批评的循环--对西方文学批评演进过程的一种描述

通常地讲,一个完整的文学批评都要考虑到四个文学要素:现实、作品、作者、读者。但考察西方文学批评的发展历程可以看出,不同的时代批评家对这四个文学要素的关注是不均衡的,形成在一个时期过分强调某一文学要素,而将其他要素置于次要地位,从而形成了四种不同的文学批评模式:以模仿现实作为理解作品依据的模仿中心论模式,以作者的创作作为理解作品依据的作者中心论模式,以作品的结构作为理解作品依据的作品中心论模式,以读者的接受作为阐释作品依据的读者中心论模式。

Western literature critiques in different periods

Usually, a literature critique is conducted in terms of the following essential aspects: objective reality, work, author and reader. But a review of the western literature criticism in different periods of history revels that the four factors did not receive equal emphasis in different periods of time. Thus, four modes of literary criticism were formed according to which of the four factors was given the most consideration. The first mode is the imitation-focused, which is to understand the literature work on the basis of an imitation of reality. The second mode is the author-focused, which emphasizes the understanding of the work from the perspective of the author. The third one is the work-focused mode which is to understand the work based on the structure. The last one is the reader-focused, in which the understanding of the work is determined mainly by readers' receptivity.