[A practice] concerned with literary theory and the evaluation of literary works. It effectively began with PLATO's comments on the role of poets in his Republic; ARISTOTLE's response to this, the Poetics, represents the first systematic attempt to establish principles of literary procedure. Notable later contributions to the debate include Sir Philip SIDNEY's The Defence of Poesie (1595); DRYDEN's Of Dramatick Poesie (1668); WORDSWORTH's preface to Lyrical Ballads (1798); SHELLEY's A Defence of Poetry (1820); and the critical works of Matthew ARNOLD, in particular, Culture and Anarchy (1869). The 20th century witnessed an explosion of literary criticism, such as the writings of T. S ELIOT, I. A. Richards, William Empson and F. R. LEAVIS; also important are the writings of STRUCTURALISM and post-structuralism, notably Roland BARTHES, Michel FOUCAULT, and Jacques DERRIDA. The late 20th century saw the beginning of new critical approaches such as DECONSTRUCTION and FEMINISM (World Encyclopedia, 2008).
Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory by 
The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms by 
The Penguin Dictionary of Critical Theory by 
A Poet's Guide to Poetry by 
Literary Theory by 
Continuum Encyclopedia of Modern Criticism and Theory by 
The Encyclopedia of Literary and Cultural Theory by 
The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics by The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poeticsis a comprehensive reference work dealing with all aspects of its subject: history, types, movements, prosody, and critical terminology. Prepared by recognized authorities, its articles treat their topics in sufficient depth and with enough lucidity to satisfy the scholar and the general reader alike. Entries vary in length from relatively brief notices to substantial articles of about 20,000 words.
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