5. The Idea of the Autonomous Artwork

Introduction to Theory of Literature (ENGL 300)

In this lecture, Professor Paul Fry explores the origins of formalist literary criticism. Considerable attention is paid to the rise and subsequent popularity of the New Critics and their preferred site of literary exploration, the "poem." The idea of autonomous art is explored in the writings of, among others, Kant, Coleridge, and Wilde. Using the work of Wimsatt and Beardsley, the lecture concludes with an examination of acceptable categories of evidence in New Criticism.

00:00 - Chapter 1. New Criticism and the Poem as (Miniature) World
07:28 - Chapter 2. Formalism and Immanuel Kant
21:35 - Chapter 3. Kant and Coleridge: The Good, the Agreeable, and the Beautiful
28:21 - Chapter 4. Wimsatt and Beardsley: The Anatomy of the "Poem"
40:34 - Chapter 5. Wimsatt and Beardsley: Permissable Evidence

Complete course materials are available at the Open Yale Courses website: http://open.yale.edu/courses

This course was recorded in Spring 2009.