1) What CUET expects from this topic
CUET PG tests this unit as:
- basic definitions (what is criticism?),
- key classical concepts (mimesis, catharsis, unity),
- broad shifts from classical norms to modern theories,
- identification of approaches (text-centred vs context-centred),
- assertion–reason questions about how criticism changes over time.
This module is a roadmap: not every theorist, but the conceptual pillars you must recognise.
2) Classical criticism (high-yield core)
A) Plato (art and truth)
Plato often treats art as:
- imitation removed from truth,
- potentially morally dangerous because it shapes emotion and belief. Exam cue: Plato is generally more suspicious of poetry.
B) Aristotle (Poetics and literary form)
Aristotle provides:
- a systematic account of tragedy and representation. Key concepts:
- mimesis (imitation of action),
- plot (mythos) as central,
- catharsis (pity/fear purification),
- hamartia, peripeteia, anagnorisis (in tragedy analysis).
Classical criticism is often:
- normative (rules),
- genre-based (what makes a tragedy “good”).
3) From classical to modern: what changes?
A) From rules to interpretation
Classical criticism often asked:
- how to write well (norms). Modern criticism increasingly asks:
- how texts produce meaning,
- how readers interpret,
- how culture/power shape literature.