The Languages of Criticism and the Structure of Poetry

work by Crane

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June 30, 2026

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R.S. Crane's The Languages of Criticism and the Structure of Poetry (1953) is a foundational text for the Neo-Aristotelian Chicago school of literary criticism. Crane advocated for a pluralistic approach, valuing diverse critical perspectives even when they contradicted each other. He argued that the humanities could analyze various fields, including science and psychology, by examining their histories, languages, and philosophical underpinnings. This work provided the theoretical basis for the Chicago critics and stood in contrast to New Criticism, which focused solely on the intrinsic value of a literary work and close textual analysis.12

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R.S. Crane
His landmark book, The Languages of Criticism and the Structure of Poetry (1953), formed the theoretical basis of the group. Although Crane was an outspoken opponent of the New Criticism, he argued persuasively for a pluralism that values separate, even contradictory, critical schools.
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His landmark book, The Languages of Criticism and the Structure of Poetry (1953), formed the theoretical basis of the group. Although Crane was an outspoken opponent of the New Criticism, he argued persuasively for a pluralism that values separate, even contradictory, critical schools.
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Chicago critics
…be found in Crane’s study The Languages of Criticism and the Structure of Poetry (1953). Wayne C. Booth, one of the second-generation Chicago critics, applied the group’s principles to fiction in The Rhetoric of Fiction (1961) and expanded its theories in later works, moving from poetics to rhetoric.
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…be found in Crane’s study The Languages of Criticism and the Structure of Poetry (1953). Wayne C. Booth, one of the second-generation Chicago critics, applied the group’s principles to fiction in The Rhetoric of Fiction (1961) and expanded its theories in later works, moving from poetics to rhetoric.
Read More