Deskripsi

Literary criticism is the systematic study, interpretation, analysis, and evaluation of literary texts. It represents one of the central activities within literary studies because it provides the intellectual frameworks through which readers engage with literature and construct meaning from texts. While literature offers imaginative representations of human experiences, literary criticism seeks to understand how these representations are created, how they function, and why they matter within particular social, cultural, historical, and ideological contexts. In this sense, literary criticism is not merely concerned with determining whether a literary work is good or bad; rather, it aims to explore the complex processes through which literature communicates ideas, evokes emotions, shapes perspectives, and reflects human realities.