Month: November 2013

Final Reflections

Like everyone else I am also surprised how fast this semester went by. I feel like I just started the term. But as I reflect back I can see that there is a lot we have covered and that there is a lot we have learned. When we started the fist class the first thing we did was try to define what literature theory is and then what literature is. This was a really good introduction because it really showed how critical and hard it would be to define terms. Not only that but by trying to answer these questions we could see that many of the terms we were going to considered would have many definitions, depending on who was defining it. I think that first the class has given us a good foundation on general understanding of terms and theory. Now when we go to conferences and read a paper that discuses literature and theory we have a better understanding of what is being considered. Secondly we have really become critics of literary theory. In class we not only considered or interpret what we thought the author was trying, but we also gave our own opinion. Some of the more memorable classes were about us sharing our own experiences and trying to analyse how our experiences and background affect our thinking. All of us coming from such diverse and different backgrounds really made the class interesting. This was also done in the blog which I really enjoyed writing and reading the response of others.
One thing I learned also was that theory is never a clear specific answer. It involves examination and interpretation in formalism when people were trying to find an exact science of literature a systematic approach this was not successfully because there is something extra in theory that can’t be systematic. And accepting this allows us to be more open minded of literature theory. Lit. Theory also allows us to think out side of the box because it questions out own opinions. As I learned more about theory this term I see it more and more as a. Puzzle that you never finish building but that the more you understand the clearer the picture.
In conclusion there is much to say about this class I really enjoyed all our discussions and points of view that we share and good luck to everyone at the test next week!!!

First I think that I learned a lot this semester. I have never done a just theory course and I practically did not have any previous knowledge about literary theory in general before taking this course. I remember that at the beginning of the term I wanted to find an answer to “what is literary theory, and why would anyone want to write or read it?” I don’t think I still have a good answer for them. Perhaps literary theory is an attempt to understand the various ways that different people read texts. Yes, we all know that not everyone “interprets” a book, poem, or even a song the same way. Theory gives readers a chance to view a text with a so-called different set of lenses. There are many different schools of literary theory that work off of different assumptions and take different approaches to the study of literature. For example, feminist literary theory explores how different literary works portray women and how they represent male privilege in society. Reader-response theory explores the role that a reader plays in constructing the meaning of a text. Marxist literary critics use different Marxist ideas to explore literary works and their connections with political ideas. All of these different schools can provide useful insight into a work of literature. I think it has been good for me to learn about the big thinkers such as Foucault, Freud, Barthes, Derrida etc… as I have heard about them before but didn’t know much about them. I also encountered some new theories and concepts that will be very useful for my thesis (and also in analyzing and interpreting other texts in the future) I also really loved working with other people (questioning and criticizing together) and getting to know new students in the department!

While reviewing and working on the definition of terms, I had a hard time defining “life”. My first reaction when I saw this term on the list was: how is it possible to define life in terms of theory? Did we talk about life in any of the articles? Life is everything, how can reduce it to one definition? Then I realized, it is everything, it is everything we’ve read and talked about during three months. Primarily, we think of life as a material and physical existence, but on the other hand, this existence is at the same time informed and modified by our ideological beliefs. According to Marx, the material life of an individual as well as that of a society determines his or its ideological beliefs; however Althusser asserts that one’s ideology calls for material practices and rituals, so our life is also marked by the practices and we are constantly been interpellated by our ideological beliefs. Freud interprets the dreams and unveils the concept of unconscious, thus expanding our understanding of the waking life and pointing us to the repressed desires and feelings. For Lacan, one’s life (or identification) is shaped by the Symbolic order and mediated by the Imaginary. Blending Marxism and Lacanian psychoanalysis, Zizek argues that our conception of the reality is structured by an unconscious fantasy or illusion, so the life as we know it is always been informed by an ideological illusion. This argument is supported by Foucault’s analysis of the discourse of sexuality and how a seemingly liberation of discourse is merely the result of the change of power, that the discourse of sexuality (and by extension other aspects of life) is still and always been structured by the invisible hands of institutions of power (material and ideological).

