Transition Of Formal Concept In Western Literary Criticism

"Form" was the basic concept on western literacy criticism. The understanding and interpretation of the formal concept in literary theory was directly related to the grasp of the overall concept of literature. To intuitively and systematically interpret the transition of formal concept in western literary criticism, the paper will conduct specific investigations on formal concepts in western literary criticism of each historical period through era segmentation, and make comprehensive and systematic classifications for the historical development of formal concepts.In general, the transition of formal concepts in western literary criticism was divided into four types:1. The essential form of artistic aesthetics and metaphysics. This form took emphasis on philosophy, and had its far-reaching influences on the aesthetic relations between readers and artistic works, such as mathematical form, rational form, priority form, etc.2. The form of permutation and combination for the components of internal factors in works. As one of the basic connotations for the "form", it has lasted two thousand years since ancient times.3. The form related to the content of works, such as artistic language, literary form,writing rule and stylistic pattern.4. The form of construction and ontology in modern works. For example, form was the deep-layer logic of content in works.Since ancient Greece, influenced by the social background, philosophical background and literary thought of different historical stages, the meanings of forms generated and implemented during each historical period were quite different. Someformal concepts have been applied since ancient times, while some prospered a short period of time and then disappeared. However, the forms of various historical periods are mainly included in the four types of formal concepts. And influenced by specific art development, various connotations of forms appeared in different times. So we can clearly classify the context for the generation and development of the four forms in different historical stages through era segmentation, which will greatly help us to understand the formal concepts in the western works of literature theory at different historical stages and learn the theories of western literature better.