Surface of the Literary Theories: Part 2

In the previous part of the Theory Series, the article covered seven theories. The current article covers from eight to sixteen in the same manner as done in the earlier one. So, let’s continue without wasting time.

8. Post-structuralism and Deconstruction

1. Summary of the theory: A reaction against structuralism, post-structuralism (often associated with the work of Jacques Derrida) argues that meaning in language and literature is not fixed or stable but is fluid, deferred, and ultimately undecidable. Deconstruction, a key method within post-structuralism, involves critically analyzing the inherent contradictions and binary oppositions within a text to reveal how it undermines its own apparent meanings. It emphasizes the instability of language and the impossibility of a definitive interpretation.
2. How to apply in the texts: Identify binary oppositions within the text (e.g., good/evil, male/female, presence/absence). Analyze how the text privileges one term over the other and how it simultaneously subverts this hierarchy. Look for instances of ambiguity, contradiction, and paradox that destabilize meaning. Examine the role of language and rhetoric in creating and undermining meaning.
3. Key terminologies or coinages:
   1. Deconstruction (Derrida): A critical approach that exposes the inherent contradictions and instability of meaning in texts.
   1. Binary oppositions (Derrida): Paired concepts where one is often privileged over the other, but this hierarchy can be deconstructed.
   1. Différance (Derrida): A neologism suggesting that meaning is both deferred (different) and different (differing) – never fully present.
   1. Trace (Derrida): The absent presence of the other within a term, suggesting that meaning is always dependent on what it is not.
   1. Logocentrism (Derrida’s critique): The Western philosophical tradition’s reliance on a center of truth or ultimate meaning (logos).
4. Examples: Analyzing how the seemingly clear distinction between good and evil in a novel is blurred and ultimately destabilized through the narrative. Examining how a text’s reliance on a particular metaphor inadvertently undermines its central argument. Deconstructing the binary of male/female in a play to reveal the fluidity of gender roles.
5. Important texts and authors and their opinions or summary:
   1. Jacques Derrida: His foundational works on deconstruction (Of Grammatology, Writing and Difference).Paul de Man: Applied deconstruction to literary texts, focusing on the rhetorical nature of language and the impossibility of stable meaning (Blindness and Insight, Allegories of Reading).J. Hillis Miller: A prominent figure in deconstruction and its application to literature.
   1. Barbara Johnson: Explored the deconstruction of gender and racial categories in literature.

9. Feminist Criticism

1. Summary of the theory: Examines literature from a feminist perspective, analyzing gender roles, representations of women, and patriarchal structures within texts and the literary establishment. It seeks to understand how literature reflects and perpetuates or challenges gender inequalities. Feminist critics may analyze female characters, the gender of the author, and the broader social and cultural contexts of literary production and reception. Different waves of feminism have led to diverse approaches within this theory.
2. How to apply in the texts: Analyze the portrayal of female characters and their roles in the narrative. Examine the power dynamics between male and female characters. Identify patriarchal ideologies and how they are presented or challenged. Consider the gender of the author and how it might influence the text. Explore the historical and social context of the work in relation to women’s roles and rights.
3. Key terminologies or coinages:
   1. Patriarchy: A social system in which men hold primary power and predominate in roles of political leadership, moral authority, property ownership, privilege, and control of women and children.
   1. Gender roles: Socially constructed expectations about how men and women should behave.
   1. Gynocriticism (Showalter): A branch of feminist criticism that focuses on women as writers and the development of a female literary tradition.
   1. The gaze (Mulvey): The way in which visual arts and literature often present women from a masculine, heterosexual perspective.
   1. Intersectionality (Crenshaw): The interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage.
4. Examples: Analyzing the limited roles and agency of female characters in a classic novel. Examining how a female author challenges traditional gender stereotypes in her writing. Investigating the representation of women’s experiences in a particular historical period. Applying the concept of the male gaze to a film adaptation of a novel.
5. Important texts and authors and their opinions or summary:
   1. Virginia Woolf: Her essays and novels explored the social and economic constraints on women writers (A Room of One’s Own).Simone de Beauvoir: Her foundational work on the social construction of gender (The Second Sex).Kate Millett: Analyzed patriarchal structures in literature (Sexual Politics).Elaine Showalter: Advocated for “gynocriticism” (A Literature of Their Own).
   1. Judith Butler: Explored the performative nature of gender (Gender Trouble).

