Jeffrey Williams says that literary criticism (and academia in general, probably) has shifted from emphasising historical analysis to intelligence to rigour and now (back) to "smartness". Now that there is little methodogical consistency to criticism, the important thing is not to write something well-researched or useful or relevant, but something smart. And interesting (as a bonus).
Here's John Erskine's essay (mentioned in the above one) on The Moral Obligation to be Intelligent.
(So much for not blogging.)