What was Sainte-Beuve's central theory of literary criticism?
My central idea revolves around the profound and inextricable link between the author and their work. I maintained that to truly comprehend a piece of literature, one must first understand the individual who produced it. This involves exploring their personal history, their moral disposition, their education, and the specific historical and social circumstances that shaped their consciousness. The literary text, for me, is not an abstract entity but a manifestation of a living, breathing human being and their unique experience of the world.
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