theoryofliteratu00inwell

262 Theory of Literature
(which in its Greek origins meant "judgment"). And sometimes
the distinction is made between the "elucidatory" and the "judi-
cial" as alternative types of criticism. 30 But though separation be-
tween the exegesis of meaning (Deutung) and the judgment of
value (Wertung) can certainly be made, it is rarely, in "literary
criticism," either practiced or practicable. What is crudely asked
for or offered as "judicial criticism" is a blunt grading of authors
and poems, accompanied by the citation of authorities or appeal
to a few dogmas of literary theory. To go beyond that, of neces-
sity involves analyses and analytical comparisons. On the other
hand, an essay which appears to be purely exegetical must, by
its very existence, offer some minimal judgment of worth 5
and,
if it is exegetical of a poem, a judgment of aesthetic worth, not
historical, biographical, or philosophical. To spend time and attention
on a poet or poem is already a judgment of value. But
few exegetical essays make judgment merely by the act of choos-
ing a topic. "Understanding poetry" passes readily into "judging
poetry," only judging it in detail and judging while analyzing,
instead of making the judgment a pronouncement in the final
paragraph. The one-time novelty of Eliot's essays was precisely
their delivering themselves of no final summary or single judgment
but judging all the way through an essay: by specific com-
parisons, juxtapositions of two poets with respect to some quality,
as well as by occasional tentative generalization.
The distinction one needs to make, it would seem, is between
overt and implicit judgment—not the same as the distinction
between judgments conscious and unconscious. There is a judgment
of sensibility and a reasoned, a ratiocinative, judgment.
They exist in no necessary contradiction : a sensibility can scarcely
attain much critical force without being susceptible of consider-
able generalized, theoretical statement; and a reasoned judg-
ment, in matters of literature, cannot be formulated save on the
basis of some sensibility, immediate or derivative.