New Criticism

New criticism is also a theory to interpret the text like other theories. But it has its basic concepts. It is purely a non-political theory because it does not talk about socio-political affairs. It is only centered on the depth of the text and its form or contents. New criticism was developed in the 1940s and it dominated the literary field until 1960s. However, it is still relevant today because it analyses the text itself. This theory believes in the 'close reading’ of the text that helps us understand the meaning. New criticism shows that the text is enough for the interpretation. We should not go beyond the text for its meaning. We can find the meaning in its organic unity between form and content. 

Therefore, new criticism believes in the idea of the text itself as autonomous entity, the organic unity of the text, the intrinsic criticism and the single best interpretation. The concept of 'the text itself believes that the text is autonomous or self-sufficient for the interpretation. It discards the authorial intention and his biography. It believes that the author's biography does not matter the text. We should analyses the text factually to find what is written in it. So, the text itself is all that matters. If we say that the author has some intention, it becomes intentional fallacy. There is also effective fallacy because the same text may not have same effect on the reader. Likewise, New Criticism also believes in the organic unity which means the unity between form and content. Form is the external style of writing but content is the main subject matter. Form is related with 'how' the author says something and content is related with 'what' the author says in the text. New critics believe that we should find the unity between the forms and content that helps us find the meaning. They also assume that this theory is an intrinsic criticism because it does not go beyond the text. Some other theories like Marxism and feminism interpret the text in relation to socio-economic and political situation but new criticism does not go outside the text. Therefore, it is an intrinsic criticism. They also believe that it is a single best interpretation. It is a purely literary criticism.

New criticism is an intrinsic and objective criticism because it does not go outside the text for the interpretation and it does not use subjective ideas. This theory gives only focus to the text itself but no other external socioeconomic contexts. There are some other criticisms like Marxism, Feminism, etc. which interpret the text in relation to the external contexts. So, they are extrinsic criticisms but New criticism claims that it is directed inside. So, they claim that it is an intrinsic criticism. They focus on the organic unity of the text to find the meaning. They say that it is not necessary to go beyond the text for finding meaning. Their methodologies are intrinsic and their criticism is purely literary. Therefore, it is an intrinsic criticism in the same way; new criticism is also an objective criticism. It is objective because it focuses only to the object, the text. It focuses on the formal elements of the text. It does not focus on the biography, psychology or socio-economic contexts. It only relies on the context created by the text itself. New critics claim that the text dictates the meaning. It is the job of the reader to find the formal elements, organic unity and the context created by the text. It gives the original meaning but not the authorial intention. The readers should not interpret it according to their own ideas but they should interpret it according to what the text shows. So, they say that the meaning is already there and the reader's job is to find out it logically. A skillful reader can find the meaning after getting the formal elements, organic unity and the context of the text. Therefore, they say that new criticism is an objective criticism.