Category: Literary Theory

Modernism Literary Theory

Literary theory of modernism or modernism literary theory means a breakup of the literary pieces from the past conventions during the early 20th century.

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Etymology and Meanings of “Modernism” Literary Theory

The term modernism has been derived from a Latin term, modernus. It means the present time, the current or existing time. Literally, it connotes the contemporariness of the time that is present and not the past time.

Modernism in social sciences also means the same thing that is the present time, while the literary theory of modernism means a breakup of the literary pieces from the past conventions during the early 20th century.

Definition of “Modernism” Literary Theory

Modernism could be defined as a movement that rebelled against the classical and Victorian periods, conventions, and clear-cut or straightforward storytelling and poetry writing norms. This definition has two aspects. The first one implies rebellion against the conventions or set -standards and the second one is innovation. Therefore, modernism means a new trend in literary writings.

Origin of “Modernism” Literary Theory

In literature as a movement, modernism, which is often called literary modernism or modernist literature, emerged during the final years of the 19th century and early years of 20 century. This movement mostly emerged in English-speaking countries in Europe and the United States. It featured the representation of untraditional ways in writing fiction, poetry, and plays giving space to a wide array of experiments in form as well as expressions and style. The impacts of WWI on the social fabric of Europe led to the emergence of this movement which later turned into a theoretical perspective.

Principles of Modernism Literary Theory
  1. It broke from the established order in religious, political, and social realms.
  2. It broke away from accepted traditions.
  3. The belief in the world as per the perceptions of things became strong.
  4. It negated absolute truth and the experience of alienation.
  5. It showed that life is not systematic and ordered
  6. It paid attention to micro issues of the individuals and not the society as a whole.
  7. It showed disintegration against harmony.
  8. It demonstrated an openness to sexuality, non-superiority of ethics, and propagation of aesthetics.
  9. Its major focus was on personal and spiritual decadence.
  10. It rejected ideas of rationality, objectivity, and unity in things and the universe.
Criticism Against Modernism Literary Theory
  1. It stresses too much on individuality, disintegration, and the world.
  2. It has led to several non-issues that have exploded into postmodernism and several other ideologies.
  3. It has led to commodity fetishism and consumerism.
  4. Modernism has caused the destruction and disintegration of several political, religious, and social orders.
  5. It has brought various other literary theoretical perspectives into views such as atheism, capitalism, liberal capitalism, trans-humanism, and post-truth.
  6. It has given birth to materialism, negating nature.
Examples of Modernist Literature Literary Theory
Example # 1

From Ulysses by James Joyce

—My name is absurd too: Malachi Mulligan, two dactyls. But it has a Hellenic ring, hasn’t it? Tripping and sunny like the buck himself. We must go to Athens. Will you come if I can get the aunt to fork out twenty quid? He laid the brush aside and, laughing with delight, cried:

—Will he come? The jejune jesuit! Ceasing, he began to shave with care. —Tell me, Mulligan, Stephen said quietly.

—Yes, my love?

—How long is Haines going to stay in this tower? Buck Mulligan showed a shaven cheek over his right shoulder.

—God, isn’t he dreadful? he said frankly.

This passage shows some of the features of a modernist novel. It shows how Malachi Mulligan in Ulysses by James Joyce thinks of his name in dactylic features as being absurd. The other questions and his attempt of equating them to the Hellenic traits show modernism and then his musings point to the modernist trait of self-reflection or stream of consciousness.

Example # 2

From To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

 Indeed, she had the whole of the other sex under her protection; for reasons she could not explain, for their chivalry and valour, for the fact that they negotiated treaties, ruled India, controlled finance; finally for an attitude toward she her self which no woman could fail to feel or to find agreeable, something trustful, childlike, reverential; which an old woman could take from a young man without loss of dignity, and woe betide the girl–pray Heaven it was none of her daughters!–who did not feel the worth of it, and all that it implied, to the marrow of her bones.

This passage about Mrs. Ramsay, her character traits, and her musings show some features of modernist literary theory. First, she thinks of herself in gendered terms and second that she is quite ambivalent about it as she does not know how to explain this. Despite this modernist thinking, she is in confusion when it comes to breaking social norms and mores.

Example # 3

From Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Ah, Mr. Kurtz!’ broke the stick of sealing-wax and seemed dumfounded by the accident. Next thing he wanted to know ‘how long it would take to’ … I interrupted him again. Being hungry, you know, and kept on my feet too. I was getting savage. ‘How can I tell?’ I said. ‘I haven’t even seen the wreck yet— some months, no doubt.’ All this talk seemed to me so futile. ‘Some months,’ he said. ‘Well, let us say three months before we can make a start. Yes. That ought to do the affair.’ I flung out of his hut (he lived all alone in a clay hut with a sort of verandah) muttering to myself my opinion of him. He was a chattering idiot.

This pen picture of Mr. Kurtz from Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad shows modernist traits in writing. He has broken away from the traditional way of writing narratives. This shows how inserting dialogues, emotions, and exclamations within the text became a new normal in modernist writings.

Example # 4

From “The Waste Land” by T. S. Eliot

April is the cruellest month, breeding

Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing

Memory and desire, stirring

Dull roots with spring rain.

Winter kept us warm, covering

Earth in forgetful snow, feeding

A little life with dried tubers.

This is the first stanza of the celebrated poem “The Waste Land” by T. S. Eliot. The stanza shows Eliot breaking several poetic norms. He has not used any rhyme scheme. He has rathered termed April as the cruelest month which is not the poetic norm of those days. It was rather considered the best due to being in the spring season. Several other points such as desire, memory, and rain have been given meanings, not traditionally associated with them.

