Hello everyone,
My name is Gabriela (you can call me Gabby if Gabriela is too long, most people do!) Badica and I am in my second year of my Master’s degree in Hispanic Studies. I also completed my B.A. at UBC with a double major in English Literature and Spanish. I had a little bit of exposure to literary theory in some of my English Lit classes, although I never took a course on “just theory” (if that concept can even be so strictly classified or discerned). The most common format of my 300- and 400- level English classes was a combination of novels and theoretical texts (for example, reading Judith Butler in Science Fiction studies alongside different novels).
I am looking forward to this course and I really liked the discussion that we started yesterday about the integration of theory into student papers because this a concept that I have been grappling with for some time, especially since starting my Master’s degree and presenting in the Spanish seminar. Our discussion about how we often try to superimpose theory into a paper just because we think we should have it as a framework was really interesting to me because in my personal writing process, I tend to think of the theoretical texts and works of fiction the way I would if I were writing a comparative paper on two different novels; that is simply the way it comes to me. Perhaps this is because I wrote one too many comparative papers when I was doing my English Lit degree and I have come to really enjoy that type of paper, or perhaps it is because I think both the theoretical text and the work of fiction occupy the same plane when it comes to importance in a paper and I cannot envision one as more important than the other. This is a tension that is present in all of my recent papers and I greatly look forward to this class because I think it will be a challenging and safe space where I can work out that question for myself while, of course, having the support of my peers and professors as we move forward in this process together.
Hi, Gabby, and thanks for this.
You say: “I think both the theoretical text and the work of fiction occupy the same plane when it comes to importance in a paper and I cannot envision one as more important than the other.” And I have to say that I agree.
I mentioned the other day that I didn’t like the notion either of a “theoretical frame” or of “applying” theory to a literary (or other type of) text. I find it more useful and interesting to think in terms of a conjunction between different types of text, literary and otherwise.
I should also say in this regard that I rather disagree with the notion that reading literature is easy and reading theoretical texts is hard. I find both to be hard. Both kinds of text are often dense and difficult, and we should aim to read them in much the same way: with care and attention, but without fear or undue reverence.
One more thing: As I said yesterday, I strongly suggest that you turn off comment moderation, or reduce it. In your dashboard, go to Settings -> Discussion. Under “Other Comment Settings,” I suggest you tick “Comment author must fill out name and e-mail,” but leave the rest unticked. And under “Before a comment appears,” untick “An administrator must always approve the comment.” I may or may not want to tick “Comment author must have a previously approved comment”: it is easier if you have it unticked, but there is a (rather slight) possibility that you get some spam as a result.
I agree with you, it is hard to find a balance between content and metacritical thinking in a literary anlysis. But it more an more appears to me that theory defined as “a text of ideas, a metacritical production” and fiction are not opposite but complementary productions. Sometimes even, in an essay for example, what is a text of ideas is also literature and includes fiction (I don’t know if you know Montaigne-Im sure you do-but The Essays are a typical example of this). On the other hand, fiction sometimes becomes theory…think about the great tirades in Shakespearian’s plays). And Barthes is someone whose writing becomes poetic in many ways.. as Lacan’s (the less I understand, the more I listen to the melody of its texts ah ah)…
It is simply the academic need of parting things and dividing topics and subjects that forces us to make a clear cut between what we call “theory” and other fictive works… the challenge is to use that division wisely, with room to manoeuvre 🙂
Oops! I definitely did not filter that on purpose, so that must have been the default setting. Thank you so much for the step-by-step instructions, that was an amazingly detailed description of exactly what I needed to do. I hope it works now!