Literary criticism from Plato to postmodernism : the humanistic alternative

238 Pages·2014·1.55 MB·English

by  Seaton

LiteraryCriticismfromPlatotoPostmodernism
TheHumanisticAlternative
ThisbookoffersahistoryofliterarycriticismfromPlatotothe
present, arguing that this history can usefully be seen as a
dialogue among three traditions – the Platonic, Neoplatonic,
and the humanistic, whose first practitioner was Aristotle.
There are many histories of literary criticism, but this is the
firsttoclarifyourunderstandingofthemanyseeminglyincom-
mensurable approaches employed over the centuries by refer-
encetothethreetraditions.Makingitscasebycarefulanalyses
of individual critics, the book argues for the relevance of the
humanistictraditioninthetwenty-firstcenturyandbeyond.
James Seaton is a professor in the Department of English at
Michigan State University, where he teaches courses on the
history of literary criticism, American literature and culture,
and literature and law. His previous books include Cultural
Conservatism, Political Liberalism: From Criticism to Cultural
Studies (1996) and A Reading of Vergil’s Georgics (1983). He
istheeditorofTheGenteelTraditionandCharacterandOpinion
in the United States by George Santayana (2009) and co-editor
with William K. Buckley of Beyond Cheering and Bashing:
NewPerspectivesonTheClosingoftheAmericanMind(1992).
Seaton’sarticlesandreviewshaveappearedinsuchpublications
asTheWallStreetJournal,TheWeeklyStandard,TheClaremont
Reviewof Books, The AmericanScholar, The HudsonReview,
TheUniversityBookman,ModernAge,JournaloftheHistoryof
Ideas,Society,TheReviewofMetaphysics,YaleJournalofLaw
and the Humanities, Legal Studies Forum, Cardozo Studies in
Law and Literature, and Michigan State Law Review. He has
been a frequent guest speaker at the Kirk Center for Cultural
RenewalinMecosta,Michigan.

Literary Criticism from Plato
to Postmodernism
The Humanistic Alternative
JAMES SEATON
MichiganStateUniversity
32AvenueoftheAmericas,NewYork,ny10013–2473,usa
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©JamesSeaton2014
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Firstpublished2014
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
AcatalogrecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData
Seaton,James,1944–author.
LiterarycriticismfromPlatotopostmodernism:thehumanistic
alternative/JamesSeaton,MichiganStateUniversity.
pages cm
Includesbibliographicalreferences.
isbn978-1-107-02610-0(hardback)
1. Criticism–History. 2. Literature–Philosophy. I. Title.
pn86.s44 2014
8010.95–dc23 2013048026
isbn978-1-107-02610-0Hardback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyof
urlsforexternalorthird-partyInternetWebsitesreferredtointhispublication
anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuchWebsitesis,orwillremain,
accurateorappropriate.
ThisBookIsDedicatedtotheMemory
ofRogerHornsby(1926–2009)
ProfessorofClassicsattheUniversityofIowa
ExemplaroftheHumanisticTradition

Contents
Acknowledgments pageix
Introduction 1
1 PlatoandNeoplatonism 11
2 RomanticismandModernism 29
3 TheoryandCulturalStudies 51
4 AristotleandtheHumanisticTradition 73
5 EdmundWilsonandLionelTrilling 110
6 Democracy,PopularCulture,andRalphEllison 145
7 LiteraryCriticism,theHumanities,andLiberal
Education 172
WorksCited 199
Index 215
vii