Example # 5

“In a Station of the Metro” by Ezra Pound

The apparition of these faces in the crowd:

Petals on a wet, black bough

This short poem by Ezra Pound shows the modernist theoretical perspective that is showing people through images. This is one of the best imagist poems written by one of the best imagist poets. The poem is purely modernist not only in writing and poetic conventions but also in its very themes.

Keywords in Modernism Literary Theory

Destabilization, fragmentation of reality, non-linearity, interiority, multiple perspective, allusiveness, self-consciousness, depiction of sexuality, invocation to classicism, grotesqueness, absurdity, absurdism, commodification

Suggested Readings
  1. Bertens, Hans. Literary Theory: The Basics. Routledge, 2012. Print.
  2. Childs, Peter. Modernism. Routledge, 2016. Print.

Marxism Literary Theory

What guides Marxism is a different model of society, and a different conception of the function of the knowledge. Jean-Francois Lyotard

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Etymology and Meanings of “Marxism” Literary Theory

The term “Marxism” is based on the name of Karl Marx, the chief exponent of Marxist political and social philosophy. The term, however, was first used by Karl Kautsky, who considered himself Marx’s staunch follower. That is why the term comprises two words, the name of Karl Marx, and -ism which means philosophy. Therefore, it means the social and political philosophy of Karl Marx though his colleague, Friedrich Engels, too, contributed to the philosophy considerably. The main exponent, though, was Karl Marx. Therefore, this school of thought always refers to Karl Marx.

Definition of “Marxism” Literary Theory

As a literary theory, Marxism could be defined a theoretical perspective that takes political, social, and cultural issues involving class differences, class consciousness, poverty, and issue of wages, or wealth into account when interpreting a text or critiquing a literary piece. This theory seeks to find these topics in fiction, poetry, and other literary works. In other words, it also could be defined as critiquing a literary text through a Marxian approach or approaching a text through a Marxian lens or perspective.

Origin of “Marxism Literary Theory

As Marxist literary theory is a materialistic one, it is clear that Karl Marx and Frederich Engels are its founders. Major teachings of this theoretical perspective have been derived from the main books that underline Marxism such as The German Ideology, The Communist Manifesto, and A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy. Almost all the terms by Marx and Engels have contributed to Marxism in one or the other way. The most popular dictum of this literary theory has been summed up in the first line of The Communist Manifesto that “History of all hitherto existing classes is the history of class struggles.”

Principles of Marxism Literary Theory
  1. This literary theoretical perspective assumes that society has two classes, or better to say the capitalist society comprises of business class, or the bourgeoisie, and the workers, or the proletariat.
  2. The relations between both classes are based on labor, wages, commodities, prices, and production.
  3. The literary pieces present means of production and means of consumption, along with laborers and workers as the working class is showing at war with the business class on account of their dominant position on the means of production such as factories or fields.
  4. The workers have to work to live while the business class eyes only its profit. This creates a friction point between both classes, making the antagonistic to each other.
  5. The workers, having no stakes in the means of production suffer from, alienation, ennui, boredom, and tedium.
  6. The upper or business classes exploit the situation through institutional manipulation including media, educational institutions, and religion, creating a superstructure, besides means of production and financial institutions.
  7. The issues lead to further conflict that intensifies and lead to revolution such as in Animal Farm by George Orwell or by the end of The Jungle by Upton Sinclair.
  8. Marxist literary theory gives aesthetics secondary significance, upgrading the interest of the working class.
  9. Marxist paradigm applied to literature finds new ways to define social and cultural relations and issues through class-conflict prism.
Criticism Against Marxism Literary Theory
  1. A society or a culture is a holistic entity and not just a division of two classes always at war with each other.
  2. There is no clear-cut division of a society into two distinct classes.
  3. No superstructure always stays for or in the favor of the upper or business class. There is always social mobility from one class to another.
  4. No elements of a text can be analyzed in pure isolation.
  5. Not all texts have ideologies. A writer has a different vision of reality other than what the Marxists interpret through their individual lenses.
  6. A society comprises a multiplicity of classes, sections, and even races. Therefore, no text can present a coherent picture of the class conflict based on the Marxian concept.
Examples of Marxism Literary Theory

Example # 1

From Animal Farm by George Orwell

“Now, comrades, what is the nature of this life of ours? Let us face it: our lives are miserable, laborious, and short. We are born, we are given just so much food as will keep the breath in our bodies, and those of us who are capable of it are forced to work to the last atom of our strength; and the very instant that our usefulness has come to an end we are slaughtered with hideous cruelty. No animal in England knows the meaning of happiness or leisure after he is a year old. No animal in England is free. The life of an animal is misery and slavery: that is the plain truth.

This passage occurs in the novel, Animal Farm, by George Orwell. The speech delivered by Old Major seems to be a piece of an oratory delivered by a revolutionary. He is like the Marxian leader, Lenin urging the masses to rise against feudalism in Russia. Therefore, this seems a correct Marxian interpretation of this piece of literature. He even calls animals comrades, a title that every Communist or Marxist gives to his brother in ideology.

Example # 2

From The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

I lived at West Egg, the—well, the less fashionable of the two, though this is a most superficial tag to express the bizarre and not a little sinister contrast between them. My house was at the very tip of the egg, only fifty yards from the Sound, and squeezed between two huge places that rented for twelve or fifteen thousand a season. The one on my right was a colossal affair by any standard—it was a factual imitation of some Hôtel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool and more than forty acres of lawn and garden. It was Gatsby’s mansion. Or rather, as I didn’t know Mr. Gatsby it was a mansion inhabited by a gentle-man of that name.

This passage occurs in the masterpiece of Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby. It shows that West Egg represents the bourgeoisie class while East Egg represents the proletariat class. The interesting thing is that the house of the narrator lies in the middle of both of these places which shows that although he is aware of both of these classes, he does not seem to live in any of these. He rather longs to join West Egg. His desire to visit the mansion of Gatsby is actually a desire of an individual for social mobility, yet there is no lust for possessing a means of production involved.

