Ours is an age of criticism. Literary and critical theories have occupied a prominent place in our academic discipline. The twentieth century literary criticism is marked by such great diversification and multiplicity of theories and opinions that its understanding has become a challenging task. Formalism, Marxism, new criticism, structuralism, post-structuralism, feminism, orientalism, etc. have come up at a galloping speed, thanks to the American critics. In fact, various schools of thoughts and theories are taking shape in our time, as the domain of literature is explored and exploited by a bewildering variety of disciplines, such as sociology, anthropology, politics, cultural studies, psycho-analysis, linguistics, science and so on. The present book Dynamics of Twentieth Century Literary Criticism is a modest attempt to help the readers understand and apprehend the complex critical and theoretical scenario of literary criticism in the 20th century. The book studies the various aspects of modern literary criticism in a simple language and comprehensive way. The author deals with different schools of criticism which mark the growth and development of the literary critical temper of our time. The book presents evaluative studies on some seminal and significant essays which have affected the tone and temper of twentieth century literary criticism. It is certain that without a proper understanding of these essays it is not possible for readers to analyse literary criticism. The essays on literary criticism by such prominent critics as T.S. Eliot, I.A. Richards, F.R. Leavis and Herbert Read, among others, have been interpreted and evaluated in a lucid manner for easy understanding by the readers. The book, in fact, is indispensible for getting a comprehensive view of the twentieth century literary criticism.
