Anatomy of Criticism Essay -- Anatomy of Criticism Essays

Anatomy of Criticism Introduction In his Anatomy of Criticism, Northrop Frye offers a complex theory that aspires to describe a unifying frame for literary criticism. It can be argued, however, that in attempting to delineate such an alone-inclusive structure, Fryes system eliminates individuality in lit. The present essay takes up this argument and offers examples of how individuation is precluded by Fryes system as outlined in Anatomy of Criticism. structure Vs. Identity In Fryes system, the organizing principles that give literature coherence and structure be derived from the myths of ancient Greece and the archetypal imagery found in the Bible. In his tercet Essay, Frye suggests that all literature is ground on displacements of these myths. In postulating this, however, Frye denies the individual individualism element of a work of literature it becomes merely another abstraction of an axile symbol, an embellished copy of an archetypal myth. This tenet essentially anne xes the identity of the writer as well, for every work of literature is seen by Frye as being based on or derived from all other whole works. The originality of a writers ideas is denied, and the authors identity is because negated. There is no such thing as an original literary identity in Fryes system. For Frye, literature must lead back to the Garden, to mythical symbolisation if a literary work does not displace an archetype, then it is not considered to be literature. Although it seems that Frye is able to find axial imagery in intimately any work, we must ask what his theory of myths excludes. If we look at the works cited in the Anatomy, we see that Frye concentrates much of his discussion on the classics of Western literature (Shakespeare, Chaucer, Milton, T.S. ... ...y in this quote by removing the individual from the question the immediacy of Who am I? is replaced with the more disinterested and impersonal Where is Here? But the teasing of identity is central to the C anadian imagination, and is perhaps an axiom of our identity. In decontextualizing and desocializing literature, Frye denies the Canadian literary identity. Conclusion Northrop Fryes theory of literary criticism attempts to include all literature in a structure that totalizes. In doing so, however, identity is excluded the identity of the writer, the reader, and individual works ofliterature is denied in denying these identities, Frye perhaps precludes the identity of literature itself. hear of References Used Frye, Northrop (19 ). The Bush Garden. Works CitedFrye, Northrop. Anatomy of Criticism Four Essays. Princeton Princeton UP, 1957.