Deals with two subjects, Cleanth Brooks, a literary critic, and the nature of literary judgment, i.e., normative decision and normative argument in respect to literature. (Author/RK)

Attempts a brief summary of the American critical scene for the period 1935-1965 in order to indicate the serial prominence of 1) a sociological, 2) a New-Critical, and 3) a Marxist moment in literary criticism. Sets out to assert that for any literary work to be taught as a humanity is to bring to bear upon it the arts of communication,…

The author describes how the true principles of the scientific inductive method are not opposed to the principles of teaching visual art criticism, and suggests that the inductive method of teaching visual art criticism strips it of its mystique in order to make clear its vital role in intellectual development. (KC)

This paper explores the view that poetry is a cognitive activity whose object of knowing is our affective life. It is argued that the devices used in poetry, being modifications of ordinary language, determine the sorts of things knowable. Three devices are discussed in detail: imagery, heightened language, and ambiguity. (Author/SJL)

Hugo Munsterberg's "The Film: A Psychological Study" is one of the earliest essays in the area of film theory. Unfortunately, it has remained relatively unknown since its publication in 1916. The author discusses two concepts raised by Munsterberg: the contrast between films in the theatrical mode and films in the cinematic mode.…

This paper argues that, although T. S. Eliot's "Four Quartets" provoke comparisons with the late quartets of Beethoven, an analysis of Four Quartets and Bela Bartok's Fourth and Fifth String Quartets produces a clearer understanding of the formal structures in the poetry and music. Symmetries offset asymmetries. (Author/KC)

Since the practice of responsible art criticism is obviously tied to reflective judgment, the author thought it pertinent to get some bearings on the aim of criticism in an open society before suggesting a concept of art criticism that is teachable in the schools. (Author/RK)

All works of literature reflect man's obsession with death and his creative attempts to evade or postpone it. Art cannot solve the problem, but within the limits of human capabilities, we come to art, whether as artists or audience, for our own small share in the "intimations of immortality." (Author/SJL)

Like most efforts at educational reform, initial proposals for the teaching of art criticism represented a promising direction for practice rather than a fully developed educational plan. Educators during the 1950s and 1960s, who first proposed art criticism as an alternative to studio work, viewed it as a remedy for a number of problems with…

Using Barthelme as a representative of current avant-garde American writers, the author analyzes his works from a traditional critical approach, outlining themes and structural patterns, and then from an "art as object" approach, in which fictional works are viewed as constructs in themselves, not as descriptions of anything. (SJL)

The present study, in an attempt to suggest factors which were at work in giving a man of such varied interests and predispositions the peculiar shape that they did, focuses upon the pathway that Wilson took during the 1920s, while questing for the mysteries of Axel's castle. (Author)

Historicism critiques cultural history and cultural materialism as a methodology for literary analysis. Questions the finality of interpretation, how original values change, and whether dramatic history implies actual history. Using Shakespearean plays, analyzes the power and politics of a play in relation to its audience; posits that cultural…

In this essay, the author furthers the argument that critical commentary on the Rajput and Muslim miniatures of India has focused on a rather odd use of labels and categories, perhaps to an even greater extent than has been the case with much of the rest of the criticism of the art of South Asia. She first examines the use of the term…

Today's thriving art museums--and the various processes that deliver both their overt and covert missions--are likely to have a greater impact on society than ever before. With such potential, it seems especially important at this juncture to examine critically the art museum as process; to deconstruct that which has been "constructed as a symbol…

We are presently witnessing a renewed interest in the aesthetics of philosopher and educator John Dewey. And it would seem that this interest marks a significant intellectual reorientation and not simply a passing fad. The publications Educational Theory, Studies in Philosophy and Education, The Journal of Aesthetic Education, The Journal of…