Michael Wilding's Literary Critical Thoughts

Michael Wilding is a famous writer and literary critic in Australia in 1980s and 1990s. He opposes The New Criticism and argues that literary works should be resituated in the social and political context and that literary works should have a dialogue with mainstream ideologies. He attacks the stiff and ruthless formalism upheld by The New Criticism, and suggests that literary criticism should give priority to human values rather than the forms of literary works. Besides, he criticizes the narrow literary history written by New Critics and proposes a re-writing of literary history concerning a wide range of social and political ideas. His radical literary thought is no less meaningful in the recent days of rising cultural right-wing.