Example # 3

From Tess of d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

“It was only my whim,” he said; and, after a moment’s hesitation: “It was on account of a discovery I made some little time ago, whilst I was hunting up pedigrees for the new county history. I am Parson Tringham, the antiquary, of Stagfoot Lane. Don’t you really know, Durbeyfield, that you are the lineal representative of the ancient and knightly family of the d’Urbervilles, who derive their descent from Sir Pagan d’Urberville, that renowned knight who came from Normandy with William the Conqueror, as appears by Battle Abbey Roll?”

This passage occurs in the popular novel of Thomas Hardy, Tess of d’Urbervilles. The father of Tess is rather feeling pride at finding that he belongs to a fine and upper class or bourgeoisie. This is not only his desire for upward social mobility but also his desire to join the upper class of those times, the d’Urbervilles. Therefore, he has tried to join them, sensing that obscurity of the pedigree would lend credence to his expression. This is the class mobility, an aspect of the Marxian approach to literature.

Example # 4

From Hard Times by Charles Dickens

His pride in having at any time of his life achieved such a great social distinction as to be a nuisance, an incumbrance, and a pest, was only to be satisfied by three sonorous repetitions of the boast. ‘I was to pull through it, I suppose, Mrs. Gradgrind. Whether I was to do it or not, ma’am, I did it. I pulled through it, though nobody threw me out a rope. Vagabond, errand-boy, vagabond, labourer, porter, clerk, chief manager, small partner, Josiah Bounderby of Coketown.

This passage from Hard Times shows clear hints about Marxian philosophy at work. Dickens seems to be employing that capitalism has started taking its toll on different characters. Bounderby is feeling the heat, while Mrs. Gradgrind, too, is feeling that she has already joined this bandwagon. The social structure and its division show a perfect case of this theoretical concept of Marxism literary theory.

Example # 5

From The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton

We’re poorer than the Socs and the middle class. I reckon we’re wilder, too. Not like the Socs, who jump greasers and wreck houses and throw beer blasts for kicks, and get editorials in the paper for being a public disgrace one day and an asset to society the next. Greasers are almost like hoods; we steal things and drive old souped-up cars and hold up gas stations and have a gang fight once in a while. I don’t mean I do things like that. Darry would kill me if I got into trouble with the police. Since Mom and Dad were killed in an auto wreck, the three of us get to stay together only as long as we behave.

The mere names of Socs and Greasers show that the real idea behind The Outsiders is to show the class consciousness of Darry and his family. He knows clearly that he can never join the Greasers. However, it is interesting that this situation could be interpreted through the lens of race critical theory as Hinton has put it. The main point is that at that time Marxism or Communism could have invited a witch-hunt against him in the United States.

Keywords in Marxism Literary Theory

Class struggle, class consciousness, class discrimination, poverty, alienation, means of production, profit, marginal utility, capitalism, proletariat, antagonism, dialectical materialism, dialectics, fetishism, feudal society, hegemony, consumerism, commodification

Suggested Readings
  1. Eagleton, Terry. Criticism and Ideology: A Study in Marxist Literary Theory. Verso, 2006. Print.
  2. Jameson, Fredric. The Political Unconscious. Cornell University Press, 2015. Print.
  3. Williams, Raymond, and Raymond Henry Williams. Marxism and Literature. Vol. 392. Oxford Paperbacks, 1977.

Magical Realism

At the end of the day, it’s about the reader’s attachment to and belief in the magical elements that make or break magical realism. Tea Obreht

Etymology and Meanings of “Magical Realism” Literary Theory

Magical realism comprises two words magical and realism which means to show things in a magical way, and that too as if they are happening in the real world. This style, first, started in painting to show fantastic images or scenes realistically. From there, it entered the literary realm, showing the inclusion of fantasy, myths, imaginary worlds, and other supernatural elements in narratives.

Definition of “Magical Realism” Literary Theory

From the above etymology and meanings, magical realism could be defined the presentation of magical situations, events and circumstances in literary texts as if they exists in reality and readers almost come to the point of believing them, knowing that they are just part of the fantasies.

Origin of “Magical Realism” Literary Theory

In literature, magical realism is stated to have emerged in Latin America. The major impact came from Alejo Carpentier, a Cuban writer, and Arturo Ulsar-Pietri, a Venezuelan writer. Both of them impacted the movement after they visited Europe and stayed in Paris to see the rise of surrealism (a literary movement that desired to release the unconscious mind through creative ways). This shortly occurred in the decade of 30s after the publication of a Revista de Occidente in Spanish and the emergence of an iconic Latin American figure, Jorge Luis Borges. The rise of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and other such novelists gave a new life to this literary movement and it soon spread across the globe, wooing eastern and western talent in fiction writing.

Types of Magical Realism Literary Theory

Due to the dominant hegemony of western literature, ideas, too, arrive from the Euro-centric critique of theories. It has been suggested that there are three major types of magical realism.

