First literature came to refer only to itself, the literary theory. Votes: 3
I'm not that well-versed in literary theory - I don't know what it is. Votes: 3
Any attempt to define literary theory in terms of a distinctive method is doomed to failure. Votes: 3
The ambition of much of today's literary theory seems to be to find ways to read literature without imagination. Votes: 3
When I was in college, I was a semiotics major, which is this hopelessly pretentious body of French literary theory. Votes: 3
I used to teach at Yale, which was at one time a center of postmodernist literary theory. Derrida was there. Paul de Man was there. Votes: 3
Writers who teach tend to prefer literary theory to literature and tenure to all else. Writers who do not teach prefer the contemplation of Careers to art of any kind. Votes: 3
I read a lot of literary theory when I was in graduate school, especially about novels, and the best book I ever read about endings was Peter Brooks' 'Reading for the Plot. ' Votes: 3
I think literary theory has not been terribly good for English studies in a while. It's not that theory isn't interesting, but it isn't about books, or the idiosyncrasies and complexities of putting language together. Votes: 3
I am someone who values truth - actual truth as opposed to "truthiness." I am also someone who has been trained in deconstruction in the literary theory department of Yale University, so I am someone who is tempted to believe that no absolute truth is possible. Votes: 3
Literary theory has become a parody of science, generating its own arcane jargon. In the process, tragically, it discourages love of literature for its own sake. Votes: 1
Ego, id, and superego are terms familiar to all, but for many years, Freud's psychoanalytic theory has thrived in English departments around the country as a tool for interpreting literary texts but has rarely, if ever, been discussed in science departments. Votes: 1
I think part of the success which Structuralist or post-Structuralist thought in critical theory has had in literary studies in American universities is due to a theoretical vacuum. Votes: 0
I do not know whether to be delighted or outraged by the fact that Literary Theory: An Introduction was the subject of a study by a well known U.S. business school, which was intrigued to discover how an academic text could become a best-seller.
Literary critics make natural detectives. Votes: 3 A. S. Byatt
Experience without theory is blind, but theory without experience is mere intellectual play. Votes: 6 Immanuel Kant