Literary Criticism
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Why Commercial Success Gets Criticized As Sentimental
Perhaps it is because there are so few proven paths to success, and so little success to go around, that when an acclaimed novelist actually succeeds on a large scale, highbrow critics can become vicious. While the novels praised as…
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An Interview with James Wood
Over at Electric Literature, Steve Paulson interviews legendary literary critic James Wood, who comments on a variety of subjects: what makes a good critic; the plight of reading widely in our contemporary age; literature as analogous to religion; genre fiction;…
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Literary Criticism Criticism
At The Chronicle of Higher Education, Jeffrey J. Williams takes on the question of the role of literary criticism, both historically and in the current moment. In a world where big data is king, criticism has increasingly moved away from radical…
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Mountains, Lowlands, and Archipelagos
Horace Engdahl thinks that creative writing programs and the walled-off communities academic programs create are hurting western literature. Since writing courses help monetize writing—and fund writers as professionals—Engdahl worries that the courses are removing writers from the real world. Engdahl…
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Can Poptimism Save Literary Culture?
Literary criticism suffers from elitism, claims Elisabeth Donnelly over at Flavorwire, and the solution is introducing a poptimism revolution. The term poptimism originated in the music world as a reaction to stodgy music reviewers’ love of Bob Dylan and “argues…
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Honest Reviews, Better Literature
Good literature demands strong criticism, but today’s culture of niceness has limited critics. Lee Klein, writing in 3:AM Magazine, points out that writers’ interest in receiving positive feedback often leads them to forgo standards and slant reviews positively: Literary citizenship…