One is the view that the conscious character of a state of mind is determined by its intentional or representational content. By his time the glory of athenian art and literature began to fade and was taken. Pdf intentionalism, antiintentionalism, and aesthetic inquiry. The theory of interpretation by which judges attempt to ascertain the meaning of a particular provision of a state or federal constitution by determining how the provision was understood at the time it was drafted and ratified. The historical critic is more interested in the meaning that the literary work had for its own time than in the. Intentionalism tim crane, university college london 1. Implications for the teaching of choreography larry lavender one of the most heated debates in modern literary and aesthetic theory concerns the relevance to criticism in general, and to interpretation specifically, of information about an authorartists. Historical interpretation, intentionalism and philosophy of mind. Intentionalism in aesthetics paisley livingston intentionalism in aesthetics is, quite generally, the thesis that the artists or artists intentions have a decisive role in the creation of a work of art, and that knowledge of such intentions is a necessary. Functionalism, intentionalism, and the concept of scapegoating excerpt from interview with professor dominick lacapra cornell university june 9, 1998, jerusalem interviewer. Implications for the teaching of choreography volume 29 issue 1 larry lavender. In the sciences, theories are systems for understanding how an aspect of the world works. The analogy between artistic and linguistic meaning the.
Functionalism, intentionalism, and the concept of scapegoating. A readers guide to contemporary literary theory 5th edition. Introduction the central and defining characteristic of thoughts is that they have objects. To illustrate the necessity of movement from one theory to another, the theories are arranged in the following order. A very short introduction is an exemplary work in this genre.
Some little while after revising the second edition in 1989, raman prematurely and tragically died of a brain tumour. Beginning perhaps most explicitly with the new criticism, continuing through the analytic tradition in philosophy, and culminating most recently in deconstructionism, philosophers and literary theorists have kept under sustained attack the. Amos goldberg q there are two large schools of thought in the historiography of the holocaust and of nazism. Literary criticism and censorship laws in new zealand. Secondly, the aforementioned unreliability of himmlers evidence means that there is not a su cient link between hitlers negative attitude towards jews and his decision.
Generally, the analogy between artistic and linguistic meaning has been an assumption among those who defend intentionalism in the interpretation of art. Probing the entire range of issues connected with this manyfaceted and. Intentionalism, anti intentionalism, and aesthetic inquiry. His final explanatory model could be understood as a moderate version of intentionalism. The debate on the origins of the holocaust centres on essentially two questions. Literary intention, literary interpretations, and readers. John kenny, centre for the study of human settlement and historical change, national university of ireland, galway a readers guide to contemporary literary theory fifth edition selden, widdowson, brooker cover image. I spend some time di erentiating a possible meta critical intentionalism from this lowerlevel theory of meaning, with which it may be. For a general overview of the intentionalism debate, see irvin 2006. We have tried to avoid simply giving potted summaries of isms. Hermeneutics oxford research encyclopedia of literature. Historians have already made an interpretation in the way stated in number 1, but they also have. Speech act theory and the concept of intention in literary. Pdf authors intentions, literary interpretation, and literary value.
Reading history books is not only an exercise in fact finding and date and name memorizing. The aim of this paper is to trace the outline of a speech act theory of literature, taking into account the work of critics who react against the prevailing antiintentionalist schools of criticism, such as the new criticism, some versions of structuralism, and deconstruction. Literary theory and its discontents, new literary history, 25. Mitchell sets out to rethink intention and interrogate the possibilities of an intentionalism more suited to a formalist or textualist critical methodology. Paul brest, the misconceived quest for the original understanding, 60 b. Literary criticism, on the other hand, is the practical application of those theories or methods to particular works of literaturethe actual use of a method to better understand a texts meaning. Hypothetical intentionalism journal of literary theory. In analyzing literary works within a conceptual framework, the student needs the freedom to choose from a variety of critical standpoints and to discover for himself various approaches to the literary symbol.
