Literary Theory The Basics

285 Pages·2013·3.34 MB·english

by  Hans Bertens

LITERARY THEORY
THE BASICS
Now in its third edition, Literary Theory: The Basics is a clear and
engaging introduction to this core area of study. Exploring a broad
range of topics, from the New Criticism of the 1930s to the
Ecocriticism and Posthumanism of the twenty-first century, it
guides thereaderthroughthe sometimesconfusingworld of literary
theory to answer such questions as:
(cid:2) Why is theory so important?
(cid:2) Can I use modern theories to analyse texts from other periods?
(cid:2) What are issues like gender or race doing in literary theory?
(cid:2) How do I decide which theory to use and must I pick just one?
(cid:2) What comes after theory?
Now with updated case studies and suggestions for further reading,
Literary Theory: The Basics is a must read for anyone wishing
to approach the many debates and theories in this field with
confidence.
Hans Bertens is Professor of Comparative Literature at Utrecht
University, the Netherlands.
The Basics
ACTING EDUCATION
BellaMerlin KayWood
AMERICANPHILOSOPHY EUROPEANUNION(SECONDEDITION)
NancyStanlick AlexWarleigh-Lack
ANTHROPOLOGY EVOLUTION
PeterMetcalf SherrieLyons
ARCHAEOLOGY(SECONDEDITION) FILMSTUDIES(SECONDEDITION)
CliveGamble AmyVillarejo
ARTHISTORY FINANCE(SECONDEDITION)
GrantPookeandDianaNewall ErikBanks
ARTIFICIALINTELLIGENCE FREEWILL
KevinWarwick MeghanGriffith
THEBIBLE HUMANGENETICS
JohnBarton RickiLewis
BUDDHISM HUMANGEOGRAPHY
CathyCantwell AndrewJones
THECITY INTERNATIONALRELATIONS
KevinArcher PeterSutchandJuanitaElias
CONTEMPORARYLITERATURE ISLAM(SECONDEDITION)
SumanGupta ColinTurner
CRIMINALLAW JOURNALISMSTUDIES
JonathanHerring MartinConboy
CRIMINOLOGY(SECONDEDITION) JUDAISM
SandraWalklate JacobNeusner
DANCESTUDIES LANGUAGE(SECONDEDITION)
JoButterworth R.L.Trask
EASTERNPHILOSOPHY LAW
VictoriaS.Harrison GarySlapperandDavidKelly
ECONOMICS(SECONDEDITION) LITERARYTHEORY(THIRDEDITION)
TonyCleaver HansBertens
LOGIC RESEARCHMETHODS
J.C.Beall NicholasWalliman
MANAGEMENT ROMANCATHOLICISM
MorgenWitzel MichaelWalsh
MARKETING(SECONDEDITION) SEMIOTICS(SECONDEDITION)
KarlMooreandNikethPareek DanielChandler
MEDIASTUDIES SHAKESPEARE(THIRDEDITION)
JulianMcDougall SeanMcEvoy
THEOLYMPICS SOCIALWORK
AndyMiahandBeatrizGarcia MarkDoel
PHILOSOPHY(FIFTHEDITION) SOCIOLOGY
NigelWarburton KenPlummer
PHYSICALGEOGRAPHY SPECIALEDUCATIONALNEEDS
JosephHolden JaniceWearmouth
POETRY(SECONDEDITION) TELEVISIONSTUDIES
JeffreyWainwright TobyMiller
POLITICS(FOURTHEDITION) TERRORISM
StephenTanseyandNigelJackson JamesLutzandBrendaLutz
THEQUR’AN THEATRESTUDIES(SECONDEDITION)
MassimoCampanini RobertLeach
RACEANDETHNICITY WOMEN’SSTUDIES
PeterKivistoandPaulR.Croll BonnieSmith
RELIGION(SECONDEDITION) WORLDHISTORY
MaloryNye PeterN.Stearns
RELIGIONANDSCIENCE
PhilipClayton
This page intentionally left blank
LITERARY THEORY
THE BASICS
Third edition
Hans Bertens
Thirdeditionpublished2014
byRoutledge
2ParkSquare,MiltonPark,Abingdon,OxonOX144RN
andbyRoutledge
711ThirdAvenue,NewYork,NY10017
RoutledgeisanimprintoftheTaylor&FrancisGroup,aninformabusiness
©2014HansBertens
TherightofHansBertenstobeidentifiedasauthorhasbeenassertedbyhimin
accordancewithsections77and78oftheCopyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988.
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereprintedorreproducedorutilised
inanyformorbyanyelectronic,mechanical,orothermeans,nowknownorhereafter
invented,includingphotocopyingandrecording,orinanyinformationstorageor
retrievalsystem,withoutpermissioninwritingfromthepublishers.
Whilsteveryefforthasbeenmadetotracecopyrightholders,
thishasnotbeenpossibleinallcases.Anyomissionsbrought
toourattentionwillberemediedinfutureeditions.
Trademarknotice:Productorcorporatenamesmaybetrademarksor
registeredtrademarks,andareusedonlyforidentificationand
explanationwithoutintenttoinfringe.
Firstpublished2001byRoutledge
Secondeditionpublished2008byRoutledge
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData
AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData
Bertens,JohannesWillem.
Literarytheory:thebasics/HansBertens.–Thirdedition.
pagescm.–(TheBasics;3)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
1.Criticism–History–20thcentury.2.Literature–Historyand
criticism–Theory,etc.I.Title.
Pn94.B472013
801’.950904–dc23
2013010557
ISBN:978-0-415-53806-0(hbk)
ISBN:978-0-415-53807-7(pbk)
ISBN:978-0-203-48883-6(ebk)
TypesetinBembo
byTaylor&FrancisBooks
CONTENTS
Introduction 1
1 Reading for meaning: practical criticism and New
Criticism 4
2 Reading for form I: formalism and early structuralism,
1914–60 28
3 Reading for form II: French structuralism, 1950–75 46
4 Political reading: class, gender, and race in the 1970s
and 1980s 67
5 The poststructuralist revolution: Derrida and
deconstruction 102
6 Poststructuralism continued: Foucault, Lacan, French
feminism, and postmodernism 123
7 Literature and culture: cultural studies, the new
historicism, and cultural materialism 150
8 Postcolonial criticism and theory 168
9 Sexuality, literature, and culture 195
10 Posthumanism, ecocriticism, and animal studies 213
11 Conclusion 233
Bibliography 240
Index 259
This page intentionally left blank
INTRODUCTION
There was a time when the interpretation of literary texts and lit-
erary theory seemed two different and almost unrelated things.
Interpretation was about the actual meaning of a poem, a novel, or
a play, while theory seemed alien to what the study of literature
was really about and even presented a threat to the reading of
individual poems, novels, and other literary texts because of its
reductive generalizations. In the last thirty years, however, inter-
pretation and theory have movedcloser and closer toeach other.In
fact, for many people involved in literary studies, interpretation and
theory cannot be separated at all. They would argue that when we
interpret a text we always do so from a theoretical perspective,
whether we are aware of it or not, and they would also argue that
theory cannot do without interpretation.
ThepremiseofLiteraryTheory:TheBasicsisthatliterarytheoryand
literary practice – the practice of interpretation – can indeed not be
separated very well and certainly not at the more advanced level of
academic literary studies. One of its aims, then, is to show how
theory and practice are inevitably connected and have always been
connected. Although the emphasis is on the 1970s and after, the first
three chapters focus on the most important views of literature and
of the individual literary work of the earlier part of the twentieth
century. This is not a merely historical exercise. A good