20世纪下半叶,随着文学理论在美国大学的兴起,文学研究逐步走向科学化,从前的杂志编辑、专栏作家纷纷遁入校园,成了大学里的学术权威,文学评论的社会影响力锐减。以艾尔弗雷德·卡津为首的一些美国批评家反对文学研究的理论化潮流,他们强调文学批评应当发掘文学之美,应当正视社会现实、尊重传统道德。卡津认为文学批评是思想争鸣的体现,概念与术语的使用主要为思想服务,反之则为舍本求末之举。其次,文学研究的重要任务是以审美的方式揭示社会现实,不应只在逻辑与推理中打转。应以“文学性”为中心,结合艺术直觉、历史意识和传统道德,多维度、宽视角的立体投射,研究文学作品。卡津还通过考察美国人“自我意识”的流变,指出当代美国文化最突出的问题就是自我膨胀、缺乏信仰。卡津的批评观最重要的特点就是以理解人为目的,通过批评家的感悟与彼此交流,力求探索人的自由的可能性与社会现实之间的张力。 In the second half of the 20th century, with the rise of literary theory in American universities, literary studies gradually became scientific. Former magazine editors and columnists fled to campus, becoming the academic authority in universities and the social influence of literary commentary Less. Some American critics, led by Alfred Kacin, oppose the theorized trend of literary studies. They emphasize that literary criticism should explore the beauty of literature and should address social reality and respect traditional morality. Kachen believes that literary criticism is the reflection of ideological contention. The use of concepts and terminology mainly serves for ideological thinking, whereas conversely it is the act of seeking the end. Second, the important task of literary research is to unveil the social reality in an aesthetic way and should not just turn around logic and reasoning. The literary works should be researched centering on “literary ” and combined with the stereoscopic projection of artistic intuition, historical awareness and traditional morality, multi-dimensional and wide-angle of view. Kaczin also pointed out that the most prominent problem of contemporary American culture is its self-expansion and lack of faith by examining the evolution of American “self-awareness.” The most important feature of Kaczin’s critical view is that it tries to understand the man-made purpose and explore the tensions between the possibility of human freedom and social reality through the sentiment of critics and exchanges with each other.