Academic literature on the topic 'Misic, Mark A Criticism and interpretation'

New Testament texts were mostly not read silently but heard aloud. Accordingly, some of them, especially the Gospel of Mark, still bear the traces of this form of communication and are also calculated to do so. The listeners reacted with emotional statements. The new Biblical Performance Criticism that has emerged in the USA makes these insights the basis of interpretation, in distinction from approaches that are too strongly literary. The present article seeks to raise the profit of this interpretation for textual interpretation and tries to integrate the insights of Biblical Performance Criticism into conventional exegesis of the Gospel of Mark

In both Matthew and Mark, John's death is presented as a flashback, providing the necessary background for Herod's musings about John redivivus. Unlike Mark, however, Matthew does not return to the narrative present; the next event follows in temporal sequence not with Herod's statement but with John's death. Traditional methods of interpretation are able to explain how this narratological solecism came about. But what sense can we make of it as readers? Making use of appropriate elements of narrative and reader-response criticism, this paper will explore the possible effect of this unresolved flashback on the experience of reading.

It is well known that the discovery of Mikhail Prishvin as an original writer belongs to Ivanov-Razumnik with whom they were friends during a long period of time. However, the critic’s interpretation or Mikhail Prishvin’s artistic outlook is not covered well enough and objectively in the literary criticism due to serious ideological reasons. Ivanov-Razumnik who was in the most conspicuous place in sociaist-revolutionary party was struck out from the Soviet literary process in spite of his undoubted merits in the Russian culture. The politicisation of the Soviet literary criticism did not promote to adequate research of Mikhail Prishvin’s creative heritage too. It was no accident that the investigators of Mikhail Prishvin’s heritage passed over very significant page in writer’s life and heritage, which is his collaboration in the socialist-revolutionary direction journal «The Covenants» in 1912–1914 where Ivanov-Razumnik was literary editor and leading critic. The world-view positions difference did not promote for the critic to mark essential features of Mikhail Prishvin’s artistic outlook, which is confirmed by researching the materials of Ivanov-Razumnik’s articles and Mikhail Prishvin’s creative heritage and diaries.

Abstract This article considers how biblical scholarship might break out of its western-dominated, largely historical-critical mould. I argue that we might challenge the hegemony of ‘western worldview’ scholarship by capitalising on the interpretative insights of alternative worldviews; in that regard, I advance a cross-cultural methodology. Additionally, I advocate engaging with grassroots interpreters, thereby contributing to the decentring of scholarly biblical criticism. Finally, this article focuses on the value of interpretation through dialogue, which functions here on two levels: the researcher dialoguing with grassroots interpretation groups in cross-cultural settings, and the resulting grassroots interpretations dialoguing with western professional biblical interpretations. The potential of this approach is demonstrated using a case study: Mark 4:35-41 interpreted with Cross-Cultural Biblical Interpretation Groups in northern Namibia. The interpretative insights of grassroots groups in non-western contexts, free(r) from the influence of western worldviews and scholarship, function to highlight the equally contextual nature of mainstream professional biblical interpretation.

AbstractDionysius of Halicarnassus, rhetorician and historian in Rome during the waning years of the first century B.C.E., wrote an essay on Thucydides in which he noted that some critics faulted the great historian of the Peloponnesian War for the arrangement (ταξις) of his work. They complained that Thucydides "neither chose the beginning of the history that was needed, nor did he fit it with a suitable ending." These critics insisted that "by no means the least important part of good arrangement was to choose a beginning, prior to which there would be nothing, and to conclude the matter with an ending in which nothing seemed to be lacking" (On Thucydides 10). If we overlook for the moment that Thucydides's history differs significantly in literary terms from the Gospel of Mark, we might find it remarkable how the same criticism has been leveled against the author of the second gospel. The oddity of Mark's ending at 16:8 is well known, but the beginning of Mark is also inauspicious. Does he, like Thucydides, suffer from faulty ταξις? This paper will examine the beginning of Mark's gospel and propose, or in truth, recall and corroborate, a rather pedestrian explanation of its many peculiarities.

Abstract This article uses narrative criticism and a study of the word neaniskos in Greek culture to argue that the Gethsemanic young man and the young man in Jesus’ open tomb are linked by comedy. It demonstrates that the naked young man pericope utilizes comic imitation and the word neaniskos to connote comic behavior. With the naked young man as a model, the article proceeds to show that the speech of the messenger in the open tomb is comedy vis-à-vis the narrative of the context. This interpretation has the advantages of explaining the ill-fitting interruption of the naked young man scene in Gethsemane, of making sense of the abrupt ending of the Gospel of Mark, and of fitting the use of the word neaniskos in the Gospel of Mark to a connotation used in classical and Hellenistic Greek culture.

