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Definitional Contemplations about Practical Criticism

The most defining explanation about what I. A. Richards Practical Criticism is that it
is the reader-response theory. In this sense, the reader will respond to the existence of a text
by making analytical clarifications about its themes and stylistic contents. It is a reader-
response postulation in that it encourages readers to contribute to the understanding of texts
through their diverse critical inputs.
Practical Criticism is also concerned with not just the readers’ response but with the
contention that the reader’s response is derived from experience. This issue of experience
immediately foregrounds the diversity in interpretations as readers are wont to interpret texts
from their divergent or, in some cases, similar and near similar experiential backgrounds.
The subject of valuation is in respect of I. A. Richards’ argument that, identifying the
goodness or badness of the critical assignment is important for a meaningful appreciation of
the text. This value precondition for discerning the merit of an analysis is dependent on the
quality of the analytical tools that have been used.
The mental situation or condition of the reader is vital in analysing a text. This issue
of mental condition is ambivalent because in one breadth Richards posits that the mental
condition of the critic should parallel that of the author for there to be a just analysis.
However, another aspect of the mental condition of the reader reveals the wider analytical
dimensions of a text as different mental situations that exist in readers may produce different
interpretations of the text.

Practical/ Practice
The modifier ‘practical’ in Practical Criticism emphasises the immediacy of the individual’s
knowledge of criticism in the appreciation of a text. The emphasis on immediacy is
countenanced by the suggestion that the reader’s response must be influenced by the
particular reader’s experience. By inference, the experience garnered is a function of practice,
and this practice is based on repeated reading, from which experience is derived. It has to be
asserted that this attention and priority on immediacy concerns the individualistic conclusions
of readers, which are always subjective.
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Philosophy of Practical Criticism

Practical Criticism is philosophically conceived to broaden interpretations in

literature. This emphasis on interpretation is derived from understanding and creating a
bridge between the personal meanings of the poet or author and that of the critic, which are in
many cases different. Due to the myriad of meanings that attend critical perspectives, I. A.
Richards’ Practical Criticism is developed to enhance the creative and realistic thoughts of
the reader about the literary text.

Reasons for the Emergence of Practical Criticism

In the light of the philosophical mission of Practical Criticism, some reasons for its
emergence are palpable.
In the first place, Practical Criticism makes its appearance so as to make the critical
concern more deeply appreciated because of its indirect insistence on subjecting the literary
text to an omnibus, encyclopaedic or wide appreciatory reasoning.
Secondly, the theoretical construct takes the interpretative power away from the
dictatorial grip of the writer, thereby giving the text diverse meanings.
In addition, readers are allowed to address the issue of meanings in the text without
relying on the private meanings of the owner of the text.
Another reason for the emergence of Practical Criticism is the fact that the influence
of the reader in the critical process will obviously deepen and widen interpretative
possibilities in the text.
Furthermore, due to the interpretative possibilities, the creative reasoning of authors is
likely to be more energized as to create their works with a high concern for a wide range of
philosophical approaches to understanding texts.
It can also be deciphered that interpretative tedium, dullness, or monotony is
discouraged due to the liveliness that materializes from diverse interpretations.
Another good reason for the emergence of Practical Criticism is that of the need to
have the creativity of the writer joined with that of the reader for a greater development of the
literary enterprise.
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Distinctive Features of Practical Criticism

1. Reader’s Experience as the Foundation of Practical Criticism
Because of the reader’s experience, I. A. Richards’ Practical Criticism is the foundation of
what was later developed in the 1960s and 1970s as Reader-Response Theory or Reader-
Response Criticism. Apparently, the reader’s reading is influenced by as many factors as
there are experiences. These factors are psychological, social, political, economic, historical,
theoretical, and even mental, most of which are individualistic. Arguably then, a distinctive
feature of I. A. Richards’ Practical Criticism is the reader’s experience, as defined by the
factors earlier pointed out.

