Reason and Imagination in Enlightenment and Romantic Literary Theory
This concept surveys literary theory from the Enlightenment through Romanticism, centered on the tension between reason (empirical, critical, universalizing) and imagination (subjective, creative, integrative) as competing bases for aesthetic judgment and literature's social purpose. It belongs to the field of literary criticism and theory, tracing how thinkers construct and contest standards of taste, beauty, the sublime, and artistic value, and how these aesthetic frameworks intersect with ethics, politics, and claims to universality.
Reason and Imagination in Enlightenment and Romantic Literary Theory
This concept surveys literary theory from the Enlightenment through Romanticism, centered on the tension between reason (empirical, critical, universalizing) and imagination (subjective, creative, in…