AbstractIn their article ‘Romancing the stones: towards a virtual and elemental Avebury’ (Archaeological dialogues 1998, 5.2, 143–64), Joshua Pollard and Mark Gillings argued that traditional cartography no longer suffices to understand sites like Avebury. In the absence of excavation, new technological possibilities like Virtual Reality and GIS were according to them more than electronic gadgets but genuine alternatives to the usual maps and plans. Mark Bowden takes issues with what he perceives to be exaggerated criticisms of traditional archaeological survey techniques. In particular, he suggests that, far from being ‘sterile’ as Pollard and Gillings state, conventional survey plans are imbued with meaning, and are essential tools of analysis and interpretation. Users of archaeological earthwork plans must study them carefully and be critically aware to get the greatest benefit from them. Innovative new approaches must be pursued vigorously, but well-tested traditional techniques which still have value should not be abandoned lightly, Bowden argues. Pollard and Gillings reply to this challenging criticism.

Summary This article presents a postcolonial interpretation of Olwid’s (Witold Hulewicz’s) book of poems Flame in Hand (Płomień w garści, 1921). His poetic ‘fragments’ describing the experience of the World War are remarkably similar to the poetry of German expressionism. Whereas previous critics treated this similarity as a proof of the derivative, unoriginal nature of the Poznań expressionism, this article claims that Olwid’s was a deliberate attempt to start a rapprochement between the Polish and the German culture. After decades of colonial dependence the breakthrough of 1918 the two cultures had a chance to resume a dialogue of equals with the expressionist poetics as a new footing. Hulewicz tones down the difference between the hegemon and the victim in the spirit of the expressionistic search for common humanity. To that end he also develops a new interpretation of the Polish Romantic tradition. His endeavours mark him out as a precursor of postcolonial criticism, and more specifically that type of postcolonialism which uses the emancipatory strategy as a means to the creation of a ‘truly free man’. That high goal is pursued not because of a commitment to cosmopolitanism but in the name of absolute human values.

Abstract In Politics 2.2-5 Aristotle criticises the state described in Plato’s Republic. The general consensus in the secondary literature (in particular after E. Bornemann) is that Aristotle’s critique is unfair and too narrow in scope. Aristotle unjustifiably ignores significant parts of Plato’s Republic and unreasonably assumes that the community of wives, children and property extends to the whole of Kallipolis. Although R. Mayhew’s defence of Aristotle’s criticism has mitigated this negative assessment, the problem has remained unresolved. This paper questions the traditional view and suggests an explanation of Aristotle’s selective reading of Plato’s Republic. Based on what turns out to be a reasonable interpretation of Plato’s text, Aristotle does not extend Plato’s communism to the whole city, but rather reduces Plato’s city to the community of the guardians. As a result, Aristotle’s arguments in fact hit the mark and present Aristotle as a much fairer reader than is usually acknowledged.

The aim of this thesis is to provide an analysis of the historical and political context of a group of poems which were written by Mark Akenside between 1738 and 1770. Most of these poems were composed in response to particular political events or situations, or to the publication of works of literature, history, or theology; the remainder are verse-epistles addressed to political figures who were personal friends of the poet. Arguments have also been included for the attribution to Akenside of a small number of anonymous poems. I have taken a broadly chronological approach. The first chapter covers the period 1738-1739, and discusses the background and references of two poems written before and just after the declaration of the War of Jenkins' Ear. The subject of the second chapter is two poems addressed to the 'patriot' politician William Pulteney in 1742 and 1744 (before and after his supposed political apostasy). The third chapter considers the case for attribution of two short poems on the subject of the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745, and includes a discussion of an Ode addressed to the Earl of Huntingdon in 1747, In the fourth chapter, a poem composed during the contested Westminster election of 1749 is discussed, in addition to Odes addressed to Sir Francis-Henry Drake, Charles Townshend, and Dr Caleb Hardinge. The fifth chapter includes a consideration of Odes written on the occasion of the publication of three books: William Warburton's edition of Pope's works, Frederick the Great's Memoires, and Bishop Hoadly's Sermons; a second Ode to Drake is also discussed. The sixth chapter discusses another poem which relates to Warburton, an Ode on the poetry of the Abbe de Chaulieu, and a letter and an Ode on the subject of the Seven Years' War. The conclusion considers Akenside's revisions in the light of allegations that he abandoned his Whig principles and became a Tory towards the end of his life. My object has been not only to elucidate obscure references and to supply contextual background information, but also to provide a picture of the political and intellectual history of the mid-eighteenth century as seen through the eyes of a highly intelligent, if politically partisan, observer.

