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new criticism

noun
  1. (often initial capital letters) an approach to the critical study of literature that concentrates on textual explication and rejects historical and biographical study as irrelevant to an understanding of the total formal organization of a work.
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Compare explication de texte.

Origin of new criticism

First recorded in 1940–45
Related formsnew critic, New Critic, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
British Dictionary definitions for new criticism

new criticism

noun
  1. an approach to literary criticism through close analysis of the text
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Derived Formsnew critic, nounnew critical, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012