Literary Criticism Assess the achievement and contribution of I. A. Richards as a critic.

 Assess the achievement and contribution of I. A. Richards as a critic.

v Introduction:-

            Ivor Armstrong Richards, together with Eliot, is the most influential critic in the twentieth century Anglo-American criticism. Among the moderns he is the only critic who has formulated a systematic and complete theory of the literary art. In the words of George Watson,

"Richards' claim to have pioneered Anglo-American New Criticism of the thirties and forties is unassailable. He provided the theoretical foundations on which the technique of verbal analysis was built. "

            He and T.S. Eliot are pioneers in the field of new criticism. Richards is often compared with Coleridge. Like Coleridge he is am of wide learning. He is widely read not only in literature, but also in philosophy, psychology, aesthetic , the fine arts and the broad principles  of the various sciences.

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