1. Emphasis on Mimesis: Ancient literary criticism placed great importance on mimesis or the imitation of nature and reality.
- Aristotle in his "Poetics" emphasized that poetry (including drama) is an imitation of nature, providing pleasure through representation.
- Critics evaluated literary works based on their faithfulness to and imitation of reality or the human condition.
2. Poetic Justice:
- Ancient critics believed in the concept of poetic justice, where good characters are rewarded, and evil characters are punished.
3. Genres and Categories:
- They defined and distinguished between literary genres such as epic, tragedy, comedy, etc., with specific conventions and characteristics for each.
4. Rhetoric and Oratory:
- Ancient criticism had a strong focus on the art of rhetoric and persuasion, as in classical speeches and oratory.
Medieval Literary Criticism:
1. Religious and Moralistic Interpretation:
- In the Middle Ages, literary criticism was heavily influenced by theology and religion.
- Critics focused on allegorical interpretations, symbolism, and spiritual messages within the text.
2. Authorial Intention:
- Emphasis shifted from the literary work itself to the author's intent and purpose.
- Interpretation was often based on understanding the underlying moral, spiritual, or didactic objective of the author.
3. Spiritual Allegory:
- Literary criticism relied on the concepts of allegory and typology, seeing multiple layers of meaning beyond the literal.
- Characters and events were believed to represent moral, biblical, or theological concepts.
4. Typological Interpretations:
- Critics looked for correspondences between events in the Old and New Testaments, drawing out typological connections and parallels.
5. Symbolism and Symbolism Dictionaries:
- Symbols and imagery were heavily analyzed. Symbolism dictionaries or allegories like Hugo of St. Victor's "Didascalicon" detailed symbolic interpretations of specific objects and animals.
6. Theological Language and Exegesis:
- Literary analysis employed religious exegesis, a method used to interpret Biblical texts, resulting in a focus on interpretation rather than aesthetics alone.
Conclusion:
During Ancient times, literary criticism centered on ideas like mimesis, poetic justice, genre distinctions, and rhetorical expertise. Conversely, medieval literary criticism was largely based on religious principles, emphasizing moralistic and allegorical interpretations, focusing on the author's intentions, religious symbolism, and theological examinations of literary works.