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"A Reader's Guide to Contemporary Literary Theory" Quotes
"A Reader's Guide to Contemporary Literary Theory" by Raman Selden provides a clear and accessible overview of the major schools and movements in literary theory from structuralism to postcolonialism.
language arts & disciplines | Published in 2016
Quotes
Theory is not so much a set of axioms as a practice, a way of reading and interpreting texts.
One of the principal aims of literary theory is to make the implicit assumptions underlying our reading explicit.
The meaning of a text is not inherent, but produced in the interaction between reader and text.
Structuralism insists that meaning is relational, not inherent in an isolated sign or word.
Post-structuralism challenges the idea of fixed meaning, emphasizing the instability of language.
The author is not the final authority on the meaning of a work.
Feminist criticism seeks to expose the patriarchal assumptions embedded in literary texts.
Psychoanalytic criticism explores the unconscious motives and desires underpinning literary texts.
Marxist theory views literature as both a product of and a response to historical and social conditions.
Deconstruction reveals the contradictions and ambiguities within a text.