/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.18686190]

is it reddit?

[Anonymous No.18686253]

>>18686190
Literary theory is not actually theory. There's no single principle (or a set of them)* that can be used to analyze each and every literary text --let alone all genres.
*(Maybe anatomy of criticism comes close to that, but not really)

They are frameworks which you can use to analyze some portions of some part of literary texts. Easy to use; since they focus on certain aspects of texts, some linguistic some semantic, some others extra-textual, etc etc.

But what I really don't like about literary theories is that they are self-referential whenever they are used to analyze a text. When you use theory X to write an essay, let's say, it contributes to the promotion of theory X, it becomes a piece of propaganda for theory X, rather than the text you are analyzing.

Plus after an abundance of theory since 60s, I think we've had enough (and all the possible combinations, etc) so I can see some people wanting to go beyond (or back) of being post-theory.

It's good to know them, yet use them sparingly.

[Anonymous No.18686265]

We tend to frame our thinking of literature around a set of ideals set by academics. I think interpretation and analysis of literature is immensely important, but I think the average reader should try take analysis into their own hands. Try to decipher what they think the themes are, rather than relying on what the general consensus is. Sure, this may lead to some pretty off the wall interpretations of literature, but it would certainly lend itself to some interesting discussion.

It reminds me of that guy who was supposedly Thomas Pynchon posting on here. He suggested that rather than trying to analyse James Joyce's work from an outsider perspective, we should try imagining what it was like to be Joyce. I'm not 100% on this, but he thought that some of Joyce's work was a Catholic response to Dracula by Bram Stoker, who was an Irish Protestant. It sounds fucking crazy, and perhaps that guy was not Pynchon, but at least it's interesting. You wouldn't hear some drab lecturer saying something like that.

[Anonymous No.18686375]

>>18686190
Start with the Russian Formalists.

[Anonymous No.18686420]

>>18686265
>the average reader
>lit student identified
this post sticks of homosexual intent.
run people, he wants to fuck you in the ASS!

[Anonymous No.18686489]

>>18686190
Literary theory is just a term to categorize different ways of studying literature. There's nothing reddit about it inherently. However, as >>18686253 points out, much of what purports to be literary theory these days is actually just a set of self-propagating ideologies which start and end their "analysis" with the same conclusions. The text is irrelevant, because the point is not to gain anything from the text, but to read the ideology into the text and use it (and its transgressions) for political purposes.

There is a distinction to be made between literary theories and the academic trend of "Theory". The latter basically resulted from Literature departments in universities getting jealous of Physics. In the 20th century, Physics was an outstanding discipline that delivered considerable power and progress to humanity. Its contributions gradually petered out as most of the low hanging fruit was plucked... but the influence of Physics during its heyday led the worst charlatans of the humanities to desire their own "theories". Literature robbed Physics of certain authoritative vocabulary and cargo-culted ideas, so that it could LARP as a powerful discipline.

This is not unlike what is occurring now with the advent of the Digital Humanities. Then as now, literature looks toward the ascendent discipline to steal its methods, terminology, and accoutrements without really fully understanding them. Then it misuses them.

[Anonymous No.18686503]

>>18686190
What do you mean by reddit?

[Anonymous No.18686512]

>>18686503
He probably doesn't even know. It's just a buzzword here.

[SCOTT No.18686529]

>>18686190
Well hi there, SCOTT here I don't know much about "theory" all i know is that we need a sense and scintilla of perceptual constancy to draw and distinguish stories and their morals I mean "and that's the way the cookie crumbles LOL from Dolly Parton's jazzed up talk of booklearning, i.e. all hat and no CATTLE...just like all the Branson elitists, Andy Williams sang the anthem comfortably with a tilt and lilt in his galvanizing iron step TROD TROD Andy Williams coming through LOL Andy Williamssings "Blue Moon" or maybe "Misty's well those were the days the days of mine and thoses check it out as grand pappy said, my father told me this after his final showdown with guy Bannister's methadone lynch mob in the French quarter: do what suits ya for living, don't do anything else because one day we ain't got to have Nothing NADA don't cross the halys and destroy the kindgown LOL your kingdom friends i learned a lot about human beings bu hearing my pappy talk about the un-deeds of Guy Bannister's Panzer Division up near Baton Rouge yes as Goethe said: grau ist alle Theorie, und grün des Lebens goldener Baum, well heading off to the waffle house to talk about my favorite actor Conrad Bane with friends gonna win the bingo this time let the good times roll!!!! SIGNED SCOTT

[SCOTT No.18686545]

>>18686156 #
I am glad this question has been asked. one people think that animals because they can't talk lack any soul and brains and guts and determination well well well try telling that to a hunter on a bad day LOL animals are very smart shit, there are some rabbits and other little varmints grand pappy and me tracked down in the steppes of Indiana, Litchfield's little "league" baseball dungeon near the bleacher of Mr. Washler's storefront those were the days I tell you...."summertime and the living is easy" - Gershwin just like that..a bit of sports and a bit of bonding at the pool. when my mother was preparing the fruit salad my father found the jukebox (Jules McMaster gave it to him as a gift for parting prom ritual, pappy had to hide the jukebox from mommy because it would make her jealous and also remind her of the ice-creaming tinted desk reclusion of the penultimate eventide shrovetide fair Stravinsky like whiskey serialism Cold War days, boy even as children we never forgot McCarthy - have you no bane? LOL my grandson would get that joke he watches super hero movies...well I#m off to denny's to play bingo..stay healthy and boars are pesky varmints that with Bia phage the arenas of blessed solitude .. just like my WIFE LOL a man just can't have his peace can he? well take it easy friends, well have to continue this conversation after I win at bingo LOL my friends get jealous of me when I win at bingo at denny's, shit I seen one of them who tried to spit in my food! while I was out for a cigarette with thunder thighs..makes you wonder who you're real friends are in this crazy world .... I guess it's the people that care and love about you like a tree hugs a valley in a hard storm Bill Paxton was very much like a tree, I know Bill Paxton very much. I am a fan of his early work now the scenes that are thematically emergent after the establishment of the Wakitian prologue are of better quality, cut from a better like daddy would say I mean Philipp Seymour Hoffman was a great actor in his own right so goddamn man that bloody scene where the hubcap rips open his forehead in the garage while the big ass twister rips away the movie screen was hard to stomach Jesus I mean from a technical point of view touche really well done, not as good a special effect as the FLYING COW LOL that s a joke that will never get old LOL Twister's Flying Cow

[Anonymous No.18686612]

>>18686420
I assure you that I'm too retarded to ever get accepted into a lit degree.

[Anonymous No.18686664]

Looks like wikipedia to me anon

[Anonymous No.18687351]

>>18686503
Slave morality

[Anonymous No.18687396]

Read/listen to Northrop Frye