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I often read

Lob, Anregungen und Kritik erwünscht.

My question: is it necessary to differ between Lob and Kritik? Does Kritik not include Lob?

3 Answers 3

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"Kritik" can be used in a neutral way, meaning "critique" as in "review":

Ich habe eine Filmkritik geschrieben.

I read your quote with this meaning.

It can also be used meaning "negative" statements (arguably, still constructive ones), i.e. "criticism":

Ich kritisiere seine Vorgehensweise.

Immer kritisierst du nur an mir rum!

Except in cases with an explicit review context you should probably assume the latter meaning.

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  • I agree that Kritik for itself is not bound to either a positive or a negative touch. But the vast majority will use it with a negative meaning. Getting a neutral or even positive meaning of Kritik across to a native-speaker is - except for very few cases - impossible
    – marstato
    Jun 30, 2014 at 19:31
  • @marstato: When used alone, true. Combinations like "Filmkritik" or "konstruktive Kritik" -- telling you that you did something wrong, but not a bad thing (unlike "Gemotze") -- usually have positive connotation.
    – Raphael
    Jun 30, 2014 at 21:56
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Yes Kritik can be positive and negative. Yet Lob is only positive and Anregungen are similar to Kritik but more konstruktive Kritik.

So you have.

  1. Lob --> encouragemnt
  2. Anregungen --> encouragement + suggestions
  3. Kritik --> critical dissection or analysis, with or without feedback/suggestion/encouragement

According to wikipedia Kritik = Beurteilung.

An Urteil (judgement) can be positive or negative.

So in German you use this phrase of "Lob, Anregungen, Kritik" to solicit all three forms of feedback. Logical Analysis (Kritik), Emotional Encouragement (Lob) and positive reinforcement / cooperation (Anregungen).

Wikipedia:

Kritik Unter Kritik versteht man die Beurteilung eines Gegenstandes oder einer Handlung anhand von Maßstäben. Wie die Philosophin Anne-Barb Hertkorn ausgeführt hat, ist Kritik damit „eine Grundfunktion der denkenden Vernunft und wird, sofern sie auf das eigene Denken angewandt wird, ein Wesensmerkmal der auf Gültigkeit Anspruch erhebenden Urteilsbildung.“

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    Eine Filmkritik kann positiv oder negativ sein; wenn im Alltag jemand Kritik an etwas oder jemandem übt (jemanden kritisiert), ist das immer negativ.
    – Robert
    Jun 29, 2014 at 23:08
  • @Robert: this is important. It should be an edit to the existing answer here, or (better) an own additional answer (preferably in English as the Q was asked in English).
    – Takkat
    Jun 30, 2014 at 7:18
  • Kritik im Alltag IMMER negativ? Nein definitiv nicht. Feedback geben wäre für mich eine Alternative zu Kritik üben. Wenn man sich kritsch mit etwas auseinandersetzt, dann ist das nicht immer negativ. Das bedeutet nur, das man es analysiert und nicht alles für bare Münze nimmt. Jun 30, 2014 at 11:01
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    @DisplayName Es ist wichtig, zwischen "Kritik üben" und "kritisch auseinandersetzen" zu unterscheiden. Das erste ist im Sprachgebrauch so gut wie immer negativ, das zweite ist eher neutral. Jun 30, 2014 at 14:19
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Lob = praise
Anregungen = comments or suggestions
Kritik = criticism

In German as in English, criticism in this case can be either completely negative, or it can be "constructive" criticism -- but it generally means you've done something wrong, or at least not as well as you might have. Someone asking for criticism is probably asking for constructive criticism, but they still want to know what they did wrong. In this context, the positive connotations of "Kritik" would be there (in the sense that criticism can be constructive), albeit minimal.

If you want to understand "Kritik" in the sense of critical analysis, then it would include praise as well, but since "Kritik" also has another, less neutral meaning, I believe "Lob" is added to emphasize the fact that people also want to know what they did well. In addition, it seems to be something of a preformulated "stock phrase" people can use when they want feedback on their work.

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