{"id":6154,"date":"2017-08-09T07:00:18","date_gmt":"2017-08-09T07:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/?p=6154"},"modified":"2021-08-18T16:08:10","modified_gmt":"2021-08-18T16:08:10","slug":"whats-point-literary-theory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/uncategorized\/whats-point-literary-theory\/","title":{"rendered":"What&#8217;s the point of literary theory?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When I consider how helpful studying literary theory is, I am often left scratching my head. For instance, what use is the Intentional Fallacy to us when approaching a text? The Intentional Fallacy is the idea that when reading a poem or piece of prose we should forget or dispose of the idea that what is written in the text is directly the author\u2019s intention. This means that any motifs, themes or ideas that exist in the text may not be placed there deliberately by the author but instead emerge without his <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">intention. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?! <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That sometimes, the things we find most interesting about a text are there by chance and that your opinion of a text is just as valuable as that of the author (or your teacher!).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Roland Barthes (1915-1980) was a 20<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">th<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> century philosopher and literary theorist concerned with the way we approach texts as readers (and critics). His seminal essay \u2018The Death of the Author\u2019 establishes a split between two schools of literary criticism \u2013 historicism and New Criticism. The New Critics believed that when approaching a text, we can find all its meaning from the text alone, without any historical or social context. So basically, you can pick up any text without knowing ANYTHING and your reading is valid. Historicists, meanwhile, believe that historical and social context is crucial to locating the text\u2019s meaning. So basically, if you\u2019re a historicist, you better have swotted up on your Horrible Histories before you dare interpret a text.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-6159 aligncenter lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/books-520x360.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"346\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 500px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 500\/346;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-6159 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/books-520x360.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"346\" \/><\/noscript><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In \u2018The Death of the Author\u2019 Barthes argued that \u201cwriting is the destruction of every voice, of every point of origin. Writing is that neutral composite, oblique space where our subject slips away, the negative where all identity is lost, starting with the very identity of the body writing\u201d. For Barthes, the writer disappears once he has written the text, and all that is left for the reader to consider is the text. Barthes wants you to enjoy the language more, the imagery, the semi-colons even, without thinking you have to consult a Wikipedia page to make sure you\u2019ve got things right. The text is for the reader, forget all other authorities. Long live the reader, death to the author!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Barthes believed that the text can possess meanings that are separate from the writer\u2019s intention. Barthes believed that language is for everyone and because of this, we are all unknowingly educated in all its hidden meanings. \u00a0By extension we, the reader, can find the meaning, or meanings, of the text within ourselves as we are already in possession of this knowledge. The reader doesn\u2019t need to be educated in the socio-historical context to be able to understand a text. This means that <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">anyone<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> can analyse<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> any<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> text and subsequently allows us to read old texts without any previous teaching. You, your mum, your sister, hey \u2013 even your dog\u2026ok, maybe not your dog but you get the gist.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, we started this article with a question \u2013 what help is the theory of the Intentional Fallacy when analysing a text? The short answer is: it liberates the critic\/reader. In accepting that the writer is not the final authority on the text, the reader can discover ideas that the writer may not have been aware of. This gets us to trust our own instincts when taking apart a text in the knowledge that we may be tapping into something greater than the author. This turns reading and analysis into a more creative act and hopefully will alleviate panic when you don\u2019t understand one reference in the text. Instead, you could argue that as a New Critic, the reference is not as important as the effect the language used has in unravelling meaning. In other words, when close-reading an unseen text in your exams, you can relax knowing that all you need to provide a good answer is directly on the page.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-6171 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Screen-Shot-2017-08-08-at-10.24.47.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"358\" height=\"200\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 358px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 358\/200;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-6171\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Screen-Shot-2017-08-08-at-10.24.47.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"358\" height=\"200\" \/><\/noscript><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"il\">Pany H. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/view-tutors\/English\/\">studies English<\/a> at Cambridge. Prior to this, he was an actor and trained at London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art but after years of being a waiter he decided he&#8217;d rather be reading than serving burgers.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When I consider how helpful studying literary theory is, I am often left scratching my head. For instance, what use is the Intentional Fallacy to us when approaching a text? 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