Pdf literary theory an introduction by terry eagleton. Pdf historical interpretation, intentionalism and philosophy of mind. Within the orthodox paradigm in the philosophy of mind and language of the 1960s and 1970s, there was an important swing of the pendulum away from the implications of freges and especially russells doctrines for intentionality. This chapter considers three prominent theories of literary interpretation. Stephen knapp and walter benn michaels, against theory, critical inquiry 8 1982. The terms literary theory and critical theory refer to essentially the same fields of study. In effect, then, gadamer reverses carrolls claim with which this article began, namely, that only intentionalism in literary theory can link understanding in the realm of art and literature to understanding in other domains of communication. One of the most heated debates in modern literary and aesthetic theory concerns the relevance to criticism in general, and to interpretation specifically, of information about an authorartists. Authorial intentionalism is the view, according to which an authors intentions should constrain the ways in which it is properly interpreted. These kinds of meaning are literary varieties of what paul grice called nonnatural and natural meaning. Authors intentions, literary interpretation, and literary. Approaches to literary criticism literary criticism is the study, analysis, and evaluation of imaginative literature. Literary criticism is the study, analysis, and evaluation of imaginative literature.
Literary theory is an unavoidable part of studying literature and criticism. The analogy between artistic and linguistic meaning the linguistic model of intentionalism revisited alicia bermejo salar university of murcia abstract. Mimicecilia pascoe j intentionalism and functionalism be considered unreliable, given the high likelihood of him attempting to o oad his responsibility draper, 1999, p. Intentionalist theory claims legitimacy in the fact that enacted laws in america are the product of a representative democracy. Functionalism or structuralism versus intentionalism is a historiographical debate about the origins of the holocaust as well as most aspects of the third reich, such as foreign policy the debate on the origins of the holocaust centers on essentially two questions. Intentionality, in modern literary theory, the study of authorial intention in a literary work and its corresponding relevance to textual interpretation. For, surely, what a speaker means either just is the thought he intends to convey, in the sense that his words express a proposition he may wish to communicate to his hearer. Explaining the holocaust mimicecilia pascoe historians the world over have long sought to provide an adequate explanation for the atrocities committed by adolf hitler during what is now commonly known as the holocaust. One of the most heated debates in modern literary and aesthetic theory concerns the relevance to criticism in general, and to interpretation specifically, of information about an authorartists intentions in creating a particular work. Does the authors personal intention or historical site determine a correct interpretation of a literary work. View the article pdf and any associated supplements and figures for a period of 48 hours. They claim that intentionalism misreads the object of literary criticism. Such a pleasure is regarded as superior to all others, for, it has a dual purpose i.
The aim of this paper is to trace the outline of a speech act theory of literature, taking into account the work of critics who react against the prevailing antiintentionalist schools of criticism, such as the new criticism, some. Since there cannot be thoughts which are not about anything, or which do not concern anything, there cannot. Hypothetical intentionalism can be described as prompting literary theory to develop a new intentionalistic stance, one capable of overcoming the difficulties of actual intentionalism. Whats wrong with intentionalism yale law school legal. Oct 27, 2011 mitchell sets out to rethink intention and interrogate the possibilities of an intentionalism more suited to a formalist or textualist critical methodology. She moves from an assessment of the pitfalls of a traditional authorial intentionalism, towards the formulation of an intentionality of form, where intention is seen as a formal. Literary theory in a strict sense is the systematic study of the nature of literature and of the methods for analyzing literature. The socalled theory of direct reference has contributed to rehabilitate the view that concrete. A very short introduction jonathan culler has always been about the best person around at explaining literary theory without oversimplifying it or treating it with polemical bias.
