On the Poverty of Literary Darwinism

46 Pages Posted: 18 Sep 2015

Date Written: September 18, 2015

Abstract

The central thesis of literary Darwinism is that literary culture is best considered as a biologically adaptive human capacity. Consequently, evolutionary psychology is the central psychology tool kit to be employed in examining literary phenomena. In practice, this has resulted in some interesting theoretical statements, some quite sophisticated. But it has also given us practical criticism that is rather pedestrian. This document has been compiled of six different articles written over a period of years, including one extensive formal essay-review, and a variety of shorter pieces.

Keywords: literary criticism, literary Darwinism, humanities, method, evolutionary psychology

Suggested Citation

Benzon, William L., On the Poverty of Literary Darwinism (September 18, 2015). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2662516 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2662516

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