Theory of Criticism - On Modes and 'Anatomy of Criticism' According to Northrop Frye

Abstract

In the study of literature, different authors adhere to diverse criteria and therefore have produced special concepts that in many elements may even coincide, however in particular elements may differ from one author to another. One of the most renowned authors who has studied literature and literary criticism and has created theoretical concepts for these studies is Northrop Frye, a contemporary scholar whose views on literature and literary criticism have been expressed in a very broad and theoretically supported way, particularly in his work Anatomy of Criticism, an important work in theoretical studies related to the arts and literature as well as on literary criticism of art in general. The work opens with a “controversial introduction”, to continue then with the main part - Four Essays (First, Second, Third, Fourth Essay), in which the following are respectively added: historical criticism; ethical critique; arch-criticism and rhetorical criticism, to conclude with an Endeavour to conclude and some other notes that help make it easier to be scrutinised. On the one hand, it seems to us that the world is a sealed book that lets itself to be read just once, because if there is a law that governs the gravity of the planet, this law is either right or wrong. Compared to that, the universality of a book seems to us to be an open world (Umberto Eco, For Literature, Tirana, 2007).