Reference:
Review Excerpts 'The genre of theory includes works of anthropology, art history,
gender studies, linguistics, philosophy political theory, psychoanalysis,
social and intellectual history, and sociology. Its works are tied to
argument in these fields, but they become theory because their visions
or arguments have been suggestive or productive for people not working
primarily or professionally in those disciplines' (203).
Domains: Under construction |
Key Terms: | anthropology |
argument |
gender |
genre |
history |
linguistics |
philosophy |
sociology |
theory |
'Attacks on relativism, frequent in popular condemnations of theory,
invoke the sort of imaginary argument we used to call "straw men," such
as the supposed belief that all thoughts, ideas, and texts are of equal
value -- missing the point that value is, specifically, relative to purposes
and circumstances, which may be very general and widespread, as well
as local and particular' (212).
Domains: Under construction |
Key Terms: | argument |
theory |
value |
'One of the continuing contentions of the sorts of theory styled
"poststructuralist" -- possibly the only claim by which poststructuralism
can be identified and distinguished -- has been that theories are caught
up in and affected by the phenomena they claim to theorize'
(213).
Domains: Under construction |
Key Terms: | claim | poststructuralist |
theory |
Responding to Knapp and Michaels, who maintain that 'Beliefs
cannot be grounded in some deeper condition of knowledge'
(1982.Against theory. Critical inquiry 8: 738), Culler posits, 'this might be
true for such things as religious beliefs, but the various beliefs that
function as principles, criteria, and premises in people's work on
literature most probably belong to a structure of knowledge and
argumentation' (213).
Domains: Under construction |
Key Terms: | condition |
criteria |
function |
knowledge |
principles |
structure |
theory |
'The best way to describe the scene of contemporary theory may
not be as a set of competing schools or methods but as discussions of
problems or issues that people are striving to cope with or resolve. This
has the disadvantage of making criticism seem less quarrelsome than it
is, but we too easily assume that theorists disagree because one is a
"Marxist" and the other a "psychoanalytic critic." Bypassing these labels
forces us to look more closely at the extent to which critics are saying
similar things in different vocabularies and the extent to which they
genuinely disagree. I take up six issues that seem particularly important'
(216).
Domains: Under construction |
Key Terms: | criticism |
scene |
theory |
'The first general problem is the relation between psychic (or
psychoanalytical), linguistic, and sociohistorical categories. Can one set
of terms be mapped onto another, and if so, how? Is one set reducible to
another? Which is "more basic"? Or is the language of depth and
foundation part of the problem?' (216).
Domains: Under construction |
Key Terms: | language |
problem |
relation |
'A second major focus has been the desire of many critics and
theorists to make literary and cultural criticism politically progressive'
(217).
Domains: Under construction |
Key Terms: | criticism |
focus |
literary |
'A third major issue in critical and theoretical discussions has been
the nature of representation' (218).
Domains: Under construction |
Key Terms: | nature | representation |
'The fourth topic of debate ...involves a number of questions: What
is the relation between critiques of essentialist conceptions of identity (of
a person or group) and the psychic and political demands for identity?
How de the urgencies of emancipatory politics conflict with or engage
psychoanalytic and poststructuralist critiques of the subject's identity? In
what terms should critics and theorists seek to define women's writing or
Chicano literature, for example?' (219).
Domains: Under construction |
Key Terms: | essentialist |
identity |
politics |
poststructuralist |
relation |
topic |
writing |
'Fifth, a good deal of the most interesting work in theory has
focused on structures common to literary and nonliterary discourses'
(222).
Domains: Under construction |
Key Terms: | literary | nonliterary |
theory |
'Finally, an issue in recent theory is the nature and function of the
aesthetic' (223).
Domains: Under construction |
Key Terms: | aesthetic |
function |
nature |
theory |
'With its open horizon of questioning, theory can lead you anywhere,
so it is perhaps all the more important to ask where you are and what
theoretical questions organize the particular region of discourses you are
principally engaged with' (226).
Domains: Under construction |
Key Terms: | theory |
Last Modified:
July-11-96 17:30:5
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