Besides these discussions about how life can be generally perceived in different ways, various studies examine a specific aspect in life: feminism and gender studies investigate the very essence of woman and gender, by questioning if it is by mere social construction that we have come to identify ourselves in life; colonial studies shed light on the various realities in the lives of different situations, the encounter of indigenous populations and colonizers and how their lives, including language and literature, are shaped by this experience; the cultural studies revealed the routine forms in the culture industry and the mass reproduction, but it also talked about the “tactics” an individual has at his disposal in everyday life.

Last but not least, as language and literature students, we are also concerned about the representation of life in literature (as well as cinema). But since the beginning of the term, Formalists and structuralists have denied this function of literature as a device of ideology and have drawn our attention to the linguistic and structural studies of a text.

Anyway, this is the final week of the class, aside from these final reviews, I’m so happy that we survived the course!!

Best of luck on our test and maybe it’s too early, Happy holidays everyone!

As I look back on this course, and on my first semester of graduate school as a whole, my thoughts are fairly varied.  One of the biggest themes I’ve seen throughout this class is the theme of parallel, or binary constructions.  From gender roles to language structures to power struggles within culture and colonialism, there is a dichotomy to be found.  This course, in many ways, follows this mold.

On one hand: I can honestly say, looking back on this course, that nothing could have prepared me for about of grappling, stressing, and general confusion that this course has brought upon me.

It is clear to me now that my theoretical framework I thought I had built through my undergraduate degree was not nearly thorough enough.

It is clear to me now that I still have a long way to go when it comes to understanding theory, particularly our good friend Saussure, who continued to crop up throughout our readings even though I’m still not 100% sure of what he was saying in the first place.

It is clear to me now that I may spend a lot of my time in grad school feeling stupid, and that a great deal of emotional energy will be spent trying to clamber my way out of those feelings, because they really aren’t very helpful when you’re trying to read and understand why the mass-production of art is like fascism or why Jane Austen secretly knew lots about colonialism.  (Actually, that wasn’t so hard to grasp – I always knew that my gal Jane was a genius!)

On the other hand, however… Through this course, I have discovered that blogging about this stuff, as well as reading other people’s blogs, was incredibly valuable in terms of evaluating my own ideas and comprehension, and in bonding together over our mutual cries of ‘why does none of this actually makes any sense?!’ (Camilo, your story about going to buy eggs will always be my favorite example of this.)

I have found that sometimes, you have to resort to desperate measures, such as reading Derrida aloud to yourself for six hours straight in your backyard, in order to understand what he’s getting at.

I have discovered that the “aha!” moment where something made sense in this class was more valuable and striking than it has been in any other course, simply because of how much work it took to get to that point.

I have learned the value of a good debate over ethnic theory where nobody gets offended and everyone listens.

I have reveled in the idea that maybe, for the first time, I am learning to think for myself about some of the most difficult information I’ve ever had to process.

Though this class was incredibly trying on so many levels, it has challenged me every step of the way, and this dichotomy, like so many of the authors we read this semester, is something I am starting to value.

It’s hard to believe that 13 weeks have flown by so fast! I have been thinking about the beginning of term and not having any idea how the Literary Theory class would go – but after these 13 weeks I feel I have got to grips more with critical thinkers, and encountered some new ones I will be able to draw on for my other graduate classes and my thesis. I have actually already been showing off my knowledge or Literary Theory in other classes, and it does make understanding concepts easier when you have some background in theory.

I enjoyed our week on film theory, for me that was the most interesting and I am excited to write the second assignment! I have also enjoyed other theories though, don’t get me wrong. I really liked the reading on Williams the other week for instance; I had never considered Jane Austen’s work to have much attachment to colonialism but it was interesting when Williams compared Austen to Cobbett as they were both writing at the same time, but from opposite ends of the spectrum.

