The New Criterion

The New Criterion
Title	The New Criterion
Editor	Roger Kimball
Category	Cultural criticism
Frequency	Monthly
Firstdate	1982
Country	United States
Based	New York City
Language	English

The New Criterion is a monthly American literary and cultural review founded in 1982 that publishes criticism of the arts, politics, and public life. The magazine is associated with conservative and neoconservative circles and has featured commentary on visual art, music, drama, poetry, and international affairs. Its pages have engaged with debates involving figures from T.S. Eliot and W.H. Auden to Vladimir Putin and Margaret Thatcher, connecting literary discussion with geopolitics and cultural policy.

History

The magazine was established in 1982 in New York City by a group including Gilbert Sorrentino and Roger Kimball, emerging during a period marked by debates over the Cold War, the influence of Postmodernism, and cultural controversies such as the Culture Wars (United States). Early issues responded to disputes surrounding institutions like the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Endowment for the Arts, and controversies involving figures such as Robert Mapplethorpe and Andres Serrano. Over decades the publication addressed events including the collapse of the Soviet Union, the rise of Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan, and the post-9/11 international order shaped by George W. Bush and discussions involving Iraq War policy.

Editorial Mission and Philosophy

The magazine articulates an editorial stance emphasizing high standards in literature and the arts, often invoking the legacies of critics such as John Ruskin, Matthew Arnold, and commentators like Roger Scruton and T.S. Eliot. Its philosophy aligns with strands of conservatism and neoconservatism, engaging topics linked to the heritage of Western civilization, the canon debates surrounding authors like William Shakespeare, Leo Tolstoy, and James Joyce, and assessing institutions such as the Royal Academy of Arts and the Guggenheim Museum. The editors frequently critique currents associated with Postmodernism, Deconstruction as articulated by figures like Jacques Derrida and Michel Foucault, and cultural policies debated in forums including the Brookings Institution and the American Enterprise Institute.

Contributors and Notable Essays

Contributors have included critics, scholars, and public intellectuals such as Harold Bloom, Alec Nove, Martha Nussbaum, Hannah Arendt, Irving Kristol, Christopher Ricks, and Yvonne Rainer. The journal has published essays on artists like Pablo Picasso, Marcel Duchamp, Jackson Pollock, and Andy Warhol; composers and musicians including Igor Stravinsky, Richard Wagner, and Bob Dylan; playwrights such as Samuel Beckett and Arthur Miller; and poets including Sylvia Plath and W.B. Yeats. Notable essays have debated interpretations of T.S. Eliot's work, reassessed exhibitions at institutions like the Museum of Modern Art, critiqued programming at the Metropolitan Opera, and engaged with film auteurs such as Akira Kurosawa and Alfred Hitchcock.

Political and Cultural Influence

The publication has influenced debates among policymakers, critics, and cultural institutions, intersecting with figures and organizations such as Milton Friedman-aligned think tanks, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and university departments at institutions like Harvard University, Yale University, and Princeton University. Its interventions have been cited in controversies over museum acquisitions, debates in legislatures influenced by leaders like Margaret Thatcher and John Major in the United Kingdom, and discussions of American foreign policy involving Henry Kissinger and Zbigniew Brzezinski. The magazine has also participated in transatlantic cultural conversations involving The Times (London), The Wall Street Journal, and forums such as the Nixon Center.

Reception and Criticism

Reception has ranged from praise by conservative commentators including William F. Buckley Jr. and Irving Kristol to criticism from liberal and radical critics associated with The New York Review of Books, Dissent (magazine), and scholars influenced by Edward Said and bell hooks. Critics have accused the magazine of cultural elitism and political partisanship in reviews of exhibitions at institutions such as the Tate Modern and controversies over funding decisions by bodies like the National Endowment for the Arts. Supporters argue it defends literary standards against what they view as the excesses of Postmodernism and politicized pedagogy linked to debates at universities including Columbia University and University of California, Berkeley.

Publication Details and Format

Published monthly, the review combines long-form essays, shorter reviews, poetry, and occasional translations, and has produced special issues and symposia addressing events such as retrospectives at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and debates around anniversaries of works by Marcel Proust and James Joyce. The print edition is distributed in the United States and internationally, and the magazine maintains archives of essays that intersect with scholarship from libraries such as the New York Public Library and the British Library. Back issues and anthologies have been cited in bibliographies alongside series from publishers like Columbia University Press and Cambridge University Press.

Category:Magazines established in 1982 Category:American magazines Category:Conservative magazines