Chapter 1: Critical Theory

In my attempt to understand Critical Theory the one thing that keeps presenting itself over and over is the idea that there is no one unified critical theory, which makes understanding critical theory all the more difficult. As Tyson explains, “with notable exceptions, most theoretical writing – by the big names in the field and by those who attempt to explain their ideas to novice – is filled with technical terms and theoretical concepts that assume a level of familiarity newcomers simply don’t have” (p. 1). What I’ve also learned is that knowing critical theory has become a mark of status among the academic elite, “an education ‘property’ for which students and professors compete, it has also become a costly commodity, difficult to acquire and to maintain at the sate of the art (p. 1). This I suppose is why I have experienced so much anxiety in my attempt to understand the theoretical jargon and make a coherent picture of all the pieces. It is easy to be intimidated by crucial theory, to see one as inadequate, shallow, and even stupid when trying to explain what critical theory is, which is why this summery is my attempt to boil down the rhetoric to understandable terms which anyone who is just learning about critical theory, can easily understand.

So what exactly is critical theory? For me, critical theory is am approach by which we attempt to explain the assumptions and values that underlie written text and to challenge our own interpretations of what we read. When we approach a literature work, we are invited by the author to read the work in a way that carries us along the intended path of the author, what Tyson calls, reading “with the grain.” For example, just sitting down and reading the Great Gatsby, published in 1925 by F. Scott Fitzgerald, for the pleasure and magic of reading a well-known American novel, immersing ourselves in the lives of the characters is considered reading with the grain. However, reading “against the grain” is to “analyze elements in the text of which the text, itself, seems unaware” (p. 8). For example applying a psychoanalytic examination of the characters reveals hidden motives, underlying drives, and wounds of childhood that influences the relationships of the characters (which I will elaborate on more in my summery of chapter 2) or applying a Marxist critique of the story, examining the historical an d economic conditions that shape the lives of the characters (which I cover in my summery of chapter 3). Another approach is from a feminist critique, (covered in my summery of chapter 4) of power dynamics that shape experience between women and men, and what it means to be a woman and a man, which is shaped by economic conditions that influences our relationship to one another.

The so-called “Frankfurt School” of German social thinkers that combined Sigmund Freud’s (May 6, 1856–September 23, 1939) theory of psychoanalysis and Karl Marx’s (May 5, 1818 – March 14, 1883) theory of economics originally developed critical theory. The basic premise stresses that all knowledge is historical, and in a sense biased communication; thus, all claims to "objective" knowledge are illusory. No longer is man the master of his destiny though rational choice, instead, psychoanalysis reveled that he is influenced by irrational and unconscious drives and Marxism revealed that historical and economic conditions are strong determinants of what an individual can experience in life. For additional reading, see Max Horkheimer, (February 14, 1895 – July 7, 1973) a Jewish-German philosopher and sociologist, known especially as the founder and guiding thinker of the Frankfurt School of critical theory. Erich Fromm (March 23, 1900 – March 18, 1980) a German-American psychologist and humanistic philosopher. Leo Lowentha, (November 3, 1900–January 21, 1993) an expert on the sociology of literature and mass culture. Herbert Marcuse, (July 19, 1898 – July 29, 1979), is well known for his contribution to the leftist student movement of the 1960s.

In literature critical theory, which is the focus of this book, the intent of authors are no longer the main them of literarily critique, which is captured in the idea “the death of the author,” which refers to the change in attitude toward the role of the author in our interpretation of literature works. “The author is no longer considered a meaningful object of analysis; instead, we focus on the reader; on the ideological, rhetorical, or aesthetic structure of the text or on the culture in which the text was produced, usually without reference to the author (p. 2). As Tyson, discusses, Jacques Derrida’s (July 15, 1930 – October 8, 2004) essays on deconstructive theory of language has been quite influential in the method of deconstruction, an attempt to open a text (literary, philosophical, or otherwise) to a range of meanings and interpretations. Derrida was a student of the French philosopher Michel Foucault (October 15, 1926 – June 25, 1984), known for his critiques of various social institutions, most notably psychiatry, medicine, and the prison system, and for his theories on the history of sexuality. What both of these writers emphasized is that reality is created by a system of power relations built in to discourse (language creates conditions that restrict what we can say, what is forbidden to speak of is also forbidden to think about). Thus, the goal of critical theory is to analyze the written and spoken word.

I would be remiss if I did not mention the historical conditions that shaped this critical approach. Most of the authors mentioned in this summery were either Jewish scholar who survived the Holocaust or writers who studied with the Jewish scholars. These scholars experienced systematic state-sponsored persecution and genocide of the Jews of Europe and North Africa along with other groups during World War II by Nazi Germany. There were other targeted groups, including communists, religious groups, disabled groups, “gypsies”, and homosexuals among other. Those who have experienced such traumatic oppression gain an embodied knowledge that transforms the individual in unimagined ways. Critical theory then is a reflexive understanding of the oppressive and cruel nature of human experience and the resilience of life to endure great hardship.

This is my understanding of critical theory, I invite you to comment on my summery and begin your own critical analysis of what is written here.

Tyson, L. (1999). Everything You Wanted to Know about Critical Theory but Were Afraid to Ask. In L. Tyson (Ed.), Critical Theory Today: A User-Friendly Guide. New York & London: Garland Publishing, Inc.