Saturday, 17 April 2021

Function of criticism at the present time by Matthew Arnold

 Function of criticism at the present time

                                                                                                           - Matthew Arnold






Introduction:   
Matthew Arnold (1822-1888) was a poet, critic and one of the most significant writers of the late Victorian period in England. He occupies a prominent place in the history of literary criticism. His essay “The function of criticism at the present time” was published in his first collection of critical writings, “Essays in criticism” in 1865. The essay deals with Arnold’s interpretation of criticism and his critic of writers who write politically or religiously biased literature.

 Definitions of critic and criticism:                                                                           Defining criticism Arnold says that “it is not the greatest of the activity to be carried out. It is not as great as creativity.” And criticism is not creativity. Arnold starts an essay saying- “ of all the literature of France and German, as of the intellect of Europe in general, the main effort, for now, many years, has been a critical effort; the Endeavour in all branches of knowledge, theology, philosophy, history, art, science to see the object as in itself it is really is.” And adds “falls and malicious criticism had better never been made.”                                                                            

 Here Arnold explains the task of any critic. According to him, ‘a critic must perceive any work as it is, For him the text should be the whole and he should be the whole and he should never take help of any other text for its explanation.” He condemns the false criticism (which is not original and is biased).

 He believes that creator of a text is greater than critic because- “creative activity is the true function of man.” However, it is critic who draws the true meaning of the particular work of literature.

 Arnold defines the role of critic as the one view an object as it is, to bring best ideas to the masses, and to create an atmosphere that fuels the literary genius of the future.

 Arnold assigns three functions to critics: 1. A critic must learn all the existing knowledge. 2. He must spread that knowledge. 3.To create conclusive environment of writing.

He states the role of criticism is to make it inherently valuable and to rouse men for com-pliancy to a state of achieving perfection. He believes that criticism is a way to understand life and the world and can be linked to the satisfaction derived from creative writing.

 Disinterestedness of critic:                                                                   Disinterestedness means critic should not show in certain topics and that topics are- 

1.Prejudice against barbarism. 2. The Aristocrats 3.Blind impulse of populace (public)  4. Shun the falsification ideas 5.He must pursue on the ends of cultural perfection and remain influenced by the coarser appeal of philistine.

Critic works for the betterment of culture, he has to work for the great and good culture which will be conclusive for everyone.

Function of criticism:                                                                                   1.To create a current of fresh ideas. 2.Criticism should make good judgement3.To bring out the true meaning of a text.                                                                                    

     Arnold believes that Victorian culture/ period was missing new ideas, fresh and innovative ideas. Criticism should be made on reality; judgement should not be made of personal likes and dislikes. Criticism is aimed to bring out the good judgement of the text. Critic should be learned man so that they can bring out correct meaning of the text.

False standards of judgement                                                                   1. Personal   2. Historical

A critic should not judge a text on personal grounds. It should be unbiased. It is wrong to judge work based on one’s liking it must happen that the worthy text might get wrong judgement due to it. Similarly, if we judge on historical ground there might be text which was fit during renaissance, in society of that time but the same work is not fit in 21st century because it might not meet the requirements.

 Power of man and power of moment:                                                                    According to Arnold, for a production of a great literary work, “the power of man” and “the power of moment” i.e. climate of great ideas must concur. If anyone of them is absent then a great work of literature will never be produced. To explain this Arnold took two poets as example Goethe and Byron. Both Goethe and Byron had great productive power yet the work of Goethe is more productive than that of Byron because the former had a rich cultural background which the latter lacked. Shakespeare was not a deep reader. His fame and glory were only because his age had a climate of great ideas.

 He also says that French revolution, with its writers like Rousseau and Voltaire, was more powerful that the English revolution of Charles, English revolution is practically less successful than the French revolution yet it is better than the letter as it “appeals to an order of ideas which are universal, certain permanent.”

 Epoch of concentration and expansion:                                                                      French revolution quieted the intellectual sphere and rushed into political sphere, losing its universal application. French revolution was followed by ‘epoch of concentration’ (period of single mindedness) and ‘epoch of expansion’ (period of creative ideas). The works written on the French revolution are though great and well appreciated yet they are biased as they combine politics with thought.

Arnold criticises the literature produced during the Victorian age. According to him, there is a failure of criticism due to the division of society and into small political and religious groups that makes them incapable of seeing things in their true states.

He cites the example of various works which were written to promote the writer’s own political agenda.

e.g. - Edinburgh review represents views of Whigs Quarterly Review- Tories, The times- rich Englishman.

He also criticises the ‘constructive’ suggestions for living presented by Bishop Colenso and Miss Cobbe. For him, they have religious influence in their writings which are again against the spirit of true criticism. He tells that common man lacks creativity.

 Duty of criticism:                                                                                                        Arnold says that ‘criticism must maintain its independence from the practical spirit and its aims.’ It must express dissatisfaction even with well meant efforts of the practical spirit if in the sphere of the ideal they seem lacking. It must be patient and not hurry on to the goal because of its practical importance, know how to wait, and know how to attach itself as well as withdraw from things.

 Conclusion:                                                                                                                  Arnold talks about a person who regrets the loss of zeal which one existed but is no longer present in contemporary society due to the influence of politics and religion on ideas.

Thus he gives voice to commoner’s views to enhance the glory of the past. He advises the critics to adopt disinterested behaviour towards criticism. They should take into consideration foreign thought as well. Their judgement should be from their own mind without any biases and should communicate fresh knowledge to their readers. The criticism is capable of making progress in Europe taking it towards perfection.

In the end, he depends his views on criticism and says the he views on criticism and says the he won’t change his opinion for any person who deviates from the theory of criticism.          




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