Eagleton “Literary Theory: An Introduction”
Eagleton sees Literature as more than a faucet of beauty and spiritual disentanglement from the everyday; he sees literature as a form of social control over the middle and working classes. Literature reproduces the dominant social order. In other words Literature cannot be seen as separate from ideology. Eagleton sees the rise of English Literature as a rise that more than conveniently took place during the fall of religion in the Victorian era. This is not to say that a secret order of authors and ruling class members got together in an effort to supplement religion with Literature, but rather that such a supplication was unavoidable and Literature, due to the advent of the printing press readily filled the ideological hole that the fall of religion left. Literature, as a whole, deals with universal human values rather than specific historical and political ideologies. Even when literature seems to touch on wars, the oppression of woman, the hardships of the poor, etc., by its very idealized status it serves more to enrich and impress upon the reader a higher minded contemplation of eternal truths and beauties. Because Literature seems to create a common ground of appreciation, an appreciation that spans across multiple viewpoints and classes, the lower middle class and the working class by way of literature would develop a reverence for those above them and thus lesson their urge to be disruptive. The truth of oppression is than less important than feeling the truth via Literature. In this way, Literature becomes a distraction where by the underappreciated and exploited may experience worlds, lives, classes, and even separate identities. These experiences then, although impoverished experiences, would lessen the likelihood that real change would be sought after. That is to say that a working man who can read of India, while never visiting it, might feel satiated enough in his life that the idea of improving his condition, in order to gain the ability to truly visit India, might never impress itself strongly enough upon him.
The study of English Literature then became something for the working class men and woman who sought higher education. The study of “English” was seen as a softening and humanizing endeavor that was based on feeling and so was considered a bass subject that in no way compared with the true scientific learning that the higher class participated in. As the study grew it became an endeavor of the colonizing class, I.E. soldiers, because, the instilled humanizing effects of literature produced a national identity that served to help one preserver in the face of savage races. It also created a feeling of “culture” that allowed one without power to perceive power over another less cultured individual or race. In the end Literature gained ground as a respective form of study, due to war and subsequently a reawakening of national identity and spiritual necessity. Thus Literary Theory was born. Theory allowed one to exam literature, which gave it a place in the realm of “real” subjects of intellectual pursuit.
Personal Response: This was a hard read for me, not because the text was difficult, but rather, because it touched a nerve. I come from a rather poor family that moved every time the wind blew. I spent my childhood in and out of almost 20 schools that scattered across the US. My mother, a single mom, worked in factories and low level jobs. Her position in life made her hateful and prone to drinking. My world then became one of books. I read profusely and what I read took me away from the world around me, which was cold and uninviting. Literature uplifted me and gave me an idea of self and that idea of self, gave me faith in life. Eagleton’s words make more sense to me than I would like to admit. We have all heard the phrase “Religion is the opiate of the masses,” but no one ever calls books a drug, at least not in a negative, blinding sense. I must admit that my lack of attention to the outside world lead to my pursuit of an English degree. What does one who led a life in books do when told to pursue life on their own? For me, I ran back to books.
Eagleton, Terry. "Literary Theory: An Introduction." The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism 2nd Ed.
New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, 2010.2137-2145. Print.
No comments:
Post a Comment