In spite of the wealth of material on Mark 13:14 the phrase [greek characters] has not been syntactically exegeted sufficiently in respect to chapter 13, nor its place assessed in the formation of Mark's gospel. Our study demonstrates the fundamental significance of v.14 as the syntactical focal point of vv.5-13, that content, temporal indicators and link words are shaped syntactically in w.5-13 to peak at v.14, and that [greek characters] is uniquely to of v.4. A realization of this connection is the single indispensable clue unlocking eschatological notions in chapter 13. Further, by positing that v.14, coupled with v.26-27, produces a double focus in the chapter, we demonstrate its importance for vv.15-37. The advent of [greek characters] is the sign launching the end-time setting in motion an imminent parousia. This sign is connected with the Jerusalem temple's destruction by the Roman commander Titus in September 70 C.E. Titus is the referent in 13:14, though our contention is that originally in pre-Markan material in v.l4, the reference was to the crisis in 39-41 C.E. when the emperor Gaius Caligula attempted to erect an image of himself in the temple in Jerusalem. Mark obtained material from this episode and adapted it to indicate not the deified image of a Roman emperor but an individual abominator, Titus, who was [greek characters]. An examination of Josephus' War demonstrates that Judeans inhabiting the region after September 70 C.E. were in a position to flee according to 13:14b. Mark's Jewish Gentile community, located in Syria or one of the Transjordanian Hellenistic cities, must brace itself for a worsening period of turmoil in the light of the operational end-time sign in the temple in Jerusalem. The task of the community is to proclaim the gospel among the nations (13:10). Their final vindication will occur with the parousia of the Son of Man.

