Anatomy of Criticism

By N. Frye. 2020

2,671 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Striking out at the conception of criticism as restricted to mere opinion or ritual gesture, Northrop Frye wrote this magisterial work proceeding on the assumption that criticism is a structure of thought and knowledge in its own right. In four brilliant essays on historical, ethical, archetypical, and rhetorical criticism, employing examples of world literature from ancient times to the present, Frye reconceived literary criticism as a total history rather than a linear progression through time. Literature, Frye wrote, is "the place where our imaginations find the ideal that they try to pass on to belief and action, where they find the vision which is the source of both the dignity and the joy of life." And the critical study of literature provides a basic way "to produce, out of the society we have to live in, a vision of the society we want to live in." Harold Bloom contributes a fascinating and highly personal preface that examines Frye's mode of criticism and thought (as opposed to Frye's criticism itself) as being indispensable in the modern literary world.

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Citations in the corpus

Epic and Tragic Tales (2003, background): “The plots associated with the “epic” and “tragic” literary genres in the West are some of the best known and most salient of these cultural resources (e.g., Frye, 1957; Jeffcutt, 1994).”
The Psychology of Worldviews (2004, background): “Messer (1992, 2000) has described a clinically relevant categorical model of worldviews built on the tragic, ironic, and comedic modes of literary analysis described by Frye (1957).”
Narrative, Moral Identity, And Historical Consciousness: A Social Constructionist Account (2005, methodology): “For example, relying heavily on the Aristotelian view, one of the most extensive accounts of plot within the present century is that of Northrup Frye (1957).”
The multidimensional nature and brand impact of user-generated ad parodies in social media (2011, background): “To the contrary, as the literary critic Northrop Frye (1971) observed, parody is ‘often a sign that certain vogues in handling conventions are getting worn out’ (p. 103).”
Practicing Dialogical Narrative Analysis (2011, background): “In genre terms, they are romances, in which a character encounters a sequence of obstacles and gains wisdom and stature through the process of overcoming these (Frye, 1957).”
What is "critical" about critical design? (2013, background): “One reason for this is the quasi-scientific rhetoric often deployed to characterize its work, and in particular the notion that criticism is an inductive discipline [1,19,22,33].”
Mapping the dialogical self: towards a rationale and method of assessment (2000, background): “For example, Mark's narrative seems to conform to the romantic story form of Northrop Frye (1957) (the hero falls, but is redeemed), to Campbell's (Campbell, 1956) monomyth of the hero, and to the ``progressive'' narrative of Gergen and Gergen (1988).”
Genre Analysis of Corporate Annual Report Narratives (2005, background): “For an archetypal theory of genres within literary criticism, see Frye (1957).”