Advanced students of literary criticism would definitely find this book stimulating as well as illuminating as it presents a penetrating analysis of the major theories and practices of all the dominant groups of literacy critics of our times. In the course of the critical survey of the critical principles and methods of all the major cities, the Chicago Critics attempt a critique of Contemporary Criticism in their monumental work, Critics and Criticism: Essays in Method of the Chicago Critics. Hence, the focus of this book is on the pluralistic approach of these critics who were aware of the powers and limitations of all the critical methods. Each critical method, even the Aristotelian method for which they developed a bias, addresses a certain range of questions beyond which it loses its utility. No critical method, as they point out, is all embracing critical system of critical philosophy. Critics having exclusive commitment to a particular critical system are bound to be partial critics. So a pluralistic approach should be the ideal one but, in order to be a pluralistic critic, a student of literary criticism must be conversant with all the major critical approaches. The present book is significant in the sense that it has the capacity to train teachers and students of literature in the art of literary appreciation that enhances the enjoyment of literary works. Since every literary piece is a constructed whole, Aristotle’s method provides clues to its specific constructive principle through a process of regressive reasoning — the aposteriori approach. The special discussion of the Chicago method in this book explains the Aristotelian bias of the Chicago Critics who were actually ‘Neo-Aristotelians’ in a limited sense. They began where Aristotle left off to pursue similar lines of study in the Poetics of modern literature. As the Chicago School of Criticism is a brilliant exercise in remedial criticism, this book may serve as materia medica of critical theories and practices for students and teachers of literary criticism.

Table of Contents:
1. Introduction of the Chicago Critics 2. The Chicago Criticism as Humanistic Criticism 3. Quest for Remedial Criticism 4. The Aristotelian Bias 5. Critical Pluralism of the Chicago Critics 6. Every Man His Own Critic 7. Conclusion Appendices Appendix A Appendix B: The Letters Select Bibliography