10. Postcolonial Criticism

1. Summary of the theory: Examines literature produced in colonial contexts and the legacies of colonialism in postcolonial societies. It analyzes issues of identity, power, cultural difference, and the representation of the colonized “Other.” Postcolonial critics explore how colonial ideologies have shaped literary texts and how writers from formerly colonized regions resist and subvert these ideologies.
2. How to apply in the texts: Analyze the representation of colonizers and the colonized. Examine the themes of cultural clash, hybridity, and the struggle for identity. Look for the impact of colonial power structures on language, narrative, and characterization. Consider the perspective of the marginalized and subaltern voices. Explore how texts engage with the history and legacies of colonialism.
3. Key terminologies or coinages:
   1. Orientalism (Said): The Western construction of the East as exotic, inferior, and in need of Western intervention.
   1. Hybridity (Bhabha): The creation of new cultural forms through the mixing of colonizer and colonized cultures.
   1. Mimicry (Bhabha): The colonized subject’s ambivalent imitation of the colonizer.
   1. Subaltern (Spivak): The marginalized groups who are often denied a voice in dominant historical and cultural narratives.
   1. Eurocentrism: The tendency to view the world from a European or Western perspective, often to the exclusion or marginalization of other perspectives.
4. Examples: Analyzing the portrayal of colonial administrators and native populations in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. Examining the themes of cultural displacement and identity in the novels of Chinua Achebe. Investigating how a postcolonial writer reclaims and reinterprets colonial history.
5. Important texts and authors and their opinions or summary:
   1. Edward Said: His seminal work on the Western construction of the East (Orientalism).Homi K. Bhabha: Explored the complexities of colonial identity and hybridity (The Location of Culture).Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak: Focused on the silencing of subaltern voices (Can the Subaltern Speak?).Chinua Achebe: His novels offer critiques of colonialism from an African perspective (Things Fall Apart).
   1. Salman Rushdie: His works often explore themes of migration, hybridity, and postcolonial identity (Midnight’s Children).

11. Queer Theory

1. Summary of the theory: Challenges the assumption that heterosexuality is the norm and explores issues of sexuality, gender identity, and the social construction of these categories. Drawing on post-structuralist and feminist thought, queer theory questions fixed identities and binary oppositions related to sex and gender. It examines how literature and culture construct and regulate sexual and gender norms.
2. How to apply in the texts: Analyze the representation of non-heterosexual characters and relationships. Examine how texts construct and challenge traditional notions of masculinity and femininity. Explore the fluidity and performativity of gender and sexuality. Identify instances where dominant heterosexual norms are questioned or subverted. Consider how queer readings can reveal alternative interpretations of texts.
3. Key terminologies or coinages:
   1. Heteronormativity: The assumption that heterosexuality is the natural or preferred sexual orientation.
   1. Performativity (Butler): The idea that gender is not an inherent identity but is constructed through repeated social performances.
   1. Essentialism vs. Constructionism: The debate over whether gender and sexuality are innate or socially constructed.
   1. Queering: The act of challenging and destabilizing heterosexual and gender norms.
4. Examples: Analyzing the ambiguous gender identity of a character in a novel. Examining how a text subverts traditional romantic tropes. Exploring queer readings of classic literature that reveal previously unnoticed homoerotic subtexts.
5. Important texts and authors and their opinions or summary:
   1. Michel Foucault: His work on the history of sexuality (The History of Sexuality, Vol. 1).Judith Butler: Her influential work on gender performativity (Gender Trouble).Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick: Explored the historical and cultural construction of homosexuality (Epistemology of the Closet).
   1. Teresa de Lauretis: Coined the term “queer theory.”

12. Critical Race Theory (CRT)

1. Summary of the theory: Examines the role of race and racism in law, society, and culture, including literature. It argues that racism is not merely individual prejudice but is systemic and embedded in institutions and social structures. CRT analyzes how racial power operates and how narratives and discourses perpetuate racial inequality. It often focuses on the experiences and perspectives of marginalized racial groups.
2. How to apply in the texts: Analyze the representation of race and racial minorities. Examine how racial power dynamics are portrayed. Identify instances of systemic racism and how they impact characters and narratives. Consider the perspective of characters of color and how their experiences are shaped by race. Explore how texts challenge or reinforce racial stereotypes and ideologies.
3. Key terminologies or coinages:
   1. Systemic racism: Racism embedded in the laws, policies, and institutions of a society.
   1. Intersectionality (Crenshaw): As mentioned in Feminist Criticism, crucial to understanding how race intersects with other categories of identity.
   1. Whiteness: The social construction of white identity and its role in maintaining racial hierarchy.
   1. Microaggressions: Subtle, often unintentional expressions of prejudice towards marginalized groups.
   1. Narrative and counter-narrative: The dominant stories that shape understanding of race and the stories that challenge those dominant narratives.
4. Examples: Analyzing the portrayal of African Americans in classic American literature through a CRT lens. Examining how racial stereotypes are perpetuated in popular culture. Investigating how a contemporary novel challenges dominant narratives about race and justice.
5. Important texts and authors and their opinions or summary:
   1. Kimberlé Crenshaw: Developed the concept of intersectionality.
   1. Derrick Bell: A foundational figure in CRT, emphasizing the enduring nature of racism.
   1. Patricia Hill Collins: Explored the intersection of race, gender, and class in shaping Black feminist thought.
   1. Toni Morrison: Her novels powerfully explore the impact of racism on Black lives and identities.

