Friday, March 7, 2008

The Theory of Everything: From Thursday's class




Due to popluar demand, here is the info from Thursday.




REMINDER: Take home test due Monday. Answer 2 questions: 1 Poetry and 1 Macbeth.


HOMEWORK: Read Kafka's "The Metamorphosis" and annotate.


Literary Theory: Paradigm
*A framework of generally accepted assumptions and perspectives
*An example or pattern
*Relationship to accepted ideas is understood within the profession
*Allows research without continual justification of methodology (ex. Copernicus)

Paradigms in Literature
*Can you get meaning from a text through a paradigm?
*Can using a “methodology” lead to authentic interpretation?





Paradigm vs Theory
*
Theory= nothing “goes without saying”
*Each and every term must be defined and re-defined contextually
*Terms such as “gender politics”, “political propaganda”, “phallocentric” – reflective of theory





Why Theory?
*
No consensus exists about a canon
*People, critics (yes, they are people too) theorize in analysis
*Analysis & theory replace paradigms





Three questions when readingWhy, What, How?

*Why read literature?
*Literature attempts to bring together in a system of values which transcend class, economy, race, gender




Theory of Everything



*What should we read?
*Do we want to change the world or merely learn about it?





How should we read?

*Is interpretation the same for every reader?
*Private associations and public meaning
*Persona / person

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