Like Edward Young in his
_Conjectures on Original Composition_, 1759, Armstrong opposes slavish
imitation of ancient models and declares that the writer should "catch
their graces without affecting it [them]" so that his "own original
characteristical manner will still distinguish itself."[3] Armstrong
emphasizes exquisiteness of perception as the basis for taste: the
more exquisite the mind, the more is it able to discriminate among
the various degrees of the beautiful and the deformed. Although later
critics repudiate Armstrong's moral discrimination, they transform
it into a refined discrimination of aesthetic qualities. Finally, by
suggesting that the man of genius differs from the man of taste by
his ability to handle a medium, Armstrong implies the possibility of
a technical criticism in terms of the writer's craft, apart from moral
judgment.
[Footnote 3: _Ibid._, II, 168.]
Although the works of Cooper and Armstrong elicited contrasting
popular reactions--_Letters concerning Taste_ running into four
editions from 1755 to 1771 and Armstrong's writings, with the
exception of _The Art of Preserving Health_, never winning much public
favor--neither writer exerted a strong critical influence.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25