13. Ecocriticism

1. Summary of the theory: Examines the relationship between literature and the natural environment. It analyzes how nature is represented in texts, the cultural attitudes towards the environment that are reflected, and the potential for literature to promote ecological awareness and responsibility. Ecocritics may explore themes of wilderness, pollution, human impact on nature, and the interconnectedness of all living things.
2. How to apply in the texts: Analyze the portrayal of natural landscapes and environments. Examine the relationship between human characters and the natural world. Identify the ecological themes and messages present in the text. Consider how the text reflects or challenges anthropocentric (human-centered) worldviews. Explore the representation of environmental issues and concerns.
3. Key terminologies or coinages:
   1. Anthropocentrism: The belief that humans are the most important entities in the universe and that nature exists primarily for human use.
   1. Ecocentricism: A perspective that places value on all living organisms and ecosystems, not just humans.
   1. Deep ecology: A radical ecological philosophy that emphasizes the intrinsic value of all living beings and the need for fundamental societal change.
   1. Wilderness: Areas of nature that are relatively untouched by human development.
   1. Sustainability: The ability to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
4. Examples: Analyzing the symbolic significance of the natural world in the poetry of William Wordsworth. Examining how Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring can be read as a literary text with a powerful ecological message. Investigating the portrayal of environmental destruction in a dystopian novel.
5. Important texts and authors and their opinions or summary:
   1. Rachel Carson: Her groundbreaking work on the environmental impact of pesticides (Silent Spring).Henry David Thoreau: His writings on nature and simple living (Walden).Gary Snyder: A poet and essayist who explores the interconnectedness of nature and culture.
   1. Cheryll Glotfelty and Harold Fromm (eds.): Their anthology The Ecocriticism Reader is a foundational text in the field.

14. Narratology

1. Summary of the theory: Focuses on the study of narrative structure and the elements of storytelling. It analyzes how stories are constructed, how meaning is conveyed through narrative, and the common patterns and principles that underlie different types of narratives. Narratologists examine elements such as plot, character, point of view, setting, time, and the role of the narrator.
2. How to apply in the texts: Analyze the plot structure and its organization. Examine the different types of narrators and their perspectives. Investigate how time is manipulated in the narrative (e.g., flashbacks, flash-forwards). Analyze the development and function of characters. Consider the role of setting in shaping the narrative.
3. Key terminologies or coinages:
   1. Narrative: The account of a series of connected events.
   1. Plot (Syuzhet): The way the story is organized and presented.
   1. Story (Fabula): The chronological sequence of events.
   1. Narrator: The voice or character telling the story.
   1. Point of view: The perspective from which the story is told (first-person, third-person, etc.).
   1. Focalization (Genette): The perspective through which the narrative events are filtered.
   1. Temporal order: The arrangement of events in the narrative compared to their chronological order.
4. Examples: Comparing the use of first-person narration in two different novels and analyzing its effect on the reader. Examining the non-linear plot structure of a film and how it builds suspense. Identifying the different levels of narration in a complex narrative.
5. Important texts and authors and their opinions or summary:
   1. Vladimir Propp: His structural analysis of folktales (Morphology of the Folktale).Gérard Genette: A key figure in narratology (Narrative Discourse).Seymour Chatman: Explored the distinction between story and discourse (Story and Discourse).
   1. Mieke Bal: Her work provides a comprehensive introduction to narratology (Narratology: Introduction to the Theory of Narrative).

