It is said that this book reached an important milestone in the study of literature by crystalizing a movement that had been under way for two decades in this country. The movement being to focus literary criticism and literary study in general on literature itself, rather than on the historical backgrounds, the psychological mechanisms, the political and social currents that influence literary creation. It conceives of imaginative literature as a way of knowing, different from but as humanly useful as the method of natural science.

ContentsPrefaceI. DEFINITIONS AND DISTINCTIONSI. Literature and Literary Study 3II. The Nature of Literature 9III. The Function of Literature 19IV. Literary Theory, Criticism, and History 29V. General, Comparative, and NationalLiterature 38II. PRELIMINARY OPERATIONSVI. The Ordering and Establishing of Evidence 49III. THE EXTRINSIC APPROACH TO THE STUDY OF LITERATUREIntroduction 61VII. Literature and Biography 67VIII. Literature and Psychology 75IX. Literature and Society 89X. Literature and Ideas 107XI. Literature and the Other Arts 124IV. THE INTRINSIC STUDY OF LITERATUREXII. The Analysis of the Literary Work of Art 139XIII. Euphony, Rhythm, and Meter 159XIV. Style and Stylistics 177XV. Image, Metaphor, Symbol, Myth 190XVI. The Nature and Modes of Narrative Fiction 219XVII. Literary Genres 235XVIII. Evaluation 248XIX. Literary History 263V. THE ACADEMIC SITUATIONXX. The Study of Literature in the Graduate School 285Notes 299Bibliography 347Index 389