韦勒克和沃伦的《文学理论》是在美国的社会和文学现实中时机对它业已成熟的时候问世的。此书仿佛给发展了三十年之久的美国文学学科的某种方向作了总结。那时,约·克·兰塞姆、艾弗·温戴斯R·P·布莱克默、肯·别克、阿伦·塔特、奥斯汀·沃伦等人都已著书立说。他们及其追随者的著作在问世的初期仅在一些狭窄的圈子里被人问津。只是到了四十年代初,随着对社会学派和文化历史派批评方法反响增长,新学派的种种原理才广为人知, Wellek and Warren’s “literary theory” came out at a time when it was ripe for the moment in the social and literary realities of the United States. The book seems to summarize a certain direction in American literature that has been developing for thirty years. At that time, there were books about Jouck Ransom, Iver Winters Rp Blackmach, Ken Buick, Alan Tate, and Austin Warren. The writings of them and their followers were only drawn to narrow circles in the early days of their appearance. It was only in the early 1940s that the principles of the New School were widely known as the method of criticism of sociological schools and cultural historians increased in response,