Thursday, December 2, 2010
New Criticism (Leslie)
While in previous theories and criticisms I had seen things I wasn't aware of before, new criticism just didn't have the same effect. In my opinion, this was rather repetitive because we were asked to do close readings of "The Great Gatsby" while we were reading it the first time, which is basically new criticism. The essay didn't evoke any thoughts that I didn't have before. The overall theme of overall longing was one we had discussed, among others. The symbolism in the reading is also nothing new. For example, we look at the green light, and the ideas Tyson points out are what we had brainstormed before. "And in becoming universal, Gatsby's longing also becomes nonspecific: for the protagonist, the green light represents Daisy;" (159). In the juxtaposition between the past and the present, Tyson points out that the readers see the theme of universal longing yet again. "...the image of young Gatsby revisiting Louisville after Daisy's departure, 'stretch[ing] out his hand desperately as if to snatch only a wisp of air, to save a fragment of the spot that she had made lovely for him' {160}, and of Tom Buchanan, 'drift[ing] on forever seeking a little wistfully for the dramatic turbulence of some irrecoverable football game' {10}, are hantting and painful because they bespeak an emptiness that can never be filled." (153). Despite the long quote, the message is quite simple: new criticism finds the symbols and themes of the stories through the tension and word choice. And long story short, I was not impressed with this essay. To me, most readings should be done using new criticism, but maybe that might JUST be me. Do other people feel this essay was redundant? Do we use new criticism without ever really noticing?
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I disagree that this essay was redundant, because while we had discussed these topics before, we had never connected all of them to summarize one general theme of the entire novel. However, I believe that New Criticism as a lens appears redundant because, as you proposed, we often use it without noticing. Whenever I read a book I notice metaphors, diction, and other writing tools, but I do not link all of these devices together to search for a greater truth about human nature, as new critics do. The basis of this theory, "the text itself," is bland and simple, but the overall purpose of this lens, to mash each element into a broad conclusion, is incredible and eye-opening.
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