The Foreign Literary Discourse via the Eyes of the Non-native Critic: Which Type of Competence?

Résumé

Literary criticism studies the style of oral and written literary discourses. It is based on the principles that can explain the particular choices made by individuals and social groups in their use of language. The texts style varies according to the factors of genre, context, era and the author’s thought. Hence, literary criticism can be affected by the critic’s cultural/historical background and worldview. So, this paper deals with the problematic of how the non-native critic can achieve such neutrality that enables him/her to successfully interpret the foreign literary discourse. It aims also at presenting the main types of competences (linguistic, literary, and cultural) needed by the critic to enrich his/her ability of studying this kind of discourses.