Thesis (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2002.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: My provisional identification of chiasm in Mark 7:24-31 initiated this multidisciplinary study of the literary shape of this interesting text. New Testament scholars tend to agree that the genre (form, content and function) of the Gospel of Mark exhibits the literary characteristics typical of ancient, first century AD, Greco-Roman biography thereby evidencing, in a broad sense, Greco-Roman form and function, and Jewish content. As a result, the New Testament Gospels have been described as a "tertium quid'. However, until fairly recently, few scholars appear to have taken the possibility of finding Jewish rhetorical form, in the shape of chiasm, into account in their examination of New Testament texts and have almost exclusively tended to focus on classical Greek rhetorical forms. As a result, this study opens itself to the possibility of finding both Jewish and Greco- Roman literary forms in the text, thereby attempting to obtain a greater presence of understanding of what the implied author was doing with the text. This study therefore endeavours to understand, not only what the implied author intended to communicate through the literary form of the text to the implied reader but also, at the level of discourse, the "how" of that communication within the literary context of the Gospel as a whole. In the light of the aforegoing, the research questions appear as follows. (1) What, on a balance of probability, is the literary form or structure of Mark 7:24- 3 1 within its literary context? If the form of the text is found, on a balance of probability, to exhibit the characteristics of chiasm: (2) What implied effect would this have on an implied reader when understood and interpreted within the context of Greco-Roman biography? And, (3) what effect would the answers to (1) and (2) above have on a modern (present) reader of the Gospel of Mark? After a brief overview of the socio-historical and cultural setting to the Gospel of Mark that serves as essential background material necessary for an understanding of the text, this study proceeds to consider the ancient roots of chiasm with regard to the literature of the Ancient Near East and briefly traces its prevalence from the ancient past through to the period of the New Testament. Because chiasm is a particular form of parallelism, the importance of understanding Biblical parallelisms in the Hebrew literature in general and its significance with regard to the New Testament and Mark's Gospel in particular is considered. A discussion of various definitions of chiasm follows. After considering the Gospel of Mark and the literary context of the subject text, its literary form is examined in the light of known ancient literary conventions, including Biblical narrative and the various forms evidenced in the exchange of dialogue are considered and the text examined for further correspondences. Thereafter the text is reviewed within its literary context and, what follows, is an explanation of how the form of the text may function within its literary location.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: My voorlopige identifiesering van chiasme in Markus 7:24-31 inisieer 'n multidimensionele studie van die literêre vorm van dié interessante teks. Nuwe-Testamentici neig om saam te stem dat die genre (vorm, inhoud en funksie) van die evangelie volgens Markus die literêre kenmerke toon, tipies van antieke, eerste eeuse (AD) Grieks-Romeinse biografie en stel so, in 'n breë sin, Grieks-Romeinse vorm en funksie sowel as Joodse inhoud ten toon. As 'n resultaat is die Nuwe Testamentiese Evangelies beskryf as 'n "tertium quid." Tog, tot redelik onlangs het weinig Nuwe-Testamentici die moontlikheid in ag geneem om Joodse retoriese vorm, in die vorm van giasme, te vind in hulle ondersoek van Nuwe Testamentiese tekste en het geneig om bykans uitsluitlik te fokus op klassieke Griekse retoriese vorme. As 'n gevolg open hierdie studie ditself tot die moontlikheid om Joodse, sowel as Grieks-Romeinse literêre vorme binne die teks te vind en sodoende 'n groter begrip mee te bring van wat die geïmpliseerde outeur met die teks gemaak het. Die studie onderneem dus om nie net aan te dui wat die geïmpliseerde outeur beoog het om te kommunikeer d.m.v. die literêre vorm van die teks aan die geïmpliseerde gehoor nie, maar ook op die vlak van diskoers, die "hoe" van die kommunikasie binne die literêre konteks van die evangelie as geheel. In die lig van die voorafgaande kan die ondersoekvrae as volg geformuleer word. (1) Wat is die literêre vorm of struktuur van Markus 7:24-31 binne die bepaalde literêre konteks? lndien die vorm van die teks die kenmerke van chiasme vertoon: (2) Watter geïmpliseerde effek sal dit hê op 'n geïmpliseerde gehoor indien die teks verstaan en geïnterpreteer word binne die konteks van Grieks-Romeinse biografie? En (3) watter effek sal die antwoorde tot vrae (1) en (2) hê op die moderne (eietydse) leser van die Evangelie volgens Markus? Na 'n kort oorsig oor die sosio-historiese en kulturele plasing van die Evangelie volgens Markus wat dien as noodsaaklike agtergrond materiaal, noodsaaklik vir 'n verstaan van die teks, gaan die studie voort om die antieke wortels van chiasme te oorweeg, met inagneming die literatuur van die ou Nabye Ooste en gaan kortliks die belang hiervan na, vanaf die antieke tye tot en met die Nuwe Testamentiese tydperk. Aangesien chiasme 'n spesifieke vorm van parallelisme is, word die belang van die verstaan van Bybelse parallelisme binne die Hebreeuse literatuur in die algemeen en die belang daarvan rakende die Nuwe Testament en die Evangelie volgens Markus in besonder, oorweeg. 'n Bespreking van verskeie definisies van chiasme volg. Na 'n bespreking van die Evangelie volgens Markus, sowel as die literêre konteks van die bepaalde perikoop, word die literêre vorm ondersoek in die lig van bekende antieke literêre konvensies, insluitende Bybelse narratief en verskeie vorme wat, waarneembaar binne die uitruil van dialoog ondesoek, en word die teks ondersoek vir verdere ooreenstemminge. Om hiedie rede word die teks oorweeg binne die literêre konteks en wat daarop volg is 'n verduideliking van hoe die vorm van die teks kan funksioneer binne die literêre plasing daarvan.

