Critical Reading에 대한 고찰 = An Approach to A Critical Reading

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

In a period of rapid cultural change, an effective approach to a critical reading is inevitable. As language is the medium of writers and reading is fundamentally a kind of language process, we have to know the chracteristics of language and two contents of language(denotation & connotation) and change of meaning, etc.
The critical analysis of a work of art, of its style, tone and diction, its metaphore and symbois, its characters, event, settings, motivation, empathy, theme, etc. must not be conceived as a purely ‘objective ’neutral process divorced from value judgment.
Literary theory is, of course, not science in the sense of natural science. Everyone is different from others in point of view, growing process, set of values, environment, degree of understanding etc. These individual differences make it obvious that everyone reads a different book, although its title and author be identical. He brings an individual critical or appreciative intelligence to the denotations and connotations of the writer's
language.
But in this thesis I tried to suggest some critical reader's checklists beyond the merely personal, emotional reaction. Also 1 have to add that I was much obliged to Alexander Scharbache's theoretical background
A critical reader's check list for Nonfiction
1, What is the structural organization of the book?
2, What is the author's thesis or purpose?
3, What are the sources drawn on for the book?
4, What is the author's tone?
5, What is his style?
6, What is the book worth?
A critical reader's check list for Novels
1, Who are the main chracters?
2, What is the milieu?
3, What is the design of the action?
4, What is the theme(or themes)?
5, Who is the narrator(or narrators)?
6, What are the tone, the style?
7, What type of novel is it?
8, Did you enjoy reading it?
etc.
But they are valueless with only the above details. The detail always functions in a whole whose very nature is value. The work of art is a structure of value, and the value has to be discerned by the critics or good critical readers.
Analysis, interpretation, evaluation are interconnected stages of a single procedure.
Evaluation grows out of understanding. Correct evaluation out of correct understanding.
What is correct interpretation of a specific work of art will, of course, be often a matter of dispute, but it seems impossible to deny that there is this problem of ‘correctness ’or ‘adequacy ’of interpretation, of a hierarchy of view points.
There will always be a danger, however, that four blindmen misjudge the whole
elephant after touching the trunk, the tusk, the tail, or the foot of it alone. The only answer is precisely history and the lesson which grows out of it: a body of doctrines and insights, judgments and theories which are the accumulated wisdom of mankind.
History and theory explain and implicate each other; there is a profound unity of fact and idea, past and present.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• Ⅰ. Introduction
• Ⅱ. Chracteristics of Language
• Ⅲ. Semantics & Meaning
• (A) Denotation
• (B) Connotation and Diction
• (C) Change of Meaning
• Ⅳ. Style, Tone and the Sentence
• (A) Concept of Style
• (B) Stylistics
• (C) Suggestions for a Method of Appraising a Style
• Ⅴ. How to Read a Book
• (A) Non-fiction
• (B) Fiction
• Ⅵ. Conclusion and some Suggestions