Question

Arrange the following in chronological order: A. Poststructuralism, B. Romantic Criticism, C. Augustan Criticism, D. Classical Criticism.

• A. A, B, D, C
• B. B, D, A, C
• C. C, A, D, B
• D. D, C, B, A

Hint:

Chronology of criticism: Classical, Augustan, Romantic, then Poststructuralist.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is D

Step 1 : Understanding the Question:
This question asks us to arrange four major historical movements of literary criticism in chronological order from the earliest era to the most modern.

Step 2 : Key Formulas and Approach:
The approach involves identifying the specific century or historical epoch associated with Classical, Augustan, Romantic, and Poststructuralist criticism, and arranging them sequentially.

Step 3 : Detailed Explanation:

• Classical Criticism is the earliest movement, beginning in antiquity (fifth century BC to third century AD) with thinkers like Plato, Aristotle, Horace, and Longinus. This corresponds to D.

• Augustan Criticism emerged during the neoclassical period in the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, led by writers like Alexander Pope and Samuel Johnson who emphasized order, reason, and classical rules. This corresponds to C.

• Romantic Criticism emerged in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, championing imagination, emotional expression, and organic form over neoclassical rules, led by critics like Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Hazlitt. This corresponds to B.

• Poststructuralism is a mid-to-late twentieth-century critical movement that challenged structuralist ideas of stable meaning, led by theorists like Derrida, Foucault, and Barthes. This corresponds to A.

• The resulting sequence is: Classical Criticism (D) $\rightarrow$ Augustan Criticism (C) $\rightarrow$ Romantic Criticism (B) $\rightarrow$ Poststructuralism (A).

Step 4 : Final Answer:
The correct chronological order of the critical movements is D, C, B, A.
The correct option is (D) D, C, B, A.