Criticism, novel, and mores

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to reflect critically on the ideological aspects involved in the evolution of the mediating function of criticism from the end of the nineteenth century to the present day, focusing above all on the relationship between criticism, the novel, and mores, or patterns of culture. With regard to this relationship, the text questions the epistemological foundations of the so-called ethical turn in literary studies, proposing an alternative path for criticism, albeit in accordance with the pragmatic spirit that characterizes the first quarter of the twenty-first century.