Introduction to Literary Theory

Incontrovertible Truths 2+2 = 4 News flash! George Washington was the first president Duh. Vertebrates have spines Yeah... so? The theme of To Kill a Mockingbird is: “People should not take advantage of weakness.” Sure, sounds good. However...

The theme is also... “People should not be judged based upon their ethnicity” and... “As we mature we gain insight into the world around us” and... “Good and evil exists inside us all” and... “Social inequality permeates throughout history.” Get the point?

English vs. Other Subjects Math is concrete. History is verifiable. Science is testable. English is... the encounter with problems that don’t have agreed upon solutions. never-ending, reasoned argument. debate, discussion, and thousands of viewpoints.... so much better than that other crap.

Definitions Literary Criticism: The interpretation / explanation of a text. Literary Theory: The examination of the interpretation / explanation and the ideologies that created them. Literary Theory is an attempt to understand HOW people arrive at different conclusions.

What Else? Literary Theory involves changing the way you look at literature. No longer is your interpretation the most important thing. In fact, w hat you think is almost irrelevant – we want to analyze WHY you think it. Now we care about the reasons for your interpretation and how someone else could be interpret it.

Why Bother With Literary Theory? After high school, the world will judge you on your ability to think critically. Literary theory helps develop this ability. By opening your eyes, you open your mind. You don’t even know what you’re looking at until you’ve tried on different lenses.

Basic Techniques Reading “with the grain” Seeing what the book invites us to see Seeing what the author intended us to see Reading “against the grain” Analyzing elements in the text of which the text itself seems unaware – things the author may not have even intended Understanding the underlying ideologies that permeate the text Theory asks you to abandon “common sense” and understand that everything comes from something – nothing should be a given.

Basic Lenses We’ll cover five literary theories: Feminist Lesbian, Gay, Queer African-American / Minority Psychoanalytic Marxist There are dozens more for you to explore.

New View “Each theory is a new pair of eyeglasses through which certain elements of our world are brought into focus while others fade into the background” (Tyson). Theory can help us see literature, ourselves, and our world in valuable new ways.

The World According to Theory I’m middle-class, white, and male. The desperation caused by poverty in The Grapes of Wrath cannot be understood from a middle-class perspective. The torment behind deciding to abort a fetus in Revolutionary Road cannot be understood from a male perspective. The depths of racism in Native Son or To Kill a Mockingbird cannot be understood from a white perspective.

The World According to Theory Through theory, I have an opportunity to not only develop a deeper connection with literature, but also a deeper connection with the issues in the world around me. I, as a middle-class, white, male can connect to the poor, black, women in The Bluest Eye and consider it one of my favorite novels. That’s the power of theory.

“ Mother Culture ” The novel Ishmael by Daniel Quinn discusses what he calls “Mother Culture.” Mother Culture is our society telling us “this is the way it has always been.” That what we are doing, how we are doing it, and why we are doing it are the only ways it can be done. Literary Theory goes against the grain of “Mother Culture” and attempts to show you news ways.

“ Mother Culture ” You may not believe in or agree with some of the ideas put forth during this unit; however: “Belief is not required. Once you know this story, you’ll hear it everywhere in your culture, and you’ll be astonished that the people around you don’t hear it as well but merely take it in” (Quinn 36).

Effects of Knowledge “Once you learn to discern the voice of Mother Culture humming in the background, telling her story over and over again to the people of your culture, you’ll never stop being conscious of it. Wherever you go for the rest of your life, you’ll be tempted to say to the people around you, ‘How can you listen to this stuff and not recognize it for what it is?’ And if you do this, people will look at you oddly and wonder what the devil you’re talking about. In other words, if you take this educational journey with me, you’re going to find yourself alienated from the people around you” (Quinn 37).

Goals I hope this is a stimulating introduction to college-level reading techniques. I hope this gets you to view all information that is presented to you from different perspectives. I hope you will discover the joy of rereading your “favorites” and experiencing them for the first time, again.

Ultimate Goal I hope this is fun, fervently argued, and as much of a learning experience for me as it will be for you.