The problem of belief – Literary Terms

The problem of belief, Literary Terms, short notes on The problem of belief

The problem of belief – Literary Terms

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The problem of belief:  

The question of to what degree a reader's response to a literary work is affected by that reader's belief or disbelief in the version of “truth" (doctrines, religious or philosophical assumptions) set forth in the work. Can a reader value a poem as a work of art if he or she finds the poem's implicit or explicit doctrine unacceptable? Or more generally, if literature presents statements of truth, what is the reader to make of two excellent works whose worldviews are mutually exclusive?

Traditionally, the relation between "the truth" expounded by the work and "the actual truth" as held by the reader was considered crucial to the reader's valuing of the work. During the twentieth century, however, this position has been attacked by critics, among them advocates of NEW CRITICISM, who hold that the AESTHETIC value of a work and the acceptability of its struth" are totally independent of each other.

See also:

AUTOTELIC,

NEW CRITICISM.