I.A. Richard Fegretive language

Introduction:-
             
         Ivor Armstrong Richards, known as I. A. Richards, was an English educator, literary critic, and rhetorician whose work contributed to the foundations of the New Criticism, a formalist movement in literary .
       
       I  . A. Richards. 1893–1979. British poet and scholar Ivor Armstrong Richards was born in Cheshire and educated at Cambridge University's Magdalene College. His scholarship and research on how students read poetry helped shape the foundation of the New Criticism and its emphasis on close readin.

          

four kinds of meaning

1. Sense is what is said, or the 'items' referred to by a writer.
2. Feeling refers to emotions, emotional attitudes, will, desire, pleasure, displeasure and the rest. When we say something we have a feeling about it, "an attitude towards it, some special direction, bias or accentuation of interest towards it, some personal flavour or coloring of feelings, these nuances of interest.
3.  Tone is the writer’s attitude to his readers or audience. The use of language is determined by the writer’s ‘recognition’ of his relation to his readers.
4. Intention is the writer’s aim, which may be conscious or unconscious. It refers to the effect that he tries to produce. This purpose modifies the expression. It controls the emphasis, shapes the arrangement, or draws attention to something of importance.
5.     His practical approach gave new path to literary criticism.
   ü  Instead of intuitive and impressionistic criticism, it became more factual & scientific.
        In his methodology, a lot of importance is given to the “words”.
   ü  He believed that poet writes to communicate, and language is the means of that communication. Language is made of words, and hence a study of words is all important if we are to understand the meaning of a work of art. Words carry four kinds of meaning: Sense, Feelings, Tone and Intention.
        To him, language of poetry is purely emotive, in its original primitive state. This language affects feelings. Hence we must avoid intuitive and over-literal reading of poems. Words in poetry have an emotive value, and the figurative language used by poets conveys those emotions effectively and forcefully.
   Ø  The importance of context and rhythm &metre:the sound of the word invokes feeling. Rhythm, metre and meaning cannot be separated; they form together a single system. They are not separate entities but organically related. Therefore, a prose-paraphrase or an over-literal reading can never convey the total meaning of a poem.