Literary Criticism Timeline from Plato to Derrida

Literary Criticism Timeline from Plato to Derrida

Literary criticism is a foundational component of English literature, especially for UGC NET aspirants. From the ancient dialogues of Plato to the poststructural deconstructions of Derrida, the journey of literary criticism spans centuries and offers insights into how literature has been read, understood, and evaluated across time.

This post presents a chronological, conceptual, and exam-oriented timeline of key literary critics and schools, enabling you to connect philosophical paradigms with literary evolution effectively. Let’s begin.

1. Classical Criticism (5th Century BCE – 2nd Century CE)

• Plato (427–347 BCE)
  • Criticized poetry for being imitative (mimesis) and emotionally misleading.
  • Proposed banishing poets from his ideal Republic.
  • Believed literature should promote morality and truth.
• Aristotle (384–322 BCE)
  • Disagreed with Plato; saw poetry as cathartic and useful.
  • Poetics — Defined tragedy, plot structure, and concepts like hamartia and catharsis.
  • First systematic theorist of literary forms.
• Horace (65–8 BCE)
  • In Ars Poetica, argued that literature should both instruct and delight.
  • Emphasized decorum, unity, and moderation in art.
• Longinus (1st Century CE)
  • On the Sublime — Focused on the emotional power of literature.
  • Identified five sources of sublimity including grandeur of thought and elevated language.

2. Medieval and Renaissance Criticism (5th–17th Century)

• Dante (1265–1321): Promoted the allegorical interpretation of texts.
• Sir Philip Sidney (1554–1586): Defence of Poesy upheld the moral and imaginative power of poetry.
• Ben Jonson: Advocated for classical imitation with English creativity.

3. Neoclassical Criticism (17th–18th Century)

• John Dryden: Balanced classical norms with English aesthetics.
• Alexander Pope: An Essay on Criticism encouraged reason, decorum, and taste.
• Samuel Johnson: Practical criticism. In his Preface to Shakespeare, valued Shakespeare’s natural representation of life.

4. Romantic Criticism (Late 18th – Early 19th Century)

• William Wordsworth: Preface to Lyrical Ballads — Poetry is “emotion recollected in tranquility.” Opposed rigid neoclassical norms.
• S.T. Coleridge: Introduced imagination as a shaping power. Distinguished between primary and secondary imagination.
• P.B. Shelley: A Defence of Poetry — Poets are “unacknowledged legislators of the world.”

5. Victorian and Humanist Criticism (19th Century)

• Matthew Arnold: Literature as a critique of life. Advocated disinterestedness and touchstone method.
• Walter Pater: Emphasized art for art’s sake.

6. Early 20th Century Criticism

• T.S. Eliot: Tradition and the Individual Talent — Literature evolves through a historical sense. Advocated impersonality in art.
• I.A. Richards: Pioneered practical criticism and close reading. Emphasized affective and cognitive functions of literature.
• F.R. Leavis: Moral seriousness in literature. Opposed mass culture’s impact on literary taste.

7. Formalism and New Criticism

• Russian Formalists (Viktor Shklovsky, Roman Jakobson): Focused on literariness, defamiliarization, and form.
• New Critics (Cleanth Brooks, John Crowe Ransom): Advocated close reading and intrinsic analysis. Concepts like irony, paradox, tension, and unity dominated.

8. Structuralism and Post-Structuralism

• Ferdinand de Saussure: Language as a system of signs. Introduced concepts of signifier and signified.
• Claude Lévi-Strauss: Myths follow universal structures.
• Roland Barthes: Wrote Death of the Author and examined texts as systems of codes.
• Jacques Derrida: Introduced Deconstruction — questioned the stability of meaning, binary oppositions, and logocentrism.

9. Reader Response and Psychological Criticism

• Stanley Fish: Reading is shaped by interpretive communities.
• Wolfgang Iser: Reader fills the ‘gaps’ in texts.
• Freud, Jung, and Lacan: Psychological structures influence literary meaning (unconscious, archetypes, desire).

10. Contemporary Critical Theories

• Feminist Criticism: Elaine Showalter, Sandra Gilbert, bell hooks — Challenged androcentric canons and explored female literary voices.
• Postcolonial Criticism: Edward Said, Homi Bhabha, Gayatri Spivak — Investigated colonial discourse, hybridity, and subaltern studies.
• Cultural Studies: Raymond Williams, Stuart Hall — Emphasized media, culture, and class in literary analysis.
• Ecocriticism, Queer Theory, and Digital Humanities: Emerging areas relevant to UGC NET trends.

Exam Strategy: How to Remember This Timeline

• Create a visual timeline with color-coded schools (e.g., Classical, Romantic, Postmodern).
• Use flashcards: critic on one side, keywords and works on the other.
• Group thinkers thematically for interrelation-based questions.
• Practice previous years’ NET questions — many are directly lifted from critical concepts.

If you’re building your own UGC NET resource binder, a collapsible laminated timeline or a digital interactive version can be very helpful — [Insert affiliate link to study tools here if applicable].

Final Words

Understanding the evolution of literary criticism from Plato to Derrida helps NET aspirants in more than just Paper II. It offers a foundation for critical theory-based questions, MCQs, and essay-type responses. Learn the “why” behind every literary idea, not just the “who.” That is where true NET-level preparation begins.