A s a precocious child in the early 1940s, the American philosopher Richard Rorty became a connoisseur of exotic flowers. His passion sent him hunting for wild orchids in the mountains of northwestern ...

J onathan Kramnick’s book Criticism and Truth is more modest than its title suggests. Essentially an apologia for the nuts-and-bolts work of literary studies, it is best described not as “ambitious” — ...

I WANT to talk about the historical interpretation of literature — that is, about the interpretation of literature in its social, economic, and political aspects. To begin with, it will be worth while ...

Anyone who has taught a college literature course has likely heard a student say, “Can’t I just enjoy the book?” This frustration with literary theory is common. Many undergraduates feel that theory ...

WHAT Montaigne said in his easy way of Man is no less true of the history of criticism: “certes c’est unsubiect merveilleusement vain, divers, et ondoyant.” Yet Mr. Saintsbury has adventured it nobly, ...

In 1966, Roland Barthes published a short book—a pamphlet, really—called Criticism and Truth, in response to Raymond Picard, a distinguished professor and the biographer of the French classical ...

In a few weeks, thousands of Kenyan students will sit for their final literature exams in Form Four. They will answer questions on Fathers of Nations, The Samaritan, The Artist of the Floating World ...