ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

LITERATURE QUESTIONS

LITERARY THEORY AND CRITICISM

Question [CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
Which of the following literary theorists is most closely associated with the concept that became known as liberal humanism?
A
Aristotle
B
Viktor Shklovsky
C
Stanley Fish
D
Toni Morrison
Explanation: 

Detailed explanation-1: -Liberal Humanism and Aristotle: Liberal humanism has its roots in the philosophies of Aristotle. Aristotle posed the existential question: “Who am I?” He advocated approaching life in a critical manner.

Detailed explanation-2: -Herbert Read introduced this concept in 1941, but before that, it was put forward by thinkers such as Matthew Arnold and William Wordsworth. Many other writers are considered the founders of liberal humanism, but these three were some of the earliest proponents of this literary theory.

Detailed explanation-3: -Plato had two theories of art. One may be found in his dialogue The Republic, and seems to be the theory that Plato himself believed. According to this theory, since art imitates physical things, which in turn imitate the Forms, art is always a copy of a copy, and leads us even further from truth and toward illusion.

Detailed explanation-4: -The very crux of Aristotelian humanism is that “the importance of literature is linked to the significance of human life itself, ” not to the political, ideological, or religious convictions that a work of literature implicates.

There is 1 question to complete.