  1. European: showing estrangement and uncanniness such as in the stories of Franz Kafka.
  2. Matter of Fact: showing inexplicable events happening in the real world.
  3. The Native world view of anthropological: showing the indigenous world view through a Eurocentric perspective. (Spindler 1-4)
Principle Features of Magical Realism Literary Theory
  1. It favors the use of fantasy or fantastic elements such as myths, folk tales, or fables with renewed creativity to take the modern shifting realities into account.
  2. It presents fantasy in a real-world setting with real characters and a real timeframe.
  3. The literature of magical realism often shows the author exercising reticence about disclosing various information related to events and characters.
  4. The narratives of magical realism often comprise plenitude or disorienting details such as Borges does in his stories.
  5. Hybrid peeps through the plots of magical realist narratives, showing the mixture of urban/rural and colonial/indigenous areas.
  6. Magical realist literature often shows mixing reality into fiction and fitting it into reality, underlining the role of metafiction and story-within-a-story type of narratives.
  7. Magical realist narratives often use liquified irony to criticize modern political issues.
Criticism Against Magical Realism Literary Theory
  1. Magical realism is full of terminology that, sometimes, seems ambiguous.
  2. Magical realism narratives are more mysterious even than the mystery itself.
  3. Magical realism narratives are often removed from reality, making the readers fed up with such fantasies and misuse of imaginations.
Examples of Magical Realism Literary Theory

Example # 1

From “A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

On the third day of rain they had killed so many crabs inside the house that Pelayo had to cross his drenched courtyard and throw them into the sea, because the newborn child had a temperature all night and they thought it was due to the stench. The world had been sad since Tuesday. Sea and sky were a single ash-gray thing and the sands of the beach, which on March nights glimmered like powdered light, had become a stew of mud and rotten shellfish. The light was so weak at noon that when Pelayo was coming back to the house after throwing away the crabs, it was hard for him to see what it was that was moving and groaning in the rear of the courtyard. He had to go very close to see that it was an old man, a very old man, lying face down in the mud, who, in spite of his tremendous efforts, couldn’t get up, impeded by his enormous wings.

This passage occurs in the story of Marquez, “A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings.” The entire story presents a fantasy in the rural setting where Pelayo finds himself in a new situation where he thinks the way out. He sees that there is a new opportunity for them to earn money from that old man who is very old, yet has unusually enormous wings as if he is a flying creature. This scene shows the fantasy world merging with the modern reality of poverty.

Example # 2

From “Samsa in Love” by Haruki Murakami

Samsa had no idea where he was, or what he should do. All he knew was that he was now a human whose name was Gregor Samsa. And how did he know that? Perhaps someone had whispered it in his ear while he lay sleeping? But who had he been before he became Gregor Samsa? What had he been?

This passage occurs in Murakami’s story “Samsa in Love” after he uses the narrative character of Kafka in his story. Gregor Samsa is shown as a human being with various rhetorical questions he poses to himself and then responds to in the next passages. The main purpose of this passage is to show how the narrative world has opened up more opportunities for Murakami to weave other narratives along the same lines to make readers stretch their imaginations to receive the underlying message.

Example # 3

From The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

One morning, as Gregor Samsa was waking up from anxious dreams, he discovered that in bed he had been changed into a monstrous verminous bug. He lay on his armour-hard back and saw, as he lifted his head up a little, his brown, arched abdomen divided up into rigid bow-like sections. From this height the blanket, just about ready to slide off completely, could hardly stay in place. His numerous legs, pitifully thin in comparison to the rest of his circumference.

This is the first passage of the story of Franz Kafka, who is labeled the pioneer of the European type of magical realism. The transformation of Gregor Samsa in the very first passage of the novel shows how Kafka has instantly taken his readers to a world of imagination that is not only awkward but also strange. It jolts the readers into thinking that it could happen to them in reality.

Example # 4

From “Invisible Cities” by Italo Calvino

Leaving there and proceeding for three days toward the east, you reach Diomira, a city with sixty silver domes, bronze statues of all the gods, streets paved with lead, a crystal theater, a golden c*ck that crows each morning on a tower. All these beauties will already be familiar to the visitor, who has seen them also in other cities. But the special quality of this city for the man who arrives there on a September evening, when the days are growing shorter and the multicolored lamps are lighted all at once at the doors of the food stalls and from a terrace a woman’s voice cries ooh!, is that he feels envy toward those who now believe they have once before lived an evening identical to this and who think  they were happy, that time. This passage occurs in the collection of stories of Italo Calvino. The writer has used a “You-centric” narrative that does not seem a conventional way of narrating stories. This, too, does not seem a narrative. Rather, it shows the memories as if the writer is taking his readers along with him on a verbal tour of the cities he has seen in his life. This type of narrative shows how indigenous writers want the readers to see their indigenous world.

Suggested Readings
  1. Bloom, Harold, ed. Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis. Infobase Publishing, 2009. Ebook.
  2. Calvino, Italo. Invisible Cities. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1978. Print.
  3. Roh, Franz, and Irene Guenther. Magical Realism: Theory, History, Community. Duke University Press, 1995. Print.

Does Literary Theory Help in Reading Process?

The reading process is a tricky business. Even readers themselves are rarely familiar with their own personas.

Use of Literary Theory in Reading

The reading process is a tricky business. Even readers themselves are rarely familiar with their own personas let alone their past, present, and future including their cultural upbringings which all impact the reading process. The reason is when readers read something, they are fully immersed in that text with all these aspects of their personas. Hence, reading is a highly complex task with a complex process. The same complex process is at work in writing that piece that a reader has to read. Therefore, the meaning making process becomes easier to understand when the reading process involved in interpreting is taken into account. However, practical criticism, too, which merely includes a short or detailed explanation and interpretation of the text, becomes a highly complex phenomenon. It cannot be executed properly without help from other branches of knowledge. It is here that literary theory comes to help the readers and the interpreters. It presents a multidimensional view of the book from cultural perspectives involved in its writing, individual mental makeup, and the cultural background of the readers and the cultural milieu in which the work appears.

Practical Example of Literary Theory in the Reading Process

Literary theory intervenes when a specific perspective is to be explored or a reader comes across some specific details about some theoretical assumptions. For example, if the book is placed in its historical setting when it has appeared on the scene, removing it from its writer, it may have different interpretations and the literary theory applied to it may focus on only its historical dimensions and not other dimensions. The problem here arises that the readers reading the book from this perspective only focus on this aspect and ignore all other aspects. For example, a person reading Charles Dicken’s A Tale of Two Cities may only focus on the French revolution and its workings. This compartmentalization of work is done in a way that different readers arrive at different conclusions after analyzing the same work. This poses a question about the relationship of the reader with the text. It could be interactional or transactional.

