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Literature vocabulary · Criticism and Analysis

Textual criticism

Meaning in literature, with examples

nounCommon term

In literature, textual criticism means: Comparing versions of a work to examine variants and establish a reliable text.

In Turkish: metin tenkidi, metin eleştirisi

How it is used

Use for comparing manuscripts and editions; distinguish it from interpreting a text's themes.

Example sentences

  1. Textual criticism revealed that the missing line appeared in an earlier manuscript.

    Comparison between witnesses recovers a line absent from one version.

  2. The editor used textual criticism to explain why two editions give different endings.

    The issue is variation in the transmitted wording, not competing opinions about one ending.

Common collocations

  • practice textual criticism
  • textual criticism of manuscripts
  • textAny written work studied as language and meaning, from a poem or novel to a speech, article, or play.
  • literary criticismThe study, interpretation and evaluation of literary works, including discussion of their meaning, form, context and value.

More terms: Criticism and Analysis

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