I.A.Richards

 

 

I.A.Richards

Introduction

Ivor Armstrong Richards is the pioneer of the new criticism. He is one of the major critics of the twentieth century. He is admired for the originality of ideas. He has made substantial and lasting contribution to the growth and development of the new criticism. His important works are ‘Principles of Literary Criticism’, Practical Criticism, and Coleridge On Imagination’. He also wrote ‘The Foundation of Aesthetics’ in collaboration with C.K.Ogden and James Wood, and the ‘Meaning of Meaning’ with Ogden. He turned criticism into science. He deftly applied the methods of scientific investigation to literary   judgment. He was the first critic who realized the importance of psychology and the impact it made on the reader and society. He also gives paramount importance to the art of communication and brings out a distinction between the scientific and the emotive uses of the language.

His Critical Principles

In his ‘Principles of Literary Criticism’ Richards insists about the questions which a critic must be asked.They are, “what gives the experience of reading a certain poem its value?  How is this experience better than another? Why prefer this picture to that ? In which ways should we listen to opinion about works of art not as good as another? These are the fundamental questions which criticism is required to answer, together with such preliminary questions – What is a picture, a poem, a piece of music? How can  experiences be compared? What is value? – as may required in order to approach these questions, “Richards examines the history of criticism and tries to find out how far the critics from the past to the present age have been able to answer these questions successfully. He is not satisfied with the previous criticism .

Methods of Science

He has formulated a theory which says that the methods of experimental science must be applied to literary criticism. Richards says that an aesthetic experience is neither unique nor does it provide any deep insight into reality, it is similar to the other experiences. But aesthetic experience is organized and developed. To him poetry is an activity which has to perform a psychological duty like all other physical activities.

His theory of criticism

In order to determine the nature of poetry Richards first examines the working of the human minds, which, according to him is “a system of impulses”. Impulses may be defined as the reactions produced in the mind by some stimulus and culminating in an act. Until the stage of action arrives they pull it different directions, each pressing the others to act in the way suited to it. The mind experiences a state of poise only when they organize to follow a common sense. He explains his theory through an image. He considered mind as a system of magnetic needles that are free to move in any direction. An outside impulse makes the needles vibrate. After the interaction is complete the needles are set in a particular direction. So every outside impulse moves the mind. The needles represent man’s interests and objectives in life. Man is not merely intelligence but is governed by a system of interests. This system of interests is activated by poetic words.

The Value of Poetry

Richards divides impulses into two kinds: ‘appetencies and aversions’, in plain words ‘desires’ and ‘dislikes’. The mind instinctively prefers the satisfaction of appetencies to the satisfaction of aversions, and as some appetencies are more important than others it seeks their satisfaction first. It prefers elevating those appetencies, which have importance in life, to those that are depraving. The normal satisfaction of impulses is involved in almost all the greatest good of life. This is what morality wants and the poetic experience too has ultimately a moral value. The mind functions normally and is not prompted by any ethical motive.

The function of Language

Richard is interested in textual and verbal analysis. According to him, words communicate four kinds of meaning.  They are Sense, Feeling, Tone and intention He examines the nature of statements and divides them into two as scientific statements and  pseudo statements. The scientific statements are related to nature. To Richards, poetic expressions are pseudo statements and they are not absolutely true as they do not correspond to the world of facts.

Conclusion

Richards depends on psychology too much. As psychology is developing and the knowledge of human consciousness is so vast that Richards’ theory is too weak. His theory is narrow to account for the wide range of poetry. In order to satisfy his theory he had ignored certain legitimate functions of poetry.