Meaning in and for Rhetoric

I. A. Richards’ concern with meaning is a matter of obsession, because of the place of
meaning in reading, making him to advance the argument that “[…] The original difficulty of
all reading, [is] the problem of making out the meaning”. He cannot be more correct since the
struggle with meaning is fundamental to a clear-sighted appreciation of a text. Being very
clear about the importance of meaning in literary criticism, he puts it more distinctly that
“[…] The all-important fact for the study of literature–or any other mode of communication–
is that there are several kinds of meaning. […] Whether we are active, as in speech or writing,
or passive, as readers or listeners, the Total Meaning we are engaged with is, almost always, a
blend, a combination of several contributory meanings of different types”

Mental Conditions of the Reader and the Author

One has to spare some thoughts for the ‘mental condition’ of the reader in Practical criticism
so as to put in perspective the reader-author relationship in criticism. This relationship is very
instructive in understanding what Practical Criticism really entails. A deep reading of
Practical Criticism would reveal that Richards treats the text simply as a transparent medium,
a mere vehicle for conveying the experience of the author to the reader in the sense that “the
right kind of reader is the one who manages to recreate in himself more or less completely the
collection of impulses which the poet expressed in the poem or, more exactly, the ‘relevant
experience of the poet when contemplating the completed composition.
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Valuation as Moral-Critical Essence in Practical Criticism

I. A. Richards does not leave out the value paradigm in expounding the tenets of Practical
Criticism. He is convinced that “There is […] a valuation side to criticism” (Richards, 1964,
p. 11). To him, “[…] the one and only goal of all critical endeavours, of all interpretation,
appreciation, exhortation, praise or abuse, is improvement in communication” (11). To
Richards, the experience of reading, or the mental condition that is relevant to undertaking an
analytical assignment, is incomplete without determining if the criticism is good or bad.

Practical Criticism as a Manifestation of Expressive Criticism and

Objective Criticism
An amazing observation about Practical Criticism is its occupying the interspace
(space between things) between Expressive Criticism and Objective Criticism. What is
Expressive Criticism? Expressive Criticism treats a literary work primarily in relation to the
author. Critical appreciation of the text in this reasoning is built on the imagination,
perceptions and feelings of the poet, novelist or playwright. In fact, Expressive Criticism is
akin to committing the error called ‘intentional fallacy’ in criticism. The intentional fallacy is
the error of interpreting or evaluating a work by reference to the intention, the conscious
design or aim, of the author who wrote the work.. Expressive Criticism is the expectation of I.
A. Richards in Practical Criticism when he says that the mental condition of the reader will
have to parallel that of the author for the reader to have the right mental condition, which he
(thinking in the context of his critical epoch) erroneously believes may be difficult to achieve
but which has been proven otherwise in advanced critical perspectives in the contemporary
epoch, after all, a deep reading of a work will reveal the writer’s mental condition through
especially the use of language, moral arguments and philosophical pronouncements about the
subject at issue in the work.

Then, what is Objective Criticism? Objective Criticism, as the name seems to imply,
pursues critical analysis from the ‘objective’ point of view. In this view of objectivity, the
text is treated not from the feelings of the author, but as a self-sufficient material, from which
meanings can be derived, without any advertence to the owner of the text. The ‘objectivity’
lies in primarily keeping the interpretative sentiments of the author out of the analysis,
making the text the sole object of analysis.
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The issue now is, the role of Practical Criticism as the expression of the reader’s response,
from the reader’s experience in respect of these two critical perspectives. Since the reader’s
response is from experience, one cannot rule out the reader’s response emanating from the
creed of both Expressive Criticism and Objective Criticism. Depending on the experience of
the critic, which may have come from a knowledge of the writer’s feelings (Expressive
Criticism) or from his/her own experience from critiquing texts as self-sufficient objects of
study, without regard to the author’s critical views which may have arisen or originated from
the author’s background. Therefore, based on the reader’s response as a product of
experience, which is the basis of Practical criticism, there may be a confluence of the
assumptions of both Expressive Criticism and Objective Criticism as results of hermeneutical
reasoning in an analysed text.

