An Experiment in Criticism [Paperback]

 

 

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How do we assess literature? What makes books good? What makes them bad? Have we room for objectivity? An Experiment in Criticism was written to address these sorts of questions. Lewis suggests a contrast in readership rather than 'writership.' Literary readers 'receive' books and unliterary readers 'use' them. The same is true of musical and unmusical listeners and of artistic and inartistic viewers. What does it mean to 'receive'? It is a self-abnegation and self-transcendence. Lewis writes: 'The first demand any work of art makes upon us is surrender. Look. Listen . . . Get yourself out of the way . . . Wait. Attend. See what he is going to make of it' (pp. 19, 24). What does it mean to 'use'? Here the term is pejorative, connoting unreceptive exploitation and manipulation. So, art can be received or used. Reception adds to life; using does not. The receiver wants to rest in the work intrinsically; the user uses for extrinsic purposes.

Lewis concludes: books that permit - or, better still, encourage - good (that is, receptive) reading are good; books that do not are not. This critical reformulation 'focuses our attention on the act of reading' (p. 104). In other words, on what actualises the merely potential. It makes the job of the literary critic much harder. This is a welcome change, for literary criticism is now 'too easy' (p. 107). Moreover, 'the proposed system puts our feet on solid ground whereas the usual one puts them on a quicksand' (p. 105).

Now, this is just a clumsy bare-bones summary of Lewis' thesis. He covers much else besides - including, escapism and entertainment, literary realism, mythology, fantasy writing . . .

It has been some years since I read this work so my review is based more on the lasting impression that this book left on me than on a fresh read with the argument clearly in my mind.

What I do remember is that in this provocative book, Lewis challenges readers to try a little experiment. He advocates judging a book not by evaluating its merits based on a set of criteria that some modernist professors in ivory tower English departments (or worse yet, psychology professors) have developed as a type of objective standard of worthiness (as most of us are taught even in grade school) or by some cultural trend that demands slavish obedience to its current fad (which we learn by osmosis through the media) but rather to look at the type of readers that enjoy a particular work and judge the work on the basis of who reads and enjoys it. Often, the criteria that are developed for literary criticism serve the purpose of setting the reader, or more truly the one who developed the criteria, over the work and thus the story is coloured by its perceived need to "measure up". Rather, Lewis calls readers to simply "receive" a story and let it carry the reader off in what ever direction the narrative tale and artistry of the language leads.

Lewis compares good literature to good art and great works of music and poor literature to mass produced kitsch (you know, the pictures in the furniture section of a department store, with the plastic faux gold frames) and elevator music. Good art is purchased and valued because of the emotional response it creates in the heart and mind of the beholder. This effect continues. Kitsch may sell in far greater numbers but it is `used' because of what it does for us. Kitsch matches the couch so we buy it and hang it on the wall; it is an accessory. Great art gets hung on the wall regardless of the colour of the couch or the pattern of the wall paper. We might even give it its own room. In the presence of great art, the couch simply serves as a place to sit to admire the art. Similarly, one listens to great music as an act in itself. Most music produced today merely serves as background for what ever activity we happen to be doing when we don't want to be doing it in silence (browsing in the linen section of a department store). A poor book is a work that a certain type of person uses to accomplish a purpose other than enjoying the story - a feeling, sensation or to kill time. It is a tool to accomplish something outside of the book. A good work of literature is good because a certain type of person is always attracted to it for its own sake, for the story itself. Titles like "classic literature" or "penny dreadfuls" can't necessarily be trusted.

Lewis believes the best sort of readers are those who can remain childlike in their wonder and willingness to simply let the story speak, to simply receive the story and be carried away by it. In this case, the maturity of a reader is not judged based on whether or not they can tell what psychological struggles the author was going through at the time of writing or what cause the author was fighting for or against. Rather a mature reader is one who "falls into" the world of a great story and is swept along by the atmosphere, the events, the characters, simply for their own sake. Great literature therefore is the type of work that can draw in this kind of reader.

To date, the best piece of literary criticism (or reader criticism) I have read. If I could, I'd give it 7 stars.

Well-worth your time! Yes, Lewis is elitist, and yes, he creates a binary of sorts between the many and the few. However... talk about a fresh look at reader-response criticism!

Lewis argues that the best readers do not "use" texts to write their own stories within. Rather, the best readers are those who "receive" the text. In an era where ideology threatens literature and authors, Lewis offers a more noble route.

This book changed the way I read. And its not too long. =)

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5.0 out of 5 stars Half my life's in books' written pages...
...so goes the line from the old Aerosmith song, if I am remembering correctly. Well, none of us will live forever on this old earth; so is it right to give over much of that... Read more

Published on July 29 2002 by Extollager

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