Chapter 1: Why Genre -- Chapter 2: A Literary Critical Tragedy: The Interpretive Turn In The Life Of Savage -- Chapter 3: Johnson On Metaphysical Poetry And Pastoral: Genre In Relation To Value Judgements And History -- Chapter 4: Genre Combination And Interpretation: Johnson On Paradise Lost -- Chapter 5: Genre And Periodization: Macro- And Micro-History In -- Chapter 6: The Rise Of Literary Criticism As A Genre -- Chapter 7: Life And Literature -- Chapter 8: Conclusion.

Open Access

This open access book seeks to explain how the literary commentary of the Lives of the Poets speaks to us today because of its ethical goals. Edward Tomarken elucidates this element of Johnson’s literary criticism by using Ralph Cohen’s genre method, the topic of Chapter One, “Why Genre”. Chapters two to five address the most prevalent genres of the Lives: tragedy, metaphysical poetry, the epic, the pastoral elegy, and the mock epic. Chapter six considers the rise of literary criticism as a genre. Chapter Seven demonstrates how ethical genre criticism relates literature to life. And the final chapter explains why, although Johnson considers ‘moral’ and ‘ethical’ as nearly interchangeable terms, Tomarken prefers ‘ethical’ because it relates genre criticism to present problems in literary and non-literary worlds.

Accessibility summary: This PDF does not fully comply with PDF/UA standards, but does feature limited screen reader support, bookmarks for easy navigation and searchable, selectable text. Users of assistive technologies may experience difficulty navigating or interpreting content in this document. We recognize the importance of accessibility, and we welcome queries about accessibility for any of our products. If you have a question or an access need, please get in touch with us at accessibilitysupport@springernature.com.

No reading system accessibility options actively disabled

Publisher contact for further accessibility information: accessibilitysupport@springernature.com