The Critical Tradition: Classic Texts and Contemporary Trends

by David H. Richter

This bestseller balances a comprehensive and up-to-date anthology of major documents in literary criticism and theory — from Plato to the present — with the most thorough editorial support for understanding these challenging readings.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Literary Criticism, Theory, Reference, Criticism, Literature

2075 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1989

Reviews

[Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this collection of essays. Richter complied a great list from the ancients (Plato, Aristotle, Longinus, Plotinus) to Hegel, Sontag, Nietzsche, and the postmodernists (Lyotard, Baudrillard, Jameson).

A few of the stand-out essays for me are:

Excerpt from Poetics by Aristotle
Plato's Republic: Book X
"On the Sublime" by Longinus
"Introduction to the Art of Poetry" by G.W.F. Hegel
"Against Interpretation" by Susan Sontag
"The Death of the Author" by Roland Barthes
"The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" by Walter Benjamin

I would recommend this collection to anyone. It's a valuable resource, not just for the writer, but also for the filmgoer and reader. These philosophers try to understand why art is so important.

I am glad Martin Heidegger made the cut, but I wish there would have been more than just "Holderlin and the Essence of Poetry." Even though this is his only essay directly referencing literature, his other works are important, particularly Being and Time.

[Mila · Rating 4 out of 5]

To be fair, I haven't exactly finished this monster of a text. I lugged it around and slaved over it for a year while in various theory courses and I grew to really love it. Well...at the time I complained about its size because my poor Morrissey tote could only handle so much and I'm pretty sure this book is what ripped a hole in the side of said Morrissey tote and now I remember I've been meaning to fix that hole. Anyway, every one in a while I like to pull this book out and flip through the Bible-thin pages to see my scratch in the margins detailing what I thought to be brilliant remarks at the time but now just seem forced and redundant.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is heavy. It hurt my back carrying it around. I once imagined it bloated and discarded in my bathtub. I admit--I didn't read it in its entirety, nor was I expected to for the Poetics class this last semester. But the essays in this book I did read helped me to form a clearer idea of what I believe good poetry should be. Of course, I still expect that idea to change.
Also, I had never read Marx before I read him in this book. Geez Louise. Why hadn't I?

[Tatiana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Used in Oxford Cont Ed course on Critical Theory

[Humphrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Doing this slightly pre-emptively, so that I don't run out of time to write this down later. Gonna miss this baby.)
Foucault - What is an Author?
Barthes - The Death of the Author
Gadamer - The Elevation of the Historicality of Understanding to the Status of Hermeneutic Principle
Iser - The Reading Process: A Phenomenological Approach
Wimsatt/Beardsley - The Intentional Fallacy
Richards/Beardsley - Principles of Literary Criticism
Cleanth Brooks - Irony as a Principle of Structure
Barthes - The Structuralist Activity
Levi-Strauss - The Structural Study of Myth
Jakobson - Linguistics and Poetics
Derrida - Structure, Sign and Play in Discourse
Derrida - Differance
De Man - Semiology and Rhetoric
Peter Brooks - Freud's Masterplot
Lacan - The Agency of the Letter in the Unconscious
T. S. Eliot - Tradition and the Individual Talent
Bloom - A Meditation Upon Priority
Zizek - Courtly Love
Jauss - Literary History as a Challenge to Literary Theory
Bakhtin - Heteroglossia in the Novel
Benjamin - The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction
Adorno/Horkheimer - The Culture Industry
Jameson - The Political Unconscious
Greenblatt - The Power of Forms
Woolf - Austen-Bronte-Eliot
Woolf - The Adrogynous Vision
Kolodny - Dancing through the Minefield
Gates - Writing, 'Race', and the Difference it Makes
Morrison - Playing in the Dark
Said - Introduction to Orientalism
Bhabha - Signs Taken for Wonders
Foucault - [from] The History of Sexuality
Butler - Imitation and Gender Insubordination
Fish - How to Recognize a Poem When You See One
Guillory - [from] Culture Capital
Knapp/Michaels - Against Theory

[Bastia Marlowe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my second time reading this book in my literature studies, the third time counting the summers I spent after undergrad. This reading, however, included a few more pieces which were not touched before. Reading theory, ANY theory, requires patience and quiet, calm setting. Many times the authors can be downright confusing but eventually they become old friends, or best enemies, and that's ok. No one person will agree the with all the theories in this book, not in its entirety. I am still attempting to figure out some of it.

