Literary Criticism: An Introduction

In this lecture, I'd like to provide an introduction to the field of literary criticism (tangentially related to literary theory and hermeneutics). We will discuss literalism vs metaphor, how to support an interpretation of a text with evidence, the question of whether or not a text has only one meaning, some of the axioms underlying a semi-universal practice of literary criticism, and the extent to which one should take into consideration an author's intentions. This is aimed at learners of all levels, whether you're just getting into reading, are a university student, or just a seasoned veteran looking to gain a firmer understanding of one of the most important questions in literature: how do we know what a text means? Enjoy!
Music is Dmitri Shostakovich's Symphony No. 10 mvt IV by Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra • Shostakovich: Symphony...
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/ @gavinyoung-philosophy

[@RolfGoebel]

Excellent video! Especially complex poetic texts, with their ambiguities, gaps, and paradoxes, force us to seek to decipher their truth without imposing our own dogmas, ideologies, and preconceptions on them. Hermeneutics is the art of interpretive self-interrogation in engaging with the elusively multiple possibilities of textual meanings.--
Your contrasting "democratic" consensus (which I'd be very skeptical of!) vs. esoteric speculation is brilliant. In literary criticism, the deliberately outlandish, controversial, or provocative readings are sometimes the most imaginative, even and especially if they only stimulate disagreement and alternative interpretations!

[@climbingforlife1]

Great content as always!

[@gavinyoung-philosophy]

Thanks!

[@MF_DUNE]

great vid :)

[@gavinyoung-philosophy]

Thank you :)