Introduction to Ethical Literary Criticism

The title is a thorough introduction to ethical literary criticism, a critical methodology designed to interpret literature from the perspective of ethics, including a whole set of concepts, theories, and working mechanisms.

Drawing on ideas from both Western ethical criticism and the Chinese tradition of moral criticism, ethical literary criticism contrasts with the former in its occasional lack of a theoretical foundation and applicable methodologies and the latter that tends to make subjective moral judgments. Its most ground-breaking argument is that while natural selection answers how humans are different from animals physically, ethical selection endows human beings with reason and ethical consciousness. The ethical nature and edifying function of literature is therefore asserted, seeking to unfold in the literary text the ethical choices of human beings as a way to complete ethical selection in society within historical context. The arguments and theoretical toolbox inject a unique ethical dimension into literary criticism and help understand anew the ethical and social potency of literature.

The theoretical elucidation, exemplary textual analyses, and a supplement of key terminologies and ancillary materials make this book an essential guide for students and general readers interested in ethical literary criticism and scholars of literary criticism, ethical criticism, and literary theory.