On the whole, Practical Criticism empowers the critic to do criticism from any
perspective, be it mimetic, pragmatic, expressive, objective, etc.

What is Mimetic Criticism: It regards the literary work as an imitation, or a reflection of the
world, the human world in particular. It is a process of mimicry or imitation that writers
embark on towards interpreting issues. Importantly, mimetic criticism is about intertextual
criticism between texts.

Types of Intertextuality (Types of Mimetic Associations)

Allusion. An oblique or subtle reference to a text.

Parody. An imitation for satirical effect.

Quotation

Pastiche. A work of artistic representation that imitates another work from any perspective.

Retelling. Telling a story again but usually in a different manner. Anxiety of influence by T.
S. Eliot.

Homage. A work created to honour a person or a thing. Elegy, dirge, etc.

Allegory. An artistic work with a person, event, or place that can be literarily considered to
have a hidden meaning with political or moral importance.

Adaptation. A play, TV drama and stage play that has been adapted from a written work.
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Referential. The use of fragments in texts. It can be implicit, through ideas, symbols, style,
and genre. It can be explicit, through direct quotations and references.

Typological. Use of patterns and structure. (plot types, organization of characters and themes,
mode of narration, etc)

Translation. Converting the meaning of a written message (text) from one language to
another.

Calque. Directly translated words.

Plagiarism. Appropriating someone’s work without acknowledging the fact that you have
done so. It has criminal and legal implications.

Note 2

Practical Criticism (ENG 126)

You have to bear in mind that this aspect of the course is about mimetic criticism, and
mimetic criticism is all about mirroring or imitating reality in any of its different forms. The
most apparent means through which reality is imitated in literature is, as a reminder,
intertextuality.

Again, what is intertextuality? Intertextuality has many meanings. One, it is the relationship
between texts.

In this meaning, a critic will compare and contrast literary works. In many cases, one work
copies another work. In some cases, one may not even be sure of which work copied the
other. What is important is that some similarities and some divergences can be identified, and
that process of identification is called intertextual analysis. The work being copied is called
the hypotext or intertext.

For the purpose of clarity, the hypotext or intertext also must have copied earlier works
before it. Therefore, there may not be certainty about the original owner of an idea. What is
certain, however, is that the society is the source of all ideas, and copying ideas from the
society itself is intertextuality, because the society is also a ‘text’ in this regard.

The copying work is called the hypertext.

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In this case, it will be shown that one text is likely to have imitated another work in one way
or another, either through themes and elements of style (language, characterization, setting,
point-of-view, mode of narration, flashback, etc.).

Two, Intertextuality explains that no author has a monopoly of ideas.

Three, intertextuality is not just about copying texts, it is also about copying cultural realities
from cultural contexts. That is, writers take ideas from cultures that are theirs and other
people’s cultures.

In fact, intertextuality simply means copying and imitating in any form, which means that the
act of intertextuality starts with the first alphabet being written in a text; after all, every word
in a text is being copied from earlier contextual and textual cultures of writing.

Therefore, two pairs of texts shall be used to elucidate the relationship between texts. That is,
two pairs of texts will be discussed to explain intertextuality as a form of mimetic criticism,
as a process of imitating or copying, or mirroring reality.

The first pair of works that will be treated are Gabriel Okara’s “Piano and Drums” and David
Diop’s “The Vultures”.

The second pair is Wole Soyinka’s “Abiku” and John Pepper Clark’s “Abiku”

You have to note that two works that have no similarities can still be compared through the
norms of intertextuality. This is because comparing two literary works, whether they are
similar or different in terms of ideas, is an instance of intertextual criticism.