Key theories of wolfgang iser literary theory and criticism. Intentionalism, antiintentionalism, and aesthetic inquiry. Instead we present brief essays on a range of key critical. If interpreting the constitution as opposed to rewriting it is what you want to do, you are necessarily an intentionalist, someone who is trying to figure. Literary criticism and theory page 9 incidental to the pleasure it gives. Historical criticism seeks to interpret the work of literature through understanding the time and culture in which the work was written. Intentionalism is sometimes called representationalism. Literary theory and schools of criticism introduction a very basic way of thinking about literary theory is that these ideas act as different lenses critics use to view and talk about art, literature, and even culture. Wolfgang isers 19262007 theories of reader response were initially presented in a lecture of 1970 entitled the affective structure of the text, and then in two major works, the implied reader 1972 and the act of reading 1976. Functionalism versus intentionalism is a historiographical debate about the origins of the holocaust as well as most aspects of the third reich, such as foreign policy. They both address ways of looking at literature beyond the typical plotthemecharactersetting studies. Was there a master plan on the part of adolf hitler to launch the holocaust.
Pdf i discuss three theories regarding the interpretation of fictional literature. The critical advice of mentors who hold intentionalist assumptions naturally. This guide is as stimulating and instructive an introduction to literary theory as any reader might wish for. Considering the philosophic intelligence that has set out to discredit it, intentionalism in critical interpretation has shown an uncanny resilience. These different lenses allow critics to consider works of art based on certain assumptions within that school of theory. Finally, the critique by knapp and michaels of the theory project in literary criticism. The object of a thought is what the thought concerns, or what it is about. However, literary scholarship since the 19th century often includesin addition to, or even instead of literary theory in the strict senseconsiderations of intellectual history, moral philosophy, social prophecy, and other interdisciplinary themes which. I argue, first, that by recognizing that literary meaning includes both nonnatural and natural meaning, we are better placed to understand the interpreters relationship with the author, and, second, that recognition of the distinction between. Next, i reconstruct the most important forms of hypothetical intentionalism. In a recent essay, jerrold levinson defends his version of hypothetical intentionalism hi, which is a theory of literary interpretation, from two threats. I classical age plato plato was the first scholastic philosopher who had given a systematic shape to criticism.
I discuss three theories regarding the interpretation of fictional literature. Sometimes called original understanding, originalism, or intentionalism, the theory of original. Literary criticism and theory university of calicut. Home literary criticism key theories of wolfgang iser. New criticism was a movement in literary theory that dominated american and had an impact on english literary criticism in the middle decades of the 20th century. Key theories of wolfgang iser by nasrullah mambrol on february 12, 2018 3. Intentionalism in the theory of meaning 239 damental in explaining thai. Intentionalism intentionalists argue that the holocaust was primarily the result of nazi antisemitism and that there was a direct line from hitlers early writings to the holocaust. Considering the philosophic intelligence that has set out to discredit it, intentionalism in critical interpretation has shown an uncanny resilience beginning perhaps most explicitly with the new criticism, continuing through the analytic tradition in philosophy, and culminating most recently in deconstructionism, philosophers and literary theorists have kept under sustained attack the. Debate between intentionalists and antiintentionalists. What is the difference between literary theory and. Literary theory and schools of criticism introduction. Meaning, expression, and the interpretation of literature. Intentionalism is a theory that claims the relevance of authorial intention as a criterion for.
Intentionalism is a theory that claims the relevance of authorial intention as a criterion for interpreting art, since it considers that meanings of art works by itself can be ambiguous. Some common concerns of an unlikely pair, 32 rutgers l. This accessible, personal, and provocative study returns to the major subject in literary discussion before and during the relatively recent flourishing of literary theory, that of literary intention. In literary theory and aesthetics, authorial intent refers to an author s intent as it is encoded in their work. Its chief critical strategy was close reading, particularly when discussing poetry, emphasizing that a work of literature functions as a selfcontained, self referential aesthetic object. But theory especially when it takes the form of isms can often be intimidating or else, frankly, boring. Introduction to hayden white, university of california at.
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