Scrutiny (1932-53) was a Cambridge-based quarterly literary review devoted principally to criticism, education, and broader cultural history. It played a unique role in the literary culture of its time, with significant influence lasting into the 1970s, in refining a “modernist” conception of criticism, chiefly inspired by T. S. Eliot and I. A. Richards, in the form of an educational campaign for the training of critical judgement in schools and universities. Although it had some resemblance to an academic journal, Scrutiny disdained purely historical scholarship, and adopted a minoritarian position closer to that of a “little magazine” of critical valuation. While identifying itself with Cambridge, in conscious antagonism to literary London and Oxford, it was an unofficial publication edited from a private house, its contributors unpaid. In its small circulation, below 1000 in the 1930s, it...
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Citation: Baldick, Chris. "Scrutiny: A Quarterly Review". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 08 May 2021 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=990, accessed 09 June 2026.]
