Colin Wilson, The Craft of the Novel

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In a groundbreaking essay, “Existential Criticism”, published in

The Chicago Review

in 1959 (Volume 13, no. 2), Colin Wilson set the parameters of the form of criticism that he has consistently championed throughout his long career:

A literary critic turns without embarrassment from Milton to Dostoevsky, from Jane Austen to Shaw. Such nonchalance may be envied by the existential critic, but he has no desire to imitate it. He cannot consider Jane Austen in relation to Dostoevsky without asking awkward questions: “What, fundamentally, was she saying?”; “How mature was her moral vision of the world?”; “What concepts of human purpose are concealed in the basic assumptions of her novels?”

A literary critic turns without embarrassment from Milton to Dostoevsky, from Jane Austen to…

2942 words

Citation: Stanley, Colin. "The Craft of the Novel". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 15 June 2012 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=23952, accessed 19 March 2024.]

23952 The Craft of the Novel 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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