Liberal humanism. The ‘theory’ that has been in place and in use to read texts since pretty much the beginning of literary history. Indeed, with its goal to convey timeless truths, liberal humanism in literature has even been seen as a means to educate the masses, and carry through the ‘ideological task which religion left off.’ Liberal humanism has been largely uncontested until, in the late twentieth century, other theories take over on what has been a year-long tradition. These interesting facts do indeed pose some questions on why, first of all, liberal humanism was uncontested for such a long time, but also, why then, so suddenly it seems, it was overthrown by modern day literary theory and put off as ‘an ideological smokescreen for the oppressive mystifications of modern society and culture, the marginalisation and oppression of the multitudes of human beings in whose name it pretends to speak.’
Table of Contents
1. Liberal humanism
2. Structuralism
3. Feminist theory
Objectives & Core Themes
This work examines the contention that late twentieth-century literary theory functions primarily as a critical reaction against the traditional tenets of liberal humanism, specifically investigating how structuralist and feminist approaches have dismantled and challenged established humanist paradigms.
- The foundational tenets of liberal humanism and its reliance on timeless values.
- The critique of the "transcendental subject" within structuralist thought.
- The impact of Saussurean linguistics on the understanding of literary meaning.
- The divergence of feminist criticism from androcentric humanist norms.
- The tension between subjective reading and systematic, structural analysis.
Excerpt from the Book
One of the best critics to fall back on when talking about this ‘theory’ is Matthew Arnold.
He is one of the critics to voice what the goals are, what literature, from a liberal humanist point of view, should be. Having been considered as ‘virtually the founding father of modern day criticism in the English-speaking world’ it is him who first opened up the notion of criticism as a means to mediate between the reader and the text. For this reason, much of the quotations that follow to underpin the tenets of liberal humanism are taken from the works of Matthew Arnold. So then, let us have a closer look at the tenets of this ‘theory’ before theory. Firstly, literature, for liberal humanists, is timeless. Since the goal is to ‘learn and propagate the best that is known and thought in the world,’ only literature which conveys values that will transcend time can be considered valuable literature. In other words, diachronically valid literature, or also, literature that can be read in all ages, and still be pertinent and applicable to the time it is being read in, and to the reader who reads it, is good literature. Of course, this implies that human nature is unchanging. Although individuals themselves can develop, human nature is essentially the same in every single one of us and can never fundamentally transform. Another point, already hinted at above, is that literature contains its own meaning. It does not need to be set into any context - historical, biographical, or socio-political - in order to generate meaning. The approach is that of reading ‘the words on the page’, a method shared with the New Critics, which contends that the meaning of a text is already contained in it, and that it is just waiting to be extracted.
Summary of Chapters
Liberal humanism: This chapter defines the historical dominance of liberal humanism and its core belief in literature as a vehicle for timeless, universal truths.
Structuralism: This section explores how structuralist theory challenges humanist concepts of the individual and stable meaning by focusing on linguistic conventions and underlying structures.
Feminist theory: This final chapter analyzes how feminist criticism rejects androcentric norms and seeks to provide alternative frameworks for recovering female experience and expression.
Keywords
Liberal humanism, Structuralism, Feminist theory, Matthew Arnold, Transcendental subject, Ferdinand de Saussure, Roland Barthes, Écriture féminine, Julia Kristeva, Androcentrism, Literary criticism, Textual analysis, Signifier, Signified, Patriarchal discourse.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core subject of this paper?
The paper explores the evolution of literary criticism, specifically arguing that late twentieth-century theories arose as a direct opposition to the long-standing dominance of liberal humanism.
What are the central themes discussed in the analysis?
Key themes include the questioning of universal human nature, the shift from author-centered interpretation to structural analysis, and the impact of gendered perspectives on literary evaluation.
What is the primary objective of the author?
The author aims to validate the claim that modern literary theories were primarily a reactionary movement against liberal humanist tenets while reflecting on the implications of these changes for the practice of reading.
Which methodologies are employed in this work?
The author utilizes a comparative approach, contrasting the tenets of liberal humanism with the methodologies of structuralist critics and feminist theorists to identify shifts in critical perspective.
What does the main body of the work cover?
The main body examines the specific critiques of liberal humanism by structuralists, focusing on language and the 'subject', and then proceeds to analyze feminist contributions, including the concept of écriture féminine.
Which keywords best describe this research?
Key concepts include Liberal humanism, Structuralism, Feminist theory, the transcendental subject, and the critique of fixed literary meaning.
How does structuralism change the role of the author?
Structuralism diminishes the importance of the individual author, viewing them merely as a 'scriptor' or a space where cultural and linguistic codes intersect, rather than a source of final, authoritative meaning.
What is the significance of the distinction between French and Anglo-American feminism in the text?
The text notes that while Anglo-American feminism often retains traditional close-reading methods, French feminism is more theoretically driven, focusing on language, psychoanalysis, and the disruption of patriarchal discourse.
- Quote paper
- Jenny Roch (Author), 2006, 'Late twentieth-century theory can be considered first and foremost as a reaction against the tenets of liberal humanism', Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/50450