Literary Theory and Relation of the Reader with the Text

The relationship is interactional in that the reader interacts with the text and deduces meanings at which he/she arrives during his/her reading process. However, it happens that after a few months or years, he/she comes across the same text again and arrives at an entirely different conclusion. This is another way of interacting with the text. In the same way, a transactional relationship entails that meanings do not reside in the minds of the readers. Instead, the readers bring with them an attitude and a whole cultural makeup before reading the text. This helps them to draw meanings from the process in which they involve their whole cultural upbringing. For example, various eastern readers rather demonstrate horror when they read about sexual escapades in western fiction or poetry first time.

Literary Theory and Meanings

Whatever relationship a reader may have with the text, he/she arrives at some meanings. Literary theory comes to help him/her in this situation where he/she draws meanings according to his/her own theoretical perspective. Sometimes these theoretical perspectives differ on account of the application of different literary tropes, say figures of speech, or type of word choice, say diction. Still, they stay within the limits of one or the other theoretical lens. Saying it in a different way, it means that though each reader may show a different theoretical lens when interpreting a text, some readers may arrive at the same understanding. For example, a reader may see Kate Chopin’s story “The Story of an Hour” from a feminist perspective, while another may see it from a patriarchal perspective whereas both have almost the same meanings under the broad umbrella of a single theoretical lens of feminism.

Different Literary Theories

Such interpretations lead to different schools of criticism where one could be Marxism and the other could be New Historicism or Postmodernism or Postcolonialism. In fact, these various schools bombard the text with a plethora of questions. When readers answer these questions, they arrive at different understandings. The interpretation through a theoretical lens rather becomes a new jouissance for the readers, making their process not just a passive activity but an active activity that they enjoy and carry on with another set of reading from a different perspective. Therefore, literary theory makes the reading process an enjoyable activity.

Suggesting Readings
  1. Bressler, Charles E. Literary Criticism: An Introduction. Washington D. C. Pearson Education. 1990. Print.
  2. Rosenblatt, Louise M. The Reader, The Text, The Poem: The Transactional Theory of the Literary Work. SIU Press, 1994. Print.
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Emergence of Literary Theory

Despite having roots in the classical Greece literary tradition,

Birth of Literary Theory

Despite having roots in the classical Greece literary tradition, literary theory owes much to the modern world for its emergence. Most literary theorists are consensual about the emergence in the 50s and 60s when a structuralist, Ferdinand de Saussure, started impacting literary criticism. Some others, however, claim that it was the German higher criticism of hermeneutics that led to theoretical criticism of literature. This was a scriptural interpretation of the biblical tales with narratives from other religious cultures or theologies which led to the emergence of “structuralism” and then “new historicism.” Specifically, after the introduction of these theoretical concepts, French cultural critics and sociologists came forward with new aspects and theoretical dimensions. During that time, a French critic, Charles Augustin, asserted that the biographical details of a writer are essential for the interpretations of their works. Marcel Proust, another French writer, lashed out at him, rejecting his claims altogether. Roland Barthes, then, contended it with his popular “Death of the Author” to which various authors and critics refuted and seconded during the second half of the twentieth century. This is perhaps the beginning of the emergence of literary theory. Friedrich Nietzsche was the second to impact the landscape of theory.

Nietzsche and Literary Theory

Nietzschean epistemological suspicion led many of his successors to doubt the very facts and their interpretation, leading to the emergence of various schools and theories including skepticism, absurdism, or existentialism. Specifically, his argument that heaven was a place full of ideas led several thinkers to question his argument, giving rise to skepticism and even more commentary upon morality, truth, power, and the very meaning of life. That is why his impact on it is tremendous as he has commented upon every other aspect of life that falls under theory and consequently under theory.

Russian Formalism as a Literary Theory

On the other hand, Russian formalists, too, were at the forefront, bringing in-depth transformations in theory and its application in literature. The teaching of literature at Yale, Cornell, and Johns Hopkins also contributed to this meaning making drive through the application of theory. And it became the catchword in the west by the end of the 80s.

Proliferation of Theory and Literary Theory

It has now become popular in third world academies and has gripped the minds of literary critics as well as writers and experts in other areas of social sciences, specifically international relations, marketing, and advertising. In fact, literary theory has never been as relevant as it is today when communication has witnessed transformation due to the arrival of the internet and fast communication platforms as a slight cultural change in one part of the world creates ripples across the globe. And it is interesting that even literary theories of the yore era are still relevant as stated by Chris Long in his article “A Brief History of Literary Theory.”

Christ Long on Literary Theory

Christ Long’s article states one thing that it has always been there. Only the quest started during the previous century. Chris Long states that the movement for finding real meanings has started with the author and moved toward the reader giving birth to different theories until Derrida announced the death of the author and termed text everything. However, this is not all, for the reader is also there as Fish’s theoretical lens radically altered it, putting the reader at the center. From there to onward, literary theory has become part and parcel of literary criticism, explication, and explanation process. The journey from the author to the text and the reader, then, entered the communities and cultures, giving birth to a host of other literary theories, canons, tropes, isms, ideas, and approaches.

Exact Date of Birth of Literary Theory

However, there is no exact date when, say, a university department has announced that it is going to launch it. In fact, its emergence has been gradual, encompassing classical, medieval, neo-classical, and then global ideas to give birth to a holistic term of literary theory where authors, philosophers, critics, and writers from across the globe have their ideas mixed up to draw out generalizations about eras and cultural spaces.