Thesis (MTh)--Stellenbosch University, 2014.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Mark 11:12-25 has been identified as an intercalation or sandwich structure (A-B-A) by many scholars as consisting of three linked episodes: the cursing of the fig tree (11:12- 14), the cleaning of the temple (11:15-19), and the withered fig tree (11:20-25). Using the function of intercalation, Mark 11:12-25 is then interpreted symbolically as a prophecy of the destruction of the temple. This interpretation, however, the researcher argues, is implausible. To substantiate this claim, the research aims to interpret Mark 11:12-25 in the light of narrative criticism and the oral aspect of Mark. Chapter 2 lays the basic foundation for the current research. This includes a brief history of the study of Mark, the historical interpretation of Mark 11:12-25, a comparison between Matthew and Mark, and of studies concerned with intercalation. Various differing opinions of intercalation are given that complicate our understanding of its function. The main goal of chapter 3 is to examine Mark 11:12-25 according to three narrative elements, namely setting, characters and events. On the grounds that every scene in Mark 11 is connected naturally in the time and space setting, it will be argued that Mark did not arrange the two stories in Mark 11:12-25 as intercalation with a theological purpose. Although some argue that the two stories do not fit the character of Jesus, on the contrary, it will be argued that both stories strengthens the authority and power of Jesus as it is depicted in the Gospel of Mark. If Jesus teaching is considered (11:20-25), then the symbolic interpretation of the prophecy of the destruction of the temple cannot be sustained. Chapter 4 deals with the oral aspect of Mark. Mark’s community were in all likelihood not readers, but hearers. Dewey offers some characteristics of oral narratives, particularly their additive and aggregative structures and their participatory character. These, she argues, helps the reader to interpret the various aspects of Mark that have divided both scholars and literary critics of the Gospel. Therefore, the fig tree story and the temple story will be examined in the light of the oral aspect of Mark. The final chapter will offer a summary of each chapter and a synthesized conclusion.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Om Markus 11:12-25 korrek te interpreteer is vir 'n lang tyd reeds ʼn debatteerbare saak. Die gedeelte word dikwels as 'n invoeging (A-B-A) geïdentifiseer wat uit drie verweefde episodes bestaan: die vloek van die vyeboom (11:12-14), die skoonmaak van die tempel (11:15-19), en die verdorde vyeboom (11:20-25). Deur klem te lê op die funksie van die invoeging, interpreteer baie geleerdes Markus 11:12-25 as 'n simboliese voorspelling van die vernietiging van die tempel. Hierdie interpretasie, argumenteer die navorser egter, is onhoudbaar. Om die stelling te staaf, poog die navorsing om Markus 11:12-25 in die lig van vertellingskritiek en die mondelinge aspek van Markus te lees. Hoofstuk 2 lê die basiese fondasie van die skripsie. Dit sluit ‘n kort geskiedenis in van die studie van Markus, die historiese interpretasie van Markus 11:12-25, ‘n vergelyking tussen Matteus en Markus, en 'n opsomming van studies gemoeid met invoegings. Die verskillende menings oor die funksie van invoegings, wat die verstaan van Markus 11:12- 25 bemoeilik sal ook bespreek word. Die hoofdoel van hoofstuk 3 is om Markus 11:12-25 te ondersoek volgens drie narratiewe elemente, naamlik die setting, die karakter en die gebeure daarin vervat. Op grond daarvan dat elke toneel in Markus 11 verbind is ten opsigte van tyd en ruimte word aangevoer word dat Markus nie die twee stories in Markus 11:12-25 as invoeging met 'n teologiese doel georden het nie. Alhoewel sommige argumenteer dat die twee stories nie by die karakter van Jesus pas nie, sal dit in teendeel aangevoer word naamlik dat beide stories die gesag en mag van Jesus, soos dit uitgebeeld word in die evangelie van Markus, versterk. Hoofstuk 4 handel oor die mondelinge dimensie van Markus. Markus se gemeenskap was in alle waarskynlikheid nie lesers nie, maar hoorders. In die verband bied Dewey 'n paar eienskappe van mondelinge vertelling aan, veral die toevoeging en kumulatiewe strukture en deelnemende karakter daarvan. Hierdie, betoog sy, help die leser om die verskillende aspekte van Markus wat kritici van die Evangelie verdeel, te interpreteer. Die laaste hoofstuk bestaan uit ‘n opsomming van elke hoofstuk en ‘n gesintetiseerde gevolgtrekking.

The primacy of the print novel as the main mode for knowledge dissemination and communication is being challenged today by the vast influx and pervasiveness of digital media. Print literature, then, is at potential risk for obsolescence, as digital technology creates new modes of narrative distribution. The novel, therefore, is in the midst of a metamorphosis, having to adapt in order to properly situate itself within the new media ecology. Somewhat paradoxically, the same digital technology that challenges print literature’s primacy is responsible for the novel’s adaption. The changing face of the page creates new novels that reflect the digital in print, through changes in typography, layout, and design. These changes illuminate the need for a material-specific methodology in literary theory, and brings about the death of postmodernism in the new, digital environment. iv
vi, 91 leaves ; 29 cm

