Thus the intellectual weekly gave us an upstanding, competentcriticism
of books with ideas in them--when the ideas seemed
important to the editors; a useful service, but not a
comprehensive one; the criticism of a trend rather than a
literature; of the products of a social group rather than the
outspeaking of a nation. Something more was needed.
Something more was needed; and specifically literary mediums that
should be catholic in criticism, comprehensive in scope, sound,
stimulating, and accurate.
To be catholic in criticism does not mean to be weak and
opinionless. A determination to discuss literature honestly and
with insight, letting conclusions be what they must, may be
regarded as a sufficient editorial stock in trade. It is
fundamental, but it is not sufficient. Just as there is
personality behind every government, so there should be a definite
set of personal convictions behind literary criticism, which is
not a science, though science may aid it. Sterilized, dehumanized
criticism is almost a contradiction in terms, except in those rare
cases where the weighing of evidential facts is all that is
required.
Pages:
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231