Philosophy and literature involves the literary treatment of philosophers and philosophical themes, the literature of philosophy, and the philosophical treatment of issues raised by literature, the philosophy of literature. The philosophy of literature, a subset of aesthetics, examines the nature of art and the significance of verbal arts, often overlooked in traditional aesthetic discussions, and raises philosophical questions about narrative, empathy and ethics through fictional characters. Philosophers such as Plato critiqued literature's ethical influence, while modern thinkers explore language's role in bridging minds and the truth in fiction, differentiating between the reality of characters and their narratives.
Facts
Central QuestionWhat is literary theory doing when it interprets a text: uncovering the author's intended meaning, or applying an external framework that reveals what a work can mean beyond authorial intent? 1 Key DebateWhether a literary work is best read as an aesthetic object in itself, independent of historical context, the view New Criticism and Formalism held, or whether text and context cannot be separated because every text is embedded in the material conditions of the culture that produced it, the view New Historicism and Cultural Materialism set against it. 1 Disputed
Key DebateWhether a literary work is best explained by the biography of its author or is instead independent of the author's life: Sainte-Beuve argued for reading through biography, while Marcel Proust devoted his career to refuting that view. 1 Connections
Associated With
Aristotle's Poetics is the foundational Western text on the nature, structure and value of literary mimesis, the starting point of nearly every subsequent theory in the field.
Derrida's deconstruction, developed largely through sustained close readings of literary and philosophical texts together, made him a central and contested figure in the philosophy of literature.
Sources
1. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Literary Theory, Introduction
By literary theory we refer not to the meaning of a work of literature but to the theories that reveal what literature can mean.
Literary Theory, on the author
Saint Beuve maintained that a work of literature could be explained entirely in terms of biography, while novelist Marcel Proust devoted his life to refuting Saint Beuve in a massive narrative in which he contended that the details of the life of the artist are utterly transformed in the work of art.
Literary Theory, New Historicism and Cultural Materialism section
Both “New Historicism” and “Cultural Materialism” seek to understand literary texts historically and reject the formalizing influence of previous literary studies, including “New Criticism,” “Structuralism” and “Deconstruction,” all of which in varying ways privilege the literary text and place only secondary emphasis on historical and social context.
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