Suggested Readings
  1. Tyson, Lois. Critical Theory Today: A User-Friendly guide. Routledge, 2014. Print.
  2. Waugh, Patricia, ed. Literary Theory and Criticism: An Oxford Guide. Oxford University Press on Demand, 2006. Print.
You may read more on Literary Theory below:

What is Metatheory? How is it related to Literature?

Meanings of Metatheory

Metatheory is made up of two words; meta which means ‘going beyond,’ and theory which means a set of ideas. Therefore, it means to formulate a set of ideas or assumptions to study theories or a specific theory. As such, metatheory is not specifically relevant to literary theory. It is relevant to the theory in that it is applied to every other field to study theory. This field could be science, social science or humanities, or culture. In other words, metatheory means to study the theory as a subject matter.

Since the time literary theory has entered the field of literature, it has rather bamboozled literary critics, readers, and writers alike. It has even amazed the literary people due to the introduction of newer terms every other day. Although metatheory is another such term, it is rather a broad term as it encompasses all theoretical concepts. In other words, it means to study theory or a specific theoretical perspective and aims to unravel theoretical approaches and concepts.

Literature and Metatheory

If metatheory is the study of theory, in literature, metatheory means the study of literary theoretical concepts, tropes, and lenses. As metatheory is made up of two words, meta means ‘beyond, after, or behind” while theory means an idea or a supposition or a system of ideas based on some assumptions, it is, nonetheless, a theory. Therefore, it means the ways of looking at the theory, unraveling its assumptions, and disjointing it part by part. For example, if you study formalism, its major principles, and its underlying assumptions, it means you are applying metatheory to study this specific theory.

Relevance of Literary Theory to Metatheory

In literature, it is relevant in that it helps in studying other theoretical concepts and tropes. For example, if you want to know formalism or Russian formalism, you will first know the common principles that govern it. Or for that matter, you will study humanism and its common principles such as stated by Peter Berry that good literature is universal, timeless, meaningful in history, has no ideological leanings, and is based on the permanence of human nature. Although there are more than ten tenets of English humanism as stated by Peter Berry, some critics outline more than these. Therefore, the study of English humanism as a theoretical concept and then the comparison of this concept with other such theoretical concepts and lenses falls under the category of metatheory.

How Does Metatheory Help Readers?

It helps literary critics to study other theoretical lenses, separate them from each other, compare and contrast them and find faults or point out important features of different theoretical approaches. In a way, it is a creative process that helps find more domains, regions, genres, times, or specific concepts. It also helps impregnate various cultural concepts with more meanings and semantic alternatives to the point that they lose their original meanings and demonstrate new nuances.

What is Metatheory?

In fact, it is the theory of theory or the study of theory. A person who is studying theoretical concepts and is engaged in theorizing them further is a student of metatheory. It is also akin to other terms applied to different subjects such as metalanguage, metalinguistics, metamathematics, metahistory, metalogic, and metatheorem. Besides literature, it is used in philosophy, psychology, social research, and mathematics.

Works Cited Groeben, Norbert. “Response: Literary Theory: Object Theory or Metatheory?!” (2008): 443-446

Difference between Literary Theory and Literary Criticism

Although it seems that there is little distinction between literary theory and literary criticism, yet when applied, it becomes a huge difference.

Difference Between Literary Theory and Literary Criticism

Although it seems that there is little distinction between literary theory and literary criticism, yet when applied, it becomes a huge difference. Criticism in the past was applied without any theoretical perspective which in some cases was labeled as a type of practical criticism. It involves more attention to the interpretation of words and their usages, literary devices, and structural features of literary pieces. With the passage of time and the emergence of theories in other social sciences, literature, too, borrowed theoretical perspectives to interpret literary pieces. Therefore, literary theory and literary criticism differ not only in their applications but also in the usage of terms and examples.

The literary theory applies to naming theoretical perspectives and their attendant features, techniques, tropes, and their study. It is also called theoretical perspective, theoretical lens, or theoretical aspect of something. However, the term literary criticism means the critical study of a certain text even without the application of a theoretical lens. Similarly, a theoretical perspective can also be studied alone and in isolation just to understand its major assumptions and its social relation, and its reflection through or from a culture. There could be various examples as given earlier.

Application of Literary Theory and Criticism

As far as the application is concerned, a literary theory is a set of principles, ideas, and techniques that are used for the interpretations of different words, texts, or literary pieces. If a theory is just interpreted for the sake of interpretation in a classroom setting where students are present and they need to understand what it is, how it is applied, and what meanings it can deduce from a text, it is a simple theoretical perspective. However, when it is truly applied, it means that readers are going to interpret a given text from a specific point of view. For example, an African American would interpret Langston Hughes from a racial critical point of view, while he would interpret an Afghani text from the colonial, postcolonial, or indigenous perspective. Here are more examples to make it easy to understand.

Examples of Using Literary Theory and Criticism

Example # 1

For example, structuralism and its interpretations in literature fall under the category of literary theory. However, when some of its ideas, principles, techniques, or tropes are applied to understand say a story such as “Take Pity” by Bernard Malamud, it is literary criticism. If Marxism is generally studied to understand it, it is a theoretical perspective, but when it is used to understand the story mentioned earlier, it is its application. It is, then, literary criticism. Hence, both terms are used in different senses.

Example # 2

To understand both of these terms further, it is imperative to have some examples. For example, if a critic is using a postcolonial theoretical perspective to study a text of an American Indian or South Asian literary writer, he would be trying to find out enunciations about indigenous culture, colonial culture, their interaction, powerplay, and so on. Edward Said’s attempt about studying culture and the impacts of imperialism fall under this category. Home K. Bhabha’s attempts, too, are categorized as such. However, literary criticism involves using the Bhabhain (of Homi K. Bhabha) trope of hybridity to Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart, or using orientalism and any of its features to texts written by some South Asian or Arab writer.

