‘Theory’, we are told, has radically changed the nature of literary studies, but people who say this do not mean literary theory, the systematic account of the nature of literature and of the methods for analysing it. When people complain that there is too much theory in literary studies these days, they don’t mean too much systematic reflection on the nature of literature or debate about the distinctive qualities of literary language, for example. Far from it, they have something else in view. —Jonathan Culler —What is theory?Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction)
Via Torill.
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Good points. I’m reminded of the old saying that if the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. Thus, learning new theories is like getting more tools in your toolbox. They aren’t all equally valuable in various situations, but you’re intellectually more versatile if you can recognize your own theoretical bias (and how such bias affects your notions of taste — why it is that you don’t like certain kinds of literature, and why certain critical inquiries grate you the wrong ways or simply disinterest you).
Culler is always so good at explaining theory! His point near the end bears citing fully:
“A good deal of the hostility to theory no doubt comes from the fact that to admit the importance of theory is…to leave yourself in a position where there are always important things you don’t know. But this is the condition of life itself…. Theory makes you desire mastery…but theory makes mastery impossible…painfully, because theory is itself the questioning of presumed results and the assumptions on which they are based.”
Students can be hesitant to question their own assumptions and confront challenges to their bedrock beliefs (or even just comfortable habits in thinking) about lit, because doing so is not only difficult, but it can also start to peel apart the foundations of identity in which they are invested. One trick when teaching this stuff is to try to get students invested in a particular school of theory — to own up to their own stake in the issues that are of concern to a particular school of thought. Theory does not operate in an intellectual vacuum; even the most nihilistic postmodern theory is employed with a purpose that Culler’s intro does not reflect. And often that purpose is a radical one. One need only think of feminism to see how theory is political and charged with a critical mission, and often in a very good way.