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The place of theory and literary criticism in literature

      

The place of theory and literary criticism in literature

  

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Faith
Theory has been a facilitator of literary criticism which aims at interpreting and synthesizing
ideas and concepts expressed in literary works. Literary theory begins with the question -what is literature? It is creative, imagined and fictional ideas which deal with societal issues
The supposed answer to the question determines the direction of emphasis. The question of the
nature of literature. Constitutes a research problem that has given rise to diverse theories and critical methodologies.
Usually, a theoretical framework is used to determine what is and what not literature is. As
Eagleton, in his book entitled Literary thirty, states that, a piece of writing may start off life as history or philosophy and then come to be ranked as literature or it may start off as literature and then come to be valued for its archaeological significance. Some texts are born literature, some achieve literariness, and some have literariness thrust upon them.
However, this does not imply that the study of literature is in an uncertain state or neglected on the contrary. The long history of literary scholarship has ensured that certain ideas about
literature are canonized. Descriptive boundaries that are flexible have been drawn which has
tended to guide studies in theory.
A literary theory is expected to preserve the autonomy and integrity of the test as art.
It also provides a sound methodology for understanding meaning in all its contexts.

Literary theory has had to be accommodating with the understanding as stated by Gordon in his
book Literature in critical perspective. A literary work is many things at the same time a
reflection of its social climate, a record of the mental history of its author, a consciously
structured arrangement of words and ideas and techniques, and a document that can provide
unique insights into human experiences and values.
Titany answered the question on November 11, 2021 at 09:29


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