The Research On Leslie Fiedler’s Myth Criticism

[Abstract]:The American critic Leslie Fiedler is a considerably special scholar in the system of modern myth criticism. Leslie Fiedler adopts the theoretical meaning of term "Archetype" of Jung, while defining the matter that Archetype embodies in the work with the term "Signature". He points out that the ontological foundation of his myth criticism is the mythos that opposed logos, and the ultimate purpose of his myth criticism is to impel the masses to understand and express the intrinsic spiritual power of literature in their own ways so as to salvage the modern society that science and reason dominated. However, the practice of Fiedler’s myth criticism transcends his theoretical definition, extending the scope of his myth criticism to the research in the intrinsic spirit of literature-related realm which has four aspects including the image and the type in literary work, the writer and the literary tradition, the creative mentality and the cultural essence, the criticism of criticism and the transform of era. Although Fiedler’s myth criticism has profound contradiction between theory and practice so that he cannot provide an objective critical standard having extensive and deep explaining function, he still provides a concise and sincere critical way for the contemporary society when the literary theories and criticisms become more and more recondite. Therefore Leslie Fiedler makes his distinctive contribution in the system of modern myth criticism.