I think it has been good for me to learn about Derrida and Foucault, Lacan and Freud etc, all of the big thinkers! As I knew of them before but didn’t really know much about them!!!

Also I have really liked having the blog – this has been my first blog on anything ever, and I think it is good to have something to tap away at consistently each week. Though if I were to continue blogging I’m not sure what I would write about. I’m sure people don’t want to see pictures of my dinner or listen to me rant about running, they can go on Facebook for that

Overall the class has been fun! I have really loved getting to know everyone, and I feel like the group dynamic is very welcoming and supportive. It’s been lovely studying with everyone!

It’s hard to believe that 13 weeks have flown by so fast! I have been thinking about the beginning of term and not having any idea how the Literary Theory class would go – but after these 13 weeks I feel I have got to grips more with critical thinkers, and encountered some new ones I will be able to draw on for my other graduate classes and my thesis. I have actually already been showing off my knowledge or Literary Theory in other classes, and it does make understanding concepts easier when you have some background in theory.

I enjoyed our week on film theory, for me that was the most interesting and I am excited to write the second assignment! I have also enjoyed other theories though, don’t get me wrong. I really liked the reading on Williams the other week for instance; I had never considered Jane Austen’s work to have much attachment to colonialism but it was interesting when Williams compared Austen to Cobbett as they were both writing at the same time, but from opposite ends of the spectrum.

I think it has been good for me to learn about Derrida and Foucault, Lacan and Freud etc, all of the big thinkers! As I knew of them before but didn’t really know much about them!!!

Also I have really liked having the blog – this has been my first blog on anything ever, and I think it is good to have something to tap away at consistently each week. Though if I were to continue blogging I’m not sure what I would write about. I’m sure people don’t want to see pictures of my dinner or listen to me rant about running, they can go on Facebook for that

Overall the class has been fun! I have really loved getting to know everyone, and I feel like the group dynamic is very welcoming and supportive. It’s been lovely studying with everyone!

I say this every November and April, but I can’t believe that it is already the end of the semester! I learned a lot in this course – I have never done a “just theory” course and my favourite part was to learn about how theorists interact with each other; a lot of their work establishes a dialogue between each of their separate arguments, either by the way some expand on other’s work and include other perspectives, to moments of complete disagreement. The most interesting – and difficult – part for me was to develop my own critical stance as I read these discussions, either for the purposes of writing the two assignments of the course or when reading each week’s readings and trying to synthesize them in my notes or simply trying to state my own argument of the week’s theme in my own words. I think this is something that will always be the hardest part for me, and something to work on especially as I work on my thesis.

My favourite weeks were the ones that discusses film studies and cultural studies – I can’t tell for sure if I liked these most because they are the ones that are on my mind a lot as I’m writing my thesis (and these topics are very relevant for that purpose) or because it is that I find film and culture studies interesting that I chose to do my thesis in that area; this is a the-chicken-or-the-egg problem that I’m not too concerned about because at the end of the day it has led to me having more readings and perspectives to consider as I’m writing my thesis and in my books, that is a great thing. My research project analyzes the representation of the figure of the child and/or adolescent in works of literature and film that are set during the time of the Spanish Civil War literature but published or released between 1992 and 2013. I chose this time period as there are some very interesting discourses coming out of Spain in regards to how the Civil War should be examined and seen especially during and after the financial crisis of 2008 and I am very interested in these discussions. Thus, film studies as well as cultural studies represent an integral part of my project and I am very happy and grateful that I got the chance to deepen my knowledge of these topics, as well as many others of course, in this course. It was great to meet with  you all every week and go on this journey of exploring theoretical concepts together, and my thanks to all of you for the wonderful and stimulating discussions and to Prof. Beasley-Murray and Prof. Freilick for leading us through it all. A special thank-you to Prof. Beasley-Murray for the week on film, so interesting and useful!