Common reasons why everyone freaks out when I mention critical theory

According to Lois Tyson, we are reluctant to learn critical theory for several reasons: 1. Fear of failure 2. Fear of losing the magical connection with literature that is our reason for reading in the first place 3. Fear of unfamiliar technical terms and theoretical concepts 4. Critical theorists are annoying know-it-alls

How can we benefit from understanding critical theory?

1. Theory can help us learn to see ourselves and our world in valuable new ways 2. Theory influences our views of the media, from television to magazines to music 3. Theory influences how we behave as voters and consumers 4. Theory influences how we react to others with whom we do not agree on social, religious, and political issues. 5. Theory can also influence how we recognize and deal with our own motives, fears, and desires. FINALLY critical theory gives us tools that will strengthen our ability to think logically, creatively, and with a good deal of insight.

Critical Theory vs. Literary Criticism

Critical Theory (or literary theory) is an examination of the criteria upon which the interpretation of a text rests.

Literary Criticism is the application of critical theory to at text, or the actual act of interpreting a text.

With the Grain vs. Against the Grain

When we read with the grain of a literary work, we interpret the work the way the author or the text would have intended. Interpreting what the author intended requites biographical information. When we read against the grain of a literary work, we look for interpretations and meanings that the author did not intend, or was not aware of.

Questions that form the basis of literary theory:

Does each text have one true meaning? Or, can a text mean anything a reader wants it to mean? Who has the authority to declare an interpretation valid or legitimate? Is a text always didactic; that is, must a reader always learn something from the every text? Does a text affect each reader in the same way? How is a text influenced by the culture of its author and the culture in which it is written? Can a text become a catalyst for change in a given culture? Does all of this even matter? Cant a reader just enjoy a text without having to analyze and interpret it?

An Introduction to Literary Criticism

Our response to literature is a conditioned or socially constructed one How we interpret a text is in part determined by our past experiences. Since we all have different life experiences, we will likely interpret the same text differently. In addition, what we choose to uphold or value as good or bad, moral or immoral, or beautiful or ugly within a given text actually depends on the framework we have developed as a result of our life experiences. As we interact with other people, our environment, our culture, and our own inner selves, we continue to develop our philosophies and reject former ideas for newly discovered ones.

An Introduction to Literary Criticism

If you can respond to a text, you are already a practicing literary critic; however, to gain literary theory, you must develop a coherent, unified understanding and interpretation of language, meaning, art, culture, and ideology.

Is it a duck or a bunny?