In House of Leaves, Mark Z. Danielewski has produced a text which epitomises the traits and concerns of postmodernist literature. Through his attention to aspects such as metafiction, intertextuality and parody, Danielewski develops a narrative structure which is best understood as a literary labyrinth. It is a structure intended to reflect the social conditions of the twenty-first century and comment on the experience of people living at this time. Some of the meaning-making strategies within the book’s labyrinthine structure are thus discussed in detail in order to demonstrate the relevance and importance of House of Leaves as social commentary. House of Leaves is an exemplary postmodernist text, but it is also one that seeks to guide the reader beyond the intellectual impasse of the postmodernist paradigm toward a renewed ethical and political engagement with the world. One of the most important goals of both Danielewski’s novel and this thesis is to attempt to redefine the postmodernist perspective in such a way as to insist on the necessity of what I call a new realism. This is founded upon an awareness of the pervasiveness of the self-perpetuating ideology of capitalism, even in the perspective of postmodernism (which purports to subvert all authoritative ideologies). Playing a crucial role in perpetuating the status quo of capitalism is the growth of entertainment culture, which works to sideline crucial political issues by replacing information with infotainment. The result is an intensification of the processes of commodification. Such an intensification, it is argued, may be countered by a radical scepticism which draws upon the methods and insights of contemporary science.

In this study, I show that three major areas of Mark Twain's personality—conscience, ego, and nonconformist instincts—are represented, in part, respectively by three of his literary creations: Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer, and No. 44. The origins of Twain's personality which possibly gave rise to his troubled conscience, need for attention, and rebellious spirit are examined. Also, Huck as Twain's social and personal conscience is explored, and similarities between Twain's and Tom's complex egos are demonstrated. No. 44 is featured as symbolic of Twain's iconoclastic, misanthropic, and solipsistic instincts, and the influence of Twain's later personal misfortunes on his creation of No. 44 is explored. In conclusion, I demonstrate the importance of Twain's creative escape and mediating ego in the coping of his personality with reality.

The prevailing analyses of the structure of the Gospel of Mark represent modifications of the form-critical approach and reflect its tendency to regard the Gospel not as a unified narrative but as an anthology of sayings and acts of Jesus which were selected and more or less adapted to reflect the early Church's theological understanding of Christ. However, a narrative-critical reading of the Gospel reveals that the opening proclamation, the Transfiguration, and the concluding proclamation provide a definite framework for a close pattern of recurring words, repeated questions, interpolated narrative, and inter locking parallels which unfold the basic theme of the Gospel: the person and work of Christ.

This study examines Mark Twain's use of the spoken word in the last decade of his life. It includes Twain's informal readings, his image manipulation and control, his rhetorical speaking, his methods of speech preparation, and his dictation of the autobiography. Twain's use of oral interpretation is examined demonstrating the influence of the Reading Tour of 1884-1885. He read informally for personal delight and to edit his works. A large part of the dissertation is devoted to the long history of the Twain persona. Particularly does this study focus on Twain's rhetorical persona and the means by which he attempted to maintain the historical Mark Twain while expanding his role to that of political activist. Using a Burkean perspective, Twain's anti-imperialist rhetoric is analyzed. His private philosophy dictated the use of two ratios. Though he did not successfully defeat the imperialists, he was effective in rallying and unifying the anti-imperialist forces. The final portion of this work investigates Twain's participation in the effective campaign to dethrone Richard Croker and Tammany Hall. Attention is also given to Twain's seventieth birthday speech, and his lecture-like dictation of his autobiography. This dissertation concludes that in his final years Twain found happiness in the spoken word, that mode of communication on which he built his career.

How did “reading for the message,” a mark of shame among literary critics, yet in many ways an ordinary reading practice, become so marginalized? The origins of this methodological commitment ultimately are intertwined with the birth of literary studies itself . The influential aestheticist notion of “art for art’s sake” has several implications crucial for understanding the intellectual history of literary criticism in the twentieth century: most important was the belief that to “extract” an idea from a text was to dismiss its aesthetic structure. This impulse culminated in the New Critical contention that to paraphrase a text was a “heresy.” Yet this dominant tradition has always co-existed with practical interpretation that was much less formalist in emphasis. A return to the world of American literary criticism in 1947, when Cleanth Brooks’s The Well-Wrought Urn was published, shows this clearly: many now-forgotten critics were already practicing a form of criticism that emphasized literary content, and often overly rejecting Brooks’s insistence that reading for the content or meaning of a poem betrayed its aesthetic nature.