Metacriticism: Relaunching the Journal’s Column

Abstract

The article examines the versatile depiction of problems by contemporary literary criticism and the diversity of its genres and styles. Given the current convergence of genres and their mutual penetration, there are several borderline traditions where contemporary critics find themselves working: one is memoirs, playing into the critics’ desire to feel involved in literary events and their itch to compare ‘what we have’ with ‘what once was’; another is the Facebook-inspired genre of ‘prompt response’; yet another comprises all kinds of reviews and ‘recommended reading lists’. It is hard to miss the fact that the very forms of critique have changed dramatically, and that critics are more than ever influenced by a whole number of extratextual factors, be it in prose, poetry, or during distribution of literary prizes. A need arises to take a close look at the achievements and prospects of literary criticism in the 2000s–2010s, and to come up with a new perspective for interpretation of modern critique: which is exactly the purpose of the new column Metacriticism in Voprosy Literatury, introduced by this article.