J onathan Kramnick’s book Criticism and Truth is more modest than its title suggests. Essentially an apologia for the nuts-and-bolts work of literary studies, it is best described not as “ambitious” — ...

“C riticism” is a curiously protean word. In academic discourse, as in ordinary speech, it can refer simply to the act of appraisal, sometimes with a censorious edge. It’s used to describe reviews, ...

Literature is important, not so much because it is entertainment but because it brightens our humdrum lives. Journalism – what we read or see every day in the news, or sometimes the narration of ...

Anyone who has taught a college literature course has likely heard a student say, “Can’t I just enjoy the book?” This frustration with literary theory is common. Many undergraduates feel that theory ...

What’s wrong with literary criticism today? That may seem like a loaded question, but if, like me, you read any amount of what passes for criticism today, you’ll notice some trends: a general ...

Comparative Literature Studies publishes comparative critical essays that range across the rich traditions of Africa, Asia, Europe, and North and South America, and that examine the literary relations ...

Ali Smith's superb new book, Artful, began as a series of talks on comparative literature that were delivered at St. Anne's College, Oxford, in January and February of last year. It must've been one ...

After the so-called “end of the great narratives” – according to someone synonymous with the sunset of modernity – the theoretical frameworks founded on the concept of totality have given way to a ...

Criticism had not been an exciting segment in Sinhala literature till focus was drawn to it by Peradeniya critics. They understood the value of the study and criticism of Sinhala Literature and laid ...