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UGS 302: Modern Savages / Petrov

Find Reviews and Criticism (popular and scholalry)

Criticism and Reviews

You may benefit from searching the following:

Book Reviews: At the time of publication, and sometimes again if something is translated or re-printed, books are reviewed in magazines, newspapers and journals. Authors may be staff on a publication, another writer, or a scholar offering an opinion of a work at the time of its release.

Literary Criticism: Published in journals, criticism analyzes a work and its themes, questions, significance. Typically written by scholars, who may be professors or researchers at a university who have studied an author or a work in depth and for some time.

Film reviews vs. Film Criticism, Music reviews (of albums, performances) vs. Music history or theory

Q: But...they call the folks writing the reviews, critics...so, is it criticism? Is it scholarly?

A: Not typically! Take a look at this criteria:

Review Criticism
Usually written at the time a work was made Can be written at any time, but is usually written long after the fact when other sources can be contextualized into an analysis
Written by a journalist or publication staff or the publication invites a guest writer to review. Written by a scholar/academic who studies theory within the discipline
Plot summary, overall consideration of style, performances, direction and production May deal with a narrow aspect of the work, such as a scene/chapter/character or creative decision made by creator
Critiques the work from a cultural or entertainment perspective at the time the work was made, and often in relation to the creator's body of work Discusses the work in theoretical or historical context
Usually quite short (less than one page in a publication) Long, usually 10 or more pages in a journal

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