Mormon Literature Database

Notice: The Mormon Literature & Creative Arts database has moved to mormonarts.lib.byu.edu.

Criticism \| View all Works in this Category	1182 total items.
Description Literary criticism is one of the most significant genres represented in the Mormon Literature Database, and includes both theoretical discussions of literary matters discussed in a philosophical or scholarly manner, as well as longer reviews and review essays (See also Review). Critical essays or reviews are linked within the database to the records of those works that they evaluate.
Associated Genres Bibliography, Interview / Panel, Review,
Genre History Mormon literary criticism began with evaluations of the Book of Mormon that first employed literary means for assessing its historical validity, but have since moved toward broader purposes for and kinds of literary appreciation of Mormon scripture. Orson Whitney is credited with providing a theoretical basis for the reading and writing of literature for the Mormon people in his "Home Literature" address of 1888. In the latter half of the twentieth century a significant variety of critical approaches began to be applied to Mormon writing (see Burton and Kramer, "The Current State of Mormon Criticism"), and a significant increase in reviews of Mormon works took place as many more imaginative Mormon writings were published, and as Mormon authors and their works have become better known to national audiences.
Organizations Organizations and periodicals which have contributed significantly to literary criticism of Mormon literature include the Association for Mormon Letters, BYU Studies, Dialogue, Sunstone, Weber Studies, Western Humanities Review, etc.