Why Literary Theories? By Francis Alexander

"Until lions tell their stories," goes an African proverb, "tales of hunting will glorify the hunter." Is it not true that every writing is colored by the experiences of the writer? Isn’t every writing subjective?

Truth is a many-splendored thing. It is a prism. It is many sided. But do we ever stop to find the nature of truth? In his essay "On Truth", Francis Bacon, a contemporary of Shakespeare, wrote, "What is truth? asked Pilate, but he did not stay for an answer." Funny thing, even Bacon doesn’t stop to answer the question.

The fact is truth or the nature of truth is very elusive. The attempt to find the nature of truth may be like peeling an onion to uderstand it.  Every piece of literature contains some truth but not the whole truth. Every writing is colored by the writer’s viewpoints. Understanding those views is an attempt to understand the writing. In LIterary Theories in Praxis Shirley Staton observes, "Each of us has a viewpoint invested with presuppositions about reality and about ourselves, whether we are conscious about it or not." 

Understanding literary theories helps us detect biases in literature. It helps us recognize that the world is full of ideologies, theories, and biases through which we get a glimpse of reality. When we apply different theories to a pece of writing, we are trying to see the world from another person’s point of view. So we are also developing our emotional IQ or empathy because we are putting ourselves in someone else’s shoes.

Thus literary theories help us get a wider and deeper understanding of literature. There are five well-known critical theories. Archetypal, historical, marxist, feminist, and multicultural.

Archetypal criticism looks for recurring patterns in myths, dreams, and oral traditions of people widely separted by time and place. Historical citicism identifies the influences of history on a writing. A Marxist reading of literature looks at the struggle for economic power between the haves and the have-nots. A feminist would read fiction through the lens of feminism which sees society as controlled by patriachal values. A multicultural interpretation of literature tries to give voice to the marginalized peoples.

Each theory is an interpretive lens which allows the reader see a component of truth.  An instructor’s job is not to recommend any particular view but to enable the reader to view literature, and life itself, through the many splendored prism of various literay  theories.

Discussion Questions

• Do we really need literary theories? Doesn’t too much analysis lead to paralysis?
• Are our individual perceptions real? Can we really know reality?
• What is your favorite literary theory?