UGC NET English Paper 2 - 18th June 2024

# Q1 of 100

Who among the following was not associated with Cambridge School of Critics?

Options
A.

F.R. Leavis

B.

Q.D. Leavis

C.

William Empson

D.

Kenneth Burke

Show Answer
Correct Answer

Kenneth Burke

Solution

The correct option is Kenneth Burke.

To understand why this is the correct answer, let us look at the Cambridge School of English literary criticism and its key figures:
The Cambridge School of literary criticism emerged at the University of Cambridge during the 1920s and 1930s. It revolutionized the study of English literature by focusing closely on the text itself, pioneering techniques like "close reading" and "practical criticism."

Key associates of the Cambridge School include:
1. F.R. Leavis: One of the central figures of the Cambridge School, he founded the influential journal Scrutiny and championed a moral and serious approach to literary analysis.
2. Q.D. Leavis: A notable literary critic, author of Fiction and the Reading Public, and collaborator with her husband, F.R. Leavis, in shaping the school's critical direction.
3. William Empson: A student of I.A. Richards at Cambridge, he wrote the seminal work Seven Types of Ambiguity (1930), which is a cornerstone of close-reading methodology.

In contrast, Kenneth Burke was an influential American literary theorist, rhetorician, and philosopher. His work in dramatism, symbolic action, and rhetorical theory developed within the context of American literary criticism (often associated with or running parallel to the New Criticism movement in the United States), rather than the British Cambridge School of Critics. Therefore, he was not associated with the Cambridge School of Critics.

Want to study from this teacher?

Questions