The Relevance of Literary Theory
Nine weeks ago, I was a complete stranger
to the world of literary theory. As I
skimmed through Literary Theory: An
Anthology, I can say with honesty that I agreed with Robert Young when he
said that the realm of literary theory seemed “to be an area of intellectual
activity barred to all except initiates…[with] literary theorists…making little
effort to address a wider audience” (165).
With no exposure to the field, I felt overwhelmed by what I saw at first
glance. I thought back to my earlier
academic days and the required readings of many of the great writers:
Shakespeare, Poe, Twain, Dickins, and Melville, to name a few. At that time, I read those works only at what
I now understand to be the surface level.
I didn’t have any idea that a knowledge of literary theory could have
helped me “discover new ways in which [I] might be able to experience
literature even more powerfully [by pursuing] the questions which literary
theory raises” (Young 166). Having
studied the literary theories of psychoanalysis, Marxism, feminism, and
deconstructionism, I now see the many layers of hidden meaning that can be
extruded from a text, adding depth to my experience as a reader and a writer.
In stating that studying the application
of literary theory to a text has opened up new layers of meaning, I’m in direct
conflict with the very nature of those theories. “Deconstruction shows how language can never
arrive at a closed final meaning, because in the process of getting to that
meaning the signs will always leave a residue that remains unassimilable to it”
(Young 170). In other words, the
inherent instability of language to convey meaning makes it impossible to
establish one universal meaning of a text.
Other theorists, such as Walter Benjamin, suggest that “understanding
literature means more than merely understanding language…[it] must be
considered in a speculative mode, always mediated through the way of meaning”
(Kohlross para. 18). Taking into account
the many controversial ideas of literary theory, Jacques Derrida sums it up
when he defines it as “an adventure of vision…a form of writing whose power and
significance resides in the fact that it is explorative” (Young 173). Regardless of which side of the argument
you’re on, the worlds that the application of literary theory to any given text
opens up signifies its importance and will be what continues to give its
methods of study life.
As I studied a few of the many literary
theories , I was completely intrigued by the deconstructionist theory. I spent countless hours scouring any resource
I could find in an effort to understand its complicated concepts. That being said, I think that the
psychoanalytic theory will be the most useful to me in my future endeavors as a
creative fiction writer. “The “cognito”
or thinking self defines our humanity and our civility” (Introduction
390). Part of preparing to construct a
piece of fiction involves completing character histories, with the goal being
to understand the motivations for their actions, allowing me, as a writer, to
convey this to my reader, making my characters more relatable. Keeping in mind the concepts of the
psychoanalytic theory as I develop my character histories will open them up to
me and let me “know” who they are and why they would behave or react a certain
way to particular events. Granted, a
literary theory is typically applied to a completed text, but I can envision many
ways that referring to the key concepts of the psychoanalytic theory will help
make my writing stronger from the beginning.
If asked at this point if I believe that
the field of literary theory is just for those elitists, my answer would have
to be, “No.” It is an area filled with
complicated concepts that can take a great deal of study to understand, but I
found it to be worth it in terms of the new ways in which I am now able to look
at a literary text, and even my own writing, and find multiple meanings that
enrich my reading experience. I now
understand how much more can be hidden within the lines of those classics that
I might have once dismissed as boring or meaningless. My understanding of literary theory allows me
to look at an author’s work and realize that he or she really had something to
say about the human condition.
Works Cited
“Introduction:
Strangers to Ourselves: Psychoanalysis.” Literary Theory: An Anthology. 2nd ed.
Julie Rivkin, Michael Ryan, ed. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. 2004. pp.390.
Print.
Kohlross,
Christian. “Walter Benjamin’s “The Task of the Translator: Theory After the End
of Theory.” Partial Answers. 7(1). January 2009. para 18. Web. Accessed 19
March 2107. http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.snhu.edu/docview/226084562?accountid=3783
Young,
Robert. “Contemporary Literary Theory: Its Necessity and Impossibility.”
College Literature. Vol. 9. Issue 3. Fall 1982. pp.165-173.
