Critical Theory Based on the communicative function: Analytical study of contemporary experience

Abstract

With the rapid development in communication technology nowadays, humanities disciplines have become closer and interconnected, which led to the flourishing of interdisciplinary fields. This paper attempts to survey the relationship between modern literary criticism and communication theories; it can be said that the progress that modern linguistics have witnessed in considering the poetic function among other communication functions has contributed to frame a literary theory based on the fundamental acts of communication. The works of Arab critic Mur?d Mabr?k could serve as a good example in this matter; he has been, in his hundred books and papers, interested in literary communication theory, which he thinks could be a comprehensive framework for the critics to analyse literary works, in regard to the texts, and in regard to their creators and readers. Mabr?k’s interest in this theory began in the early years of the current AD century, as he published several books and articles trying to draw a clear image of literary communication theory. He traces the roots of the theory in ancient Greek philosophy, classical Arabic criticism and rhetorics. He also follows the theory’s dimensions and concepts in other fields such as Anthropology, Sociology, and Information Science. Not only that, but Mabr?k suggests his own reading strategy of literary works, applying it on classical and modern poems, novels, and even commercial adds. It is the aim of this research to study Mabr?k’s project in order to understand the nature of the relationship between concepts of communication and modern critical theories.