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University of Baghdad

Higher Studies\ PhD Program

By: Bushra Othman Sidiq

Supervised by:

Dr. Arwa H. Mohamad (PhD)

A Review on Julian Wolfreys “THE QUESTION OF ‘LITERARY THEORY

The introduction of Literary Theories: A Guide and Glossary by Julian Wolfreys asks a string
of questions important to all those interested in literary and literary theories, starting with, ‘What
is literary theory’? How has it developed? What does it do? Why is it necessary, and what is it
good for? What are the arguments for it, and why the resistance to it? Is it a single definable
entity or a phenomenon? In the introduction, the writer wants to provide a few broad responses.

He starts by offering a challenging and groundbreaking definition of literary theory by

Andrew Bennet and Nicolas Royle: “Literary theory is an unavoidable part of studying literature
and criticism. But theory, especially when it takes the form of “isms” can often be intimidating
or, frankly, boring.” Wolfreys also adds that this branch of literature has, nowadays, been part of
higher studies in higher institutions and brings about a comment made by Martin Mcquillan to
further support his argument: “high theory as a form of knowledge like any other exists to be
encountered, learned, and taught.”

Julian gives another definition: "Literary theory is, then, the name given to a range of
disparate critical practices and approaches that the members of the humanities use to explore
literary texts, films, and aspects of contemporary and past cultures.” He says, "Literary theory is
also the name given to teaching such practices and approaches in the university, particularly in
the English Departments." Further, "literary theory is the umbrella term which gathers for
identification of definition, various texts concerned with the study of literature and culture,
amongst others, feminists, Marxism, and those who teach literature but are interested in certain
branches of linguistics, psychoanalysis or philosophy.
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The writer talks about literary theory historically, literary theory, as a convenience term or
label, defines work influenced by the practices, discourses (language and its power relations
within specific disciplines) and texts of feminism, marxism, psychoanalysis, linguistics,
semiotics (the study of signs) and continental philosophy of the last 40 years, including all the
various disciplines, fields and, again, discourses, ideas and approaches gathered together under
the label `structuralism' or `poststructuralism. The later appeared in 1960s, in the Anglo-
American academic world to identify a heterogeneous range of practices of critics, philosophers
from France who were first encountered in universities in Great Britain and the United States.
However, some critics claim that the history of theory goes back as long as the history of
“Poetics”, but no apparent evidence is given to support this claim, on the contrary. Those who
advent themselves with ‘theory’ first, said it occurred in the 1970s.

Before answering the second question “How literary theory has developed,” the writer
contemplates a problem with the term “literary theory” as the writer named his book “ Literary
theory”, he argues that it is better for literary theory to be pluralized than being talked about in
singular form as in doing so, the writer will respect the separateness ad singularity of each theory
instead of generalizing them under one term. As for the question of “How it developed,” the
writer again argues that we should re-write the question to, “How literary theories developed?”
for the same reason mentioned before.

The writer answers this question: many theoretical approaches had evolved in the twentieth
century because previously the studies of literature had not been tackled from as many aspects as
it does now, another reason is that, in order to restore the balance, come up with new questions to
ask, respond patiently and attentively to those strange and strangely troubling moments in textual
form and matter, and bring neglected texts back into focus, theoretical approaches that used the
language of other disciplines outside the field of literary studies were developed. What’s more,
Theoretically informed approaches to the study of literature and culture offered a variety of
perspectives from which various "voices" could be heard, identities other than those implicitly
understood (Christian, humanist, western, male European) in the traditional institutional
approaches to literary study. To the writer reading is the key concept behind any theory, as
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Martin Mcqullain suggest: “reading suggest a manner of interpreting our world and the texts
comprise that world.”

The writer further presents that reading can’t be named theory, and as Tom Cohen has
remarked, ‘theory’ never quite meant theory, to begin with, but a different praxis, one that we
may all call anti-mimetic, episteme-political. In this respect, the writer also focuses on the rise of
theory in the academic field and the reasons behind that, which he refers to as a means of
respecting and acknowledging heterogeneity and differences. Julian also claims that having such
approaches to literature has led to both the broadening of the literary canon and the rising of
difficult questions concerning race, gender, and national identity that previously had not been
asked. He supports this by saying that forty years ago, it was prohibited or unconventional to
raise questions about the dead’s portrayal of women in their writings .Now its turn to know why
literary theory has had objections, one reason mentioned in this introduction that’s thought of by
Michael Payne, is the difficult questions that might rise.

Another part of the introduction deals with the ideas of Terry Eagleton in 1976 and how he
helped in the implementation of the Marxist approach into literature, and from that to the United
Sates after being vetted and vetoed if necessary. Which falsify Gary Day’s claim that “theory
imposes worlds,” if anything, it is the different worlds that are imposed on theory, according to
Eagleton. Wfreys also comments on how Marxism that was once glorious and wild in the
countryside has transformed to the cities like manageable soil.

The introduction states that Eagleton, in his book, Literary Theory: An Introduction traces
the question of what is to be called literature. It is true that the identity of what we refer to as
"literature" depends on a convoluted and interconnected set of value-judgments connecting to
"deeper structures of belief”, and theory is there in order to understand the structure, the
structures of the text and the ‘deeper structure’. Terry Eagleton concludes his book making a
question: “ What is the point of literary theory?” to him, Literary theory is inextricably linked to
political opinions and ideological principles. Literary theory is actually more of a particular way
to perceive our time's history than it is a subject of intellectual inquiry in and of itself.

