- Person
- Joel Spingarn
- Lived
- 1875–1939
- Field
- Civil rights & criticism
- From
- American
The story
By 1910 Joel Spingarn was head of Columbia University's Department of Comparative Literature and one of America's foremost literary scholars, known for his 1899 study A History of Literary Criticism in the Renaissance. Much American criticism of the time judged books by rules: whether they fitted a genre, treated a worthy theme or reflected their historical setting. Spingarn thought this missed the point of art.
On March 9, 1910, Joel Spingarn gave a lecture at Columbia University titled The New Criticism, published the following year. He delivered it in the same year he became head of the department, shortly before the dispute with Columbia's president that ended his academic career. In it he argued against judging literature by traditional categories such as genre, theme and historical setting, and in favor of viewing each work of art afresh and on its own terms.
EBSCO's biography explains that the essay combined Matthew Arnold's practical humanism, Walter Pater's aestheticism and Benedetto Croce's theories of expression, in an effort to place the work of art beyond the reach of partisan ideologies. Croce, the Italian philosopher, deeply influenced Spingarn's thinking. The Jewish Virtual Library describes Spingarn as a leading exponent of the New Criticism.
He continued to develop these ideas after leaving Columbia, in books including Creative Criticism (1917), Scholarship and Criticism in the United States (1922) and Creative Criticism and Other Essays (1931). He also edited Goethe's Literary Essays (1921) and contributed to the 1924 collection Criticism in America, its Functions and Status. He published poetry of his own, including The New Hesperides (1911), Poems (1924) and Poetry and Religion (1924). The Italian translation of his first book had appeared with a preface by Croce, with whom he had corresponded since 1899; their letters were published in Naples in 2001.
His insistence that the work itself should come first, rather than the rules it was expected to follow, encouraged readers and critics to approach each poem, novel or play with fresh eyes.
Why it matters
Spingarn's call to meet each work of art on its own terms influenced how generations of critics and teachers approached literature.
About Joel Spingarn
Literary scholar who became one of the NAACP’s first Jewish leaders, its chairman, treasurer and second president, and founder of the Spingarn Medal for African American achievement.
More about Joel Spingarn
- Joel Spingarn helped found Harcourt, Brace and CompanyIn 1919 Joel Spingarn helped found the publishing house Harcourt, Brace and Company, served as its literary adviser and edited its 25-volume European Library.
- Joel Spingarn gave $100 to defend a tortured farmerIn 1910 Joel Spingarn read of a Black tenant farmer in Arkansas tortured to force a confession, gave $100 to his defense fund, and soon joined the NAACP.
- Joel Spingarn led the NAACP and created the Spingarn MedalJoel Spingarn, a Jewish literary scholar, led the NAACP for decades and in 1914 created the Spingarn Medal for Black achievement, still awarded today.
- Joel Spingarn launched the New Abolition campaignIn 1913 Joel Spingarn began a campaign he called the New Abolition, reviving the spirit of the abolitionists and spreading the NAACP to new cities.
- Joel Spingarn lost his job defending a colleagueIn 1910 Joel Spingarn offered a faculty resolution supporting a Columbia professor summarily dismissed by the university's president, and was himself dismissed weeks later.
- Joel Spingarn helped win a suit against a segregated theaterIn 1911 Joel Spingarn accompanied Black men to a New York theater that refused them tickets, then helped the NAACP's Vigilance Committee win a lawsuit against the management.
- Joel Spingarn outfitted Howard students who enlistedDuring World War I Joel Spingarn trained as an officer, served as a major and donated uniforms for one hundred Howard University students who enlisted.
Sources
- Joel Elias Spingarn Wikipedia
- Joel Spingarn Jewish Virtual Library
- Joel Elias Spingarn EBSCO Research Starters
Another act of tikkun olam. This is part of tikkun olam, the Jewish idea of repairing the world, and every one of us can add to it.