Stanley Edgar Hyman

Stanley Edgar Hyman

Stanley Edgar Hyman (1919–1970) was a literary critic who wrote primarily about critical methods: the distinct strategies critics use in approaching literary texts. Though most likely to be remembered today as the husband of writer Shirley Jackson, he was influential for the development of literary theory in the 1940s and '50s. Equally skeptical of every major critical methodology of his time, he worked out an early instance of a critical theory, exploring ways that critics can be foiled by their own methods. "Each critic," Hyman wrote in "The Armed Vision", "tends to have a master metaphor or series of metaphors in terms of which he sees the critical function. . . this metaphor then shapes, informs, and sometimes limits his work." Hyman saw it as his own critical task to point out these overriding themes by which, tacitly, other critics organized their work and their thinking.

Hyman graduated from Syracuse University, where he met Jackson. He was a staff writer for The New Yorker for much of his life, and taught at Bennington College in Bennington, Vermont. After Jackson's death in 1965 (both she and Hyman died relatively young), he married Phoebe Pettingell, who later edited a posthumous volume of his work.

Books

*"The Armed Vision: A Study in the Methods of Modern Literary Criticism." New York: Knopf, 1955.
*"Poetry and Criticism: Four Revolutions in Literary Taste." New York: Atheneum, 1961.
*"The Tangled Bank: Darwin, Marx, Frazer and Freud as Imaginative Writers." New York: Atheneum, 1962.
*"The Critic's Credentials: Essays and Reviews." Ed. Phoebe Pettingell. New York: Atheneum, 1978.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Stanley Ralph Ross — Nacimiento 22 de julio de 1935 …   Wikipedia Español

  • Shirley Jackson — Infobox Writer name =Shirley Jackson |right|300px|thumb caption = birthdate = birth date|1916|12|14|df=y birthplace = San Francisco, California, United States1 deathdate = death date and age|1965|8|8|1916|12|14|df=y deathplace = Bennington,… …   Wikipedia

  • Myth and ritual — In traditional societies, myth and ritual are two central components of religious practice. Although myth and ritual are commonly united as parts of religion, the exact relationship between them has been a matter of controversy among scholars.… …   Wikipedia

  • McDowell, Malcolm — (1943– )    Malcolm McDowell was born in Leeds, England, in 1943. He worked as a waiter in his father’s pub and later became a regional salesman for a coffee firm in Yorkshire. McDowell enrolled in an acting class, with a view to liberating… …   The Encyclopedia of Stanley Kubrick

  • List of atheists (authors) — Authors * Douglas Adams (1952 ndash;2001): British radio and television writer and novelist, author of The Hitchhiker s Guide to the Galaxy . [ I am a radical Atheist... Adams in an interview by American Atheists… …   Wikipedia

  • The Lottery — is a short story by Shirley Jackson, first published in the June 26, 1948 issue of The New Yorker . [cite news | author=Shirley Jackson | title=Fiction: The Lottery (abstract of story) | url=http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1948/06/26/1948 06 26… …   Wikipedia

  • J. Dover Wilson — John Dover Wilson CH (13 July 1881 – 15 January 1969) was a professor and scholar of Renaissance drama, focusing particularly on the work of William Shakespeare. Born at Mortlake (then in Surrey, now in Greater London), he attended Lancing… …   Wikipedia

  • The Lottery and Other Stories — is a 1949 short story collection by American author Shirley Jackson. Published by Farrar, Straus, it includes The Lottery and 24 other stories. This was the only collection of her stories to appear during her lifetime.Jackson s original title for …   Wikipedia

  • List of Bennington College people — This is a list of famous people affiliated with Bennington College, including graduates, former students, and faculty.* Alan Arkin * Brooks Ashmanskas, Broadway performer, seven shows including Gypsy, The Producers, and Little Me * Larry Atlas,… …   Wikipedia

  • Life Among the Savages — is a collection of short stories edited into novel form, written by author Shirley Jackson. Originally these stories were published individually in women s magazines such as Good Housekeeping , Woman s Day , Mademoiselle , and others. Published… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”