Criticism and Truth: On Method in Literary Studies

Abstract

"What kind of truths does literary criticism tell about the world? In this book, Jonathan Kramnick explains literary criticism's distinctive epistemology-and its disciplinary rationale-by zeroing in on its singular method: close reading. Close reading, for Kramnick, is the field's way of pursuing arguments and advancing knowledge, and the crucial craft that it imparts to students. He unpacks literary criticism's art of in-text quotation and other reading methods, advocating for them as a valuable form of humanistic expertise worthy of a prominent place within a multi-disciplinary university. As the humanities fight for survival in contemporary higher education, the study of literature doesn't need more plans for reform. Rather, it needs a defense of the work already being done and an account of why it should flourish. This is what Criticism and Truth offers, in vivid and portable form"-- CN - PN81 .K6958 2023