Classical and Medevial Literature Criticism
When Aristotle wrote Poetics in the fourth century BCE, he effectively created the field of literary criticism. With this work, Aristotle provided detailed descriptions of literary form and critiques of specific works of art. This essentially gave life to the concepts of mimesis and catharsis, which are still considered pillars within the field of literary studies today.
Later, the study of classical and medieval literature through critical responses expanded to works by writers of all sorts, including poets, playwrights, chroniclers, philosophers, religious figures, and writers from every region of the world. It includes ancient literary criticism, classical criticism, and medieval criticism, allowing for an enthralling introduction to the elements that make this field of study so fascinating and provocative.
Though often focused on religious texts, these later explorations of classical and medieval literature criticism typically focused on the hermeneutics and other religious aspects of writing when studying a secular text. This can be seen quite clearly in the prevailing literary traditions at work within Islamic, Jewish, and Christian literature.
