Sparrow chirping (New cover)

Author: Lu Jiande
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1996-11-01
Features: Most of the articles in this book are related to literature. But what exactly is literature? Matthew Arnold said that literary criticism is ultimately a criticism of life. It seems that literature is not just an independent and exquisite form. Arnold's predecessor, Dr. Johnson, was much more witty. On June 9, 1759, in the weekly magazine The Rambler, Johnson mercilessly mocked literary criticism. He said that only a few people with extraordinary talents could undertake literary creation. Studies like grammar, rhetoric, and logic are not difficult to master, but they require a lot of effort. Only literary criticism is something everyone can do. Therefore, "criticism is a discipline where people can appear distinguished and formidable at a very low cost. Those with insufficient talent and ignorant due to laziness can satisfy their vanity by calling themselves critics." Johnson then wrote, "I hope this news will bring comfort to the unknown people in the world. The other goddesses in the field of literature are either very shy or extremely proud, and one must persevere to court them, and it is still possible to fail in the end. Criticism, however, is a frivolous and easily seductive fairy. She accommodates the dull, encourages the timid; she provides words for the empty, and compensates for the mediocre with malice."