literary.theory.the.basics.pdf

Literary Theory

The Basics

This accessible guide provides the ideal first step in understanding

literary theory. Hans Bertens:

• leads you through the major approaches to literature which

are signalled by the term ‘literary theory’

• places each critical movement in its historical (and often

political) context

• illustrates theory in practice with examples from much-read

texts

• suggests further reading for those especially interested in a

particular critical approach

• shows not only that theory can make sense but also that it can

radically change the way you read.

Covering all the basics and much more, this is the ideal book for

anyone interested in how we read and why that matters.

Hans Bertens

is based at the University of Utrecht, the Netherlands.

He is the author of The Idea of the Postmodern (Routledge, 1995).

Preface

There was a time when the interpretation of literary texts and

literary 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 because its generalizations could

never do justice to individual texts. In the last thirty years,

however, interpretation and theory have moved closer and closer

to each other. In fact, for many contemporary critics and theo-

rists 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.

The premise of Literary Theory: The Basics is that literary

theory and literary practice – the practice of interpretation – can

indeed not very well be separated 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. The emphasis is on

the 1970s and after, but important earlier views of literature get

their full share of attention. This is not merely a historical

exercise. A good understanding of, for instance, the New

Criticism that dominated literary criticism in the United States