directly analyses poetry; the second is his theory of language as outlined in Analects. I’ll then situate Confucius’ thought within the context of Abrams’ triangle.

Welcome to the eleventh episode of A History of Literary Criticism, a podcast about the history of literary criticism. Today’s episode is a reflection on the texts we’ve covered so far as we move away from the Classical era. The episode is structured according to Abrams’ triangle, fist summarising approaches to considering the relationship between a text and the world, then the text and the reader, and then the text and the artist. I’ll finish today by discussing the overall structure and text selection of the podcast, which has preoccupied me a bit of late.

Hi everyone, and welcome to the tenth episode of A History of Literary Criticism, a podcast about the history of literary criticism. Today’s episode concerns Macrobius’ Commentary on the Dream of Scipio. I’ll discuss the author biography, social context and Cicero’s original text first, the subsequent discussion of Macrobius’ work is divided into three parts: philosophers’ use of fables, the significance of dreams, and a discussion of Macrobius’ broader methodology. I’ll then situate Macrobius’ work within the framework of Abrams’ triangle before discussing its broader impact and, yes, relationship to the work of Sigmund Freud.

Welcome to the ninth episode of A History of Literary Criticism. Today’s episode concerns two sections from Augustine of Hippo’s works On Christian Doctrine and The Trinity. I’ll discuss a little of the author biography first, then the main part of the episode is divided into four parts: Augustine’s theory of interpretation, the relationship between intention and language outlined in the texts, the importance of knowledge to Augustine’s theorisations, and the role of communication. Then, to Abrams’ triangle! And the implications of Augustine’s work for Ferdinand de Saussure’s theory of language. Next week’s episode will be dedicated to Macrobius’ Commentary on the Dream of Scipio.

The eighth episode of A History of Literary Criticism. Today’s focus is a section of Plotinus’ Fifth Ennead titled On the Intellectual Beauty. I’ll discuss a little of the author biography first, then three key principles I think are vital to understanding his work, his version of the creation myth and the implications of his philosophy for art, artists and readers.

The seventh episode of A Histoy of Literary Criticism. For today’s episode, we return to the study of rhetoric with a discussion of Quintilian’s Institutio Oratoria. First I’ll outline Quintilian’s biography and the social context in which he lived, then I’ll give a brief overview of Institutio Oratoria before focusing on books 8, 9 and 12, which are the excerpts included in The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism.