Rene wellek a r louch essay

A History of Modern Criticism, an ambitious, four-volume set, traces the history of literary theory from the mid-eighteenth century through the middle of the twentieth century. In this work Wellek displays his erudition by recounting and evaluating the views of numerous international critics.

René Wellek was born and raised in Vienna, speaking Czech and German. He studied literature at the Charles University in Prague, and was active among the Prague School linguists there, before moving to teach at School of Slavonic and East European Studies (now part of University College London) in 1935.

Wellek's reputation as an important critic is based largely on the theories propounded in his two most significant works: Theory of Literature, with Austin Warren (1949) and A History of Modern Criticism (1955, 1966). At the center of Wellek's theories lies a differentiation between an "intrinsic" and an "extrinsic" approach to critical analysis.

Word Count: 236 Austrian-born American critic and essayist. Wellek's reputation as an important critic is based largely on the theories propounded in his two most significant works: Theory of Literature, with Austin Warren (1949) and A History of Modern Criticism (1955, 1966).