The issue regarding the
intention of the artist has been taken up by the critics down the ages. A group
of critics are of the view that an artist has a definite intention that is the
device through which he gives vent to his inspiration and to the message that
he wants to put forth. The Artistic Intention has often been explained with
regard to the romantic writers. The poets of romantic age were extremely
egoistical and highly subjective personals. Their artistic creation is a
reflection on their egotism. In reading poets like William Wordsworth,
Coleridge, Byron and Shelley we get an ample evidence of their intentions.
Sometimes, however with
regard to John Keats the artistic intention cannot be easily explored. In fact,
the negative capability in Keats and Shakespeare’s writings come on the way of
making any inference about their intentions.
In the twentieth
century, the critics have opined that art is not an expression of self; it is
an escape from self. Thus, an artist in writing stays clear of the pressure of
the own self. His writing should depict the reality and not his emotions.
Wordsworth and Byron in the essay International Fallacy has opined,
None can attempt to know that intention
of a writer can mislead a reader.
They call attention to
the International Fallacy that one might commit in the course of such an
effort. International Fallacy identifies what is held to be the error of
interpreting or evaluating a work by reference to the intention, the design and
plan of the author in writing the work. The intention of the author is
irrelevant because the meaning and value resides in the actual text.
Any reference to the
author’s aroused or suppressed purpose and general state of mind is in fact
misleading, for it distracts us from the text to external matters about the
author’s biography and his psychological condition or creative process which we
tend to substitute for the internal constitution.
Therefore, the concept
of artistic intention is widely adopted by modern exponents of objective
criticism.
Comments
Post a Comment