The Tale of Literary Theory [Part III]
- Feb 27
- 4 min read
Updated: 15 hours ago
Many books have been written about books, and, when successful, they are able to extend and transform the original work. But the story of literary theory is also one worth telling. With a history stretching as far back as Ancient Greece, it’s a surprisingly lively account of conflict between rival ideas with a scope, like literature, as broad as the human experience. It has produced a long list of often-divergent ways to think about literature (called ‘schools’), many of which are influenced by cultural, political, and economic ideas.
The purpose of literary theory
As interesting as the question of what literary theory is might be the question: what it is for? What is the end, or purpose, or literary theory? Is it the edification of curious students who wish to understand how language is used to tell of, and about, ourselves? Is it a way to control or correct literary narratives that impose or reinforce cultural, social, and political ideas (consciously or not)? Is it simply an impractical subject practiced by insulated university academics and bookish students with relaxed career aspirations?
Northrop Frye argued that because the merits of a work and its reception are unrelated, the critic is required to be a ‘pioneer of education and the shaper of cultural tradition’. He stated that art, including painting, sculpture, and music, cannot speak for itself, and therefore must be mediated through an educated specialist for each form (Frye, 2020). Goldberg and Abrams shared the view that the literary ‘business’ requires academics to continually push boundaries to make their mark in their profession and pursue novel new ways to talk about old works.
“Traditionally, in fact, critics have even gone so far as to regard the ability to perceive the relevant qualities accurately in texts, and convincingly to explain their particular power and extent in specific cases, as the very heart of their business.”
(Goldberg, 1980)
Ideas in practice
A closer look of the English curriculums of several major universities in Australia reveals that literary studies has moved away from formalism, structural, and traditional analysis and towards contemporary theory.
For example, a unit titled ‘The Literary in Theory’ conducted by the University of Sydney (advertised as the number one ranked English program in the country in 2024) states that it will pursue various scholars’ arguments:
“through a selection of theoretical models, including queer and gender theory, psychoanalysis, and race theory, to consider the cultural and ideological work imaginative literature undertakes.” (University of Sydney, 2024)
Another unit from the same university, titled ‘The Idea of the Classic’ includes:
“debates about sexuality, race, national identity, and class.” (University of Sydney, 2024)
Does this approach diminish the value of advanced study in literature, or our culture’s ability to understand itself through historically important texts? It’s a question that might be answered by the fact that enrolments in such courses have declined significantly - in his article ‘The decline of the humanities’ Australian academic Andrew Norton illustrates the long-term decline in humanities enrolments:
(Norton, 2023)
The final word on theory
It might be easy to conclude that what literary theory really does, above all else, is suck the fun right out of literature. If you were to ‘de-construct’ a book you enjoyed, you might discover its flaws and inconsistencies, especially if you intended to find them. But such a process would likely not increase your enjoyment of the book very much. And isn’t enjoyment - of some kind - why one reads literature in the first place?
“This pleasure in the sheer engagement with the matters that a text represents, in just the way that it articulates and orders what it represents, as many critics have affirmed, is the distinctive experience of reading literature as literature.”
(Abrams, 1997)
Fortunately, there is something for everyone in literary theory, whether you want to know how the author of your favourite book made it special, to change the world through ideas, or just to share your reading experience with others through the humble book review.
Reference & Reading List
Frye, Northrop, Anatomy of Criticism, Princeton University Press, 2020
Culler, Jonathon, Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press, 2000
Bloom, Harold, The Anatomy of Influence, Yale University Press, 2011
Aristotle, Poetics, Public Domain
Barry, Peter, Beginning Theory: An introduction to literary and cultural theory, Manchester University Press, 2017
Bennett, Andrew and Royle, Nicholas, An Introduction to Literature, Criticism and Theory, Routledge, 2016
Cuddon, J.A &. Habib, M.A.R, Dictionary of Literary Terms & Literary Theory, 2013
Abrams, M.H, The Transformation of English Studies: 1930 -1995, 1997, www.jstor.org, April 2024,
Goldberg, S.L., The Deconstruction Gang, www.lrb.co.uk, 1980, April 2024, https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v02/n10/s.l.-goldberg/the-deconstruction-gang
Brooks, Cleanth, The Formalist Critics, 1951, www.jstor.org, April 2024, https://www.jstor.org/stable/4333214?read-now=1&seq=10#page_scan_tab_contents
Norton, Andrew, The decline of the humanities, andrewnorton.net.au, April 2024, https://andrewnorton.net.au/2023/07/04/the-decline-of-the-humanities/
University of Sydney, ENGL1017: The Idea of the Classic, 2024, March 2024,
University of Sydney, ENGL3655: The Literary in Theory, March 2024, https://www.sydney.edu.au/units/ENGL3655
University of Sydney, April 2023, University of Sydney’s English program ranked first in Australia, www.sydney.edu.au, April 2024,
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