Literature on trial
Subtitle: the emergence of critical discourse in Germany, Poland, and Russia, 1700-1800
By: S.D. Chrostowska
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Toronto; Buffalo
Language: eng
Number of pages: 273
ISBN-13: 9781442643567
Subjects: Criticism; Theory; Russian literature; German literature; History and criticism; Polish literature; History
Description: "Literature on Trial traces the rise of modern literary criticism in Central and Eastern Europe during the eighteenth century. S.D. Chrostowska juxtaposes the discourse's written forms in three linguistic-cultural regions - Germany, Poland, and Russia - to show how fluid the relationship once was between the genres of criticism and those of literature.

An alternative history of literary criticism, Literature on Trial marks a shift from earlier studies' focus on aesthetic principles to an emphasis on the development of literary-critical forms. Chrostowska relates cultural and institutional changes in these areas to the formation of literary-critical knowledge. She accounts for the ways in which critical discourse organized itself formally and deemed some genres 'proper' while eliminating others. Analysing works by Lessing, Goethe, and Karamzin, among others, Literature on Trial brings a fresh theoretical perspective to the links between genre as a discursive strategy and socio-political life."--Pub. desc.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [251]-263) and index.