Critic

For other uses, seeCritic (disambiguation).

Not to be confused withCritique.

Acriticis a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such asart,literature,music,cinema,theater,fashion,architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subjectsocialorgovernment policy.Critical judgments, whether derived fromcritical thinkingor not, weigh up a range of factors, including an assessment of the extent to which the item under review achieves its purpose and its creator's intention and a knowledge of its context. They may also include a positive or negative personal response.

CriticbyLajos Tihanyi.Oil on canvas,c. 1916.

Characteristics of a good critic are articulateness, preferably having the ability to use language with a high level of appeal and skill.Sympathy,sensitivityandinsightare also important.Form,styleandmediumare all considered by the critic. Inarchitectureandfood criticism,the item's function, value and cost may be added components.

Critics are publicly accepted and, to a significant degree, followed because of the quality of their assessments or their reputation. Influential critics of art, music, theater and architecture often present their arguments in complete books. One very famous example isJohn Ruskin'sSeven Lamps of ArchitectureandThe Stones of Venice.Critics may base their assessment on a range oftheoretical positions.For instance, they may take afeministorFreudianperspective.

Unlike other individuals who may editorialize on subjects via websites or letters written to publications, professional critics are paid to produce their assessment and opinions forprint,radio, magazine, television, orInternet companies.When their personal opinion outweighs considered judgment, people who give opinions, whether on current events, public affairs, sports, media or art are often referred to as "pundits" instead of critics.

Critics are themselves subject to competing critics, since the final critical judgment always entailssubjectivity.An established critic can play a powerful role as a publicarbiterof taste or opinion. Also, critics or a coordinated group of critics, may award symbols of recognition.

Derivation

The word "critic" comes fromGreekκριτικός(kritikós)'able to discern',which is a Greek derivation of the wordκριτής(krités),meaning a person who offersreasonedjudgment oranalysis,value judgment,interpretationorobservation.Early English meaning of criticism was based mainly on thecriticism of literatureand it was in the 17th century that more general forms of criticism began.

Critics' views of criticism

Cultural criticClement Greenbergwrote that a good critic excels through "insights into the evidence... and by... loyalty to the relevant"; poet and criticT.S. Eliotwrote "a critic must have a very highly developed sense offact".

In 1971,Harold C. Schonberg,chief music critic ofThe New York Timesfrom 1960 to 1980, said that he wrote for himself, "not necessarily for readers, not for musicians.... It's not a critic's job to be right or wrong; it's his job to express an opinion in readable English."Schonberg was the first music critic to receive thePulitzer Prizefor criticism.

Daniel Mendelsohndescribed the equation of criticism for critics asknowledge+taste= meaningfuljudgement.

Restaurant critic Terry Durack explained that from a critic "you hope for a thorough, objective and legitimate discussion" that puts "opera, art or book into context, so that it adds to your own body of knowledge"; in the context of a restaurant criticism, this means it is "not about me liking it or not; it's about me helping you decide whether you are going to like it or not."

Rothko's dilemma was that he wanted to employ the vocabulary of symbolism – the palpitating indeterminate space, the excruciatingly refined colour, the obsession with nuance, the presence of Mallarmé's "negated object" – to render the patriarchal despair and elevation of the Old Testament. Criticism doesn't get sharper, or more sensitive, or more deeply sympathetic to the object, than that.

Robert Hughes (critic)on (artist)Mark Rothko

Social and political critics

Social and political critics have used various forms of art to express their criticism, including literature and music.Pierre Beaumarchais,for example, prior to theFrench Revolution,used his playThe Marriage of Figaroto denounce aristocratic privilege, and a critic's influence is enhanced by subsequent reworkings such as the operatic versions of Beaumarchais's play (The Barber of Seville) byRossiniand (The Marriage of Figaro) byMozart.August Ahlqvist,a Finnish professor and poet, who highly admiredJ. L. Runeberg,the national poet of Finland, gave very negative feedback to the entire literary production of the authorAleksis Kivi,when Kivi presented content of the peoples social life in the form of ruderealisminstead ofromanticism.Among the most famous social/political criticism in literary form areJonathan Swift'ssatireGulliver's TravelsandGeorge Orwell's satireAnimal Farm.Some political critics, such asAi Weiweiuse visual art as their medium. Throughout history, political critics have faced higher risks, including the risk of imprisonment or death.

Online critics

Several websites have developed for the purpose of compiling or publishing original critical reviews. Examples includeBlogcritics,Rotten Tomatoes,andYelp.According toA. O. Scott,chief film critic forThe New York Times,everyone on the Internet is a critic.Some critics likeRoger Ebertachieve iconic status in pop culture and become well regarded.

Cinematography and television

The American film critics Roger Ebert andGene Siskelcollaboratedand appeared on television sometimes agreeing on their review of cinematographic works; sometimes they would differ.

Film critics may usestar classificationto qualify the reviewed works.

Characters depicting critics have been part of some movies, and have been represented in comedies, such as afood criticin the animated fantasy-comedyRatatouille,and as anart criticin one of the initial parts of the anthology comedy filmThe History of the World Part I.

Responses to critics

People whose work is the subject of criticism have a full range of responses to it. For example, they may be appreciative, offended, distressed, encouraged, amused or nonplussed.

We do not object to criticism; and we do not expect that the critic will read the book before writing a notice of it. We do not even expect the reviewer of the book will say that he has not read it. No we have no anticipations of anything unusual in this age of criticism.

Satiricalcomment about potential criticism byMark TwainandCharles Dudley Warnerin their Preface to the American Edition of their co-authored novelThe Gilded Age: A Tale of Today.

See also

• Analysis
• Art criticism
• Art historian
• Censorship
• Complaint
• Connoisseur
• Constructive criticism
• Critical philosophy
• Critical theory
• Critical thinking
• Critical vocabulary
• Critique of political economy
• Critique of work
• Critique
• Cultural critic
• Film criticism
• Food critic
• Frankfurt School of social theory
• List of chief music critics
• Literary criticism
• Music journalism
• Polemic
• Review
• Social criticism
• Textual criticism
• Theatre criticism
• Video game criticism
• Wine critic