Therefore, Eagleton continues, "Departments of literature in higher education are a

component of the ideological machinery of the modern capitalist state". The various forms of
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criticism and theory aim to expose the ideological apparatus, demonstrate its inner workings and
structures, and cast doubt on a fixed conception of "literature." Instead of viewing literature as
something distinct from other cultural forms or having some unchangeable value, it is better
understood as the outcome of larger discursive and ideological practices. By way of illustration,
Eagleton contends that the feminist theorist "is not simply studying representations of gender
because she believes that this will further her political ends." Additionally, she thinks that any
critical analysis that downplays how gender and sexuality are major issues in literature and other
forms of speech is seriously flawed.

The Significance of Theory is also tackled in Julian’s introduction to the significance of

theory to Eagleton. According to Julian, that theory frees us from being colonized, and this made
him change his ideas from a worried skeptic of the theory in 1976 to an advocate in 1983,
adopting various ideologies from Marxist to Althusserian Marxist to post-colonial Marxist. Part
of this change happened due to Eagleton’s attempt to prevent the fall of theory into the hands of
those who use it to support particular ideologies. Not to forget, for Eagleton, the importance of
theory is that it supports "radical ideas" in the face of attempts to eradicate those exact same
radical ideas in both Britain and the USA.

The arrival of theory is critically explained in this introduction, It has always been believed
that the analytical and reading techniques known as "theory," in all of its forms and
manifestations, originated elsewhere, theory is typically explained as the result of the translation
of French theoretical discourses that were popular in the 1960s into English and into departments
of English. These discourses went on to take the forms of "poststructuralism," "psychoanalytic
literary criticism," and "deconstruction," among others. The Frankfurt School and other
hermeneuticists had an impact, and there were some German incursions in the form of one
reader-response theory variant, but the straightforward history of the theory points to French-
speaking, if not specifically Parisian, origins. Theoretical discourses arrived in Britain and the
United States dressed as tourists, and they had the nerve to stay long after their visas were
supposed to expire.

Two commetators in the prespective provide us with historical on the import of theory:
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First, Michael Payne, who states that in the past thirty years, literary studies have undergone
fundamental and extensive changes that are sometimes compared to paradigmatic upheavals in
the sciences. Enlarging the literary canon has contributed to these changes, including works by
philosophers, psychoanalysts, historians, anthropologists, social and religious thinkers, and
writers whose work had previously been marginalized due to their race, gender, or nationality.
However, many working authors and literature professors view current trends in literary theory
as perilous and anti-humanistic.

As for, K.M. Newton explains: even the most elementary interpretation of a literary piece is
based on theory or critical ideas that have some theoretical foundation. The reason there is so
much disagreement and argument in literary studies is that readers and critics feel like they are a
Literary criticism, on the other hand, is comparable to a parliament where two parties
predominated. Recent events in the "parliament" have put this two-party supremacy in jeopardy
because a ton of new little parties have joined, making it impossible for any one of them to
command a majority . This exposes literary criticism as a power struggle between competing
groups.

The writer alludes on fears of “ literary theory” in the opinion of some Britons, with the
invasion of "Americanisms." Many people, both inside and outside of the university, are afraid of
this kind of discourse because they are afraid of the foreign, the alien, the intruder—that which
crosses national borders, that which settles in the heartland of English literature, eventually
taking it over and permanently altering its landscape. Fear of studying theory as courses is also
part of this introduction, Even with the best of intentions on the part of those of us who instruct
courses in literary theory, the danger of such an approach is twofold: on the one hand, we isolate
"theory" from its engagement with literature because if the course is about "theory," then to some
extent, we have to trust in the student's, that is, your understanding of the material. The
absorption of 'theory' into the mainstream is the alternative kind of institutionalization, on the
other side. Consider the following assertion: "To some extent, most academics today are
theorized." Said by one of Julian’s acquaints.

Border Crossing is another dimension in the introduction, Even if the anti-theorists make the
error of assuming a single identity for theory, there isn't and never has been a single literary
theory. One example of domestication is the use of the term "Literary Theory." inside any
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purportedly unifying ideology, like, say, "feminism." Will the genuine Feminist Theory Please
Stand Up? by Ruth Robbins makes the implication that it is impossible to determine which
theory is the "real," if only because, as she goes on to claim, there is no one legitimate feminist
theory. And perhaps this is the "threat" posed by feminism or any theory: that because "it" is
hybrid, varied, and unpredictable, "it" is not a "it"; the theoretical discourse by nature refuses any
identifications. One more example is Postmodernism, because the discourses that go by the name
"postmodernism" are so varied and distinct, postmodernism itself cannot be represented.
However, the discourse about postmodernism is a post-modernist discourse in that it aims to
emphasize or represent the unrepresentable.

The writer in the introduction suggest having theory patrol, that is, to keep "theory"
contained, a barrier of sorts called "Literary Theory" was built. It also refers to the act of
policing, keeping the foreign, the strange, and the potentially dangerous under observation.

At the end of Julian;s introduction, a Close Encounter of the Textual kind is presented, that
shows us reasons on why to reveal “ unfigurable space”. It means that, all theories are meant to
indicate that the space is already opening. If Jacques Derrida's work is mentioned in queer theory
or postcolonial studies, for example, in a particular way or in a translated form, this is less a
comment on the significance of Derrida's work to various fields, disciplines, discourses, and
practices in the 20th century than it is an illustrative sign of the opening channels of virtual
communication that pass easily cross any envisioned barriers and borders.

Works Cited:

Wolfreys, Julian. Introduction to Literary Theories: A Guide and Glossary. NYU press, 1999.