Ayşenur Buyuk

200425097
Asst. Prof. Leyla Savsar
Literary Theory & Criticism

Final Take-Home Questions

Please answer the following questions in 1-2 paragraphs in as much detail as possible.
READ THE QUESTİONS CAREFULLY and please provide your citations at the end to
avoid plagiarism! (25 pts each)

1. Matthew Arnold was a critic and poet who believed that poetry was the criticism
of life. How does Arnold define criticism and why did he believe that without
poetry, the sciences are incomplete?

According to Matthew Arnold, English literature criticism is crucial and highly

necessary. He asserts that if someone is truly interested in critique, they should refrain
from wasting their time on creative endeavors for which they lack the necessary skills.
The idea that critical activity may require less expertise than creative activity is
accepted. He also concurs that unkind criticism is damaging. He disagrees, however,
that criticism should take priority over creative endeavors. He supports this notion with
a few illustrations. Arnold is pleased that one of the greatest poets, Goethe, has written
a lot of criticism. Arnold believes that for a poet to create a significant work, he must
possess a thorough understanding of the universe and human existence, which
necessitates a significant amount of analytical effort. While it is possible to obtain this
knowledge through books, Arnold contends that it is best acquired through the exchange
of ideas that takes place in a stimulating environment.
Arnold's moral, classical, and continental prejudices skew his literary critique. The
moral criteria he sets frequently causes a poet to overlook his literary abilities since he
only empathizes with the classics and values continental writers more highly than the
great English poets. In all areas of knowledge, including religion, philosophy, history,
the arts, and science, the critic must view the thing for what it is, or what it truly is. A
critic may foster an intellectual climate in which a creative artist can thrive by
developing a comprehensive understanding of both literature and other disciplines. A
flood of fresh ideas can be generated by criticism, and from these new ideas, creative
ages can develop. (1)
Ayşenur Buyuk
200425097

2. Discuss Lacan’s mirror stage and define it. What was it? How is it related to the
mimetic theory?

The Mirror Stage is one of the first concepts that comes to mind when Lacan is
mentioned, especially in the academic world. The Mirror Stage is when a baby begins
to identify himself as "I" in connection to a picture that he starts to comprehend as being
a representation of himself. The newborn is unable to get up, walk, or handle items
deftly from birth to eighteen months or longer. However, between the ages of six and
eighteen months, this juvenile, defenseless, self-perceiving human cub will eventually
notice his own picture in the mirror.
This will be the newborn's first realization of himself as a complete entity, and it will
frequently be shared with the adult in the room. For instance, the baby who reaches this
realization may turn to gaze at his mother and express his delight and amazement to her.
A significant emotion is present throughout this formative act, which results in the
creation of the Ego and the awareness of the Subject. Self-image is intriguing to a baby
because it serves as the catalyst for a lifetime of self-reflection. This implies that an act
of intellectual, schismatic narcissism serves as the foundation of the human Subject or
identity. (2)
Mimetic theory is a concept developed and defended by the 20th century French
anthropologist René Girard. It is an important theory for the humanities because it
mirrors nature and the society affected by it. The basis of mimetic theory is the idea that
human desire is not autonomous but collective. One desires the desire of another or
society, one's desire is limited by nature and cannot be autonomous. In other words,
mimetic theory and the Mirror Stage are similar even if not the same.

3. What was David Hume’s beliefs and perception about the standards of beauty,
aesthetics, and judgment? Is a universal standard of taste possible according to
him? Please try to cite from his “Standard of Taste.”

While Hume argues that the source of the judgment of taste is internal, he does not
hesitate to investigate whether there is a generally accepted criterion of taste. This is the
main subject of the work called “Of the Standard of Taste”. According to this view, the
difference between people's feelings and judgments is so great that it is possible to find
countless different judgments about the same object. Every emotion is real and true if it
Ayşenur Buyuk
200425097

is conscious because it expresses only its own existence. We cannot say that one feeling
is right and the other is wrong for the same object, because no emotion represents what
exists in the object: ‘‘Beauty is no quality in things themselves; it exists merely in the
mind that contemplates them; and each mind perceives a different beauty’’(3) and ‘‘All
sentiment is right; because sentiment has a reference to nothing beyond itself and is
always real, wherever a man is conscious of it. ’’ (4) According to this skeptical view,
it is impossible to derive any criterion of taste.
For Hume, although common sense supports the above skeptical claim, there is another
commonsense view that rejects, at least modifies or limits it. According to this second
common-sense view, human experience has shown that some works of art are
considered and admired collectively as beautiful and valuable, regardless of time, place,
country, or culture.
According to Hume, a mind naturally enjoys a work of art if it does not have these
four shortcomings or deficiencies. The first is a lack of sensitivity or tact. Although
beauty and ugliness belong entirely to emotion, not to a quality in objects, certain
qualities in objects nevertheless reveal this emotion. If certain qualities, small
differences or fine details in objects do not affect a person, such a person lacks aesthetic
sensitivity. Second, the lack of practice is one of the main reasons for the lack of
aesthetic sense or sensibility. When a person encounters an object with certain qualities
for the first time, his sense of it is blurred and confused. He cannot see many beautiful
and deficient sides of this object. “However,” Hume continues, “experience with a
given artform enables us to make finer, more exact and nicer, more delicate
discriminations.” (5) Third, a person who does not have the experience of comparing
certain types of beauty will not be able to tell the difference between what they see and
make an assessment and rating between them. Only a person accustomed to examining
and evaluating various beautiful works admired in different periods and nations can
understand the value and difference of a work of art. Fourth, to evaluate a work of art,
the human mind must be free of certain prejudices. To evaluate an orator correctly, it is
necessary to know the period he is addressing, the people, his interests, his passions,
and to put himself in the place of his audience. we will be.
Ayşenur Buyuk
200425097

4. The history of literature is the history of literary criticism. The study of literature
requires knowledge of contexts as well as texts. Knowing what kind of person
wrote the poem, the play, the novel, the essay as well as what forces acted upon
them as they wrote is significant. Discuss the importance of literary theory. Why
do we need it? How would literature be like without it?

Literary theory, or rather its theories, can offer a variety of ways of describing
literature, or at least thinking about what issues might be in attempting any kind of
definition. They are not necessarily incompatible with each other, or contemporary
commentators on the body of writing called literary theory have often drawn attention
to the conflicting attitudes that can be found between various theoretical positions.
Literary theories offer no easy and rigorous solutions to what literature is or what its
study might be, but that need not be a negative feature. However, this field of
experience, which has become increasingly problematic and qualified as a theoretical
inquiry, has produced views that question the nature and superiority of experience as a
form of understanding and knowing.
Literary Theory is very important in literature. Examining a work in detail can even
change the perspective towards that work. At the same time, we can understand not only
the work, but also the inner world of the author with literary theory. If there was no
Literary Theory, we might not be able to see and understand the inner world of any work
and author we want.
Ayşenur Buyuk
200425097

References
(1) U. Biswas. (n.d.). Matthew Arnold’s The Function of Criticism at the Present Time—A Critical

Reading. Functions of Criticism.

(2) Lacan: A Beginner’s Guide by Lionel Bailly (2009-05-01). Oneworld Publications.

(3) Carroll, N. (1984). Hume’s Standard of Taste. The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism,

43(2), p. 182.

(4) Carroll, N. (1984). Hume’s Standard of Taste. The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism,

43(2), p. 182.

(5) Carroll, N. (1984). Hume’s Standard of Taste. The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism,

43(2), p. 184.