15. Cognitive Literary Theory

1. Summary of the theory: Applies findings from cognitive science, psychology, and neuroscience to the study of literature. It explores how the human mind processes and understands literary texts, focusing on phenomena such as empathy, theory of mind, narrative comprehension, and the role of mental models in reading.
2. How to apply in the texts: Analyze how literary texts engage readers’ cognitive processes. Examine how readers develop empathy for characters. Investigate how narratives create mental models and how readers update these models as they read. Consider the role of literary devices in eliciting specific cognitive responses.
3. Key terminologies or coinages:
   1. Theory of Mind: The ability to attribute mental states (beliefs, desires, intentions) to oneself and others.
   1. Empathy: The ability to understand and share the feelings of another.
   1. Mental models: Cognitive frameworks that readers construct to understand the world of the story.
   1. Schema theory: The idea that readers use prior knowledge structures (schemas) to make sense of new information in a text.
   1. Narrative comprehension: The cognitive processes involved in understanding and making sense of stories.
4. Examples: Analyzing how a novel’s use of vivid imagery helps readers empathize with a character’s experience. Examining how unreliable narration engages readers’ theory of mind as they try to understand the truth. Investigating how different narrative structures affect readers’ mental model of the story world.
5. Important texts and authors and their opinions or summary:
   1. Mark Turner: A key figure in cognitive poetics (Reading Minds: The Study of English in the Age of Cognitive Science).George Lakoff and Mark Johnson: Their work on metaphor and its cognitive basis (Metaphors We Live By).
   1. David Herman: Explores the cognitive processes involved in narrative understanding (Story Logic: Problems and Possibilities of Narrative).

16. Posthumanism

1. Summary of the theory: A complex and evolving body of thought that critically examines the traditional Western concept of the “human” and considers what comes “after” or “beyond” it. It questions anthropocentrism, the idea of human exceptionalism, and the sharp boundaries often drawn between humans and animals, humans and technology, and nature and culture. Posthumanism explores the implications of technological advancements, environmental concerns, and the increasing blurring of these boundaries for our understanding of identity, subjectivity, and the future of humanity. It often embraces hybridity, fluidity, and the interconnectedness of all beings and things.
2. How to apply in the texts: Analyze how texts represent the relationship between humans and technology (e.g., cyborgs, artificial intelligence). Examine the portrayal of non-human entities (animals, plants, machines) and their agency. Look for challenges to traditional human-centered perspectives. Explore themes of bodily modification, genetic engineering, and the ethical implications of altering human biology. It often draws upon science fiction, philosophy, and critical theory to explore these possibilities and challenges.
3. Key terminologies or coinages:
   1. Posthuman: The concept of a being that transcends traditional human limitations, often through technology or evolutionary advancement. It can also refer to a decentered understanding of the human subject.
   1. Transhumanism: A closely related movement that advocates for the use of technology to enhance human intellectual, physical, and psychological capacities.
   1. Cyborg: A being with both organic and biomechatronic body parts, representing the blurring of human and machine.
   1. Artificial Intelligence (AI): The simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, raising questions about consciousness and sentience beyond biological humans.
   1. Technological Singularity: A hypothetical point in the future when technological growth becomes uncontrollable and irreversible, resulting in unforeseeable changes to human civilization.
   1. Decentering the Human: The philosophical move away from the idea that humans are the central or most important beings in the universe.
   1. More-than-Human: Recognizing the agency, intelligence, and significance of non-human entities (animals, plants, ecosystems, technologies).
   1. Embodied Cognition: The idea that cognition is deeply intertwined with the body and its interactions with the environment, challenging purely disembodied notions of human intelligence.
   1. Ontological Turn: A shift in social sciences and humanities towards understanding the world from the perspective of different beings and their ways of being.

     4. Examples:

• Literature: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (exploring the creation of artificial life and the boundaries of humanity), Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (questioning the nature of consciousness and the human/android distinction), William Gibson’s Neuromancer (depicting humans interfacing directly with cyberspace), Ted Chiang’s “The Lifecycle of Software Objects” (exploring relationships between humans and artificial intelligences).
  • Film: Blade Runner (based on Dick’s novel), The Matrix (exploring simulated reality and the nature of the human), Her (a human forming a romantic relationship with an AI), Ex Machina (examining the ethics of creating and interacting with advanced AI).Philosophy: Nick Bostrom’s work on existential risks and the future of humanity, Donna Haraway’s A Cyborg Manifesto (arguing for the cyborg as a figure for transcending traditional gender and human/machine boundaries), Katherine Hayles’s work on how information technologies reshape our understanding of embodiment and consciousness.
  • Art: Installations that incorporate technology and explore human-machine interfaces, bio-art that manipulates living organisms, digital art that questions traditional notions of creativity and authorship.

5. Important texts and authors and their opinions or summary:

Rosi Braidotti, The Posthuman (2013): Offers a feminist and continental philosophical perspective on the posthuman, emphasizing interconnectedness, embodiment, and a move beyond anthropocentrism.

Donna Haraway, A Cyborg Manifesto (1984): Argues that the cyborg is a potent figure for understanding the breakdown of traditional boundaries (human/machine, male/female, nature/culture) and offers a vision of hybridity and resistance.