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MJ Nicholls's Reviews > Literary Theory: An Introduction

Literary Theory by Terry Eagleton
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From Terry Eagleton’s Literary Theory for Toddlers: An Introduction. Phenomenology: Tigger tells Pooh that he must distinguish between the phenomena and noumena of a pot of honey. That his intentionality towards the honey is narrowing his awareness of his surroundings, pushing him into a false structure of consciousness where the honey is both a perpetual fantasy and an instrument of real-life fixation. He tells Pooh he must separate his intentionalities to avoid becoming corrupted and driven by his desire for honey. Hermeneutics: Tigger tells Winnie that he must forget about honey and concentrate on the Heideggerian being-with of bear relatedness. He must suppress the empirical evidence around the existence and necessity of honey as a thing-in-itself and take an antipositivist approach to his own need for honey in a godless and indifferent universe. Reception Theory: Tigger tells Winnie that the only reason he is so popular as a character is that readers can “relate� to his being orange and craving frequent honey. Their life experiences have shown them that things with orange bears and honey are an essential part of the human condition, and require enshrinement in the literary pantheon for almost entirely no other reason. Structuralism: Tigger tells Pooh that his preoccupation with honey is part of larger woodland structure dating back to the stone age, and that “honey� has always been a signifier triggering hunger and savagery in the heart of orange bears, long before Milne gave them the consciousness to understand the signified of “honey� as a delicious bee-made product popularly served in pots. Semiotics: Tigger tells Pooh that honey is merely a symbol for part of a larger racial and class struggle among woodland beings. Across the woodland culture, the word “honey� can symbolise the tyrannous oppression of the orange bears over beavers or squirrels, or the totalitarian confiscation of honey among the lower orders. To bees, “honey� is understood as a priceless trading commodity frequently being plundered by cuddly pirates, whose struggle remains unacknowledged among the wider woodland populace. Post-structuralism: Tigger tells Pooh that the destabilised meaning of his quest for honey is more significant for the reader, whose quest for honey will loom even larger once Pooh’s quest is complete. But more importantly, “honey� is a binary opposition which also means “Jacuzzi,� so Pooh’s system of language is under severe scrutiny. Psychoanalysis: Tigger tells Pooh that his craving for honey is merely a way of screwing his mother and killing his father and venerating his very curly and unseen penis. (From p12, p54, p87, p99, p123, and p149).
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Reading Progress

March 20, 2013 – Started Reading
March 23, 2013 – Shelved
March 27, 2013 –
page 140
56.45% "Alternate title: Literary Theory: An Apology."
March 28, 2013 – Shelved as: non-fiction
March 28, 2013 – Shelved as: sassysassenachs
March 28, 2013 – Finished Reading

Comments Showing 1-22 of 22 (22 new)

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message 1: by Megha (new)

Megha I first thought you were directing us to another one star gem from Roberts.


message 2: by MJ (new) - rated it 3 stars

MJ Nicholls No. The Good Chris.


message 3: by Kalliope (new)

Kalliope Why only three stars?


message 4: by Scribble (new)

Scribble Orca I was waiting for a definition on postmodernism. Instead it turned out to be poststructuralism. And nothing, nothing! on semantics.


message 5: by MJ (new) - rated it 3 stars

MJ Nicholls My review is, semantically speaking, a product of postmodernism.


message 6: by MJ (new) - rated it 3 stars

MJ Nicholls Kalliope wrote: "Why only three stars?"

I feel Eagleton lost the relevance to literature of each theory as the book progressed.


message 7: by nostalgebraist (new)

nostalgebraist Didn't Frederick Crews write several books with this exact conceit?


message 8: by MJ (new) - rated it 3 stars

MJ Nicholls Rob wrote: "Didn't Frederick Crews write several books with this exact conceit?"

He did. I was nodding to his books, or stealing, if you prefer. He really stretches the idea beyond what is tolerable in Postmodern Pooh.


message 9: by [deleted user] (last edited Mar 31, 2013 08:52AM) (new)

And here I always thought Pooh was yellow? Or is Pooh different colors trans-Atlantic?


message 10: by Nathan "N.R." (new)

Nathan "N.R." Gaddis ...as profound as the tao of pooh. but, hey, when in doubt, parody!!! but, yeah, i see why it-all is rejected as hokum.


message 11: by Antonomasia (new) - added it

Antonomasia Was this still a mainstay of Eng Lit 1 when you took it?

Lovely review ... I wish I'd read something like it 15 years ago.

An ex remains a huge fan of the Eagleton, well into his 30's. Can't quite understand it.


message 12: by MJ (new) - rated it 3 stars

MJ Nicholls Yes, I had this in my first year. Reading it again as penance for being such a bad student. I don't know anything about Eagleton's dislikability except he's a Marxist, is that enough?


message 13: by Antonomasia (new) - added it

Antonomasia Mostly he's just a bit embarrassingly ranty - e.g. criticising Richard Dawkins for same but sounding just as bad himself. His Wikipedia, it turns out, holds a number of other similar things e.g. football should be abolished because it's an impediment to political change. (Which if he was known for talking in flippant semi-jest would be actually quite cool, but in all seriousness...?)

I've heard others be dismissive about Eagleton but not sure if this is for similar reasons. I certainly wouldn't dislike someone simply for being a Marxist but I couldn't count myself an actual fan of anyone who came out with stuff like this.

And despite knowing him for seven years I've never quite fathomed that ex's politics, but he appears to be, disappointingly, somewhere further to the right than I am.


message 14: by MJ (new) - rated it 3 stars

MJ Nicholls Antonomasia wrote: "football should be abolished because it's an impediment to political change. "

I can't wrap my head around the logic of that one. Why not tennis?


message 15: by Declan (last edited Apr 14, 2013 06:51AM) (new)

Declan Golf is the worst.


message 16: by Rhea (new) - added it

Rhea And now I have a migraine... but fascinating! Thanks for posting this!


message 17: by Jandle (new)

Jandle Bearer best review I have ever seen, thanks for helping me choose not to read this book, I will stick to narrative theory thank you.


message 18: by MJ (new) - rated it 3 stars

MJ Nicholls Let it be said that I don't pooh-pooh literary theory, merely the enclosed study of outside fiction itself.


message 19: by Jandle (new)

Jandle Bearer MJ wrote: "Let it be said that I don't pooh-pooh literary theory, merely the enclosed study of outside fiction itself."

Hey I was just wondering if there were any books you would recommend. I only tried to read this because I had read 'anatomy of criticism' which is literary theory apparently.


message 20: by MJ (new) - rated it 3 stars

MJ Nicholls This one is the best it gets.


Lauren Why did I take Critical Theory for English Majors at all when this exists? (Help me I want to drop out)


message 22: by MJ (new) - rated it 3 stars

MJ Nicholls ^ Hang in there. Any luck, you'll move on to Sterne & Smollet in no time.


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