[Marlan Harris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got a low A in the class. This is probably the best collection of such sense material as you could put together. No more readings n' theories for a while.

[Clarissa Melendez]

it won’t let me shelve this unless I say if I’ve read it or not—I have spent hours upon hours with this book and have probably only touched 10%. David richter when I find you

[Teena Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't actually plan on reading this entire book as it is over 2000 pages. So I won't pretend to comment on it's content. I will however state that I think it is criminal that it was published with the intent of requiring students everywhere to lug it around. It's a godawful millstone! The least they could have done was give it wider margins toward the binding so that it could be copied or scanned. Or divide it into 2 volumes? So far, not a fan.

Later... Almost done with this thing. Have to admit I have found many of the essays useful and informative. Have also found many of them tedious and incomprehensible. Maybe I'm just not that smart, which if fine. I'm beginning to question whether I want to be "that smart" anyway.

[Terquoise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Had to get this book for a Literary Criticism class, and found it very interesting-even the dry sections from Plato and Freud. Admittedly, I did not have to read every section, but it was so interesting, I even kept the book after class was over.The sections on feminist criticism were especially thought-provoking. Basically, this books is for folks who like theory and those who are true bibliophiles.

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this because I had to for a course, but I did find it interesting. It's a very long and tedious read, but it does contain some good information. This is a book that discusses the nuances of literary criticism. If you enjoy that kind of thing, then read it. However, if you're not much of a fan of what people think of someone else's writing then definitely find a different genre. I did.

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Issues in Criticism" -University of Saint Thomas, required text. Master's in English.

Obviously I did not FINISH this book, and probably never will. But this book is essential for anyone wanting to study literary theory. It is a compilation of excerpts from the best works of different famous writers that are critical in their literary theory field.

[Danica is Booked · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't actually read every article in here, but I read most of them. It was dense reading and hard to get through, but the struggle was worth it. I really liked learning about different views on literature and art.

It was pain to lug around for a year in my theory class, but I finished, survived, and actually enjoyed the book.

[Noelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

My only real critique is that this should have been broken into various volumes rather than one giant text for a student to carry around. Other than being large and heavy, it's a very good compilation of essays and various writings. A lot of detail, though I'm not a huge fan of any of the author summaries.

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though this book earned the nickname BEAST shortly after it was purchased, and every time I grabbed it from my bag to study people thought I was reading the dictionary, I actually enjoyed it. The literature selections were great as well as the theory overviews.

[Quinn Hoang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing and dense. Great compilation of literary theory and criticism texts, good introduction to the major arguments and ideological themes.
Rented the book for a course, ended up buying it afterwards.

[Mel · Rating 1 out of 5]

nononononono.

[Amandria]

A lot of good stuff in here, we're using it as a text for one of my classes.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic resource for all things pertaining to the written word. Don't be mistaken by the title. This is a cross-disciplinary resource with material applicable to wide range of domains.

[Leslie D. Soule · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great resource for any English major - it's a great collection of works about the "science" of literary criticism.

[Christopher Green]

Wow, what can i say about this one? There's just som much in there. I didn't read all of it, but quite a bit.

[Crystal · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fantastic textbook and quite enjoyable if you live and breathe literary criticism but it's very dense reading.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was great. It was required for class and I have learned a lot from it. This book is a keeper, not a sell back.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

BOOM. Whole thing, month and a half. Quite an experience.

[Robert Bartram · Rating 4 out of 5]

a good compilation of writings in critical theories. I recommended as an excellent resource.

[Bryanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clearly I have not read this in full, but I have sorted through large chunks.

[Gort · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quia nulla nobis tempore et et. Sapiente ex consequuntur quia recusandae. Ratione soluta ad qui. Libero et autem inventore.