Can somebody PLEASE explain to me the relevance/importance of literary theory?

Question

I love literature. But in all my classes they're expecting us to apply literary theory/criticism to the literary works. Other than teaching "critical thinking" I really don't see what the point is. Why can't we just read literature for its own sake and expalin what we think it means? Why do HAVE to put on Marxist glasses or Feminist glasses and see the works through those lenses? If anyone can make a case for this, I'd be interested in your answers.

Answer 1

Ahh, the righteous indignation of learning literary theory. I think it is part of the whole coming-of-age thing now.

You CAN read literature for its own sake and explain what you think it means. That is actually a theory! It is called "Reader Response Theory" and it is my personal favorite.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reader_response_theory

Marxist, Feminist and other kinds of theories all basically came from this kind of research into literature. It was, at one point, someone's personal opinion to look at a work like a feminist and say "this means this." However, it is up to each person to say to his or herself if the theory as applied to the work makes sense.

Someone once told me that we have to learn literary theory so that we can throw it out and make up our own. That is how I look at things. Also, it gives focus to discussions (aka arguments) in literature classes.

If you're not going to be an English major, I wouldn't worry about theory too much. Learn as much as you need to get through your classes right now, and don't let it ruin reading for you. But there's also the possibility that it will lead to a new level of thinking for you, and you might find you like it. Either way, I hope this helped!

Answer 2

The question is: how do you explain what it means? And how do you understand what it means?

On the simplest level, no sophisticated literary theory is necessary. But beyond that, if you don't learn theory (that is, the tool for understanding the text), you can't know what the result of using the tool is. There are many ways of understanding the "meaning" of a text, and even the simplest first questions about meaning -- do we want to know what the author tried to mean? what the reader understands? are stories understood by a "moral" or "what they teach" or does narrative work in some more complicated way? are contradictions flaws or the point of a story? what is the role of the formulaic elements of telling a story?what is the role of genre in understanding what a story means? of verisimilitude? what does it mean to be realistic in a fiction? -- can't be answered in any coherent way without thinking through the questions of theory, without having a coherent starting ground.

Now of course, there is no single right theory, and many Feminists, say, will reject psychoanalytic readings, and many structuralists reject the kind of close readings practiced by the New Critics, etc. etc. But without studying theory, you can't know what theories you believe make greater sense of the world and texts, and which you reject.

Answer 3

Literary theory is baloney.
It's for over-educated intellectuals trying to justify their education.
There are only two types of writing: good writing and bad writing--nothing else matters. Sadly, most writing on the shelves is bad.
How do you make this judgment of good and bad?
Easy. If a writer can't engage the reader, then it's bad writing, and vice versa. End of story.
You don't need a Phd to make that judgment. And you don't need a professorship at some fancy university.

Answer 4

the concept of relativity is a concept approximately the way it relatively is conceivable to warp time and area. NASA these days proved portion of the concept of relativity. They proved that 'dragging' is real. Dragging is whilst a spinning planet drags area with it. think of of it in this manner: once you place a spoon in honey, and turn the spoon, honey is dragged alongside with it. Planets do the comparable ingredient with area!