LITERARY CRITICISM
"DEAR BUDDING POET
Hello,
Your poem is devoid of emotion, therefore it can't make someone shed tears...
Your poem is just too rigid, not flexible enough for them to bend it over to their own understanding...
Your poem lost the poetic taste, no pepper, maggi, curry and thyme not even a pinch of salt to spice up the poetic taste....
Your poem lack the depth to subject your readers to in depth thinking and confine them to their inner room of thought....
Your poem is not relatable, your readers can't wear the body of your poem to feel what you are feeling....
Your poem lack Literary device, concrete imagery and allusion that can create mental picture for readers to follow what you're talking about....
Oh no this poem is just too plaintive and simple, watery and verbose......"
DEAR BUDDING POET
Are you strong enough to handle all this criticism?
LITERARY CRITICISM
Literary criticism is an act of passing judgment with knowledge and propriety of the beauties and faults of a literary performance and all sphere of arts.
It involves closely examination, observation, analysis, evaluation and detailed review via subjecting the art or performance to a critical thinking which result in pointing out faults and shortcomings, helping to improve the quality and aesthetics basically for the societal needs and consumption.
WHO IS A CRITIC?
A critic is an adept, skilled in observing, examining, analyzing and evaluating performance, literary and artistic works, thereby passing effective and informed judgment about the art work.
Literary critics are different from a mere reviewers, who just review and pass judgement base on the appealing and appraisal effort of the literary work.
Literary critics are human with advance thinking, logical reasoning and understanding of the fundamental principles guiding literature and arts with how they link and connect each other.
ROLES OF CRITICS IN THE LITERARY FIRMAMENT
Critics subject literary works to "critical thinking" trying to evaluate and analyze the artistic quality, while trying to bridge and maintain a balance between the art for art sake and the art for the society without one trying to eat into each other.
Literary criticism (especially text) required soul connection with the text. Don't be surprised that literary critics must fall in love with text and marry text.
Understanding a text, e.g a poem, requires reading it over and over again to figure out the faults, errors, shortcomings and the essence of a literary performance and the artistic quality.
Literary criticism isn't just for anyone due to its demanding mental ability.
Critics mostly involve in "PRACTICAL CRITICISM", which is the interpretation of meaning and the judgment of artistic value and quality.
Interpreting meaning is more than paraphrasing a text, getting the contextual meaning of the discourse that surrounded a literary piece required the full knowledge and understanding of the fundamentals of literature.
Drawing facts from the circumstances of a text required thinking beyond the given text which is not the ability of every being.
Critics examine literary piece closely to observe the form and style employed in the piece. They analyze, evaluate the aesthetic value and also point out the errors, faults and shortcomings that is deem not fit in the literary piece.
THE NEED FOR CRITICS IN THE LITERARY FIRMAMENT
Clearing all thoughts and doubts, definitely Critics played a vital and critical role in the literary world hence the need for critics is quite infinite.
The herculean task of the critics can't be undermined and underestimated in the literary world.
They help to build new guide while maintaining the existing rules that championed worthy artistic quality and value.
They try to bridge the gap that exist between art for art sake and the art for the society, while trying to maintain and balance it without one eating into each other. They believe every artistic work should be distinct from each other with their "element" which mustn't be compromised with the "message", and also every artistic work has its own "targeted end", which are the readers and their "expectation" which is the "message" and it mustn't be forgone due to the element employed. Hence a balance is needed which is usually determine by the critics.
The most difficult text and element used in a literary piece/performance are revealed by the critics who look deeply into text. Complex figurative elements like allusions and allegories have meanings which can't be determined via surface reading alone are interpret by the critics with higher level of understanding.
They map and draw out the connection that exist between different artistic works to compare, analyze and evaluate the element used inline with other works, they trace the influence on the readers and the impact of the literary piece on the society at large.
They give account and summary on the literary works that reader may find it hard to digest or find it difficult to access in a more simpler, shorter way and form that is easier to absorb by all.
LITERARY CRITICISM IN POETRY
"WE" Budding poet needs to understand the role of critics and LITERARY CRITICISM in poetry.
Budding Poet should understand that one of the needs for criticism is effective growth in the art of writing.
But not all are accurate, due to the dynamism of poetry/perspective views, phobias and hard feelings about a piece.
LITERARY APPRAISAL AND CRITICISM
The difference and the need
Appraisals are like fuels to the driving force of Writers / Poets..
Criticisms are like engine oil that lubricate the engine for smooth running and effective work of the machine..
Both are needed.
Appraisal encourages,
Criticism needed for growth is more important, so budding shouldn't be all about appraisal, but be strong and bold enough to welcome criticism for their growth in the art of writing.
Dear budding poet accept criticism, and learn from there, but it shouldn't be the weight to measure your standard.
So define your art yourself, accept criticism, learn, learn better and grow in the art of writing.
Thank you,
Yours sincerely
©® Jamiu Ahmed
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