Example # 3

Take the novel, Animal Farm, by a British writer George Orwell. Although the novel has various shades and could be interpreted in several ways including rhetorically, it has various theoretical perspectives. The first one is the Marxian perspective which it shows how communism or socialism has evolved and reached the state of deterioration. The animals represent the general masses while the leaders such as Snowball and Napolean represent public figures or leaders who hoodwink the masses and make the sincere people flee the lands. Similarly, Old Major represents Karl Marx as an ideologue. However, in common criticism, a reader would interpret it differently without applying the Marxian assumptions of labor, market, indoctrination, wages, etc.

Conclusion of Difference Between Literary Theory and Criticism

Summing it up, it gets clear that literary theory is an umbrella that provides various shades to study different literary texts in different ways. A theory provides ways, techniques, and principles to study different texts in different ways to understand the culture in which it is written, to understand the man who writes them, and to understand his/her relationships with the situation, environment, language, culture, and wider cultural issues. The application to do so amounts to criticism. Therefore, the difference lies in understanding theory and its proper application.

Suggesting Readings
  1. Eagleton, Terry. Literary Theory: An Introduction. John Wiley & Sons, 2011. Print.
  2. Hawthorn, Jeremy. A Concise Glossary of Contemporary Literary Theory. London: Edward Arnold, 1992. Print.
  3. Selden, Raman, Peter Widdowson, and Peter Brooker. A Reader’s Guide to Contemporary Literary Theory. Routledge, 2013. Print.
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Why is Literary Theory Required?

The question about the requirement of a literary theory depends on the meanings of the term as well as the understanding of the readers.

Literary Theory for Meaning Making

The question about the requirement of a literary theory depends on the meanings of the term as well as the understanding of the readers.

As stated earlier, a theory is a set of rules or assumptions to investigate things, a literary theory does the same in a similar fashion but it is applied to literary texts such as fiction, prose, poetry, etc. These set of rules are, then, applied to the literary texts to elaborate them through certain perspectives, ideologies, aesthetics, cultural values, existing moral or ethical framework, relevance to other cultures, etc. Actually, when the work of meaning making expands, it enters the realm of literary theory to interpret a text from various angles.

Literary Theory Helps Reading From Various Angles

These angles could be various. A theory depends upon all of these angles or any one of these. For example, if a text, say a poem by John Keats, is read only from the perspective of the readers how they feel after reading it, how it has impacted their belief system about the autumn and how it impacts their aesthetics, it is a reader-response perspective of a theoretical angel about “Ode to Autumn.” From this angle, the scholars and critics will only discuss the perspective of the readers and their responses to this poem. However, if these assumptions of the readers change, the meanings and angle of meanings, too, change. It then entirely rejects the idea of pure criticism, or the assumption that every reader has a presupposed innocence, or just an emotional reaction to a text.

Literary Theory Studies Ethical Frameworks

Similarly, the text could be read from a cultural perspective, say, the existing ethical framework of the culture in which it is written. For example, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, a short story, intrigues the readers with the ethical framework of a society that still accepts the lottery as a way to act upon absurd traditions based on stupid ideas. This social ethical framework still insists on it merely because it has been handed down from generations to another generation. In other words, it shows that another theoretical lens is required to study the power structure, indigenous traditions, and social frameworks which could fall under the category of postcolonial theory in broader terms.

Literary Theory Studies Power Structure

It means that a text could be read from the point of the power structure. It could entail the power of the indigenous people or the occupying culture. It turns to either side to interpret the perspective of the author, the reader, the characters of the text or the situation of the text, or even the presentation of the text. So many theories are applied to a single text that it could be interpreted in multiple different ways to show different perspectives that it represents. In other words, a theory is required to show that sometimes assumptions of the readers prove true when a text is read from his/her perspective.

Multidimensionality of Literary Theory

Briefly speaking, a theory is required to see a text from various angles to understand the author, his mental capability, his cultural background, his belief system, his ethical framework, his aesthetic capability and interest, his linguistic power, his understanding of the human persona including its identity, psychology, communication ability, etc. It is called multidimensionality of understanding. In fact, it involves so many and so varied things about humans and the universe that theoretical study becomes rather another venture of meaning-making that does not seem to have an end.

Suggesting Readings

  1. Mooij, J. J. A. “The Nature and Function of Literary Theories.” Poetics Today, vol. 1, no. 1/2, 1979, pp. 111–135. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1772043.
  2. Eagleton, Terry. Literary Theory: An Introduction. John Wiley & Sons, 2011. Print.

What is a Literary Theory?

Literary theory means a theory that is applied to a literary text. In other words, it means to point out theoretical principles that govern a piece of literature.

Definition of Literary Theory

Literary theory means a theory that is applied to a literary text. In other words, it means to point out theoretical principles that govern a piece of literature. It is the practice of theoretical, sociological, and methodological perspectives that emerge out of the reading, interpretation, and analysis of that specific text. They could be the result of the reader’s assumptions, or they could be the writer’s underlying thoughts.

It could be defined in another way. There are certain propositions or suppositions or a set of assumptions that help an individual understand social concepts. If readers find the same concepts in the literary texts and these concepts come up to the yardstick of those assumptions they harbor in their minds, it means it is the application of the theoretical perspective on that text.

What Does Literary Theory Mean?

Literary theory is made up of two words. In this phrase, literary means something that is part of the vast body of literature. The theory here means a process, methodological way, procedure, or a set of organized methods used to explain, analyze, interpret, explicate, or unravel something literary in nature. Therefore, here “literary theory” means the interpretation of literary pieces according to some tools, underlying principles, or set of assumptions based on which students and critics of literature interpret literary pieces. The theory may seem a smorgasbord from where some assumptions are borrowed and hypothesized to justify interpretations and explications of a literary piece. In other words, it is an attempt to form a relationship between the author with his work through these justifications. In fact, it emerges from the piece of literature and its language with reference to its relevance to the time and space of the culture, society, and the era in which the author writes it.

