crash course in literary theory twentieth century onwards
structuralist linguistics: saussure invents linguistics to study language as structures. for him, words don’t give names to preexisting things but create concepts that determine the way we understand the world
russian formalism: thought literature was only form, no content. the idea that art existed to make the familiar seem strange. jakobson founded the moscow linguistics circle when he was 19 wyd with your life
new criticism: so cleanth brooks and robert penn warren right? they write this book called understanding poetry. this book changes the way english classes work forevaaaa. because suddenly class isn’t just about what the poem says but you can use 50 minutes to talk about how it’s said and make your own connections. birth of close reading. and the phrases “the intentional fallacy” and “the affective fallacy”
structuralism: levi-strauss takes saussure’s ideas and applies them to a bunch of myths and finds that their underlying structures are all the same. then applies it to culture as a whole and says they all operate on constructed binaries. lots of things to do with the centre.
deconstruction: derrida starts off this speech at this conference to glorify levi-strauss and then makes a career out of dragging him. the centre does not hold. there is no centre. as barthes writes, there was this guy named guy de maupassant who always ate in the restaurant on the eiffel tower because that was the only place he didn’t have to see the damn thing. basically that, but in theory.
new historicism: born out of the guilt complex of isolating the text from its author. focuses on historical context. greenblatt writes entire books about historical contexts of plays (like hamlet in purgatory). foucault is a huge influence and intertextuality (coined by julia kristeva) is a thing
marxist theory: the superstructures like culture are determined by the economic base. all the bourgeoisie and proletariat things. zizek (use the correct accent things please) and terry eagleton. my professor thinks literary critics are in a privileged position and hence feel the need to contribute to the world hence use marxist criticism to make themselves feel better and * sigh * i gotta write that on the exam
feminist theory: started all the way back with wollstonecraft and woolf. intertwined with political feminism. revisionary reading that exposes biases. judith butler!!!!!
queer theory: began as liberation movement. undo the idea that heterosexuality is the norm. identify and reclaim non heterosexual authors. michel foucault wrote a lot of things. yes, shakespeare was bi.
postcolonial studies: deals with hegemony of texts and cultural imperialism. analysis of history and culture of formerly colonised countries. expand literary canon to include colonial and postcolonial authors. achebe and rushdie all the way!
freudian psychoanalysis: IT’S NOT FUCKING REAL! everything that came out of freud’s mouth along with some carl jung stuff about collective consciousness and archetypes and whatever it was that lacan said about mirrors. maybe mention harold bloom’s anxiety of influence thing.