In addition, two or more works by the same author can also be compared because, though
they could have been written by the same author, there would be differences in the themes
literary aesthetics (language, plot construction (if there is any, because plotting is not a divine
character of most poems), characterization, mode of narration, point-of-view, et. al.)
deployed.

Themes in Gabriel Okara’s “Piano and Drums”

Gabriel Okara’s “Piano and Drums” is about the history of colonialism. Because of
this, feelings of cultural deprivation and identity construction and destruction are thematic in
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the poem. The anger of Africans against colonial humiliation of African culture must have
inspired the poem. Therefore, the themes of the poem concern cultural independence,
rejection of colonial bias, and the search for identity in all its ramifications.

Okara is sensitive to the devaluating impact of the European technological culture on the
traditional African cultural way of life. He is, therefore, like the ordinary African, grappling
with the confusion introduced by the meeting of the African values with those of Europe.

He is nostalgic about the simplicity and mysticism that attended the African life, but at the
same time not dismissive of the realist and technological culture of Europe, which is equally
beneficial, despite its complex character or disposition.

Specifically, the notable theme of the poem is the contrast between the simple, pastoral life of
the African and the complex technology-driven existence of Europe or the West. “The jungle
drums” (the African culture) and the “wailing piano” (the Western culture) symbolize this
Africa-West divide.

Another theme, very related to the first, is clash of cultures, the African and European
cultures. The clash is between the jungle drums and the wailing piano.

Another related theme is the confusion that is generated in Africans’ attempt to live with two
contradictory cultures. The confusion is explained in the last stanza as the African is in a
quandary as to following the mystic rhythms of jungle drums or the Western tear-furrowed
concerto.

All the themes above emphasize the quest for cultural identity.

The themes are based on the intervention of the European colonial masters in the living of the
African.

Elements of Style in Gabriel Okara’s “Piano and Drums”

The use of symbolism is most apparent in this regard. This use of symbolism is a device
to develop the theme of culture conflict and contrasts between the African and European
cultures, the drum and the piano respectively.
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Language-wise, the register of music is used to highlight the contrasting natures of the
two conflicting cultures. The language reinforces the symbolism. The language used to
describe the two cultural phenomena also reveals the difference between the two cultures.

Some figures of speech accentuate the cultural disparity in the juxtaposition of the drum
and the piano. Personification particularly comes to mind in the ‘speaking’, and
‘telegraphing’ actions of the drum and the wailing and speaking of the piano.

The poet persona is nostalgic about the history of Africans in their contact with the
colonial regime. Therefore, the flashback device functions to inspire emotions about that
period in the life of the African. The poet persona suddenly finds himself in his mother’s laps,
as a kid. His passions about events of the past are ignited, which are the evidence of
flashback in the poem.

The protest culture is strong in African poetry as established in Gabriel Okara’s “Piano

and Drums”.

Intertextuality: “Piano and Drums” and “The Vultures”

As earlier informed, David Diop’s “The Vultures” will be the poem with which Okara’s

“Piano and Drums” will be compared so as to understand the process of intertextuality.

Remember, intertextuality is the image of mimetic criticism, as it projects how reality of any

sort is imitated in any manner.

You may ask the question: why should David Diop’s “The Vultures” be paired with Gabriel

Okara’s “Piano and Drums” to explain intertextuality as a form of mimetic criticism?

The answer is very simple.

Both poems describe the African contact with colonialism.

Second, both poems portray the denigration of the African culture by the colonial master.
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Third, both poems remind one about the history of the African society.

Because of these similarities, the two poems can be candidates for intertextual or mimetic

criticism. The first question is: which is the hypotext or intertext (the earlier text), and which

is the hypertext (the one that was published later).

This is because in intertextual criticism, the poem that is published first is deemed to be the

paternal work, and so the one that is published later is judged to have copied from the earlier

one.