There are various such approaches using which a reader can approach a text. Readers could form assumptions before reading texts, or come up with new theoretical perspectives after going through the piece.

How is Literary Theory Formed?

Theory, as defined above, is a set of principles or suppositions of a system of ideas that have an underlying common strain. It could be a set on which a common practice depends for its explanation. It could be a set of ideas used for the justification of logical reasoning to provide evidence. These are also called conceptual frameworks, theoretical perspectives, or theoretical lenses when used in literary critique. Or they could also be called critical approaches. Generally, it is also called critical theory and could be associated with any other sub-theme when required such as race critical theory or indigenous critical theory.

These approaches of literary theory are based on different elements; holistic cultural atmosphere, social preferences about class, race, gender, tribes, families, governments, politics, and even the arena of international relations. This approach could be historical, linguistic, social, political, apolitical, etc. Even sometimes it intends to focus on minor elements of a text that interprets culture and impacts culture in turn such as identity, subjectivity, sexuality, power, discourse, utterances, subjection, cruelty, or patience, and other such abstract emotions or concepts. Briefly, now a theoretical understanding is considered the study of a text within the given cultural setting, and its likely or intended impacts on different cultural aspects.

Difference Between Theory and Criticism

Criticism was simple and practical long before the introduction of theoretical interpretations. The reason is that the critics used either the personality of the writer, his/her biography, or his/her social environment to interpret literary pieces without knowing these specific approaches. Sometimes only the biographical details and situations of the writers were considered enough. Later this trend turned to written works only.

A few decades back, a critic used to interpret a poem for its merits or demerits. However, it occurred to the sanguine readers that poetry has something more than poetic structures and expressions of emotions. The questions of real meanings with the author, the readers, the language, or the use of literary language went unanswered. Then theoretical concepts led the critics to use them for understanding literary works and interpreting them. This led to the use of literary theory which is a combination of two words; literary, an adjective, and theory, a noun.

Some Important Literary Theories

This is not an exhaustive list of theories now in use in critiquing literary texts. However, this list can show underlying assumptions/suppositions or ideas to systematically apply them to the texts.

  1. Liberal Humanism: Based on some assumptions that humanism is a universal term and that it applies with the same universal assumptions to every literary text.
  2. Formalism: It means to approach a text with forms and structures.
  3. New Criticism: It also means the same as formalism. Only that its origin was the United States.
  4. Marxism: It shows the use of the Marxian principle in interpreting works.
  5. Structuralism: It shows structures used for interpreting works. It is also considered an extension of formalism.
  6. New Historicism or Cultural Materialism: It considers culture, social fabric, and era as the underlying motives behind the text.
  7. Feminism: It uses feministic trends and assumptions to interest texts.
  8. Postcolonial Theory: It shows the use of power, social structure, subjectivity, and other such relations to interpret texts written following a colonial retreat or during this era.
  9. Gender Studies: It falls under feminism, queer theory, racial critical theory, and even indigenous theoretical approach.
How to Apply Literary Theory
  1. Select a Literary Theory: Choose a specific literary theory or critical approach that you want to apply to the literary work. Common literary theories include:
    • Feminist Theory
    • Marxist Theory
    • Psychoanalytic Theory
    • Postcolonial Theory
    • Structuralism
    • Reader-Response Theory
    • Deconstruction
    • New Criticism
  2. Read the Literary Work: Thoroughly read and analyze the literary work to familiarize yourself with its content, themes, characters, and narrative structure.
  3. Identify Key Elements: Identify key elements within the literary work that are relevant to the chosen literary theory. These elements may include:
  4. Research the Literary Theory: Gain a deep understanding of the chosen literary theory by researching its key concepts, principles, and prominent scholars. Be sure to consider how the theory approaches literature and its interpretation.
  5. Analyze the Work Through the Lens of the Theory: Apply the concepts and principles of the chosen literary theory to the elements you’ve identified in the literary work. Consider how the theory can shed new light on the text and offer unique insights.
  6. Create a Thesis Statement: Formulate a clear thesis statement that outlines the main argument or interpretation of the literary work based on the application of the chosen literary theory. This statement should highlight the theory’s impact on your analysis.
  7. Provide Textual Evidence: Support your analysis with relevant textual evidence from the literary work. Quote specific passages that illustrate the points you are making and connect them to the theory.
  8. Explore Themes and Patterns: Investigate how the literary theory reveals underlying themes and patterns in the text. Analyze how the theory shapes your interpretation and brings out hidden meanings.
  9. Consider Counterarguments: Acknowledge potential counterarguments or alternative interpretations that may arise from different literary theories. Address these perspectives to strengthen your analysis.
  10. Discuss Implications: Reflect on the broader implications of your analysis. How does the application of the literary theory influence our understanding of the literary work and its socio-cultural context?
  11. Write an Analytical Essay: Organize your findings and insights into a well-structured analytical essay that follows a logical progression and includes an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion.
  12. Edit and Revise: Carefully edit and revise your essay to ensure clarity, coherence, and proper citation of sources.
  13. Incorporate Scholarly Sources: If applicable, incorporate scholarly articles, books, or critical essays related to the chosen literary theory to support your analysis.
  14. Cite Your Sources: Use the appropriate citation style (e.g., MLA, APA, Chicago) to cite both the literary work and any secondary sources you’ve consulted.
  15. Proofread and Finalize: Review your essay for grammar, spelling, and formatting errors, and make any necessary revisions before submitting your analysis of the literary work.
Suggested Readings