When I first came back to school - and after a semester or two of taking literature "survey" classes - I became frustrated with the idea that, unless I found a way to live forever, I would never have enough time in my life to really get to know every author, every poet, every playwright I was interested in on more than a cursory level.
This semester, I've felt as though I were turning myself into a pretzel trying to capture the "essence" of whatever theory we were studying at the moment. I felt as though I were losing my own perspective in the process of trying to wear someone else's mantle; more than this, I felt, more often than not, detached from what I was writing and that my words were way too often "[bland and superficial]" (Barry 191).
When Barry wrote:
"A genuine interest in one [field of theory] can really only arise from aspects of your own circumstances. These perspectives cannot be put on and off like a suit - they have to emerge and declare themselves with some urgency" (192),
I was grateful.
Theory is like the field of literature itself, too deep and varied for one person to ever be able to focus well and with relevance on more than one area in any one lifetime.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I agree -- I am at theory overload. I find, however, that the theories I draw personal connection with capture my interest more than the ones I cannot relate to. With only a semester, it's impossible to dig deeper into the material. Ideally, every theory could be its own 3 credit course.
ReplyDeleteI,too,feel your frustration. But I, too, am intrigued with theory and would like to explore it in more depth. I thought the readings this week really solidified post-structuralism in a way that I can understand-I'm thinking Rock Hudson.
ReplyDelete