From the publication of poetic anthologies in which the two poems appeared, it may not be

improbable that David Diop’s “The Vultures” was published before Gabriel Okara’s “Piano

and Drums”; however, this statement may not be absolutely true as the dates of publication of

the poems could not be found. If (and that is IF) it is agreed that David Diop’s “The

Vultures” was published before Gabriel Okara’s “Piano and Drums”, it may be argued that

“The Vultures” is the hypotext (imitated text), and “Piano and Drums” is the hypertext

(imitating text).

Nonetheless, it is clear that besides the idea of colonialism, the conceptualizations are

different in terms of literary aesthetics.

That said, intertextuality can still be done without reference to time of publication. All the

critic should do is to compare the works from all critical perspectives.

In comparing Gabriel Okara’s “Piano and Drums” and David Diop’s “The Vultures”, you

will critique the themes, which has been indirectly done at the start of this comparison, which

is about contact with colonialism.

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In doing this, you have to make reference to the issues of (quoting or paraphrasing)

colonialism in both poems, especially concerning cultural perspectives, suffering in the hands

of the colonial masters, and other forms of oppression.

Secondly, you have to compare the setting, how language is used, referring to imagery, use of

repetition, figures of speech, and plot (if there is any discernible plot arrangement, which is

rare in poetry.)

Themes in Wole Soyinka’s “Abiku”

Wole Soyinka’s “Abiku” is a mythic construction of the Abiku belief in the Yoruba
culture. The poem describes the spirituality involved in the Abiku story of reincarnation. The
Abiku is a Yoruba traditional conviction about the process of reincarnation as a realistic part
of the human ontology (nature of being).

The poem is, therefore, an insight into the thinking of the mythical Abiku child in its
response to the sad tales of misery from its parents.

Against the background of this preface, the first theme in Soyinka’s “Abiku” is the
psychological penetration of the Abiku personality. This psychological probing into the
Abiku child’s thinking is an understanding of the child’s responses to the culture-induced
actions to make the child end its ceaseless stubbornness that manifests in cruel goings and
comings, and stay.

The second theme is the myth-inspired obduracy and implacability (refusing to be appeased)
of the Abiku child.

It is incontestable that the contention that the main thematic notion in this poem is the
stubborn refusal of the Abiku child to yield to the pleas of its parents to stay in the corporeal
(physical) world.

All the stanzas of the poem are filled with evident self-adulatory and stinging, caustic and
sarcastic arguments about the power of the spirit child to bring to naught all attempts to make
it stay, all an evidence of the implacable posture of the spirit child.
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ELEMENTS OF STYLE
The poet uses language to reveal the psychological brutality, audacity, and

stubbornness of the Abiku subject. The poet makes the child to express itself in the boastful

linguistic creed, expressing itself virulently through the first person point-of-view, the

rhetorical question, self-panegyrizing, paradox of futility, metaphors, images of futility,

images of dread, images of sadomasochism (deriving joy from inflicting pain on somebody),

destructive ambivalence, assertive argumentations, and the imagery of repetitive

stubbornness.

Intertextuality: Soyinka’s “Abiku” and Clark’s “Abikus”

John Pepper Clark’s “Abiku” is the poem with which Wole Soyink’s “Abiku” will be

compared because of similarities in respect of cultural leaning, as both of them portray the

responses of the Abiku child to entreaties from the parents to live and stay in this physical

world. Both poems glorify the Negritudist ideology of glorifying African culture.

The differences in the two poems can be identified in the way the two poets portray the

response of the spirit child. While Clark’s Abiku child is being pleaded with to stay so as to

wipe out the tears of its suffering parents, Soyinka’s Abiku child is boasting that it would not

stay, no matter what is done by the parents to the contrary.

Other areas of comparison are setting, language (imagery (sadness, brutality, pain, pity,

arrogance, repetitive suffering, poverty, destructiveness, the sepulcher, dryness, healthiness,

wicked oscillation and ambiguousness, etc), figures of speech), symbolism, simplicity and

complexity of imagery, etc.