What is criticism? Detailed analysis

The article describes what criticism is, why it is needed, what it is and what it takes to become a critic.

Creativity and discussion

Even in ancient times, when our ancestors and people were not very similar, among them were those who were attracted to all the unusual and strange, for example, music and drawings. With rock art everything is clear, however, to this day they are not so many as we would like, but primitive musical instruments made a furor when they were found.

In fact, creativity with art is loved and recognized by all highly developed beings with a high (by the standards of the animal world) intelligence. For example, dolphins and elephants can draw, and the latter even recreate some pictures of their lives that they saw many years ago.

Art, as such, is closely connected with the development of society and generally the emergence of man as a person. It has long been proven that without it the normal development of civilization is impossible. And an integral part of art is his criticism. So what is criticism, what is it for and what is it? In this we will understand.

Definition

Among people there were always those who were attracted by art of any kind, and they were trying to create something special, unique, and later to share it with the rest. So there were wandering singers and poets, their legends were remembered and passed from mouth to mouth. It's the same with artists, writers and others. But any kind of activity of this kind can not be ideal. So, what is criticism? This discussion of the work as a result of which its assessment is made, strengths and weaknesses are revealed, the message that it carries, its perspectives and value for both contemporaries and descendants is considered.

In the process of criticism, the value of the work is also analyzed, if the subject of criticism is something other than a picture, poems or a song, then this phenomenon helps to find the right point of view, or the closest to it. So criticism can be applied not only in art. For example, scientific hypotheses and assumptions are necessarily criticized. So now we know what criticism is. But what kinds of it are there?

Good and bad

Roughly speaking, there is a good, - constructive, and bad criticism. In the first case, her judgments are based on an impartial analysis of the material, when a person, or a group of people, in the process of discussing a work of art, scientific theory and other things relies on facts, promises and actions, and not personal attitude to the author. Simply put, a good criticism is one that carries with it a constructive discussion, with errors, shortcomings and minuses, all of this, regardless of the personal relationship to the author or group of authors.

Well, if we talk about criticism bad, then everything is exactly the opposite - it does not carry anything sensible, the claims do not have a clear rationale, it strongly depends on the personal relationship to the author. By the way, bad criticism can be one that simply praises the work or something else, without justifying the positive assessment.

Meaning

What is the essence of criticism? Without discussion, evaluation and analysis, any creator, author or scientist can not adequately develop. Sooner or later he will either fall ill with delusions of grandeur, or, conversely, fall into disheartening due to the fact that no one even discusses the fruits of his labors.

In science, criticism is simply necessary, usually theories and hypotheses are developed further only if they stand up to the original constructive criticism.

History of criticism

Criticism as such has always existed, but probably the most famous one was in Ancient Greece and Rome, where there were many talented poets, sculptors, artists and scientists. But still it is worth remembering - sometimes criticism is harmful, especially if it is given by a person who absolutely does not understand anything in this matter. But is it true that before you start something or criticize someone, you need to understand the topic in detail?

Yes and no. On the one hand, a person does not have to be able to write poetry in order to evaluate someone's creation, the same with songs and other stories.

But on the other hand, if a person begins to criticize the technique of writing a painting, designing a building or the proportion of a sculpture, it is useful for him to get at least some ideas about these processes.

Criticism is always much easier than creating. And, by the way, very few people criticize, for example, the general theory of relativity of Einstein, or assumptions about the origin of the ancient hurricane on Jupiter, because for this you need to understand what you are talking about.

Some refer to the critics negatively, considering them just crooks who profit from other people's works, and such cases sometimes happen in fact. And some critics specifically provoke the authors for quarrels, fights and scandals.

So, now we know what criticism is, why it is needed, and what happens.