As an analyser of literature, have you read John Sutherland's theories?
(I am not a fan of him, I must disclose)
I think it would be accurate to say I know of his theories, particularly in his public-facing work. I may or may not have read some of his work when reading about The Rise Of The Novelâ„¢ for my PhD comps exams (which were some time ago now.)
While I think his work poses some interesting questions, I think he is overly preoccupied with finding answers to those questions, and tiresomely insistent, moreover, that those answers are contained in the texts. It all feels very New Criticism to me. "Can Jane Eyre Be Happy?" is an interesting question! I can easily imagine it as an undergraduate essay prompt! "Henry V, War Criminal?" is to me a less interesting question, as it more clearly relies on a modern category. But anyway: to me, his approach of representing literary works as containing puzzles to be solved, rather than questions to be posed, is rather tiresome.
