Introduction to Theory and Literature

Course Title Breakdown

• Theory and Literature
  • Complicated history of 'Theory'
  • Used to mean 'practice' or something different from 'practice'
  • In this course, 'theory' as something from which practice is derived
  • Difference between Theory and Methodology
    • Methodology: Applied Theory
    • Danger in assuming every aspect of theory has an immediate application

Nature of Theory

• Theory as Speculative Undertaking
  • Often hypothetical without immediate practical application
  • Can be applied, e.g., using theory to analyze texts (e.g., post-colonial reading)
  • Example: Text for the course is a toddler story "Tony the tow truck"
• Reading anything involves complex, potentially unlimited activity
  • Theory shows the broader perspective of reading

Theory vs. Philosophy

• Fundamental Questions
  • Both ask fundamental questions and build systems
  • Ambitions to totalize thought
• Skepticism in Theory
  • Difference: Theory involves skepticism about foundations of thought
  • Not all theory is skeptical; some theory is positive
  • Course will involve skepticism as a critical aspect

Defining Literature

• Central Question: What is literature?
  • Various definitions: Form, psychology, epistemological differences (fiction vs. truth)
  • Definitions often lead to skepticism about whether literature can be defined
• Neo-Pragmatist Argument
  • Literature is what interpretive communities say it is
  • Leads to engaging questions about definitions in different communities

Key Questions in Literary Theory

• What Causes Literature and its Effects?
  • What is an Author?
    • Authority behind literature's creation
  • What is a Reader?
    • Effects of literature on readers
• How is Reading Done?
  • Hermeneutics: The process and experience of reading
  • How do we ensure adequate interpretation?

Introduction to Theory Course

• First taught in the 1970s-80s when theory was a hotspot in academia
• Approach to Teaching
  • Survey vs. Fundamental approach debate
  • Importance of appreciating different theoretical perspectives

Historical Context of Theory

• Skepticism's evolution from thinkers like Descartes to Kant and Hegel
  • Shift from certainty to alienation
• Marx, Nietzsche, Freud
  • Marx: Ideology influenced by social, historical, and economic factors
  • Nietzsche: Language as a force determining what we think
  • Freud: Unconscious control over conscious thought
• Paul Ricoeur: Hermeneutics of Suspicion
• Darwin's Influence
  • Potential impact on cognitive science and socio-biological approaches to literary theory

Upcoming Lectures Content

• Detailed analysis of passages from James's 'The Ambassadors' and Chekhov’s 'The Cherry Orchard'
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