Cleanth Brooks and the Rise of Modern Criticism

by Mark Royden Winchell

An account of the influence of Cleanth Brooks, a literary critic, and a survey of literary criticism in 20th-century America. The book explains how Brooks helped to steer literacy study away from historical and philological scholarhips by emphasizing the text's autonomy.

Genres: Literary Criticism

538 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Mark Royden Winchell was a prolific biographer, historian, and literary critic who served as Professor of Literature and European Civilization at Clemson University. A Vanderbilt University alumnus, he was often characterized as a literary traditionalist and a political conservative of the "Old Right." Winchell’s extensive bibliography focuses on Southern culture and influential modern critics, with notable works including Cleanth Brooks and the Rise of Modern Criticism and Where No Flag Flies. His posthumous publications continue to explore the complex intersections of cultural politics and the American South.