About Classic

Non-formalist approaches in literary criticism can open a different perspective for us in analyzing literary works. Contrary to formalist theories that emphasize the separation of form from content and prioritize form and its influence on content, some non-formalist theories consider the theoretical separation of form from content ineffective and stress the necessity of viewing literary works as coherent and unified phenomena. On the other hand, the viewpoint that, assuming the theoretical separation of form from content, content is what is essential is also noteworthy. It is the content that influences and transforms the form. Viewing literary works through their content or with a cohesive approach that does not rely on separating form from content creates a different perspective in the critic, one closer to the ancient thinkers’ conception of literature. What you have in this work is an analysis of the concept of the classic in literature from a non-formalist perspective, relying on the views of three prominent and influential theorists of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries: Santbo, Eliot, and Gadamer. The author has attempted, based on content features in literary works, to redefine the concept of the classic as a notion related to the content of literary works. The first three sections present the foundations of this theory in the works of the three mentioned thinkers, and the fourth section contains the author’s novel and different approach to this concept.