A History of Literary Criticism: From Plato to the Present

Citation

Habib, M. A. R. (2007). A History of Literary Criticism: From Plato to the Present. Wiley-Blackwell. (First published by Blackwell, 2005.)

Chapter Summary

The book is a single-author history of literary criticism and theory of about 840 pages, with an introduction, twenty-nine chapters in eight parts, an epilogue, a selective bibliography and an index. The publisher describes it as organised chronologically from classical literary criticism through to deconstruction, supplying the cultural, historical and philosophical background to the criticism of each era, and usable either alongside an anthology of criticism or as a stand-alone introduction. Leon Golden, reviewing it in Bryn Mawr Classical Review (2008), lists among the author's stated aims: to show that criticism is embedded in philosophical traditions, to select influential theorists for close reading rather than cover every figure, to give the historical background, and to organise the book so that a reader can consult particular theories without reading what precedes them.

Introduction

The introduction frames the project and the principles of selection described above.

Part I: Ancient Greek Criticism (Chapters 1–2)

Chapter 1 treats Plato (428–c. 347 BC) and Chapter 2 treats Aristotle. According to Golden, Plato is read closely through the Republic, with the Ion offering a less hostile view of poetry as inspiration, and Aristotle chiefly through the Poetics, which Habib calls the most influential treatise in the history of criticism.

Part II: The Traditions of Rhetoric (Chapters 3–4)

Chapter 3 covers Greek rhetoric (Protagoras, Gorgias, Antiphon, Lysias, Isocrates, with Plato and Aristotle) and Chapter 4 the Hellenistic period and Roman rhetoric, including Cicero and Quintilian.

Part III: Greek and Latin Criticism During the Roman Empire (Chapters 5–7)

Chapters 5 and 6 are devoted to Horace and to Longinus; Chapter 7 covers Neo-Platonism, with Plotinus, Macrobius and Boethius.

Part IV: The Medieval Era (Chapters 8–10)

Chapter 8 treats the early Middle Ages through St. Augustine. Chapter 9 covers the later Middle Ages, with figures including Hugh of St. Victor, John of Salisbury, Dante, Geoffrey of Vinsauf, Ibn Rushd and St. Thomas Aquinas. Chapter 10, "Transitions: Medieval Humanism," deals with Boccaccio and Christine de Pisan.

Part V: The Early Modern Period to the Enlightenment (Chapters 11–13)

Chapter 11 covers the early modern period, from Italian and French critics to Sidney and Puttenham. Chapter 12 treats neoclassical criticism, with Corneille, Boileau, Dryden, Pope, Behn and Johnson. Chapter 13 treats the Enlightenment, with Locke, Addison, Vico, Hume, Burke and Wollstonecraft.

Part VI: The Earlier Nineteenth Century and Romanticism (Chapters 14–17)

Chapter 14 is "The Kantian System and Kant's Aesthetics," which Golden describes as a disciplined effort to explain a difficult system patiently. Chapter 15 is on Hegel. Chapters 16 and 17 cover Romanticism, first in Germany and France and then in England and America.

Part VII: The Later Nineteenth Century (Chapters 18–21)

Chapter 18 covers Realism and Naturalism; Chapter 19 Symbolism and Aestheticism; Chapter 20 "The Heterological Thinkers," a group including Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Bergson and Arnold; and Chapter 21 Marxism.

Part VIII: The Twentieth Century (Chapters 22–29)

The last part opens with an account of the century's historical background, which Golden notes, and then runs through Psychoanalytic Criticism (22), Formalisms (23), Structuralism (24), Deconstruction (25), Feminist Criticism (26), Reader-Response and Reception Theory (27), Postcolonial Criticism (28) and New Historicism (29).

Epilogue

The epilogue records the limits found in the most influential modern theories and points to newer, more locally focused critical positions, according to Golden.

Key Concepts

Parts I–III: Classical Criticism and Rhetoric

• Mimesis: the classical concept of imitation, central to Plato's and Aristotle's views of literature.
• Rhetoric and poetics: the two traditions through which the ancient world theorised language and literature.
• Neo-Platonism: the later ancient philosophical current, represented by Plotinus, Macrobius and Boethius, that links classical criticism to the medieval era.

Parts IV–V: Medieval to Enlightenment

• Medieval criticism: the period traced from Augustine through the later Middle Ages to medieval humanism.
• Neoclassical criticism: the criticism of Corneille, Boileau, Dryden, Pope, Behn and Johnson in Chapter 12.
• The Enlightenment: the intellectual background of Locke, Hume and Vico introduced in Chapter 13, which leads to Kant.

Parts VI–VIII: Kant to the Present

• Kantian aesthetics: the philosophical system on which later theories draw.
• Romanticism, Realism, Symbolism and Aestheticism: the nineteenth-century movements Habib treats chapter by chapter.
• The modern schools: psychoanalytic, formalist, structuralist, deconstructive, feminist, reader-response, postcolonial and new historicist criticism.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• Criticism in its philosophical setting. The publisher and Golden agree that each critic is placed in the philosophy, politics and history of the period, so the book explains why a theory arose and not only what it says.
• Modular organisation. The book is organised so that a reader can look up a single movement without reading the earlier chapters, as Golden notes, and the part and chapter titles make the book easy to navigate.
• Close readings of selected texts. Golden finds the close reading of the Poetics very helpful for readers, and singles out the discussion of Dryden's Essay of Dramatic Poesy as an example of relating theory to literature itself.
• Full range. The contents run from Plato to New Historicism and include chapters on rhetoric, medieval criticism, Kant and Hegel, so that modern theory appears as the end of a long argument.

Limitations

• Selection over coverage. The book does not try to cover every important figure; readers wanting a critic who is not named in the contents will need another source.
• Theory more than literature. Golden thinks Habib could have done more to relate theory to literary works themselves, and that the survival of texts such as the Iliad and the Odyssey is a theme the book leaves largely unexplored.
• Some points of detail. Golden objects that Habib renders Aristotelian katharsis as "relief" without conveying the competing interpretations, and that the index does not cross-reference "katharsis" and "catharsis".
• Length. At about 840 pages, the book is a reference as much as a continuous read.

Where It Fits in the Course

Within the literary theory list, Habib is the historical narrative. Barry's Beginning Theory, Tyson's Critical Theory Today and Culler's Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction are short guides to the main modern approaches; Eagleton's Literary Theory: An Introduction is a comprehensive introduction to major schools. Habib covers the same modern schools in Part VIII but within a much longer history that begins with Plato.

The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism supplies the primary texts of that history, and Habib's own publisher recommends using his book alongside any anthology. Read a short guide first for orientation, Habib for the history, and the Norton Anthology for the sources.

How to Use This Book

The book is for advanced undergraduates and graduate students who have taken an introductory theory course and want the longer story behind it; some knowledge of the history of philosophy helps.

Use it as a reference as much as a continuous read. For a complete survey, read the introduction and then each part in order. For a course on modern theory, read Parts VI to VIII, with Chapter 14 on Kant as a hinge. For a course on classical and early modern criticism, read Parts I to V. Pair each chapter with the primary texts it discusses, and use the selective bibliography to follow individual critics further.